Free Republic

President Barack Obama on Friday will propose making two years of community college free for students. In a White House video posted Thursday evening, Obama said he wanted to offer “a little preview” of his plans for the Jan. 20 State of the Union address. “What I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who’s willing to work for it,” Obama said. “It’s something we can accomplish, and it’s something that will train our workforce so that we can compete with anybody in the world.” The proposal would make two years...

Attorneys for Christian parents who fled Germany in order to home school their children but have been denied U.S. asylum said they are preparing to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and were working with Congress to try to change asylum law. The Romeikes (roh-MEYE-kees) moved to Morristown in eastern Tennessee in 2008 after an escalating fight with German officials that led to fines totaling €7,000, or more than $9,000. Uwe and Hannelore Romeike said they feared that if they stayed in Bissingen an der Teck in the state of Baden-Württemberg, their children could be taken away...

Former President Bill Clinton told a group of pharmacists in Las Vegas on Dec. 3 that white Americans who lack high school diplomas, and who have seen their life expectancy diminish in recent years, are “dying of a broken heart.” … Clinton was discussing a New York Times article on a study about the life expectancy of whites in the United States, which noted that life expectancy had risen steadily for all groups except non-Hispanic whites without a high school degree. …

The future looks grim for the state and even grimmer for the Inland Empire in education and the economy, according to a Cal State Sacramento study. Called "State of Decline," the study by the university's Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy found the Inland Empire is least likely in California to prepare students for college. And a second, unrelated report issued by Morgan Quitno Press lists the state as one of the nation's dumbest, ranking it in 47th place out of the 50 states. Declining college-going rates and an achievement gap between students from different races and regions of...

SACRAMENTO - State Education Secretary Richard Riordan said Wednesday he will resign from his position in June, ending a sometimes bumpy term in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration. The former two-term Los Angeles mayor and wealthy businessman gave no reason for his decision. Riordan was an uncomfortable fit in the Schwarzenegger administration whose efforts to change public school funding and management were largely stymied by opponents. His resignation was not a surprise to many in the Capitol who have anticipated him leaving after an incident last summer in Santa Barbara when Riordan jokingly told a child named Isis that her name...

When Chad Taylor noticed his son was apparently experiencing serious side effects from Ritalin prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he decided to take the boy off the medication. Now, he says he may be accused of child abuse. In February, 12-year-old Daniel began displaying some symptoms that his father suspected were related to the use of Ritalin. "He was losing weight, wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just wasn't Daniel." So Taylor took Daniel off Ritalin, against his doctor's wishes. And though Taylor noticed Daniel was sleeping better and his appetite...