Free Republic

I've setup a test database on my development server to test the new focus software. I've made extensive changes to the underbelly and in a few other places visible to you where I've basically rewritten the software. This database is almost completely empty! You will need to create a new account. DO NOT USE YOUR FREE REPUBLIC PASSWORD. Just in case this thing isn't as secure as I'd like it to be. Give it a good run! I've spent dozens of hours testing it, but I'm sure somebody will find more critical bugs that need to be fixed. When all...

Lawmakers want information on use of nerve gas in '60s * By David Goldstein, The Kansas City Star * WASHINGTON - Two members of Congress intend to call for an investigation into the secret testing of nerve gas and chemical and biological agents on U.S. servicemen in the 1960s. *  Rep. Mike Thompson of California and Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, both Democrats, plan to introduce legislation in their respective chambers next week, urging that the Pentagon reveal more information about the tests, known as Project SHAD. *   "If it's classified, we can deal with classified material," said Nelson,...

SUGAR LAND -- Two administrators at George Bush High School have resigned amid allegations that student records were manipulated to improve the school's rating on the TAAS test. Jean Bailey, the school's dean of instruction and TAAS coordinator, and principal David M. Baker resigned before the Fort Bend school district's investigation was completed, district officials said Tuesday. District spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson said the pair would have been fired had they not quit. "We were outraged when we learned of this," Simpson said. The district began investigating in March after receiving an anonymous letter with detailed allegations about a scheme...

ATLANTA — The Georgia Professional Standards Commission Thursday voted unanimously for a six-month suspension of James Hope’s teaching license. While Gwinnett County Public Schools officials applauded the decision, saying it sent a “powerful message,” Hope announced plans to appeal. The Centerville Elementary School teacher posted questions from GCPS’ Gateway test on the Internet in March of 2000, after administering the high-stakes test to his fourth-grade class.  “I am disappointed they didn’t see it my way,” Hope said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but I’m not totally surprised.” The PSC vote accepted the April recommendation of Administrative Law Judge Catherine...

Gov Jeb Bush with FL students. Statement by Governor Jeb Bush Regarding the 2002 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) School Grades For Immediate Release Wednesday, June 12, 2002 Contact: Elizabeth Hirst (850) 488-5394 "This year fifty-six percent of Florida's schools earned an "A" or a "B". And that is good news. As we continue to strive for excellence and higher accountability in our schools we also see where our resources and assistance are needed most. Our schools and students need all the support and help we can offer, but setting the bar too low will only condemn them to a...

SAT Expected to Add Essay Section Sat Jun 8, 1:32 PM ETBy ARLENE LEVINSON, AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) - An expected overhaul of the SAT college entrance exam looks likely to include a handwritten essay, creating a new challenge for college-bound students, a big logistic chore for test administrators and more emphasis on writing in high school. "If there's a writing test that helps kids get into college, then schools are going to spend more time writing, which can't be a bad thing," said UCLA professor Eva Baker, co-director of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards...

Teachers dislike test being key to pupil promotions Few favor state's new policy By MELANIE MARKLEY Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Only 10 percent of Texas teachers believe a test should decide whether students are promoted or held back a grade, a recent survey found. David Henderson, who has conducted the biennial teacher survey since 1980, said this is the first time he has asked teachers their opinion about the state's new testing policy. Next year's third-grade class will be the first required to pass a state-required test in the third, fifth and eighth grades before they are promoted to the...

Two Aberdeen men are in jail facing charges they intentionally exposed others to the HIV virus.It is the second such incident in less than a week in South Dakota, a state that ranks second lowest in the nation for HIV infections with 22 cases confirmed last year. A Huron college student was arrested last week on similar charges.Mark McNeary, Brown County state's attorney, said the Aberdeen men's allegedly reckless actions in potentially spreading the virus that causes AIDS make them a danger to society.''Intentionally exposing an unknowing individual to HIV infection is unconscionable,'' McNeary said. ''It is obvious that...

<p>California's largest teachers union is pushing to dismantle the state's system for testing students, ranking schools and enforcing accountability -- linchpins in the multibillion-dollar academic reforms of recent years.</p> <p>Legislation sponsored by the California Teachers Association would create a new state testing program, controlled by teachers, and would kill plans to require high school students to pass an exit examination before receiving a diploma.</p>

Gov. Jeb Bush keeps the focus on education. Bush creates panel on FCAT assistance The governor's order comes after lawmakers fail to agree on accommodations for disabled students. By STEPHEN HEGARTY, Times Staff Writer © St. Petersburg Times published April 4, 2002 Legislators couldn't agree on a bill to grant disabled students more accommodations when taking the state's all-important FCAT test, but on Wednesday Gov. Jeb Bush revived the issue with a stroke of the pen. Bush signed an executive order creating a task force to make recommendations for expanding accommodations. One example might be allowing a blind student to...

Today I am calling for a teachers' revolt. I have come to realize that the biggest dreamers in our society, public school teachers who entered the work force with a noble calling to nurture young minds and prepare them for the world, are no longer allowed to do much of that. Instead, teachers have become standardized-test preparation specialists, seekers of exemplary ratings and blue ribbons. They are pawns in the political empires that our school districts have become. This movement for a teachers' revolution has been building in my mind for some time as I watch bright and wonderful teachers...

By TONY BATT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The federal agency overseeing the Nevada Test Site plans to complete a report by late spring recommending a faster preparation time for possible resumption of underground nuclear tests. No tests are planned yet. But the upcoming report by the National Nuclear Security Agency is fueling speculation that the testing moratorium that began in September 1992 might soon end. "Let's put it this way. This is not a sign that the Bush administration is moving away from nuclear tests," said Ivo Daldeer, a foreign policy specialist at the Brookings Institution, a Washington,...

<p>THE STATE Department of Education continued its compassionate approach to high-stakes testing yesterday with the publication of a ''multiple pathways'' strategy for students who are denied diplomas after failing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test. With enough support, the only thing that should stand between a student and a diploma is individual effort.</p>

A second-grade teacher stirred debate on the state’s standardized tests last night when she told school board candidates at an election forum that she would flunk Missouri Assessment Program exams. "I’ve taken the test," Emily Stephens said of the fourth-grade social studies exam. "I would have flunked the test. With a master’s degree I would have flunked the test completely." Stephens then asked the candidates why people assume that MAP scores are low because students and teachers aren’t performing. She suggested the test is just too hard. Stephens’ comments came during a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters...

Rense.com CFR Calls For 'An Imperial America' By Jeffrey Steinberg Executive Intelligence Review LarouchePub.com 3-13-2 The New York Council on Foreign Relations, the American branch office of the British Royal Institute for International Affairs, has issued a public call for a full-scale war on Iraq, as a stepping stone to imperial world government. The declaration for war and empire appeared in the form of two articles in the March/April 2002 Foreign Affairs, the Council's bi-monthly journal.  In addition to the publication of the articles--by Kenneth Pollack, deputy director of the CFR's national security studies program, and Sebastian Mallaby, former...

Testing, testing, please ignore.