Posts in category Education
Written by Homeless Mom Arrested For Enrolling Son In School
A homeless mother faces up to 20 years in prison for enrolling her son in a public school in a wealthy neighborhood. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss.
GPS Units Track Students Who Skip School
One California school district volunteered for a six-week program that tracks students with unexcused absences using GPS devices
While riding on a parade float singing “Twist and Shout” sounds like a better time than going to school, students might want to rethink their plans for a Ferris Bueller-like rendezvous now that a California school district is using GPS units to track students with a poor attendance history.
The Anaheim Union High School District has volunteered to be apart of a six-week program, which aims to reduce the number of unexcused absences by equipping seventh and eighth grade students who have a poor attendance record with handheld GPS devices. Reducing the number of absences a student has saves the school district money. Every time a student misses class, the school loses $35.
The program works by assigning GPS units to students with more than three unexcused absences. After receiving the GPS device, students are sent an automated phone call every school day to remind them to get up and go to school. They must enter a code five times a day in order to activate the device and track their location. They must enter the code on their way to school, once they arrive, during lunch, on their way home from school and at 8 p.m. In addition, a coach is assigned to each student in order to make sure that they are where they’re supposed to be doing what they’re supposed to do.
Students rally in support of suspended student
Hundreds of students turned out for a rally against censoring free speech Friday outside a mid-town Toronto high school.
The protest at Northern Secondary School stemmed from the suspension of Grade 12 student Emil Cohen, who vented at an assembly about the school’s soccer team, which, he said, has inadequate equipment, uniforms and coaches.
Cohen was warned by the school not to make his speech and when he did he was suspended for two days.
This is a ridiculous situation, said Billy Wiegand, a Grade 12 student at the school.
“There was this one guy who punched another in the face and was only suspended for one day. Here we have a guy expressing his opinion how he felt wronged by the administration, Wiegand said. “It is their right to play soccer.”
HSUS Member Sues Perdue Over “Humane” Chicken
One of the nation’s largest chicken producers is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the company is using misleading labeling on its packaging. The label claims the chickens are “humanely raised,” when in fact the treatment of the birds is as poor as ever.
Student protest largely peaceful despite the images
It was just after 1pm that police van 313C, parked on Parliament Street in cental London, became the sudden, angry focus of youthful opposition to the government’s plans to charge students significantly more for their education. The vehicle, unoccupied and stranded amid a sea of mainly teenage protesters, was set upon. Within minutes the windows were smashed and the sides covered in graffiti, as protesters danced on the roof.
While those images – captured by a scrum of TV crews and photographers – will surely become a symbol of this bout of mass student unrest, the violence was not supported by many of the estimated 4,000 protesters contained by a police cordon, known as a kettle, in Whitehall.
“All these kids just hate the police and they see it as an excuse for violence,” said Zoe Williams, an art student who, at 19, was one of the older protesters in the crowd. She was also among those who tried in vain to hold back activists, many of them masked, intent on turning an unruly but largely peaceful demonstration violent.
“We’re going to be portrayed badly in the media,” she shouted at them. “We’re just wrecking a police van.”
A Claim of Pro-Islam Bias in Textbooks
HOUSTON — Some conservative members of the Texas Board of Education assert that the history books used in this state have a pro-Islamic bias, and they are upset about it.
Never shy about wading into the culture wars, they are planning to vote Friday for a resolution that would send a blunt message to textbook publishers: Do not present a pro-Islamic, anti-Christian version of history if you want to sell books in one of the nation’s largest markets.
“The purpose of this resolution is to ensure there is balanced treatment of divergent groups,” Gail Lowe, the chairwoman of the board, said. “In the past, the textbooks have had some bias against Christianity.”
Cut Taxes, Cut Spending, Shrink Government
Written by So, I heard part of Barack Obama’s speech yesterday. He held some sort of televised “town hall meeting” on CNBC which was entitled “Investing in America Forum.” This on the heels of the declaration by The National Bureau of Economic Research that the “recession” ended in June of 2009. I definitely didn’t get that memo. Well, one thing I can say for sure, these guys don’t give up on the rhetoric. They don’t lighten up on the propaganda. Barack loves to pretend that he cares and the elitists on top love to pretend that they can fool everyone just by saying everything’s okay and the economy is hunky dory. READ MORE »
Gay High School Student Kept Out Of Yearbook By Homophobic Principal
Gay High School Student Kept Out Of Yearbook By Homophobic Principal
Teacher Caught Beating Student
Teacher Caught Beating Student
Texas city revives paddling as it takes a swat at misbehavior
TEMPLE, TEX. — In an era when students talk back to teachers, skip class and wear ever-more-risque clothing to school, one central Texas city has hit upon a deceptively simple solution: Bring back the paddle.
Most school districts across the country banned paddling of students long ago. Texas sat that trend out. Nearly a quarter of the estimated 225,000 students who received corporal punishment nationwide in 2006, the latest figures available, were from the Lone Star State.
But even by Texas standards, Temple is unusual. The city, a compact railroad hub of 60,000 people, banned the practice and then revived it at the demand of parents who longed for the orderly schools of yesteryear. Without paddling, “there were no consequences for kids,” said Steve Wright, who runs a construction business and is Temple’s school board president.
Since paddling was brought back to the city’s 14 schools by a unanimous board vote in May, behavior at Temple’s single high school has changed dramatically, Wright said, even though only one student in the school system has been paddled.
“The discipline problem is much better than it’s been in years,” Wright said, something he attributed to the new punishment and to other discipline programs schools are trying. Residents of the city’s comfortable homes, most of which sport neighborly, worn chairs out front, praise the change.
Jesse Ventura: Corporate media, Censorship and American Conspiracies
From the assassination of JFK to the events of 9/11, more and more Americans are slowly realising things are not what they seem in the mainstream U.S. media. RT spoke to former politican Jesse Ventura, who revealed some of the dirty secrets of Capitol Hill…
The Gun in the Room and Public Schools
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“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
George Washington
The gun in the room allegory refers to the nature of government. While many people do not want to think about it and likely do not want to admit it, government is force. Every law made, every tax passed, every regulation imposed, is backed up by the threat of force being used against you. Many famous people knew this and have commented on it. The quote above attributed to George Washington is perhaps the best known. Even Barack Obama recently confessed that he feels the nation state is a monopoly on violence. I’m not sure who was the first to present “the gun in the room” allegory, but I’ve heard it attributed to both Harry Browne and Murray Rothbard. Anyway, I thought I’d try to present my own short explanation of the gun in the room. READ MORE »