In a desperate attempt at relevance, President Barack Obama thought he could pay for two promised years of free community college tuition by eliminating the tax exemption on middle-class 529 college-savings accounts. Although the Administration argued that the 529 accounts disproportionately benefit higher-income families, disenfranchising 11.6 million accounts was seen as just short of a declaration of war on “the family.” This afternoon Obama dumped his tax plan.
by Chriss W. Street28 Jan 2015, 6:21 AM PST0
Facing strong opposition from parents and both political parties, Barack Obama is abandoning plans to tax college savings accounts, also called 529s.
by Dan Riehl27 Jan 2015, 6:56 PM PST0
To honor National School Choice Week, Louisiana U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R) announced Monday that he has introduced the Local Control of Education Act, a measure that would ban the federal government from mandating the adoption of specific standards—such as the Common Core standards—as well as curriculum and assessments.
by Dr. Susan Berry27 Jan 2015, 6:38 PM PST0
Carol M. Swain, professor of Political Science and Law at Vanderbilt University, declared that campus political correctness “has reached the level that we can no longer have any serious conversations on the most important issues of our day. And our
by Ian Hanchett26 Jan 2015, 5:59 PM PST0
A new study published in the Journal of Public Economics and discussed in a press release at the Harvard Kennedy School provides the first observed estimates on the long-term impact of school voucher programs that allow parents to choose the education setting of their children. Vouchers were found to be particularly beneficial to low-income, minority students.
by Dr. Susan Berry26 Jan 2015, 5:25 PM PST0
The Mississippi State House has approved a bill that would remove the name “Common Core” from the state’s academic standards, but not replace the actual standards themselves.
by Dr. Susan Berry25 Jan 2015, 8:56 PM PST0
At the Iowa Freedom Summit, Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) let Republican voters know that the Common Core standards are a huge electoral issue for the 2016 presidential election – and that he’s anxious they’ll remember his support for the controversial education reform initiative.
by Dr. Susan Berry25 Jan 2015, 1:27 PM PST0
In his speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit over the weekend, Donald Trump blasted the idea of both Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush as potential GOP presidential candidates in 2016.
by Dr. Susan Berry25 Jan 2015, 8:23 AM PST0
A Katy, Texas, junior high school principal was reinstated after being put on administrative leave earlier this month. Katy Independent School District (ISD) officials would not confirm the reason for the punishment. Parents believe Seven Lakes Junior High School Principal Dr. Imelda Medrano (on right in the photo above) was placed on administrative leave because she sent out a newsletter with a warning to parents. The newsletter linked to a Christian parenting website.
by Bob Price25 Jan 2015, 7:13 AM PST0
Vice President Joe Biden told students at West Los Angeles College on Friday that President Barack Obama’s plan to offer “free” community college would prepare young Americans to compete for opportunities in the global economy. “The rest of the world is catching
by Joel B. Pollak23 Jan 2015, 1:32 PM PST0
President Barack Obama took his State of the Union on the road yesterday, telling college students in Boise, ID that he will make two years of college “free” and “universal.” What he did not tell them, however, is that he wants to tax 529 savings plans to pay for those two free years of community college–which are already free anyway for poor students, under federal grants.
by Joel B. Pollak22 Jan 2015, 8:29 AM PST0
During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Obama said that he would like to see the first two years of a student’s college tuition be paid for by the government, which Democrats applauded, but the president’s words weren’t enough to satisfy Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson, who said that college tuition should be entirely paid for by the U.S. government.
by Javier Manjarres21 Jan 2015, 11:06 AM PST0
California ranks last in the country in providing its students with guidance counselors, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
by Daniel Nussbaum20 Jan 2015, 2:53 PM PST0
Two dozen unvaccinated Huntington Beach High School students have been sent home over three weeks under threat of a measles outbreak. One had actually contracted the disease.
by Michelle Moons20 Jan 2015, 12:51 PM PST0
Testing Wisconsin students with the new assessments aligned with the Common Core standards is expected to cost at least $7.2 million over the original estimate, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
by Dr. Susan Berry19 Jan 2015, 6:55 PM PST0
Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich does not believe his state lawmakers will repeal the Common Core standards, calling resistance to the controversial initiative “hysteria.”
by Dr. Susan Berry18 Jan 2015, 1:24 PM PST0
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced a bill Friday that would block federal intrusion on the rights of states to make education decisions. The measure purports to block the Obama Administration from coercing states to adopt the federally funded Common Core standards.
by Dr. Susan Berry18 Jan 2015, 11:02 AM PST0
On January 15–just four days before the commemoration of General Robert E. Lee’s birthday–The Daily Beast ran a story claiming Lee would have approved of the removal of Confederate battle flags from Washington and Lee University and that Lee wrote in a “self-serving” manner, post-Civil War, to cover his tracks on secession.
by AWR Hawkins18 Jan 2015, 7:52 AM PST0
The Southern Education Foundation study used the number of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches as a proxy for actual poverty statistics.
by Wynton Hall17 Jan 2015, 4:06 PM PST0
A former high school substitute teacher in Ohio has been convicted of four counts of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles by showing movies featuring graphic violence and explicit sex scenes.
by Warner Todd Huston16 Jan 2015, 9:07 PM PST0
Potential 2016 contender Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) targeted the controversial Common Core standards in a swing through first primary state New Hampshire on Wednesday.
by Dr. Susan Berry16 Jan 2015, 6:45 PM PST0
Mississippi has withdrawn from the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), one of the two federally funded Common Core test consortia. State education officials will now issue a formal request for proposals (RFP) for possible assessments for the 2015-2016 academic year.
by Dr. Susan Berry16 Jan 2015, 2:27 PM PST0
It all started when a University alumnus made a $3 million dollar donation to fund the position of Director of Islamic Studies at Duke University. Bettye Martin Musham, who gifted the Islamic Studies Center with the vast sum of money, said that she was convinced that it was the right thing to do after hearing a lecture on the meaning of jihad. Musham said that she and her husband would later become “hooked with the importance of Islam.”
by Jordan Schachtel16 Jan 2015, 1:50 PM PST0
On January 15, Arkansas state representative Charlie Collins (R-Fayetteville) proposed legislation to allow faculty and staff at state colleges and universities to carry guns on campus for self-defense. Known as House Bill 1077, the measure would allow faculty and staff
by AWR Hawkins16 Jan 2015, 10:15 AM PST0
Editors at The Wall Street Journal are pumping up former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and current Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as 2016 presidential contenders, even though both men have Common Core problems with conservatives.
by Dr. Susan Berry16 Jan 2015, 5:38 AM PST0
