With the credit crisis of 2008 mixed with the real estate bubble is really proving to be a double whammy to students in Florida. I'm gonna graduate with about 60,000 thousand in loans after 4 years of University of Tampa not to mention the additional costs of me going to medical school. Thats with the state sponsored bright futures and my grant which took out 25% of my tuition.
This is my first diary so I hope everyone will cut me some slack if this topic is getting old by now.
Yes, the consensus is that McCain performed better that everyone expected, which has led to a lot of suspicion ... ??? ... that he might have had access to some of the questions prior to going onstage. All the talking heads seem to think there's no definitive way to prove this beyond doubt.
At the Saddleback Faith Inquisition, err, Forum, both McCain and Obama were asked, "Who are the three wisest people that you know, and that you would rely on heavily in your administration?"
Obama:
His Wife
His Grandmother
Too many valid perspectives to limit to three
McCain:
General Petraeus
John Lewis
Meg Whitman
Fair enough and true to form, Obama was truthful and tactful; McCain was truthful and shooting from the lip.
The contrast in approach and thought process aside . . . Meg Whitman? The General and John Lewis were typical examples of McCain's pandering/bolstering version of straight-talk. No real surprises there – though Mr. Lewis may disagree. But Whitman? Really? OK, I'll play along.
When I was graduated from high school in 1977, the Shoreline School District -- which is located immediately north of the Seattle city line -- was the only district west of the Mississippi River to have a merit pay plan for teachers in place. This fact was not well known in our community.
Since merit pay factored in one of the less sexy questions during last night's political event, I was reminded of my experiences, and thought to spend a few moments sharing.
That year I was editor of our school newspaper, and like many young journalists in that heady time, I wished to be the next Woodward or Bernstein. (And, like most, fell considerably short of that aim.) So when a teacher breathed word of this peculiar institution to me, I went about my investigative journalist's job -- with a newly minted tape recorder from Radio Shack -- to get to the bottom of what merit pay was, who was receiving it, and what it meant.
Below the fold is what I found, preceded by several disclaimers.
This isn't the a major current issue but it was brought up in tonight's... whatever it was. So!
Merit pay for teachers is a stupid idea. Yet another one which is popular among the uniformed. It's also an easy way out as it provides a convenient someone to blame.
Problem #1: If 4 people can sit at 1 table, 8 people can sit at 2 tables, and 12 can sit at 3 tables, and this relationship continues, write an expression to describe the number of people who can sit at n tables and tell how many people can sit at 67 tables.
Problem #2: The table shows the total cost of purchasing different quantities of equally priced DVDs.
______________________________________
number purchased 025 ______________________________________
total cost $0$10$25 ______________________________________
Graph the ordered pairs (0,0), (2, 10), and (5, 25) and the line connecting the ordered pairs. Use the line to determine the total cost when 3 DVDs are purchased.
Since 1998, mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg assigned more than 5,000 school safety agents and at least 200 armed police officers to the city’s schools, making the NYPD’s school safety division larger than all but four of the nation’s police forces – larger than Washington DC, Detroit, Boston or Las Vegas.
The aggressive policing of New York City’s schools reflects a trend nationwide that pushes students -- mostly low-income youth of color -- from the education system into the criminal justice system.
Schools should feel safe and nurturing, not like prison.
As many of you know, the online progressive community has been working together to collectively and democratically craft a shared vision for the country. Only three short weeks ago, a small band of netizens gathered in Austin to kick off the process of writing our own political platform. We set our goals high: to collectively write a shared progressive vision for the country, which we would use to influence the Obama/DNC national platform process.
After many intense days of writing, remixing, and rating, the final version is complete. Amazingly, what started with just a few people brainstorming ideas at Netroots Nation has since grown to an impressive 29-page policy document, involving 246 registered participants, 167 planks and 925 ratings, and ultimately coauthored by 164 people across the country!
And we just received word that some parts of the Netroots platform were included in the National Platform. (We're just not sure which...)
Here we go again. Another example of education reform by fiat. Another example of education reform without supporting infrastructure.
California 8th graders will be required to take Algebra 1 and be tested on it as part of the state’s accountability system, under a controversial decision made by the state board of education last week after last-minute pressure from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Why don't we just fail the kids right now and save some money?
Mr. O’Connell said in his own letter to the state board that requiring all 8th graders to take algebra would especially be hard on African-American and Hispanic students who, as demographic subgroups, are still not even scoring at the proficient level "on what amounts to 7th grade standards."
...snip...
Education officials so far have offered no details about any budget impact from the move. But providing support to get teachers ready to teach algebra to all 8th graders could be difficult given a California budget deficit estimated at $17 billion at one point, which has forced cuts in all departments, including education.
As many of you know, the netroots have been busy for the last 3 weeks collectively crafting their own political platform. We’re presenting each of the planks, one-by-one, to give a chance for feedback & discussion. Democracylover in NYC's diary from earlier todayis serving as the 'Mothership' as the planks are individually diaried – so please recommend it!
So here's the Education plank intro – the rest is over the fold:
Our commitment to education is among our greatest obligations to our children, and it is a challenge we take seriously. It is our goal to provide children with an education that will broaden their horizons, expand their minds, and help them grow as individuals.
As many of you know, the online progressive community has been working together to collectively and democratically craft a shared vision for the country. Only three short weeks ago, a small band of netizens gathered in Austin to kick off the process of writing our own political platform. We set our goals high: to collectively write a shared progressive vision for the country, which we would use to influence the Obama/DNC national platform process.
After many intense days of writing, remixing, and rating, the final version is complete. Amazingly, what started with just a few people brainstorming ideas at Netroots Nation has since grown to an impressive 29-page policy document, involving 246 registered participants, 167 planks and 925 ratings, and ultimately coauthored by 164 people across the country!
And we just received word that some parts of the Netroots platform were included in the National Platform. (We're just not sure which...)
I'm learning disabled. Always have been. Always will be. That's disabled, because there are some things that almost everyone can do that I cannot.
Recently, in reaction to the upcoming movie "Tropic Thunder" there has been a lot of discussion of the use of words, in particular, the word "retard" which is apparently used a lot in the movie. Some people are proposing boycotting the movie. Some people want to try to ban the word, or make is socially unacceptable.
I think this is misguided. If you'd like to know why, follow me below the fold
Half of the American budget is devoted to defense spending and the economy would be in a real quandary without it. American political leaders would have to decide how to spend all the money freed up and since they believe in minimal government (except for defense, of course), they will face a real challenge. Possibly they could invest more in space travel to speed up our Mar's program. Imagine the thrill of the average American, hungry or not, of witnessing such a stupendous technological accomplishment. If we are sufficiently fortuitous, we might encounter hostile aliens who would force us to spend more on defense again.
Unfair trade practices have had a devastating impact on our local communities. Since 2001, the state of Ohio has lost more than 102,000 jobs to China alone – the 5th highest amount of all 50 U.S. states.
Two thirds of U.S. jobs lost to China have come from our manufacturing sector, which won’t surprise local community members who have seen factories closed and jobs shipped away.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to participate in a brief discussion about the rightness or wrongess of the word "Retard" and there are several diaries about the specific word going around now.
My point of this diary though is not on that specific word and the connection to the movie but more in general, when are, or are their situations when some words OK to be used and if so, when are those times, and who can the words be used by and who makes these rules?
The diary itself will not be long, but I hope the discussion it prompts will be.
A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution.
