Outside the Box – Juliann Talkington

Venture capital money flows to places that foster innovation – well educated workforce and business friendly policies.  As a result, I found it alarming, but understandable, that US venture capitalists are pouring more and more money into start-up businesses in China and India (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), leaving less money to invest in the US.  Young people educated in China and India have a strong grasp of science and math concepts (The Curse of the Class of 2009), subjects US schools do not teach well.  This educational advantage combined with a less litigious business climate and lower wages, makes these countries attractive investment locations. If the US wants to avoid this kind of capital flight we must fix our education system, so US workers have a competitive advantage over workers educated in other places.

The Advocate – Jordan Blum

“While higher education was spared $219 million in proposed state budget cuts, colleges are now left with the task of slicing more than $100 million from their books and laying off hundreds of employees.”(more)

Christian Science Monitor – Stacy Teicher Khadaroo

“Efforts to establish national education standards have always foundered on the shoals of culture wars and fears of too much federal control. But the time may be ripe for something close: a common set of standards for K-12 math and reading that states could opt to adopt.”(more)

Inter Press Service News Agency (All Africa) – Miriam Mannak

“Cape Town — Unemployment among young South Africans is hovering at 30 percent, shooting up to over 60 percent for youths in their late teens and early twenties. But tertiary education and skills development seem not to be making much of a dent in what is now regarded as a crisis.”(more)

Examiner.com – Jennifer Klever

“There seems to be a myth that homeschoolers do not receive proper socialization. This usually comes from people who do not understand homeschooling or those deeply involved in public education. In reality, the majority of homeschoolers are provided with plenty of social opportunities.”(more)

San Francisco Chronicle – Jill Tucker

“Six years after a state takeover, Oakland school officials Monday regained control of the district’s destiny – a responsibility saddled with an $80 million debt, subpar test scores and bad blood with the teachers union.”(more)

Associated Press (Union-Tribune) – Staff Writer

“RENO, Nev. — The University of Nevada, Reno will set aside a portion of an approved tuition increase to provide aid for low-income students.”(more)

Washington Post – Daniel de Vise

“The dispute illuminates occasional tensions between the Washington area’s high-flying suburban schools and families seeking admission. Some claim an address that is not theirs. Others send a child to stay with friends or relatives in the county.”(more)

Washington Post – Daniel de Vise

“Peer review, embraced by more than 80 school systems nationwide, confronts one of public education’s most vexing problems: What to do with under-performing teachers?”(more)

Washington Post – Jay Mathews

“Sometime last year, while negotiating a teacher contract for the KIPP Ujima Village charter middle school in Baltimore, founder Jason Botel pointed out that his students, mostly from low- income families, had earned the city’s highest public school test scores three years in a row. If the union insisted on increasing overtime pay, he said, the school could not afford the extra instruction time that was a key to its success, and student achievement would suffer. Botel says a union official replied: “That’s not our problem.”"(more)