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Lunch debts piling up for school districts

October 11, 2009 Education No Comments

By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

More children are getting into school lunch lines without being able to pay, creating a financial burden for school districts.

Some schools are toughening their policies — limiting students to two or three unpaid meals, creating payment plans and using collection agencies.

It’s a growing problem that reflects families’ economic struggles nationally, says Dora Rivas, president of the School Nutrition Association.

“When we’re talking to parents, we’re hearing that they lost their jobs, their cars have broken down,” says Sheila Mason of Des Moines Public Schools.
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Attorney General and Education Secretary Call for National Conversation on Values and Student Violence

October 7, 2009 Education No Comments

U.S. Department of Justice to Release Study on Children’s Exposure to Violence; U.S. Department of Education to Provide $500,000 Grant to Help Fenger Community

Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan today joined with Chicago city officials to call for a national conversation on values to address youth violence in the wake of the fatal beating of a Chicago high school student. The announcement followed meetings with City officials, community leaders, students, and parents.

“Youth violence isn’t a Chicago problem, any more than it is a black problem or a white problem. It’s something that affects communities big and small, and people of all races and colors. Today is the beginning of what will be a sustained, national effort on behalf of this entire administration to address youth violence and to make our streets safe for everyone,” Holder said.

“Chicago will not be defined by this incident but rather by our response to it – so we came here today to join with you and with communities all across America – to call for a national conversation on values. It’s a conversation that must happen every place in America where violence, intolerance, and discrimination exists,” Duncan said.
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What College Students Don’t Know

September 14, 2009 Education No Comments

Every Fall the professors at beloit college publish their Mindset List, a dictionary of all the deeply ingrained cultural references that will make no sense to the bright-eyed students of the incoming class. It’s a kind of time travel, to remind us how far we’ve come. This year’s freshmen were typically born in 1991. That means, the authors explain, they have never used a card catalog to find a book; salsa has always outsold ketchup; women have always outnumbered men in college. There has always been blue Jell-O.

In 1991 we were fighting a war in Iraq, and still are; health care needed reforming, and still does. But before despairing that some things never change, consider how much has. In 1991 the world watched a black motorist named Rodney King be beaten by L.A. cops, all of whom were acquitted; a majority of whites still disapproved of interracial marriage. Ask yourself, Would the people we were then have voted for a mixed-race President and a black First Lady?
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Reduced grants a possibility

August 17, 2009 Education No Comments

Low inflation leads councils to consider reclaiming money from existing grants. Zoë Corbyn reports

Millions of pounds could be wiped off the collective value of research council grants that have already been awarded to academics.

The UK’s seven research councils may claw back money promised to grant holders in light of falling inflation.

Awards from the councils, which spend about £3 billion on research each year, normally have a sum added at the outset to take account of inflation.
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N.Va. Students Improve, But Schools Fall Short

August 14, 2009 Education No Comments

Roughly nine of every 10 public school students in Northern Virginia passed the state’s reading and math tests in the spring, with achievement gaps narrowing and passing rates edging upward or holding steady across the region.

Yet data released Thursday show that more schools in the region and statewide are falling short of academic targets that rise steadily each year. Many educators are wondering how much more improvement is possible under a federal rating system that essentially demands perfect performance in the next five years.

“I’m definitely worried about that,” said Patricia I. Wright, state superintendent of public instruction. “That’s a question being raised all over the country, in terms of whether or not 100 percent proficiency by 2014 is a realistic statistical goal. All of us agree that’s an educational goal that we want to stand by.”
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Featured Content:

Madagascan bird declared extinct

May 26, 2010

London, England (CNN) — The Alaotra Grebe, a small diving bird native to Madagascar has been officially classified extinct, according to a leading bird conservation organization. BirdLife International reported that the species, once found on Lake Alaotra, the largest lake in Madagascar, declined rapidly due to carnivorous fish being introduced to the lake and the [...]

10 things we have learnt about Africa

April 15, 2010

The Pew Research Center has just released one of the biggest ever studies on attitudes to religion and morality in Africa, which has revealed a host of interesting facts. Here are 10 things we have learnt from the study, which surveyed 25,000 people in 19 countries. 1. 75% of South Africans think polygamy is “morally [...]

Huge head of pharaoh unearthed in Egypt

February 28, 2010

A colossal red granite head of one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs has been unearthed in the southern city of Luxor, officials said. The 3,000-year-old head of Amenhotep III – grandfather of Tutankhamun – was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple. Experts say it is the best preserved example of the [...]

Octopus snatches coconut and runs

December 14, 2009

An octopus and its coconut-carrying antics have surprised scientists. Underwater footage reveals that the creatures scoop up halved coconut shells before scampering away with them so they can later use them as shelters. Writing in the journal Current Biology, the team says it is the first example of tool use in octopuses. One of the [...]

25 years on, Bhopal still suffers from gas leak tragedy

December 2, 2009

Bhopal, India (CNN) — T.R. Chouhan walked solemnly through the rusted remains of the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. “I come here frequently,” he said. “We used to work here, and now this is the condition of the plant. So it feels really bad.” Chouhan was a 10-year veteran employee of the plant [...]

Glaciers disappearing from Kilimanjaro

November 2, 2009

(CNN) — The ice and snow that cap majestic Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania are vanishing before our eyes. If current conditions persist, climate change experts say, Kilimanjaro’s world-renowned glaciers, which have covered Africa’s highest peak for centuries, will be gone within the next two decades. “In a very real sense, these glaciers are being decapitated [...]

‘Lipstick Killer’ behind bars since 1946

October 24, 2009

Dixon, Illinois (CNN) — William Heirens, the “Lipstick Killer,” is believed to be the longest-serving inmate in the United States. He turns 81 on November 15. Diabetes has ravaged his body, but his mind is sharp. “Bill’s never allowed himself to be institutionalized,” said Dolores Kennedy, his long-time friend and advocate. “He’s kept himself focused [...]

Study: States can’t afford death penalty

October 20, 2009

WASHINGTON (CNN) — At 678, California has the nation’s largest death row population, yet the state has not executed anyone in four years. But it spends more than $130 million a year on its capital punishment system — housing and prosecuting inmates and coping with an appellate system that has kept some convicted killers waiting [...]

Odd facts about Nobel Prize winners

October 9, 2009

It’s Nobel Prize announcement week, and if you had Carol W. Greider, Elizabeth Blackburn, or Jack Szostak in your office pool, you’re off to a good start (the trio will share this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine). As we await news of the rest of the winners, here are some stories about past Nobel laureates. [...]

Report: More than 1M preemies die in first month annually

October 4, 2009

(CNN) — More than 1 million babies born prematurely die each year before they are a month old, the March of Dimes said Sunday in the first comprehensive global report on premature births. The organization suggested the situation could worsen if the rate of premature births increases. Each year, 12.9 million infants — or nearly [...]

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