Scenarios like this in Atlanta are surely repeated across the country. Might it be plausible to duplicate the curriculum in Inman Park so parents wouldn’t have to worry? It was just after midnight Monday when Jackie and Michael Cottrell parked their 40-foot motor home across the street from Mary Lin Elementary School.
Their plan was simple: Camp out to make sure Skyler gets into the highly coveted pre-k program at the school in Atlanta’s Candler Park. Even if that meant spending three days and three nights in the camper until registration begins Thursday.“The whole process is kind of goofy, but what parent doesn’t do crazy things for their kid?” Michael Cottrell said.
Competition is tight for the program, which has room for 20 kids. The Cottrells started a registration line and secured the first spot.
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Is it already too late to discuss “responsible family life” and the ramifications of sex by the time kids reach the seventh grade?
The Minnesota House has approved legislation establishing a sex education requirement for all public school districts.
Lawmakers passed the controversial mandate as part of a wide-ranging education policy bill last night. Supporters say the measure will help reduce teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted disease. But critics say sex education decisions should be made by parents and local schools, not the state.
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Could the developments from this San Diego elementary school shine a light on the real problem with under performing schools?
Five years ago, suspensions abounded at Webster Elementary. Fights regularly erupted during recess and teachers feared violent outbursts from gang-involved 6th graders. New principal Jennifer White was shocked to learn that Webster had 70 suspensions the year before she arrived, and 80 the year before that.
“My first year, [one day] by 10 a.m. a substitute was up front in tears,” said Becky Tewalt, a speech therapist who began working at Webster in 2000. “She’d had it.”
Fast forward to 2008. Students cheerfully greet their teachers by name, line up quickly, and listen respectfully to each other in class. The endless procession of kids to the principal’s office has stopped. White now spends her mornings ranging freely between classrooms to observe teachers and videotaping their best lessons to share.
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A new report issued today by the Foundation for Child Development finds some positives for American children from 0 to 10 years of age. A combination of factors – public policy, the economy and parenting – help explain improvements in children’s well being. The question now is whether turbulence in today’s economy will have a negative impact on relevant indicators.
In a wide-ranging look at how children have fared in their first decade of life, a study to be released today offers a promising picture of American childhood: Sixth-graders feel safer at school. Reading and math scores are up for 9-year-olds. More preschoolers are vaccinated. Fewer are poisoned by lead.
The analysis, which created a composite index of more than 25 key national indicators, reports an almost 10 percent boost in children’s well-being from 1994 to 2006. This overall improvement comes in spite of two significant negative trends: increased rates of childhood obesity and low-birth-weight babies.
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While it’s commonly known that the U.S. has the highest prison population in the world, the explanations for this statistic discussed in this article are fascinating. The writer doesn’t delve deeply into social factors, but it would be interesting to know how much lower the incarceration rate would be if more priority was given to children.
Criminologists and legal experts here and abroad point to a tangle of factors to explain America’s extraordinary incarceration rate: higher levels of violent crime, harsher sentencing laws, a legacy of racial turmoil, a special fervor in combating illegal drugs, the American temperament, and the lack of a social safety net. Even democracy plays a role, as judges — many of whom are elected, another American anomaly — yield to populist demands for tough justice.
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This ruling negates the Bush Administration’s directive to restrict SCHIP eligibility, calling for – among other things – states covering 100 percent of eligible children at 200 FPL before any consideration of children above that level.
The Bush administration violated federal law last year when it restricted states’ ability to provide health insurance to children of middle-income families, and its new policy is therefore unenforceable, lawyers from the Government Accountability Office said Friday.
The ruling strengthens the hand of at least 22 states, including New York and New Jersey, that already provide such coverage or want to do so. And it significantly reduces the chance that the new policy can be put into effect before President Bush leaves office in nine months.
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As a state with one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the country, Georgia could use its share of corporate largess. But is money the solution? How will ATT’s money be spent?
AT&T plans to announce a $100 million gift on Thursday intended to address the problem of high school dropouts and to improve the skills of the nation’s work force.
The gift, which will be distributed over four years, is among the largest corporate donations on record, but it is the second $100 million donation announced by a company this year. Last month, Goldman, Sachs & Company announced it would spend at least the same amount over 10 years to advance women’s business education in the developing world.
“We view it like any other investment we make,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive of AT&T Mobility, the company’s wireless operations. “It’s an investment in our future as well as the communities in which we work.”
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