The news release that a Texas School District could be the first in the nation to allow teachers and staff to pack guns for protection was deemed so preposterous it received a prominent spot on the Nutty News Network.
But the story is legit - the Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District have approved a [...]

In his 2006 report to the Panel on Innovative Teaching and Learning Strategies, Associate Professor David Wiley, Ph.D., raised more than a few eyebrows when he informed panel members that higher education in America was “in very real danger of becoming irrelevant.”
Wiley describes the antiquated college classroom experience thus:
“Students are inside a classroom (tethered to [...]

On Thursday, Democratic platform committee members were provided a draft of the Democratic National Committee’s 2008 platform. Titled “Renewing America’s Promise” and broken out into four distinct sections, “Renewing the American Dream,” “Renewing American Leadership,” “Renewing the American Community,” and “Renewing American Democracy,” the platform is a strong counter to the current Bush administration policies [...]

Here’s an interesting piece of data courtesy The Wall Street Journal:
In the economic expansion that began in 2001 and now appears to be ending, the inflation-adjusted wages of the majority of U.S. workers didn’t grow, even among those who went to college. The government’s statistical snapshots show the typical weekly salary of a worker with [...]

David Brooks has has an interesting analysis of Barack Obama’s donor base, which is heavily reliant on well-educated, information-age workers.
Once, the wealthy were solidly Republican. But the information age rewards education with money. There are many smart high achievers who grew up in liberal suburbs around San Francisco, L.A. and New York, went to left-leaning [...]

Here’s and interesting initiative proposed by Barack Obama.
He wants to give students a $4,000 tax credit to be used towards tuition – but there’s a catch. To earn the credit, the students would have to complete 100 hours of community service.
Plus, since it’s a tax credit (rather than a plain ole handout), students will [...]

He’ll be accused of offering the typical Democratic tax and spend plans, but with the housing market tanking because of free market loopholes and the prices of basic goods skyrocketing due in part of out of control war spending, I’m thinking the middle class would appreciate some fiscal attention refocused on their needs.
From the AP:
Speaking [...]

Tom Hanson is the editor of OpenEducation.net, a site dedicated to tracking the changes occurring in education today especially the impact of technology on teaching and learning. A retired school superintendent, Tom has 32 years of experience in the profession as a classroom teacher, coach and administrator.
To the surprise of many, Glenn Beck continues [...]

One of my favorite creative enterprises is the One Laptop Per Child project which seeks to make computers so affordable that every child in developing nations will be able to own one.
The original goal was $100 laptops. The initial model went for $188. Now, they’ve developed a version that will cost only $75. It looks [...]

Joseph Rago of the Wall Street Journal reports and comments on the latest professorial lunacy on a college campus. This one involves a professor accusing her students of an anti-intellectualism that violated her civil rights. The student’s crime? Questioning the validity of the professor’s theory. Read the piece for some eye-rolling amusement.

National Priorities Project has a great website that illustrates how your money is spent by the federal government on a state by state average. (note: this doesn’t mean state tax dollars are being spent, just the average breakdown for federal taxes paid by residents of a certain state.)
The biggest finding? For every $42 we spend [...]

Public Policy Polling has the numbers (pdf file)…
After a week in which both candidates spent a lot of time in North Carolina Barack Obama has retained a large lead in the state, according to the newest survey from Public Policy Polling.
Obama leads Clinton 54-36. His lead is particularly strong among likely voters who do not [...]

Wow, color me impressed…
(02-19) 23:49 PST Palo Alto — In a radical change to its financial aid program, Stanford University will announce today that it will no longer charge tuition to students whose families earn less than $100,000 a year.
In addition, the university will waive room and board fees for students whose families earn less [...]

I think I speak for all the teenagers in the world when I say, “Let’s do it!”
From NY Times:
Research shows that teenagers’ body clocks are set to a schedule that is different from that of younger children or adults. This prevents adolescents from dropping off until around 11 p.m., when they produce the sleep-inducing hormone [...]

Gotta love the ole USA:
American adults in general do not understand what molecules are (other than that they are really small). Fewer than a third can identify DNA as a key to heredity. Only about 10 percent know what radiation is. One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth, an idea [...]

Three stories that explore the boundary between what’s reasonable and what’s not, what’s criminal and what’s not, and what’s ethical and what’s not.
What’s reasonable?
A California school district has taken to billing parents who take their kids out of school for nonmedical reasons — like a family ski trip. The price? $36.13 for each day missed. [...]

I’m a Missourian, so any news about a Missouri senator has some amount of special signifiance. Apparently, Bond wants to be the President of the University of Missouri school system, a very cush job with a fat salary.
From Wonkette:
According to a Wonkette operative who heard this from two different sources, Republican Senator Kit Bond is [...]

Our education system works, but for a lot of kids it simply offers a way to pass the time and little else. I look back on my education and wonder why I didn’t have more options to follow the interests I felt were more in line with what I wanted to pursue.
The NY Sun has [...]

When our children were little, their grandparents really liked talking “baby talk” to them. I’d watch as supposedly intelligent adults spent hours talking nonsense to unresponsive infants. Both baby and adult seemed to enjoy it.
I hated it.
Why? Because my wife and I were convinced that it stunted brain development. Because of that, and because we [...]

I have to hand to Arnold. He seems to be making some very sound decisions recently, and this latest piece of legislation is no exception. Basically, it keeps poorly performing teachers from being able to slip through the cracks in the system.
From SF Gate:
(09-29) 04:00 PDT Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday [...]