Attracting, Educating, and Empowering Workers

If American companies are to compete and win in a worldwide economy, they need well-educated and well-trained workers.

No one can outwork or out-think the American worker.  But if we are to remain competitive internationally, the best foundation for a competitive economy starts with an education and training system that gives American workers the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st Century.

• America needs to change the way that it trains, pays, and evaluates teachers. Pay for performance and incentive pay should be the rule.
• The bureaucratic culture that stifles learning in too many public schools should be replaced with a spirit of innovation through programs such as expanded learning time, early enrollment of high schoolers in college-level courses, online learning programs, and more charter schools.
• Education does not end upon graduation, and workers of all ages who receive ongoing training will be productive and successful
• We must support legislation that seeks to double the number of graduating scientists and engineers within 10 years.

Sep 4, 2010 Oregon Department of Education considers changes to hiring practices after discovering pending complaint against new employee (The Oregonian) ...innuendo." The teacher standards commission will not release information on pending complaints. Neither York nor Medford officials would provide details. York started in Medford as a supervisor in special education and moved up to director of student services before being reassigned last...    more...  

Sep 4, 2010 Walker would grade schools (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) The home was built by a company in which Neumann is a partner. The column also details complaints of a dairy farmer over the sale of 85 acres in Washington County to Neumann's company.    more...  

Sep 4, 2010 Controversial high school diplomas create turmoil at Keiser University (Sun Sentinel) He was fired June 25. Pierre, who enrolled at least 20 students with Sunrise diplomas, said Keiser admissions officers knew the school was questionable. He said he didn't know how many Florida students have received diplomas from his school. When asked about his school's standards, he said,...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Essay: The End of Tenure? (New York Times) There’s something wrong with this picture.The debate over American higher education has been reignited recently, thanks to two feisty new books. ­Higher Education? Taylor, by contrast, has spent his career on the elite end of higher education, but he is no less disillusioned. He shares Hacker...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Evergreen district kindergarten classes go all day, every day (The Oregonian) Within a month, he was reading short books.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Down economy means business at area colleges (The Baltimore Sun) Enrollment grew an average of 4 percent a year, from 1998 through 2008, according to the Council of Graduate Schools. The latest recession began in December 2007. Enrollment may have taken a hit since the recession deepened in recent years. The school has expanded enrollment in its full-time...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Despite budget cuts, NJ homeowners still face sky-high property taxes (Asbury Park Press) The bottom line is this: Higher taxes are coming to New Jersey. The property owners are paying dearly. "Loch Arbour is not a wealthy community," McBain said. "We are working-class schlubs, most of us. The borough has entered into several shared services agreements with nearby municipalities,...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 'The system has failed them (The Oregonian) Most don't. Schools use a mishmash of tests and checklists to track students' reading skills -- or, in some grades in many schools, none at all. Use of commercial reading improvement programs is scattershot. But the program will be implemented in just six high-need schools this year.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Back-to-school event gives guidance, resources to kids under supervision of Multnomah County (The Oregonian) Some listened and others fidgeted uncomfortably as speakers including Portland Public Schools Superintendent Carole Smith offered encouragement. But this wasn't just any group of kids. The 52 middle and high school students who attended are all under the supervision of the Multnomah County...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 EDITORIAL (The Wisconsin State Journal) Yet they are reality. And Madison, in some ways, is ahead of the 'burbs. What is clear is that Madison can't let its schools slip. A city that loses its schools is in trouble.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Michelle Fenty campaigns for her husband (Washington Post) Thank you Lori Soto for opening up your beautiful home. I am happy to be here in my home ward-Ward 4-can we hear it for Ward 4? Is Ward 4 going to deliver 4 more years? I have known Adrian Fenty for the past 16 years.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 BA board member resigns amid audit (Tulsa World) Withholding the tainted audit was the ethical and professional thing to do, he said. Meanwhile, state Rep.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Cheers for STEM school (Akron Beacon Journal) ...school. The other is through the Invent Now Akron Museum and Store, adjacent to the school. Last year, the National Inventors Hall of Fame moved out of Akron to Stark County, angering Mayor Don Plusquellic because of all the effort and money spent to lure the organization to Akron. Council...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Grant to pay for new student testing (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) ...develop statewide computerized tests for Wisconsin elementary and secondary school students that are expected to provide near-immediate feedback and comparisons to test takers in other states, education officials announced Thursday. The state belongs to the SMARTER Balanced Assessment...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Wonkbook: White House considers payroll tax holiday; House libs against Social Security cuts; 25% were unemployed during recession (Washington Post) Whatever else the fiscal commission does, it seems likely to come out with some package of reforms for the stories social insurance program. But Republicans aren't very interested in raising payroll taxes, and House liberals have now announced their unified opposition to anything that includes...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 CHEERS FOR STEM (Akron Beacon Journal) ...school. The other is through the Invent Now Akron Museum and Store, adjacent to the school. Last year, the National Inventors Hall of Fame moved out of Akron to Stark County, angering Mayor Don Plusquellic because of all the effort and money spent to lure the organization to Akron. Council...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 28 schools to get federal grants (Detroit Free Press) ...school improvement strategies, including: In the DPS applications for the grant, the district committed to the turnaround model for five of the schools that won grants, and committed to the transformation model for the other. "These schools will continue their radical transformations at a...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Paideia Academy says it won't open classes next week (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Elisa Crouch Sep. 3, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- ST. More than 500 students attended Paideia's campuses on College Hill and Carondelet last year. Louis Public Schools building that is in disrepair.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 California's 'English learner' students are learning faster (The Sacramento Bee) It's hard to succeed in California without speaking English. About 23 percent of the school's kindergartners are English learners. Owls. Yazmeen Faizi, one of Hung's fellow students, said she likes the intensive English exercises.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Michigan picks 28 schools for improvement grants (Detroit Free Press) A total of 41 DPS schools applied for $48 million in grants. Michigan will receive $115 million in grants in all.    more...