NEA President: Leaving Chester Upland Students in Limbo a “Dereliction of Duty”

By Kevin Hart The students of the Chester Upland School District, one of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania, deserve the security of knowing that their schools will have the funding to remain open for the entire school year. That was the message delivered by National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel after a $3.2 million [...]

Biden and Duncan Talk College Affordability at Ohio High School

By Mary Ellen Flannery In Ohio, where Vice President Joe Biden visited a high school on Thursday to promote the issue of college affordability, more than two-thirds of college students borrow money to pay for their education. Last year, thanks to rapidly rising tuition costs, each owed an average $27,000-plus upon graduation—a record-setting, dream-shattering level [...]

Corporate Tax Loopholes Under Scrutiny

By Tim Walker As state governments struggle with bleak fiscal outlooks in 2012 and drastic budget cuts continue to take affect, many citizens still assume that lawmakers have tapped into every available source of revenue. Still, a creeping sense that not everyone has been paying their fair share has shifted the conversation. Widespread news coverage [...]

“A National Crisis”: NEA Spotlights Urgent Need for School Modernization

By Cindy Long When it rains, water pours out of the ceiling into Christopher Meyer’s classroom. He places buckets around the room, pushes student desks out of the way, and puts a tarp over his own desk. Then he has to scramble to find a dry, safe room where he can continue his lessons. “At [...]

Children Paying the Price for Deficit Reduction

By Tim Walker Lawmakers at every level of government often say severe budget-cutting measures are necessary so that “our children” aren’t saddled with the national debt. While no one disputes the importance of deficit reduction, it is the nation’s children who have been bearing the brunt of the budget-slashing frenzy that has taken hold in [...]

Cash-Strapped Schools Open Their Doors to Advertising

By Robert McNeely In many public schools across the country, students are allowed to personalize their lockers with stickers, handwritten notes, and photographs. The last thing you would expect to see on a locker, on the other hand, is an advertisement for a local water park. But it might become more common. As unusual as [...]

Austerity – The Real Crisis In Public Education

By Tim Walker While the national media’s education coverage centers around teacher accountability, testing, and standards, public schools across the nation are facing two grave threats: extreme budget cuts and the reallocation of tax dollars to private entities. That’s the key finding of a new report by the Campaign for America’s Future. Co-sponsored by the [...]

American Jobs Act Faces Critical Hurdle in Congress

By Brian Washington President Obama’s American Jobs Act—which is designed to return educators back to work and prevent students from being forced into overcrowded classrooms—is facing a key hurdle on Tuesday. The American Jobs Act is up in the U.S. Senate for a cloture vote. Cloture is the procedure needed to end debate and allow lawmakers to [...]

No Miracles: Rick Perry’s Record on Jobs and Education

By Mary Ellen Flannery and Tim Walker Rick Perry, governor of Texas and top 2012 GOP presidential contender, enjoys boasting that his state has been generating jobs while the rest of the nation struggles – the “Texas Miracle” his supporters like to call it. Perry also says Texas schools, despite being walloped by more than $5 [...]

Educators Visit Capitol Hill to Lobby for the American Jobs Act

By Tim Walker Cherine Akbari was looking forward to a second year as a social studies teacher at Northeast High School in Oakland Park, Florida. “I had found a job that I was really good at,” she recalls. “I loved making history interesting for students.” But on May 6, she became one of the 1400 [...]

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