- What Happens When There’s No Public School Choice?
I marveled at the size of Trenton Central High School when I toured the facility on a public tour
It is 380,000 square feet; to put that in perspective, imagine three anchor stores in a suburban shopping center stacked one atop the other - Want To Teach Intelligent Design? Put It In A History Class
In 1980, the Reagan Revolution meant not only a reconsideration of sex education, but also a reconsideration of the theory of evolution Back then, the alternative theory was called creationism or scientific creationism; today it's called intelligent design - Unintended Consequences of True School Choice
I always try to make it a point to see both sides of an education issue, and as Project Runway host Tim Gunn always tells his fashion designer cast, try to make it work
The concept of true school choice fits that challenge - The Rutgers 1000 Is Baaaack!
I have lived in New Jersey practically all of my life
The Garden State has been in fiscal crisis practically all of my academic life and my working life - The Cristo Rey Model Is More Than A Dream
Shortly after I heard about President Bush's proposal for Pell Grants for low-income children to attend parochial schools, I finished reading More than a Dream: The Christo Rey Story, a inspirational book about the founding of the first Christo Rey Jesuit high school in Chicago's Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood - The Basics Of The Student Loan Mess
These past weeks there has been talk in the higher education press about private lenders and state guarantee agencies either withdrawing from the government-subsidized student loan market or refusing to underwrite new loans These financial institutions cite either a cash crunch or a credit crunch, or reductions in the federal interest subsidy as the reasons for pulling back on such loans - The Abstinence Teacher Gets An 'A' In My Grade Book
Tom Perrotta and I have two things in common: New Jersey roots and novels about sex education; his latest work, The Abstinence Teacher is the only other novel, besides my own, The Sex Ed Chronicles, that I have read which covers a subject that is still considered taboo in some social circles
The Abstinence Teacher has two main characters: Ruth Ramsey, a divorcee' and high school sex educator who makes one inappropriate comment too many, drawing the ire of the evangelical Tabernacle church and its hell for leather Pastor Dennis, and Tim Mason, a former stoner and rock n' roller, also divorced, turned born-again Christian and doting soccer dad - Tales Of Two Harvards
Journalist Hanna Rosin has written God's Harvard, a wonderful book about Patrick Henry College, a Christian school that its chancellor calls "a Harvard for the home-schooled"
Rosin, who has covered religion and politics for the Washington Post, has crafted an insightful — some of more moderate or liberal political persuasions might find scary — story of a relatively new institution, one that has a mission of preparing an "evangelical elite" for political leadership - Summit On Faith Based Schools More Powerful Than Money
During his final State of the Union Address, President Bush announced two proposals for faith-based schools; one, a grants program for low-income students similar to Pell Grants for college students, and the other a national Presidential summit on faith-based education
The summit is more important than the grants program - Should TV Bring Back Room 222?
Every profession could use a good TV show to help it flourish in tough times With No Child Left Behind, maybe teachers need one more than ever - Should The High School Military Test Be A Mandatory Test?
High school students interested in serving in our armed forces must take an entrance examination called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) The ASVAB is used to not only assess a recruit’s aptitude for military service, but also help identify their Military Operational Specialty — service-speak for job — if they choose to serve - Shades Of Red, Part 2
Still curious about Rutgers-Nebraska comparisons, I stumbled on a short biography of former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne in a book I just finished called 100 Heroes: People in Sports Who Make This a Better World
It led me to collect a little more information about this Hall of Fame coach, which I’d like to share with the online audience - Shades Of Red
From time to time, I would like to write about colleges and universities from the perspective of studying Rutgers University, my alma mater and school I know best I have earned two degrees from Rutgers and formed successful professional relationships with university administrators - SAT Optional Schools Not Always Easy Schools
It has been 30 years since I was a high school senior, but I had to take the SATs just as 11th and 12th graders do now I did okay, but not good enough to get into my two first choice schools - Rutgers To Reorganize Alumni Association For The Better
From time to time, I write about Rutgers, the state university I know best Rutgers is a very good school; U - Romney Can’t Take His Mitts Off Human Relations Education
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has fired two salvos on sex education since July, attacking Democratic candidate Barack Obama for his support of age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education for elementary school children, then going after the broader Democratic field for not rejecting the inclusion of gay-related issues in sex education for second-graders - Reading Is Fundamental Does Not Deserve A Reduction In Force
On February 12, the true Lincoln's Birthday, I read in USA Today that the Bush Administration proposes to eliminate Federal funding for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a non-profit program that has distributed 325 million new books to more than 30 million children over the past 42 years
RIF has been a popular program on both sides of the political aisle - One Look At Excellent Colleges
This fall, as numerous college rankings hit the bookstores, I was curious to find an answer to the question: “What is an ‘excellent school’” after a parent, prospective student or college recruiter sifted through all of this material - On Moral And Charismatic Politicians
The media has passed enough judgment on former New York governor Elliott Spitzer and I agree with the pundits on all sides; there's no possible defense for his extracurricular behavior and he is not above the law
But these past events show that we must consider the behavior that we expect from our elected officials in their public, and sometimes private, lives - More Guidance Counselors Would Help More Children Get Ahead
Before becoming a writer, I spent ten years marketing Web-based job posting and resume tools to college career centers One outcome of this experience is that I gained considerable appreciation for career counselors and guidance counselors at the high school level - Merit Scholarships Should Be Earned Not Handed Out
I've read about the decisions of flagship state universities to increase merit-based, not need-based scholarships to the best-of-best students, the ones who might have chosen an Ivy League school, or other highly selective private college
This is not an academic strategy as much as it is an economic development strategy; state politicians do not want the best students to take their talents out of state, and possibly never return - Memorial For Mothers
Yesterday, May 11, 2008, marked the 100th anniversary of the first celebration of Mother's Day Although Mother's Day officially became a national holiday in 1914, it was first celebrated as memorial service in a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia, Anna Jarvis, credited as the founder of Mother's Day, proposed the service as a dedication to her late mother, who had believed that it would be a nice idea to have a memorial to mothers - Juno And The Restless Virgins
Since I wrote a novel based around sex education, I've tried to pay attention to other books and movies that do the same I reviewed Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher, which I thoroughly enjoyed - Jon Corzine’s Compassionate Conservatism
Here in New Jersey, the Garden State, we have a governor who has just proposed to make $500 million in permanent spending cuts, refinance state debt, reduce municipal aid, eliminate two cabinet departments, and introduce tougher standards in math and science education
These are proposals that you might expect from a Republican, but Jon Corzine is a fiscally conservative, moderate to liberal social issues Democrat - It Pays to Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys or Giants or Eagles or Redskins
NFL Draft Season is now upon us and if you're a pro football fan you already know about the widespread speculation about where your favorite players are going to plying their trade on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays and, if they're lucky, the weekends in January and February after their college seasons were over - Human Relations Education Once Considered 'Communist Plot'
Going back to 1980 to write The Sex Ed Chronicles required me to return to the 60's and 70's to get the political setting just right Until I started my research, I did not know that sex education had been considered part of a 'Communist plot - Good Student Credit Should Be A Corporate Social Responsibility
The March 18 USA Today had an interesting cover story in education politics: Colleges' debit card deals draw scrutiny
The purpose of these deals is to foster computerized cashless transactions on-campus, for example purchasing books, meals or tickets to athletic events through a debit card that doubles as a student ID - Freedom Of Religion Sells The Abstinence Message
This week, the first of the New Year, the Austin American Statesmen comes an opinion by Ken Lambrecht, president of Texas Planned Parenthood, which cites these statistics:
• Texas is No 1 in the nation for repeat teen births
• More than 80,000 teenagers in Texas become pregnant every year
• In a 2004 poll, ninety percent of Texans agreed that public schools should educate students with age-appropriate, medically accurate sex education
These statistics come from the state that brought us George W - Endowment Tax is Unsound Public Policy
I just read in the May 19 Christian Science Monitor that a Massachusetts legislator proposes a 25 percent tax on college endowments over $1 billion - Eleanor And Ike: Historical Fiction Parallels Today's Presidential Politics
My first attempt at fiction, The Sex Ed Chronicles, was based on historical events in my hometown and state, but it was a story of fictional characters However, there are brilliant works of historical fiction that stay truer to history, when they use well-known historical figures in alternate scenarios
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