For The Children

Detroit Bus Co. moving in the right direction

"In early 2012, when Detroit's dysfunctional bus system was all over the news, Andy Didorosi founded the Detroit Bus Co. with three buses and the hope he could do something to help our carless citizens who wait in frustration for buses that can be hours late and sometimes don't come at all. He got lots of press and even a citation from Detroit City Council for stepping in to help. Now a year and a half into the bus biz, Didorosi has found a way to give Detroiters a service they really need. The Detroit Bus Co. is building a program to pick up kids at 'safe spots' and drive them to summer and after-school programs and bring them safely home. The buses run on biodiesel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetroit Bus Co. moving in the right direction

Common Core Exams Put on Hold

"The common core curriculum mandates a common core system of exams. Most students will flunk these exams. This is inevitable. The results in New York are the canary in the coal mine. The failure rate was 69%. Blacks and Hispanics failed at an 84% rate. Parents are up in arms. The common core curriculum will not redeem the public schools. It will instead expose the public schools as utter failures. This will not be tolerated by local politicians, who take the heat for the failures in public schools. They will demand that the educrats turn down the heat. The tests are in the first stage of a roll-back. The Obama Administration is blaming the sequestration." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCommon Core Exams Put on Hold

Striking teachers block access to Mexico City airport

"Thousands of teachers severely disrupted access to Mexico City’s international airport, forcing some travelers to abandon cars and roll suitcases on foot during a protest against education reform. President Enrique Pena Nieto pushed through Congress changes to the constitution in December in order to put education, which was in the hands of powerful unions, back under government control and require teachers to undergo mandatory performance appraisals. More than 70,000 teachers went on strike in southern Mexico, leaving more than one million children without classes at the start of the school year this week." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStriking teachers block access to Mexico City airport

Librarian wants to ban 5-time reading champ from contest

"After Tyler Weaver read 63 books between June 24 and Aug. 3 to win this year’s Dig Into Reading competition at the Hudson Falls Public Library, director Marie Gandron told a reporter from the Glens Falls Post-Star that Weaver 'hogs' the contest every year and should 'step aside.' 'Other kids quit because they can’t keep up,' Gandron said. Gandron's declaration didn't sit well with Tyler and his family. 'When he heard what the director said [about him] he was very upset,' Katie Weaver, Tyler’s mother, told TODAY. 'He’s never seen being good at reading to be a negative thing. And he shouldn’t! He realized that the director was wrong.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLibrarian wants to ban 5-time reading champ from contest

NYC Comptroller: Legalize and Tax Marijuana

"New York City Comptroller John Liu Wednesday released a report calling for the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. Doing so would reduce the harms generated by marijuana prohibition and generate more than $400 million a year in taxes to pay for higher education, Liu said. Liu estimated the size of the city's marijuana market at $1.65 billion a year and proposed using tax revenues from the legalized trade to cut tuition at the City University of New York (CUNY) by up to 50%. 'In this way, we'll invest in young people's futures, instead of ruining them,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYC Comptroller: Legalize and Tax Marijuana