We Don’t Need No Education

College tuition increases more than triple the rate of inflation

"California — which saw the worst tuition increase last year — has a five-year tuition increase of 102 percent for two-year public colleges and a 72 percent five-year increase at four-year colleges. The College Board made a calculated decision to throw out California’s tuition rates in their average because it would have skewed the average increase too high. A separate report found that 81 percent of African American students carries some kind of student debt along with 67 percent of Latino students. Only about 64 percent of white students, meanwhile have student debt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCollege tuition increases more than triple the rate of inflation

Boy ordered to change schools for carrying cystic fibrosis gene

"School officials said they believe 11-year-old Colman Chadam’s genetic makeup may put other students at risk and ordered him to move from Palo Alto’s Jordan Middle School to another district middle school three miles away after his parents disclosed his condition on a medical form in the beginning of the school year. Colman has never had the lung problems associated with the disease, has never required treatment and tested negative on a sweat test, which is the definitive diagnostic test. The Chadmans said they only disclosed his condition out of an 'overabundance of caution'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBoy ordered to change schools for carrying cystic fibrosis gene

Free Online Education Is Illegal in Minnesota

"The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the state has decided to crack down on free education, notifying California-based startup Coursera that it is not allowed to offer its online courses to the state’s residents. Coursera, founded by Stanford computer science professors Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng, partners with top-tier universities around the world to offer certain classes online for free to anyone who wants to take them. You know, unless they happen to be from Minnesota. State law prohibits degree-granting institutions from offering instruction in Minnesota without obtaining permission from the office and paying a registration fee." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFree Online Education Is Illegal in Minnesota

Student protest in Mexico turns violent, 176 arrested

"Mexican students protesting a new curriculum threw homemade explosives, fired rockets and hurled stones at police in a melee that left 176 arrested and 10 police officers injured, officials said. The protesting students are preparing to become teachers in rural areas, and they are angry because the new curriculum includes English and computer science, which they see as low-priority subjects in poor rural areas of Mexico. The students have been holding more than 40 city buses in their possession since October 4, and during Monday’s protest they set fire to 13 of them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStudent protest in Mexico turns violent, 176 arrested

13 Careers Short on Graduates

"In an economy with more than 53% jobless or underemployed recent college graduates, it’s hard to imagine that there are actually careers short on graduates. But it’s true: there are several different fields that simply can’t find enough qualified candidates to fill all of their job opportunities. Health care, skilled trades, and even finance are hurting for graduates — are you cut out for one of these careers with room to grow?" Continue reading →

Continue Reading13 Careers Short on Graduates

Tracking School Children With RFID Tags? It’s All About the Benjamins

"Just as the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandates Radio Frequency Identification Device chips to monitor livestock, a Texas school district just begun implanting the devices on student identification cards to monitor pupils’ movements on campus, and to track them as they come and go from school. Tagging school children with RFID chips is uncommon, but not new. A federally funded preschool in Richmond, California, began embedding RFID chips in students’ clothing in 2010. With the RFID tracking, students not at their desk but tracked on campus are counted as being in school that day, and the district receives its daily allotment for that student." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTracking School Children With RFID Tags? It’s All About the Benjamins

Lunch lady slammed for food that is ‘too good’

"A talented head cook at a school in central Sweden has been told to stop baking fresh bread and to cut back on her wide-ranging veggie buffets because it was unfair that students at other schools didn't have access to the unusually tasty offerings. 'A menu has been developed... It is about making a collective effort on quality, to improve school meals overall and to try and ensure everyone does the same,' Katarina Lindberg, head of the unit responsible for the school diet scheme, told the local Falukuriren newspaper. The school's vegetable buffet will be halved in size and Eriksson's handmade loafs will be replaced with store-bought bread." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLunch lady slammed for food that is ‘too good’