When I saw this piece reported by Janet Shamlian on NBC’s Today Show this morning I knew I had to address this. Numerous school systems across the country are facing massive budget cuts; and parents are being asked to pick up the tab to pay for the most basic classroom necessities like soap, paper [...]
Filed under: Education News, Opinion on August 17th, 2010 | No Comments »
Educators can play a very important role in getting a handle on the Health and Obesity crisis. When children are well-rested, well-nourished, and physically fit, they are more ready to learn. From an early age, children recognize healthy habits and understand why they are important. Green and Healthy Living is a Part of the Education [...]
Filed under: Opinion, Teaching Safari on May 31st, 2010 | No Comments »
For the nation’s K-12 schools, 2009 may well go down as the year when everything changed but little happened. A new president promised a fresh start but angered many in even his own party by polishing his predecessor’s apple. Schools nationwide closed in fear of a pandemic that has proven mild. And even as recession-related [...]
Filed under: Opinion on January 13th, 2010 | No Comments »
I am always inspired by stories about teachers who implement learning programs that utilize creative teaching methods to help drive success to their students. Many experts agree that an arts curriculum can help students grasp concepts in math and language arts. I came across a recent article highlighting a learning program in a California [...]
Filed under: Education News, Opinion on January 12th, 2010 | No Comments »
For many years Chicago School Supply (through its affiliation with the National School Supply and Equipment Association) has been championing the Teacher Tax Deduction, a provision in the tax code that allows elementary and secondary school teachers (including counselors, principals, and aides) the opportunity to take a tax deduction of up to $250 annually on their federal [...]
Filed under: Opinion on November 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
Parent alert: the Walt Disney Company is now offering refunds for all those “Baby Einstein” videos that did not make children into geniuses. They may have been a great electronic baby sitter, but the unusual refunds appear to be a tacit admission that they did not increase infant intellect. “We see it as an acknowledgment [...]
Filed under: Opinion, Uncategorized on October 29th, 2009 | No Comments »
I watched the piece featured below on the Today Show this morning that presents the pros and the cons of bilingual instruction in U.S. public schools. This is an ongoing debate, some feel that Hispanic students are better off being completely immersed in English so they may adapt to an English speaking nation- while others [...]
Filed under: Opinion on June 18th, 2009 | No Comments »
So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year? An accomplished violist who infuses her music lessons with the neuroscience of why one needs to practice, and creatively worded instructions like, “Pass the melody gently, as if it were a bowl of Jell-O!” A self-described “explorer” from Arizona [...]
Filed under: Opinion on June 16th, 2009 | No Comments »
Read this post and send feedback via Twitter or our BLOG. Some school policymakers are promoting a new idea for improving the schools: merit pay plans that would tie teachers’ pay to the scores their students earn on standardized math and reading tests. Advocates of this approach base their support on two assumptions: first, that [...]
Filed under: Education News, Opinion on May 19th, 2009 | No Comments »
Read this post and send feedback via Twitter or our BLOG. Facing deep funding cuts during the economic downturn, increasing numbers of school districts nationwide are contemplating trimming the traditional school week to four days to save money. A four-day week has long been confined to a few small rural districts looking to save on [...]
Filed under: Education News, Opinion on May 6th, 2009 | No Comments »
