One of the most effective ways to get good teachers into the classroom is to provide people with an alternative path toward teacher certification. States that are producing some of the biggest gains in student learning, such as Florida, have embraced the practice. What’s more, alternative teacher certification is garnering bi-partisan support as a measure that will propel meaningful education reform. The New York Times has even begun to champion the practice, profiling one of the most successful organizations in the teacher certification business: …the American Board for Certification of …
Over half of Mexican nationals polled in a recent survey by Zogby International say that amnesty would create a massive influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico. With Mexico being the major source nation for illegal immigrants, this should serve as a wake up call to those in Congress calling for amnesty. Yet, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and others continue to claim that legalization measures within comprehensive immigration reform are the answer to the illegal immigration problems of the US. Apparently, the pro-amnesty camp is not worried about letting history repeat …
Each day in Minnesota and all across the nation, billions of dollars worth of products begin their journey to be sold overseas. American farmers, manufacturers, and businesses rely on exports to strengthen and grow both their bottom line, as well as our economy’s. Free and fair trade agreements help spur economic growth; improve efficiency and innovation; create better, higher-paying jobs for hard-working Americans; and increase the availability of lower-priced products here in the United States. Furthermore, the role of free trade as an expression of liberty and opportunity for all …
In the citation for President Obama’s award of the Nobel peace prize, the Norwegian Nobel Academy mentioned that his style of leadership would bring in a new era for human rights and democracy – among the many other wondrous things that are to be expected from the president. Unfortunately, the academy must have failed to talk to the human rights groups working in support of the Iranian people. As reported by Kenneth Timmerman in newsmax.com, the Obama administration has actually cut funding in support of pro-democracy activists. For all those, …
This Morning Bell is the final installment of a five-part week-long series on how Obamacare will affect you. Lost in all of last weeks headlines on how the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) finally delivered a health care product that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was willing to say would reduce the deficit, was how exactly they achieved it. At a price tag of $829 billion, the SFC ’framework’ will reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 29 million, moving the overall percentage of nonelderly Americans with health insurance from 83% in …
Because that’s what they’re doing in Sweden: The city of Stockholm shoots thousands of wild rabbits spread across the green spaces of the Swedish capital and sends their bodies to be burned as heating fuel, a practice which has enraged animal rights groups. City official Mats Freij said Stockholm killed 6,000 wild rabbits last year and has culled 3,000 so far this year, but said a subcontractor decided to use the cadavers as fuel. “One should put this in the perspective that we (humans) are actually cremated ourselves and that …
The Obama administration released the first hard numbers on how many jobs their $787 billion stimulus package has created or saved on Recovery.gov today. The number: 30,383 jobs from roughly $16 billion worth of stimulus contracts awarded directly by federal agencies. Crunching the numbers, that comes to $533,000 per job “saved or created.” To put those 30,383 jobs in perspecitve, consider that the U.S. economy lost 263,000 net jobs just last month and has lost 3.6 million net jobs since President Barack Obama was sworn into office. But the administration …
According to the Associated Press, at the direction of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Senate Democrats are plotting to pass a bill, by as early as next week, that grants doctors a $247 billion increase in Medicare fees over a decade. This will no doubt add to the deficit. Why are the Democrats so intent on spending $247 billion in one week? To pave the way for the White House to claim that Obamacare is deficit neutral. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Democratic Leadership are meeting, …
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin further undermined U.S. efforts to present a united front against Iran’s nuclear program by ruling out talking about sanctions, which he said would be “premature.” Putin told reporters in Beijing, where he was attending a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, that “There is no need to frighten the Iranians.” Putin’s comments came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called sanctions “counterproductive” after meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who had traveled to Moscow in search of solidarity over how to respond …
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cqWuVb7FNc[/youtube] “Be bold,” says James Tooley when you want education reform. He’d know. For the last decade the Newcastle University Professor has been traveling throughout the world’s poorest regions studying systems of education. What he’s discovered may be surprising. In the poorest countries on earth, parents are choosing private schools because they don’t want to acquiesce to the mediocrity of public schools…Our research has shown that these schools are outperforming the government schools at a fraction of the cost.
