Tennessee and Delaware win the "Race To The Top" competition

Even though Tennessee and Delaware were not favorites in the top 16 states to get the money, they won the U.S. Education Department "Race To The Top" competition. The total amount of money given to different states by the Obama administration to help support failing school districts is a whopping $4.3 billion (where the heck are we getting all of that money??).

"Tennessee chosen because 93% of the teachers unions supported its proposal so did every single school district, school board and business leader in the state ... also because Tennessee has a law that is tough on teacher accountability and allows the state to take over chronically failing schools "

Delaware also "had unanimous support form educators and politicians it too has a tough new law that rates the effectiveness of teachers and principals the state was rewarded 100 million dollars".

State Board Of Education Looks At Alisal Schools

State educators considered "new sanctions on the district (Alisal Union School District) that has consistently failed to meet state standards". In the last 15 minutes of the meeting locals, parents, and teachers were able to give their concerns. Their main concern was the appointment of an inexperienced superintendent John Ramirez, who would earn $168,000 a year for three years, with the "hiring of former superintendent Zendejas as a consultant with a pay of $14,000 a month for 10 months".

After being suggested to become a "temporary trustee on behalf of the state", Dr. Nancy Kotowski says that "she's filled that role of a trustee before and would do it until the state board appoints a permanent trustee at the next meeting in May".

Although Alisal Union School District is having trouble keeping up with state standards, I do think that they should be able to get money to help correct their problems so they can hopefully meet state standards in the near future.

What's the next step for policy makers?

The next step for policymakers is increasing college completion rates.

This past weekend President Obama make his weekly address, and make the "two [key] issues that make up this [(Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act)] law: health care and higher education:"

Education. Health care. Two of the most important pillars of a strong America grew stronger this week. These achievements don't represent the end of our challenges; nor do they signify the end of the work that faces our country. But what they do represent is real and major reform. What they show is that we're a nation still capable of doing big things. What they prove is what's possible when we can come together to overcome the politics of the moment; push back on the special interests; and look beyond the next election to do what's right for the next generation.

I agree with Obama that making Universal Health Care a "law of the land", and higher education more popular, will not end our problems or end the work for our country.

When reconciliation passed the Health Care Reform Bill into a Law, it also gave money "to low- income college students attending school on a Pell Grant". Although this is money may not personally help all college students, I do feel that this is an important necessity for many students who are unable to go to college without this extra money from the government.

Later on in Obama's speech, he stated how this money will help students during this country's time of need:

No doubt, increasing financial aid during a time of high unemployment, stagnant wages and increasing tuition is a necessary step. Hopefully, this will get more people into higher education. Our economic sustainability demands a better educated work force But, it's not enough - especially when the latest attempt to focus some efforts on postsecondary education reform, the reconciliation bill, ended up being one more example of education sacrificing new resources to pay for rising health care costs.

The article also points out how education effects our economy. Higher paying jobs usually require a higher education that High school. If there is a lower number of college graduates than normal, there are less people earning a higher amount of money. If they don not have the money to spend, the economy goes down. Since many either do not have a college education, and many do not have jobs because of the economic crisis, the economy goes down even further.

This quote from the article, "Moving forward, the goal should be clear: We should be investing our existing tax dollars in students who complete college. Our future depends on it." I think is a definite possibility, but also partially unrealistic. If we were to spend our existing tax dollars on students who complete college, other systems of our country will start to fail. The most recent example would be that the Universal Health Care system will start to not receive enough money.

Mind Break 3/24-3/30

Here are some America's Funniest Home Videos clips

This video contains animals acting out against being held, animals doing what they were told, and animals entertaining themselves. Some animal actions include a dog playing fetch with himself, a dog taking a womans bikini, and a cat getting cheese out of the fridge.

hope you enjoy like I did.

The Disadvantages of Solar Power

Here are a few major disadvantages to having solar panels in the world.

The first and widely known disadvantage is the price of installing solar panels. Solar panels are high priced because the materials are in low amount and because they are not being produced in mass production, which would reduce the price of solar panels, raise the product availability and thus increase demand. One way for this price to be decreased is having more people in the world buy solar panels. A solution to the low amount of solar panels in the United States, and the world, is for governments to give money back to those who buy the solar panels. Another way is for electricity companies to give money or credit to those who make more energy from the panels, than they use.

Another con to Solar Panels is that they cannot be placed everywhere in the world. Solar panels need to be in an area where there is a large amount of sunlight for most of the day (Some solar panels have the capability of moving with the sun).

The third and probably most interesting for most people is the idea of solar panel powered cars. A problem with these solar powered cars is that if they are not charged, and a cloud moves over the car, the car may lose power. Another con for most people is the fact that these cars can not go as fast as others.

Texas Trying to Change History?

The Texas State Board of Education has finally reached an all time low. How have they done this? By

removing Thomas Jefferson from a list of Enlightenment thinkers who changed the world... By 10-5, it voted down a proposal that teachers' examine the reasons The Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America by barring government from protecting or disfavoring any particular religion over all others.

The Houston Chronicle states that this has occurred for one main reason. Texans when "not paying attention" elected extremists to the Texas Board of Education without knowing it. Some possible changes that the state of Texas can make in the elections of the board members are

elect[ing] the board members in nonpartisan elections. Maybe they should be appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate (a process similar to the way federal judges are appointed). Or maybe curriculum authority should move from the state board to the Texas commissioner of education, who's appointed by the governor — a higher-level politician that more voters pay attention to.

I wonder if the parents of these students in Texas have the same feelings that the Board of education in the state of Texas does (against protection of all religion, and Thomas Jefferson).

Washington D.C. Schools

In Washington D.C., 23 schools were announced that they will be closing due to the schools

being under enrolled or in poor physical condition. In three cases [they have decided to] soften the impact of the deeply unpopular decisions by promising to modernize or rebuild the schools while students were relocated.

One problem at the Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View is that despite an approximate

$1 million in improvements... broken water pipes and rodent droppings are a chronic problem... records confirm the allegations, showing that pees-control workers were called to the school... three times in January alone... The rodents are going into the food supply... this school is contaminated.

The problems at Bruce-Monroe are just an example of issues at other school around the country. The example of money trouble in the school system in Washington D.C. show what will be happening to other schools.