The Voices

Real People, Real Stories

Texas Public Education is a Joke!

In 1999, when my youngest child was in the 7th grade here in our small rural township school, I was mortified to discover he had no idea how to multiply or any form of higher math. more »

Our children deserve more...

Our children in Florida deserve a better and more individualized education than what they are getting because each child is different. more »

First Generation

I am the first student on both sides of my parents family to attend a four year university. The fact that financial aid might be getting cut even more means this accomplishment I have worked so hard for may not be there for me to finish. more »

A College Education Should Be Available to Everyone

When tuition is a quarter to a half of what your family lives off of, and the financial aid offices unhelpful, and all the news is that tuition is raising, grants are being cut, and rent is $1000 near the college, then going to college seems, and for many IS, impossible. more »

Quotable Quotes

Excellence in Education Requires Public Responsibility

- President Wendy Puriefoy, Public Education Network
"Public education is the single most important public institution in a democratic society. It is our ultimate department of "

   6 November 2005 Source

Robert L. Borosage, Robert Loper et al. Straight Talk: Common Sense for the Common Good. http://ourfuture.org/straighttalk.

The Ideal of Public Education

- Senator Barack Obama
"The ideal of public education has always been at the heart of [the American dream]."

   25 October 2005 Source

Robert L. Borosage, Robert Loper et al. Straight Talk: Common Sense for the Common Good. http://ourfuture.org/straighttalk.

Funding High Standards, 2006

- Goodwin Liu, Assistant Professor of Law at Boalt Hall School of Law and co-director of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the University of California at Berkeley
""If we are serious about ensuring that every child in America meets high standards, then we must develop a federal school finance policy equal to the task.""

   

Cutting Interest Rates on Student Loans, 2007

- Rep. George Miller (D-CA); Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee
"“Today, far too many Americans are holding off on college – or skipping it altogether – because they can’t afford it. As a nation, we simply cannot allow the cost of college to prevent qualified students from going to college.” "

   

Progressive Opinion

No Child Left Behind Leaving 70% Of Our Children Behind

Related Topics:

huffingtonpost.com — You can have as many educators' symposiums and "dropout summits" as you like. But no matter how hard you work it, continuing the same approach and expecting a different result, is not a description of success. It's the definition of insanity.

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Doing the Troops Wrong

Liberating the Schoolhouse

Related Topics:

truthdig.com — The dominant belief is that top-down control is the only way to hold principals and teachers accountable for measurable results. The less prevalent belief is that bottom-up collaboration between teachers and administrators is a source of innovation that builds commitment to and support for successful reforms. The conflict has become especially important in the face of the federal No Child Left Behind initiative, which requires administrators to produce high test scores or risk their jobs.

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A Diploma in Debt

tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com — Significant policy changes — the systematic inclusion and a substantive financial literacy curriculum in every state's public high school education requirements — are needed in order to give young people a real chance at building solid financial futures.

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The Degeneration of American Education

Related Topics:

huffingtonpost.com — "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities," said Voltaire. In a world that contains Clear Skies, Clean Waters, Healthy Forests, an Axis of Evil, Iraqi Freedom, Family Values, Patriot Act, and No Child Left Behind, it is a good reminder for our time.

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Greedy Troglodytes Attack Teachers

 TCM Hitchhiker

What is it about teachers that reactionaries don't like? more »