New Education Spending

       President Barack Obama is working with congress to improve schools across the country. He wants to turn the poor schools around. Obama also called on Congress to finish work on a measure to revitalize community colleges. And he called for a $10,000 tax credit to families for four years of college, and an increase in Pell Grants. Obama will ask Congress to boost federal spending on education by as much as $4 billion in the coming 2011 budget year. Of the total, $3 billion is slated for elementary and secondary education programs ranging from teacher quality to student safety, and  $1.35 billion for Obama's "Race to the Top" competitive grant program. The request for $4 billion would increase federal education spending by about 6 percent. The Education Department also wants to eliminate six programs, deeming them duplicative or ineffective. The agency would consolidate 38 other programs into 11 programs to eliminate bureaucracy and red tape.
         As a future educator, I am pleased to know the issues of educations are being addressed. However, I do not understand where all this money is coming from. For 2010, public schools across the country are making major cuts including laying off teachers. How do we have $4 billion for the next? Education needs more national attention because these are the students of our future, but we can not send our country into further financial devisate. With an increase in financial support for education we must continue to make cuts in other areas of the economy. I am glad to know that the education of our students is important to our nation and that a change is on the way.


Resource:
Obama to Seek Up to $4B in New Education Spending. AP News, c2010.
            http://inform.com/politics/obama-seek-4b-new-education-spending-834790a

NO Foods for Schools

       The Children's Success Academy, a charter school charter for children kindergarten through the fifth grade, is unique for its food rules - it bans not only white flour, but refined sugar and anything it defines as processed food. School director and founder, Nanci Aiken, holds a doctorate in cell physiology and once worked as a cancer researcher at the Arizona Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins Medical School, and is an unabashed food cop. The rules seem drastic to many parents sending their children to the school for the first time especially since the school has no cafeteria, all students must bring their own lunch. Parents find it difficult to find the "yes" foods in the grocery store but they see the positive impact it has on their children. The school has an emergency food supply of "yes" foods like peanut butter and honey which are provided through donations and fundraisers. Some dietians would disagree with such extreme meaures fearing that the student will come to a rebelious stage but Aiken does not listen. If all U.S. families followed her school's food rules, Aiken believes, childhood obesity would be a rare problem.
       Childhood obesity has become a rising issue in the United States and schools are partly to blame. Children spend majority of their time in schools being influenced by the school choices and their peers. Although, I do feel that the measures taken in this article are a little extreme, the idea was good. Schools should be more aware of the foods being put into the students mouths regardless of wether it was brought from home or not. The health of the students should be important to the adminstration and faculty. Also, the foods being consumed could have an impact on the work within the classroom. If students consumer healthier foods they may not feel as tired or they may be able to stay focused longer. What we impacts impacts everything around us. Although, I don't think it is resonable to ban most foods from the kids, I do think that schools could make more of an influence on the students. Healthy choices are the right choices!

Resource:
Innes, Stephanie. School's Wicked Witch Sweeps Out the No Foods. Arizone Daily Star.
         http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_d26e56b7-b1d5-52d8-bdef-9717ce18a61b.html

Cell Phones in Schools

            Matt Cook's classroom at Trinity Meadows Intermediate School in Keller, Texas is incorporating cell phones into the everyday use of the classroom. This teacher feels that these are a great tool for teaching. Cook believes in the long run will become the cheapest way to do one-to-one computing. The portability and mobility of cell phones make them an ideal teaching tool, toting the classroom anywhere, anytime. Students used the phone to email, record data, send pictures, etc. However, Cook didn't consider texting and bluetooth when he incorporated this technology. Realizing this was a problem but still wanting to incoporate them he set out on a mission to make it happen.  Cook proposed a plan where he would form a partnership with a company that would fund a pilot program in his classroom. Every student would receive a cell phone for educational use; Cook would find new and innovative ways to use the new classroom tools with his students; and the company would have a proven and viable new market for its products. Cook contacted Verizon and made this program happen. The community has even jumped on board with this and been very supportive.
            WOW! What an idea. Cell phones have become a major part of society and I have never understood why they were not allowed with the students. Even in Universities cell phones are against the rules. I love how Mr. Cook incorporated modern technology and also overcame the concerns of students participating in non-educational activities on the devices. I believe that Verizon and Misrosoft have a great product in the works that will be very benefical in our nation.Most all children, own a personal cell phone so why not allow them to use it for educational purposes. Of course, technology can nt overtake the classroom. I still believe that some tradintional ways are benefical to students but technology should be present as well.
      

Resource:
Bafile, Cara. Mobile Technology Goes to School. Education World, c2010.
       http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech248.shtml

Tuition-Free Colleges

             Even with the inflation, some colleges and universities are picking up full tuition cost for students. Most of these are military academies and engineering schools because the demand is great.Tuition, fees, room and board at four-year public colleges jumped 46% in the past decade. Schools that cover full tuition are doing the near-impossible to make school affordable for all of their students. However, this ability to provide full tutition is slowly dwendelling with university supporters finding themselves in further financial difficulties. At some schools, students who receive free tuition must pay other costs, including fees, room and board and expenses such as textbooks. At College of the Ozarks each student is required to participate in the on-campus work program by doing landscaping, working in the cafeteria or on production lines making fruitcakes and jellies so that they may leave with an appreciation for what it takes to make it in real life. Also, I recently spent a week in Buenos Aires, Argentina where all colleges are free to students. This is true for may of the colleges in South America.
          I think that is would be amazing for students to be able to obtain a free college education. However, I fear that some students would not work as hard or would not appreciate the oportunity they have been given. I personally know how difficult is is for a college student to obtain the funds for tution and fees especially when the parents are providing any assistance. However, I also know that it is very possible. Although many institutions in the United States are not free to students that are many programs avaliable to assistant in financies beyond the scholarships provided by the intended school. Tuition free schools is a great concept, but I don't know if they are best. Like any idea there will be pros and cons which need to be  considered.

Resource:
Gillum, Jack. Tuition-Free Colleges Stand Their Ground Against Costs. USA Today
        http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-04-06-tuitionfree06_ST_N.htm