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Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined the briefing at the top to discuss the waivers that the Department is offering states from “No Child Left Behind” until Congress reauthorizes it. TAPPER: And the other question I have is, given that Speaker Boehner was one of the people who helped draft No Child Left Behind, can you explain what the problem is in Congress? DUNCAN: Well, I think you guys understand Congress a lot better than I do. TAPPER: I hope not.

The Obama administration will change aspects of the “No Child Left Behind” education law by executive action rather than wait for a congressional overhaul, officials announced Monday. The Department of Education will issue waivers to states granting them relief from penalties under the 2002 law that could take effect next year. The announcement by the White House and education secretary Arne Duncan is a slap at the Republican-led House, where efforts at a bipartisan overhaul of the George W. Bush-era law have progressed slowly. President Obama had called on Congress to revise and reauthorize the law before leaving for its...

High school seniors in Maryland will have to be literate on environmental matters to graduate from now on. Maryland’s Board of Education passed the environmental literacy graduation requirement on Tuesday. Gov. Martin O’Malley says Maryland is now the first state in the nation to have such a requirement. The No Child Left Inside Coalition, which pushed for the requirement, says 48 other states are considering similar requirements, a sign of the increasing popularity of environmental education. Under the graduation requirement, public schools will be required to infuse core subjects with lessons on conservation, smart growth and other environmental topics. School...

Describing education and education equality as the “civil rights issue of our time,” President Obama called Wednesday for a renewed effort to eliminate the achievement gap between African-American students and others. “Too many of our kids are dropping out of schools,” Mr. Obama told a mostly black audience in the ballroom of the Sheraton New York Hotel in Manhattan. “That’s not a white, black or brown problem. That’s everybody’s problem.” In a lightning-fast visit to New York before returning to Washington for more budget talks, Mr. Obama delivered a sober assessment of what he has done since taking office to...

A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies Government departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions, committees, and offices

The nursery rhyme “Rub a dub-dub, three men in a tub” could mean something incredibly different to grade school students in Helena, Montana if the public school system adopts a controversial sex education plan. At the center of the controversy is a desire by educators and special interest groups to begin teaching a pro-gay sex education curriculum to children as young as five years old. The debate over whether to teach and what to teach kindergarteners has been raging for years.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told her members meeting in Seattle on Thursday that the past two years have been "tougher than I've ever seen," with shrinking school budgets combined with increasing initiatives to punish teachers whose students don't succeed. She urged her audience to fight against what she called the "blame the teacher crowd" by embracing new strategies to reform public education. She called it "Fighting Smart": "searching for solutions we believe will work, even if those solutions force us to think outside the box or initially make us feel uncomfortable." She spoke to more than 2,700...

Recently, President Obama has been urging Congress to pass legislation that will provide $50 billion in aid to the states to fill budget gaps related to education/teachers, health care, and emergency personnel such as police and firefighters. Specifically, the legislation includes “$23 billion to help prevent teacher layoffs, $25 billion for state health care aid and $2 billion for cops and firefighters.”

While Washington, D.C., focuses on the federal power grab in health care, there's another ongoing drive for regimentation that hasn't received the scrutiny it deserves. A panel of educators assembled by 48 state governors and school superintendents just released a uniform set of math and reading standards for the nation's students. If the Common Core State Standards Initiative were totally voluntary, there would be little to fear. But for too many education reformers, whatever is not forbidden is compulsory. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan has said that "if we accomplish one thing in the coming years, it should be...

Obama went to a community college yesterday to sign the final package of fixes to the healthcare bill. The Swindler in Chief did this because a major part of the healthcare scam was to directly nationalize the student loan business. There used to be a buffer between the Federal government and student loans but that was unacceptable. The False Prophet said..." (continued)

Candace de Russy over at National Review posted an alarming example [1] of an Obama power grab. Or perhaps more precisely it’s yet another alarming example of an Obama power grab. This time Obama apparently is setting the table to take control of what is printed in our nation’s college textbooks.This one slipped past my radar in August of 2009, but apparently Barack Obama signed the Federal Textbook Act (Download .pdf file [2]) that made provisions for the federal government to take control of the pricing and availability of the text books in our institutions of higher learning (at...

On Capitol Hill, all eyes have been focused on the House, as efforts to pass healthcare reform have grown increasingly dramatic. But a less-watched debate began in the Senate Tuesday, which offered a second chance for the Washington, D.C. private school voucher program that Congress phased out last year. The effort, however, was quickly squashed by a vote Tuesday night, with most Democrats voting against it along with Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised in January that he would allow debate about the program on the Senate floor. And on Tuesday, the Senate began considering...

President Obama announced plans Saturday to overhaul the controversial No Child Left Behind act - even dropping its well-known name. The new Elementary and Secondary Education Act will focus on providing incentives to schools that make progress toward better educating the nation's students instead of punishing schools that don't meet benchmarks, Obama said. During his weekly radio address, Obama said that he expects to submit to Congress tomorrow a blueprint for dismantling No Child, which was adopted under former President George Bush. The plan focuses on preparing students for college and careers and on bolstering teachers' skills. "Under these guidelines,...

The Obama administration on Saturday called for a broad overhaul of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, proposing to reshape divisive provisions that encouraged instructors to teach to tests, narrowed the curriculum, and labeled one in three American schools as failing. By announcing that he would send his education blueprint to Congress on Monday, President Obama returned to a campaign promise to repair the sprawling federal law, which affects each of the nation’s nearly 100,000 public schools. His plan strikes a careful balance, retaining some key features of the Bush-era law, including its requirement for annual reading...

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia survived the first cut Thursday in the Obama administration's unprecedented $4 billion school reform contest. This Story 15 states, D.C. make first cut in Race to the Top school reform contest R.I. district may reverse firing of high school teachers See our Higher Ed page for college news & admission advice at washingtonpost.com/higher-ed Analysts pointed to some surprises among the finalists, including New York, Ohio and Kentucky. It was also notable that the most populous state, California, missed the cut even though the state's legislature approved a significant school-improvement plan. Federal officials say...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama begins the week with a focus on education and keeping kids in school. At an event Monday hosted by former Gen. Colin Powell and his wife, Alma, Obama will announce new steps aimed at improving the nation's schools.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Many teachers and educators across the United States are at risk of losing their jobs in the next few months, the country's education secretary told a meeting of the National Governors Association on Sunday.

Maybe it’s because I live in Washington and am thus immersed in the daily political horse-race (who’s up? who’s down?), but it’s hard not to get the sense right now that the Democrats are in free fall. Evan Bayh’s retirement is like a major aftershock to the earthquake that was Scott Brown’s election. Now there’s talk about the GOP taking over both houses of Congress in the fall, and of a primary challenge to President Obama in 2012. To be sure, a month from now, and certainly six months from now, lots could change, and we might be talking about...

By TERENCE CHEA SAN FRANCISCO – The nation's public schools are falling under severe financial stress as states slash education spending and drain federal stimulus money that staved off deep classroom cuts and widespread job losses. School districts have already suffered big budget cuts since the recession began two years ago, but experts say the cash crunch will get a lot worse as states run out of stimulus dollars. The result in many hard-hit districts: more teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, smaller paychecks, fewer electives and extracurricular activities, and decimated summer school programs. The situation is particularly ugly in California,...

President Barack Obama has been announced as the Commencement speaker for the spring graduation at my alma mater, the University of Michigan. President Obama will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree.

Press Release February 7, 2010 Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings Favorite Book for Teens Too Lewd for Seattle Times Newspaper says they can’t print quotes from the book because they are a family newspaper. GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings has been “queering” public schools for years. Supposedly to help kids struggling with homosexual desires feel “safe”. But Jennings didn’t limit his target group to homosexual teens. He wanted to include what he calls “questioning youth”. GLSEN’s “ Try it. You just might like it.” Target group. One of the books Jennings wants placed in every middle & high school is “Two...

He may be the president who governed during the Civil War, freeing the slaves, but under a new curriculum proposal for North Carolina high schools, U.S. history would begin years after President Lincoln, with the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877.

The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, and will call for broad changes in how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as for the elimination of the law’s 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency.

Those readers of the Hayride who decry our writings as partisan with an axe to grind against the Obama administration will find the headline of this piece rather shocking, but the fact is that Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan’s quote over the weekend identifying that Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that could have happened to the public schools in New Orleans was an insightful and accurate remark Duncan should not have to shrink from. Duncan shrank from it today.

Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in ‘No Child’ Law By SAM DILLON January 31, 2010 The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, and will call for broad changes in how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as for the elimination of the law’s 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency. Educators who have been briefed by administration officials said the proposals for changes in the main law governing the federal role in public schools would eliminate or rework many of the provisions...

The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind, and will call for broad changes in how schools are judged to be succeeding or failing, as well as for the elimination of the law’s 2014 deadline for bringing every American child to academic proficiency. Educators who have been briefed by administration officials said the proposals for changes in the main law governing the federal role in public schools would eliminate or rework many of the provisions that teachers’ unions, associations of principals, school boards and other groups have found most objectionable....

Archdiocese of Washington To Close or Merge Four Catholic Schools In 2008, the Archdiocese of Washington gave up control of seven of its inner-city schools that were struggling financially, turning the facilities into secular charter schools. Dozens of teachers and hundreds of students departed; 1,000 new students signed up. Here's a glimpe of life inside one a year-and-a-half later. By Michael Birnbaum Saturday, January 30, 2010 Two Washington area Catholic schools will close at the end of the school year, two will merge and another is examining its options, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington said Friday. The changes...

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He Needs a Teleprompter to Talk to 11yr Olds?! - San Diego, California Talk Radio Station - 760 KFMB AM - 760kfmb

President Obama uses two teleprompters while speaking to students at a school in Falls Church, Virginia.

Obama to Seek $1.35 Billion More for Education President seeks to extend competitive grant program for states WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will ask Congress for $1.35 billion in his 2011 budget proposal to extend an education grant program for states, although the Education Department remains months away from announcing its first round of awards, senior administration officials said. Obama was outlining the budget proposal Tuesday at a Fairfax County, Va., elementary school. The $787 billion economic stimulus program Obama signed into law soon after taking office included $4.3 billion in competitive grants for states, nicknamed the "Race to the...

Congress appears likely to keep the D.C. voucher program closed to new students but open to current ones, curtailing the hopes of advocates who had pressed for a full revival of the controversial program. The news is buried deep within a thousand-page omnibus spending bill released Monday by a joint conference of House and Senate Appropriations Committee members. The proposal allocates $13.2 million to vouchers and would tighten accountability measures for schools that participate in the program, which provides low-income D.C. students with up to $7,500 to attend private schools. Bringing further upheaval to the program, the Washington Scholarship Fund,...

I’ve received a lot of e-mail asking why I haven’t written about the controversy over Kevin Jennings, Barack Obama’s “safe schools” czar. To be honest, the story is so shocking that I haven’t quite grasped how to approach it. Jennings ran an outfit called Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) from its inception in 1995 until last year. During that time, as Jim Hoft at Big Government has detailed, GLSEN offered sex education seminars to young teenagers within the framework of public education that went way, way beyond explanations of human biology and disease transmission. According to multiple sources,...

WARNING: This editorial includes discussion of topics that are sexually graphic. Under usual circumstances, we would never entertain these subjects or the rancid language involved. In this case, however, a very unusual exception must be made because the issues are central to the background of a senior presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education who is in a position to influence how and what our children are taught in our nation's schools. Thus far, out of fear or squeamishness, there has been public hesitance to examine closely the beliefs of this individual because many are afraid even to touch...

The media is trying to keep this story in the closet, but it's important not to wink at all the serious problems surrounding President Obama's controversial "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings is the moral malefactor who gave a speech about how he merely advised a 15-year-old high-school sophomore who was having sex with an older man that, "I hope you knew to use a condom." He knew the boy had met the adult in a bus-station restroom. Mr. Jennings also expressed admiration for Harry Hay, a notorious and extremely prominent supporter of the North American Man Boy Love...

<p>Great to see Gateway Pundit and Breitbart posting the truth about Kevin Jennings' GLSEN indoctrination materials.</p>

BREAKING: Gateway Pundit blog came under at least two cyber attacks tonight that shut down the First Things website. This came after the report today on Barack Obama’s Safe Schools Czar’s child porn books. Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast‘ submitted a shocking report today on Obama’s deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. Scott Baker reported: I was recently approached by a team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust. They prepared this report involving ‘Safe Schools Czar’ Kevin Jennings and the organization he founded, GLSEN, and asked that...

You have filled your administration with people who hold the most outrageous, insane, and frightening views on everything from our climate to our animals and worst of all, the sexuality of our children.... Quite possibly the worst of all is Kevin Jennings, your so-called Safe Schools Czar. That you have given this man the task of making our public schools “safe” for students to learn is stunning. Jennings has a view of “health” and “safety” for our kids that is shockingly corrupt and devoid of morality and you gave him the job. I am unutterably sick to death of the...

Out of curiosity to see exactly what kind of books Kevin Jennings and his organization think American students should be reading in school, our team chose a handful at random from the over 100 titles on GLSEN’s grades 7-12 list, and began reading through. What we discovered shocked us. We were flabbergasted. Rendered speechless. We were unprepared for what we encountered. Book after book after book contained stories and anecdotes that weren’t merely X-rated and pornographic, but which featured explicit descriptions of sex acts between pre-schoolers; stories that seemed to promote and recommend child-adult sexual relationships; stories of public masturbation,...

Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast‘ submitted this shocking report today on Obama’s deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. —-Warning on Content—– I was recently approached by a team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust. They prepared this report involving ‘Safe Schools Czar’ Kevin Jennings and the organization he founded, GLSEN, and asked that I find a way to help draw attention to what they uncovered. Knowing that Gateway Pundit has followed Kevin Jennings since his appointment, as we have on The B-Cast (here, here, and here), and...

A new report is raising alarms that the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, a homosexual advocacy organization founded by Kevin Jennings, now head of the U.S. Office of Safe Schools for the Obama administration, is recommending XXX-rated sex writings for children as young as preschoolers.

Scott Baker from Breitbart-TV.com and Co-Host of ‘The B-Cast‘ submitted this shocking report today on Obama’s deviant Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. —-Warning on Content—– I was recently approached by a team of independent researchers that I have known for some time and have come to trust. They prepared this report involving ‘Safe Schools Czar’ Kevin Jennings and the organization he founded, GLSEN, and asked that I find a way to help draw attention to what they uncovered. Knowing that Gateway Pundit has followed Kevin Jennings since his appointment, as we have on The B-Cast (here, here, and here), and...

Are we exaggerating, or misconstruing quotes that could be interpreted a different way? No: Read the passages below and judge for yourself. There’s no wiggle room. The language is explicit, the intent clear.

How do we get politically correct students and schools? We get them by churning out politically correct teachers from teacher colleges and teacher credentialing programs which filter the teaching of education through the lens of political correctness. In a press release in October of this year, U.S. Secretary of Education's Arne Duncan stated, “By almost any standard, many if not most of the nation’s 1,450 schools, colleges, and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st century classroom. America’s university-based teacher preparation programs need revolutionary change--not evolutionary tinkering.” The press release...

Attorney General Eric Holder tries to kill a TV ad supporting D.C. school vouchers. President Obama isn't taking kindly to a television ad that criticizes his opposition to a popular scholarship program for poor children, and his administration wants the ad pulled. Former D.C. Councilmember Kevin Chavous of D.C. Children First said October 16 that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder had recently approached him and told him to kill the ad. The 30-second ad, which has been airing on FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, and News Channel 8 to viewers in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, urges the president to reauthorize the...

Kevin Chavous is an African American and former Democratic city council member from Washington, D.C. He says he’s an Obama supporter, but he is distinctly unhappy with the president. Elections may have consequences, but no one expected that the White House would be so brazenly petty as to allow poor minority children in the nation’s worst school district to become the victims of political score-settling. That’s exactly what happened when the Obama administration killed off the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program several months ago. Of course, if the White House thought that it could pay off the powerful teachers’ unions, and...

( I received this email today and I hope we can stop this from happening ) Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman Liberty Counsel T, A few days ago, I informed you that Liberty Counsel is calling for the removal of Kevin Jennings, President Obama's appointee as Safe School Czar. We are already half way to our initial goal of 25,000 signers. But with each passing day, we learn more outrageous facts about his sordid past and radical ties. For example, his homosexual "partner" states that Jennings was a leading member of Act Up, a militant homosexual group that invaded St....

A skirmish between powerful teachers’ unions and President Barack Obama over nearly $5 billion in education spending is shaping up as a preview of the battle to come over No Child Left Behind in Congress early next year. But the tables are turned: now the unions are worried that Obama, a Democratic ally, is going to be just as tough on them as President George W. Bush, a longtime foe.

The Democratic Party has battled for universal health care this year, and over the decades it has admirably led the fight against poverty — except in the one way that would have the greatest impact. Good schools constitute a far more potent weapon against poverty than welfare, food stamps or housing subsidies. Yet, cowed by teachers’ unions, Democrats have too often resisted reform and stood by as generations of disadvantaged children have been cemented into an underclass by third-rate schools. President Obama and his education secretary, Arne Duncan, are trying to change that — and one test for the Democrats...

Kevin Jennings hasn't come clean. There are still many unanswered questions about how he handled a high-school sophomore who he said confessed to a homosexual relationship with an older man. On Friday, Brewster came forward and gave a statement to Media Matters, a group with clear partisan ties to Democrats, in which the former student corrected Mr. Jennings' statement of his age and denied any sexual relationship. That, CNN and the Obama administration claim, is the end of the controversy. Hardly. The new information creates as many questions as it answers. . . .