Fighting Back - Guns on Campus

Whenever there is a shooting incident at an educational facility, there is discussion about whether staff and students should be armed. The proponents of having weapons at school present a simple argument. Allowing the staff and students to have weapons gives them a fighting chance if an attack should happen. Now there is legislation being presented in Texas to allow handguns on campus:

Read the rest of this entry »

Known Carcinogen Found at Schools

A carcinogen, which is a substance linked to causing cancer, has been found in five schools:

“…The Grossmont Union High School District found 1,3-butadiene, a known carcinogen and the main component of synthetic rubber, at five of its 11 schools over the summer. The schools are Granite Hills, El Cajon Valley and Grossmont high schools in El Cajon, Monte Vista High in Spring Valley and Helix High in La Mesa.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Washington Court Rules on TEacher / Student Relationships

There are court rulings that defy common sense. The Court of Appeals in Washington state has made a ruling concerning teacher / student relationships:

Read the rest of this entry »

Budget Deficit Means Fewer Teachers

It is a small news item that may seem typical of the economic climate. Thousands of Los Angeles teachers face the possibility of a job loss:

Read the rest of this entry »

School Tests with Advertising

It may be a sign of the problems in the school system. There simply is not the necessary funding. One teacher is addressing the problem by selling advertising:

Read the rest of this entry »

School Dropout Rate Called “Outrageous”

No matter what one’s political persuasion, one is hearing campaign rhetoric about cutting government spending. One area where spending cannot withstand further financial trimming is in education. The school system simply is failing. There is ample evidence of this in the student dropout rate, which has been called “outrageous”:

“High schools are coming under pressure from the federal government to improve the nation’s dismal dropout rate — one in four students.”

link: New rules address ‘outrageous’ dropout rates

There is something wrong when one quarter of the children do not finish high school. The burden that this places on the economy is enormous. Gone are the days when one can strike out and follow one’s dreams without a high school education. The odds against success are overwhelming for dropouts. The technological age changes the employment dynamics. Higher education is needed. Sadly, for one in four children, the ‘American Dream’ is effaced during the teen years.

Catherine Forsythe

Hooded Sweatshirts Banned from Some New Jersey Schools

In the name of efficient surveillance, hooded sweatshirts are banned from some New Jersey schools:

“…The schools say students wearing hoods can conceal their identities from hallway cameras that might catch them cutting class or breaking into a locker.”

link: Some NJ Schools Ban Students From Wearing Hoodies

Along that line of thinking then, caps, rain gear, parkas, anoraks and an endless list of other clothing would be forbidden. Perhaps if the students complain, the authorities can tell them that it is not as bad as wearing radio frequency identification chips (RFID) and being tracked every moment of the day.

Catherine Forsythe

Anne L. Bryant Quote

“The big national picture is that food and fuel costs are going up and school revenues are not.”

Anne L. Bryant
Executive Director
National School Boards Association

Students, Security and Identity Theft

With the start of the academic year on university and college campuses, it is also the start of a fresh round of identity theft. The educational institutions are a source of data that identity thieves covet. There are several reasons for this. For example,

• students usually have not accumulated a poor credit history
• most students usually do not have a criminal record
• it will be some time before students make major purchases, like houses or cars, that require credit checks

Therefore, accessing student data is ideal. The goal is to link a name with a valid social security number. If a date of birth is available, then that is just an added bonus. Kim Komando has a recent article about some of the steps to safeguard one’s identity and financial history.

Students can check their university or college identification. In the past, the student identification number may have been a combination of social security number and year of first registration at the institution, for example. Many educational institutions have moved away from exposing social security numbers in that fashion. If your school still has a system that uses a similar method of identifying students, please be careful. That means that each time you use your student card, you are risking identity theft.

Educational institutions should be moving away from those identification paradigms and most schools have.

When a person registers with an academic institution, that school is entrusted with protecting the student’s personal confidential information. The student has to be proactive too. That social security number allows an identity thief to riches that you don’t have. Those ill-gotten gains will be accessed through your good name.

Catherine Forsythe

Chairman of Intel Corporation Identifies a Crisis

Craig Barrett is the Chairman of the Board for Intel Corporation. He was warned about the ongoing educational crisis in American schools:

“The chairman of the world’s biggest computer chipmaker has said the US “education system is in crisis and failing the youth of today”.

Craig Barrett, who made his “one political statement” at the Intel developers’ forum being held in San Francisco, urged US politicians to act.”

link: Intel cites US education ‘crisis’

This is not a self serving warning to push more technology into the educational channel. Craig Barrett identifies that the key factor is having good teachers.

Craig Barrett is echoing what educators know. The drop out rate in American schools is staggering. However, the most telling factor is that so many children begin to hate school in the early grades. Many of the incoming freshman class of 2008 are ill prepared for college and university. The present direction of the educational system simply receives a failing grade.

Catherine Forsythe