Survey: 26% flub question on US independence

A new poll gauging American knowledge on a basic question about the nation’s history — “From which country did the United States win its independence?’’ — is either good news or bad news, depending on your expectations:

Twenty-six percent of those surveyed did not know that the United States achieved its independence from Great Britain, according to the poll, conducted by the nonprofit Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

Six percent named a different country, including France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain. Twenty percent said they weren’t sure.

The pollsters broke down the numbers and found gaps in knowledge according to region: 32 percent of Southerners weren’t sure or named the wrong country; 26 percent of Midwesterners were in the same category, as were 25 percent of Westerners and 16 percent of Northeasterners.

More depressing results — depending on your expectations — were found in a 2007 poll conducted by the US Mint.

It showed that only 7 percent of those surveyed could name the first four presidents in order: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.

Thirty percent knew that Jefferson was the third president, 57 percent identified Jefferson as the main author of the Declaration of Independence, and 57 percent knew that Washington led the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

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British teachers To Get Tough On Unruly Pupils

Teachers are to get tougher powers to deal with unruly pupils as part of a bid to improve school discipline, the Government will announce. Courts will be told to heed clearer guidance that force can be used to remove youngsters from classrooms or restrain them.

Search powers are to be beefed up too, allowing kids to be checked for mobile phones, fireworks, cigarettes and legal highs, as well as weapons and drugs.

Teachers will also be granted anonymity if complaints are made about them in a bid to prevent careers being ruined by "malicious" claims.

The raft of measures will be unveiled by Schools Minister Nick Gibb in an effort to give schools "the powers and freedoms they need to maintain discipline".

Official figures show 2,230 pupils were permanently excluded last year for physical assaults on teachers or fellow pupils and tens of thousands more suspended. One in five secondary schools is rated "satisfactory" or worse by Ofsted for behaviour and two in five teachers have witnessed physical aggression - a quarter of them being the victims of it.

Anyone handling complaints about teachers will be "made aware that teachers can apply discipline in the classroom for the safety of all the pupils... and in the interests of maintaining order", the Department for Education said.

Under present search powers, authorised staff can only force pupils to be searched if they suspect them of carrying knives or other weapons, drugs or alcohol. Mr Gibb wants to extend the list to include electronic devices like mobile phones and music players, pornography, fireworks, tobacco products and so-called "legal highs". He will also say he wants to make the power even wider to cover any item which teachers believe could pose a threat to safety or order in the classroom.

The National Union of Teachers' Christine Blower said: "There are rare occasions when young people may be carrying and concealing dangerous materials. "In those situations, teachers have to make a judgment call on the spot. In doing so, they should not be subject to the potential for accusations that they are acting illegally."

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Don't bother applying for job without 2:1 degree, say British bosses as 80% admit they turn down all graduates without such a qualification

The only consolation is that many British universities hand out top degrees like salted peanuts these days

A 2:1 degree is becoming the basic qualification for a graduate job as employers are swamped by applications for a diminishing number of posts. Eight in 10 bosses now demand at least an upper second-class degree and will refuse to interview applicants with a 2:2 or lower, according to a survey of 200 graduate recruiters.

Employers are increasingly relying on the 2:1 to narrow the field of candidates following a surge in applications driven by the recession. Just 66.7 per cent insisted on an upper second-class degree last year.

Firms say that the ranks of 2010 job-hunters have been swelled by rejected candidates from the past two years. Desperate graduates are also increasingly taking a 'scattergun' approach to sending out applications.

Employers are also more likely to insist that candidates achieved degrees from elite universities, according to a survey of members of the Association of Graduate Recruiters. A total of 6.8 per cent this year are seeking graduates from specific institutions, up from just 2.5 per cent last year. [As well they might. Lots of Britiash "universies" are just jumped-up technical colleges]

Launching the survey findings today, AGR leaders admitted employers' growing reliance on 2:1 degrees to filter candidates risked unfairness to applicants.

Seventy-eight per cent of bosses now cite it as a minimum job requirement yet universities vary wildly in the criteria used to award 2:1s, with some giving them out far more readily than others.

But reforms to the 200-year-old classification system are still at trial stage. A detailed record of achievement containing a breakdown of course marks and employability skills is being piloted by 18 universities for those graduating in 2012.

AGR chief executive Carl Gilleard said: 'Recruiters are under intense pressure this year dealing with a huge number of applications from graduates for a diminishing pool of jobs. Those of our members who took part in the survey reported a total of 686,660 applications since the beginning of the 2010 recruitment campaign. 'It is hardly surprising then that the number of employers asking for a 2:1 degree has shot up by 11 percentage points.

'However, while this approach does aid the sifting process it can rule out promising candidates with the right work skills unnecessarily. 'We are encouraging our members to look beyond the degree classification when narrowing down the field of candidates to manageable proportions.'

The AGR survey finds that employers in the survey are fielding a record 69 applications per vacancy - up from 49 last year and 35 in 2000. It comes as organisations offer seven per cent fewer jobs this year than last.

Despite the overall downturn in vacancies, some industry sectors are hiring significantly more graduates than last year, including banking and financial services, insurance, consulting and business services, construction, and accountancy. However investment banking, the public sector, law, engineering, retail, telecommunications and IT and large consumer firms will all have fewer positions.

Despite the surge in applications, not all employers expect to fill all their vacancies amid concerns over the quality of some candidates and lack of appropriate qualifications. One in three respondents to the survey - conducted in May - reported likely shortfalls in graduate recruitment. Just 66.8 per cent said they would fill all vacancies.

Meanwhile starting salaries have been frozen for two years' running for the first time since the AGR's surveys began. New graduates stand to earn £25,000 on average - the same as in 2008.

A separate study last week of 100 graduate employers, by High Fliers Research, found that the most over-subscribed sectors, such as consumer goods, are attracting 270 applications per vacancy.

Meanwhile official figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency found that one in three graduates is on the dole or working in stop-gap jobs such as stacking shelves and pouring pints. Nearly 20,000 of last year's graduates - one in 10 - were unemployed six months after leaving university - up from eight per cent in 2008.

A further 50,000 failed to land graduate-level posts and resorted to roles for which they are likely to be over-qualified, such as secretaries, waiters, bar staff and factory workers. In total, 34 per cent were jobless or in non-graduate roles.

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Subsidizing More College Students Won’t Help the U.S. Economy

By George Leef

Governments in the United States subsidize college education heavily. State universities charge students very low tuition rates, and the federal government has a host of grant and loan programs designed to make college affordable to most families. (As politicians make those programs more generous, schools have spent more and raised tuitions, thus creating an upward cost spiral—but that’s another story.)

One of the simplest of all economic lessons is that when government subsidizes something, more of it is produced than otherwise. That’s because subsidies upset the natural calculation of costs and benefits that people make. The subsidized thing becomes artificially more attractive to consumers; as they buy more of it, resources are drawn away from nonsubsidized things. Subsidies cause inefficiency.

In higher education, subsidies have led to a great surplus of young people going to college and a deterioration in academic standards. As higher education has expanded—at the end of World War II less than one high school graduate in ten enrolled in postsecondary education; now about 70 percent do—schools have increasingly drawn in weak and disengaged students. Rather than risk losing such students (and the money they bring in), many colleges have relaxed their admission standards, allowed or encouraged grade inflation, and dumbed down their curricula.

Nevertheless, some politicians and education leaders claim that the nation badly needs to “produce” still more college graduates. In a speech to Congress in February 2009 President Obama declared a national goal of having the world’s highest percentage of workers with college degrees by 2020. One of the nation’s major educational foundations, Lumina Foundation, proclaims that its mission is to get more students through college and maintains that the United States is falling behind other countries in its level of “educational attainment.”

That was the subject of a debate I participated in on February 26. Arguing for the resolution that the United States needs more college graduates to remain an economic power were former Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund. Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder and I opposed it. If you care to watch the debate, which took about an hour and a half, you’ll find it here.

For those who prefer a synopsis, read on.

The affirmative debaters contended that college education:

* raises people’s incomes substantially; graduates on average earn nearly a million dollars more over their careers than nongraduates;

* provides people with the skills they need to succeed in “the knowledge economy”;

* opens up opportunities for people to advance, especially those from poor backgrounds; and

* will help America remain competitive with other nations.

Professor Vedder and I took issue with these claims.

First, we contended that the “earnings premium” argument is fallacious. Even though it’s true on average that people with college degrees earn more, that isn’t necessarily true at the margin. That people with college degrees (many of them earned decades ago when standards were higher) have high earnings on average tells us nothing about the next student who gets a degree. Since many people who obtain college degrees today wind up working in low-skill, low-paying jobs, there is no basis for the assumption that college education raises incomes.

Second, we argued that college coursework doesn’t automatically improve an individual’s skills and knowledge. Although some students benefit greatly from their studies, many others enter college with very poor capabilities and graduate with little or no improvement. Most employers aren’t looking for in-depth knowledge that only a college-educated individual could have; rather they are looking for good basic skills and trainability—and they complain that many students are lacking in that respect.

Third, we argued that having a college degree doesn’t necessarily open up any opportunities because bachelor’s degrees are so common now that having one is no distinction. Moreover, there are other and often more effective ways for people to advance than going to college. Many vocational paths are less costly and offer better long-term prospects than a college degree.

Fourth, we argued that since we already have a glut of college graduates in the labor force, adding to it does nothing to make the United States more competitive. Furthermore, there is no causal link between increasing numbers of people holding college degrees and the creation of high-skill, high-paying jobs.

Finally, we argued that putting more and more people through college exacerbates the problem of credential inflation—that is, employers’ insisting that applicants have college degrees to be considered for jobs that don’t require any academic training. Credential inflation already shuts out individuals who don’t have college degrees from many jobs they could easily do.

In response to our case against the resolution, the affirmative side said nothing.

Perhaps I should just leave the matter there, but there is more to be said against the idea of trying to increase college attendance and graduation through government action.

For one thing, the notion that the country would be better off if it put more people through college is cut from the same bolt of cloth as the notion that the country would be better off if it increased the percentage of people who own their own home. That is another noble-sounding idea that politicians tried to achieve through subsidies and manipulations. Eventually, it proved to be harmful to many individuals who were persuaded to take out mortgages they couldn’t pay off. Similarly, numerous young Americans are today struggling to make the payments on their college loan debt out of incomes far below what they were all but promised. Government planning schemes always have a lot of collateral damage.

For another, if we are serious about improving the productivity of the economy, a marginal increase in the percentage of workers with college credentials is a diversion from policies that would actually matter. Like what? Well, governments channel resources away from productive, competitively determined uses and into wasteful, politically determined uses. Governments’ innumerable laws and regulations interfere with efficiency, the minimum wage and occupational licensing being examples. And governments drive away investors and entrepreneurs with high taxes.

Many policy changes would increase the vitality of our economy. Pushing a few more young people through college is not one of them.

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Britain's toddler curriculum may be scrapped

A controversial Leftist “nappy curriculum” that requires children to hit a series of 69 targets by the age of five could be scrapped in its current form. "Nappy" is British for "diaper"

The Coalition will launch a review of the compulsory Early Years Foundation Stage today amid concerns it is too bureaucratic. It will consider whether to make the curriculum voluntary, giving some nurseries and childminders the freedom to opt-out altogether just two years after it was introduced.

The review – led by Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of the charity Action for Children – could also lead to a dramatic reduction in the number of targets children are expected to meet following claims they prevent toddlers from developing naturally.

Currently, the framework covers areas such as dressing independently, personal hygiene, using modern technology and understanding other cultures. This is on top of other “early learning goals” covering literacy, numeracy, communication skills and problem solving.

Last night, the review was welcomed by independent school leaders who said the curriculum – which is compulsory in the state and private sector – promoted a “tick-box” culture. David Lyscom, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said: “It diverts teaching time from more constructive pursuits and has spawned an industry of local authority moderators. "The curriculum does not stretch higher achievers and restricts parental choice as to how they educate their children.”

Martin Bradley, chairman of the Montessori Schools Association, said: “The early years are now more regulated than any other area of the education system. This review is long overdue.”

Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, has already described the framework as a “bureaucratic nightmare”. “We have to trust our professionals, not have these forms asking whether a child can tie its shoelaces [and] hold a rattle. Ludicrous,” he said.

The Early Years Foundation Stage has been a compulsory requirement for all nurseries, pre-schools and childminders since 2008. Currently, children must hit 69 targets before they start full-time education. This includes counting up to 10, reciting the alphabet, writing their own name and simple words and forming sentences using basic punctuation.

It also covers personal development, requiring children to “dress and undress independently and manage their own personal hygiene”, as well as understanding that “people have different needs, views cultures and beliefs that need to be treated with respect”.

The curriculum has been criticised for pushing children too far at a young age, undermining the amount of time they spend playing.

Today, Sarah Teather, the Children’s Minister, will set out a “root and branch” review of the framework. It will cover whether or not the curriculum should remain compulsory, as well as analysing the number of targets it covers.

The review will also assess whether it can be overhauled to focus more on children from the poorest backgrounds amid concerns they start school far behind those from middle-class families. Reforms are likely to lead to a reduction in paperwork surrounding the framework amid complaints that it is too bureaucratic.

It has already been blamed for fuelling a decline in the number of childminders in England. The number of registered childminders has dropped from 102,600 in the mid-90s to less than 57,000 this year.

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Australia: Labor government trying to stop school building waste at last

Better late than never. Julia Gillard has chosen the right guy in Simon. He is a true moderate and no fool. Pity he wasn't in charge from the get-go

AFTER 240 complaints about projects in the BER program, the new Education Minister has warned that funding could be withheld. So far, $75 million has been withheld from Building the Education Revolution projects in NSW.

New minister Simon Crean told The Australian 140 complaints had been received by the taskforce set up to investigate complaints about the BER. Another 100 complaints were made directly to the department, he said. Of the complaints, 150 were about projects in NSW, and in her last days as education minister Julia Gillard announced that she was withholding $75m from that state until problems were sorted out.

Mr Crean said 55 complaints were about projects in Victoria. There were fewer than 20 complaints about projects in Queensland. Problems in other states and territories were in single digits.

After months of complaints about waste in the program, the chairman of the BER implementation taskforce, Brad Orgill, wrote to Ms Gillard last month urging her not to make the $75m payment to NSW, which would have been the next tranche of BER funding to that state.

Mr Crean said he hoped that had sent a powerful message to other states. "The $75m is important . . . leverage to drive this argument of value for money," he said. "It sends an important message but it also completely rejects the notion that (we need to) freeze the totality of funds."

Mr Crean rejected opposition calls to halt spending on the program until the Orgill investigation was complete. "What do you say to the contractors and the workers that you put on hold, quite apart from breach of contract, which would open us up, I think, to a bit of litigation," he said.

After meeting with Mr Orgill, Mr Crean said he was confident that progress had been made and he did not need more powers. He said Mr Orgill did not ask for wider powers. "I think the powers are wide enough -- there's a catch-all there," Mr Crean said. "He can initiate inquiries. He has. I'm very impressed with the way he has gone out and done site visits."

Mr Crean said the BER program had been overwhelmingly effective and had provided value for money. He said there was absolutely no reason to hold up all the projects. "Why should you deny schools their entitlement where they've done the right thing?" Mr Crean asked. "I'm not saying those problems aren't of concern. They are, and we've got to try and address those concerns."

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Charter schools spread across Texas with goal of newer, better teaching

More than 120 charter schools in North Texas are part of a national explosion, fueled by a recent surge in political, philanthropic and parental support.

Fifteen years into the Texas charter school experiment, some charters have brought impressive innovation to public education, saved dropouts and posted enviable test scores. But on other campuses, kids have languished in poorly run classrooms and taxpayer money has been squandered on shady operations.

Despite the wildly varied results, the national charter school movement has gained serious steam over the past year. The forces include strong local political support, backing from philanthropic giants like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ambitious charter school management groups, private investors, fed-up urban parents – and even President Barack Obama.

"We're not an experiment anymore," said David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association. "We're a small but crucial piece of the overall public education system in this state."

Charter schools are public schools that are privately run and free of many state laws governing traditional schools. The theory is that, freed of red tape, charter schools can forge new and creative approaches to help kids learn. Sometimes that has happened; other times it hasn't.

Take two of Texas' earliest charter schools, Renaissance Charter Academy and North Hills School. Both opened in Irving, Renaissance in 1996 and North Hills a year later.

The group that operates North Hills, Uplift Education, now runs 15 charter schools in North Texas and plans to open two more this fall. North Hills has been rated mostly "exemplary" or "recognized" each year. Renaissance, meanwhile, shut down after about five years, owing the state nearly $3 million, mostly because it inflated attendance figures, which determine state funding. The school earned average to low state ratings.

"What we know is that charter schools vary tremendously. There are some charter schools that have very good results, and some that have very poor results," said Marisa Cannata, associate director of the National Center on School Choice at Vanderbilt University.

Texas limits charter school districts to 215, though a single district may operate multiple campuses. The State Board of Education has granted approval for 211 charter districts – and 28 groups have applied for the four remaining spots.

Texas has the third-highest number of charter schools, after California and Arizona. Despite the cap, the number of charter campuses grows every year. Five new campuses will open in the Dallas area this school year. About a third of the local charter schools are less than 3 years old.

Most of the recent arrivals are run by groups experienced in the business, such as Uplift. The charter operation will open two more schools in Dallas this fall – Heights Preparatory in West Dallas and Laureate Preparatory downtown.

Life School, a charter group that stresses character education at its five North Texas campuses, will open a sixth this fall in Cedar Hill. A postcard promoting the new campus declares it has "no tuition," presenting itself as an alternative to traditional schools without private school costs. And Responsive Education Solutions, based in Lewisville, opened its 35th campus this spring in McKinney and plans for several more around Texas this fall.

A Dallas Morning News analysis of charter schools shows that Texas charter schools are most popular in urban areas, such as Dallas and Houston. About 10 percent of children living in the Dallas Independent School District opt for a charter school.

Charters draw larger shares from some low-rated, high-poverty suburban school districts. For example, Lancaster ISD and North Forest ISD near Houston carry the state's lowest academic rating of "unacceptable." In both cases, more than 15 percent of students living in the district attend a charter school, The News found.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin, estimates that more than 40,000 children across the state are on charter school waiting lists.

While demand is fueling the growth of charter schools, so is money. Obama has called for the expansion of good charter schools. His administration is awarding more than $4 billion in competitive grants to improve education, with priority given to states that relax or eliminate caps on the number of charter schools they allow.

Traditional school districts, which stand to lose students and money to charter schools, are following the new charter-friendly emphasis now placed on federal education dollars. DISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa recently announced that the district would partner with Uplift Education and apply for a $5 million federal grant to create teacher training academies, an odd partnership that surprised many.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation have given tens of millions of dollars to support charter schools. Last year, the Gates Foundation said it would guarantee $30 million in bonds to help Houston-based charter group KIPP expand.

Private investors are also taking interest. Unlike traditional schools, charter schools don't receive public funds to build schools. They often must pay higher interest rates on their loans because they lack lengthy financial track records.

Then there's parent demand. Dallas parent Shaniqua Childs chose Life School in east Oak Cliff for her son and daughter. "This school is phenomenal," she said. "The teachers really care about the students." She also likes that the school requires parents to earn "parenting points" by attending seminars and observing classrooms.

State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, said legislators should respond to parent demand and lift the "arbitrary" state cap.

"You've got 40,000 students waiting in line to go to a charter school. Tell me another school in the state of Texas that has that type of demand," said Shapiro, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

More HERE






Poor British state schools should stop hiding behind excuses, says private school headmaster

A headmaster who left a grammar to lead a top independent school has spelled out what is wrong with state eduction


The news recently has been far from heartening for parents. Ofsted has revealed that half of state schools are struggling to provide a good education, new research has found that middle-class families are being priced out of the independent sector by fee hikes and the solution being touted by the new Government is for parents to take on the Herculean task of setting up their own schools.

But one headmaster with a unique perspective on the education landscape in England is optimistic that improvements can be made if councils are cut out of the equation and teaching and learning, not social engineering, become, once again the focus of schools.

Rod MacKinnon was the head teacher of Bexley Grammar School, in Kent, for 13 years before he made the move to the private sector. He has been at the helm of Bristol Grammar School, a £9,000 a year day school founded in 1532, since September 2008.

He knew it was the right time to make the change when the local education authority he operated under decided it needed to appoint a £60,000 a year "cluster coordinator" to help local schools work together. "I thought 'what on earth is going on here'. Just give me the money and I can get my class sizes down," said the head. "These advisors and bureaucrats - what are they doing? Local authorities watch schools flounder and fail and then get in the way of successful schools."

As well as the desire for a new challenge, it was this obvious frustration at the deadening hand of town hall officialdom that gave Mr MacKinnon the impetus to make the switch.

And the same driver is prompting hundreds of state schools to apply for the Government's extension of academy [charter] status to all outstanding secondaries and primaries. With academy status comes a more flexible curriculum, control over budgets, pay and appointments and the freedom to make decisions as and when. Mr MacKinnon thinks it just might work.

"Local authorities as a mechanism for improvement was never going to work," he said. "The academy movement is at least going in the right direction. Local authorities want you to get in your box. "Their response to good ideas is 'we don't do things that way'. They want heads who are going to do what they are told and that is disastrous, because you need leaders."

So, for outstanding schools which can make the move to academy status, the news is good. For parents with children in bog standard comprehensives, however, the path to improvement is less clear.

According to Mr MacKinnon, three elements would make a difference; the trend for ever bigger schools needs to be halted, poor schools need to stop making excuses for their failure and the Government must accept that schools can not solve the ills of society.

"The push for good schools and also some bad schools to get bigger and bigger is a serious mistake," he said. "It is militating against a sustainable quality of education. "You need a school where children are walking down the corridor and teachers are saying 'David, have you done that piece of work?'.

"A good response is not going to be forthcoming from 'Oy, you', especially from the average teenager. This is followed quickly by teachers thinking 'I won't say anything because I'll get abuse'. "Children need to belong to an identifiable community. In big schools the ethos is harder to maintain. Pupils and teachers can hide in the thicket of not being accountable."

Schools that are performing badly are often full of excuses, the headmaster claims, an attitude propagated by a Labour Government which encouraged them to focus on children's backgrounds and engage is social engineering.

"One of the biggest pitfalls in schools that are struggling is hiding behind excuses, a lack of ambition of how you can change these children's life chances," said the head. "We need to shine a light on success. I believe in prize giving. It means some children won't get prizes but I am sorry, achievement matters. We are kidding ourselves if we pretend it doesn't.

"We can educate children, help them grow in confidence, give them a sense of self-worth, reinforce moral values, teach them about Shakespeare and Boyle's law but we can't replace the family, or bring down teenage pregnancy or cut knife crime. "And the idea that we can is a hostage to fortune. It condemns schools to fail. It is disastrous.

"It might be well intentioned but if we really wanted that, we would not employ physics graduates to teach, we would employ highly skilled social workers.

"What you have to say is within these walls, we are going to focus on physics and maths and achievement and if you are successful in that, it will build your self-worth. "It may not solve all your problems, but it is something we can do that will make a difference."

He takes the change of title at the Department for Children, Schools and Families to the streamlined Department for Education - one of Michael Gove's first actions as education secretary - as a very good sign. The ambition for every head should be simple, and limited, to providing a good education.

Mr MacKinnon's forthright comments will infuriate teachers in the state sector, coming, as they do from the former head of a grammar school, which could cream off the brightest, who is now in the privileged position of leading one of the top 100 independent schools in the country.

Even more controversial is his take on the pay deal for teachers in the state sector. In 2008, the Government agreed a three year settlement which will see teachers salaries rise by 2.3 per cent this year, a deal that is unjustifiable in a recession, according to the head. "We have to look at, I'm afraid, at the 2.3 per cent pay rise for teachers," he said. "I am staggered that it was agreed two years in advance.

"We all know that teachers are not paid enough but in the current financial climate, the idea that we can set up a system that it is going to see a rise regardless, is staggering. In the commercial world, parents are losing jobs. "Pay is being cut. Yet teachers pay, in the state sector is automatically expected to go up.

"If it doesn't get changed it's a lot of money. For the country I would rather that we had some reductions in pay and keep the staff. The reality is that if schools have budget cuts they will have to lose staff."

In the light of a report published last week by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which found that private schools fees have rocketed three time faster than incomes, Mr MacKinnon's remarks might invite criticism.

He acknowledges that schools have to keep their fees down in the current climate - Bristol Grammar has held the rise at 2.5 per cent - and said that he has been surprised by the increase at some schools.

Ultimately though, independent school parents can vote with their feet. "The biggest difference moving from the state to the private sector was the genuine feeling of accountability," he said. "Parental choice is talked about a lot in the state sector but in reality there is very little choice. In the independent sector, if you don't like the service, you will walk away. That concentrates the mind."

One of the unfortunate similarities between the sectors has been the growing avalanche of regulation that has tied heads up in red tape.

Again, Mr MacKinnon is hopeful, along with other private school heads, that the Coalition Government will streamline the burdensome processes. "Inspectors now focus on legal requirements - right down to how many wash basins you should have," he said. "You don't' need a school inspector for that, you need a clerk with a clipboard. "These inspectors, with a wealth of experience, who should be focusing on what happens in the classroom, are counting the toilets. It's just nuts."

Despite this, independent schools still have the freedom to strive for success in the best way they see fit, a luxury not afforded to many state schools.

Unlike Vicky Tuck, the head of Cheltenham Ladies College, who last week decried the "hostility" she believes is directed at independent schools, Mr MacKinnon is bullish about what the sector has and can achieve.

"We don't need to adopt this defensive posture," he said. "I was proud of working in the state sector and I'm proud of working in the private sector. We don't need a siege mentality, we need to keep celebrating our success, which speaks for itself."

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Leftists are criticizing academically selective schooling in Australia too

Bright children should be allowed to fulfil their potential without being dragged down by being placed among dummies -- but that's not how the envious Left see it. They want to drag everyone down to an "equal" low level. They don't give a damn about the individual gifted kid. It is only abstractions about groups that interest them

NSW is creating a "social and academic apartheid" in education with private and selective schools prospering at the expense of comprehensive public schools, says one of the state's top educators.

Chris Bonnor, a former president of the Secondary Principals Council and former principal of Asquith Boys High, said Australia had established a tiered education system that was segregating students by income level and academic performance.

"We are separating our schools for the academic elite," he said. "Schools which can do so are hunting out bright kids through tests, scholarships and interviews with parents and avoiding kids with learning difficulties," he said.

"There is also a worsening social class division with low-income children increasingly going to public schools and the richer kids going to private and selective schools. "There is an increasing separation of kids along academic and social lines and, to some extent, along religious and cultural lines and nobody in government departments or government wants to talk about it."

Richard Teese, a specialist in school systems at the University of Melbourne, said the expansion of selective schooling in NSW - there are now 17 fully and 28 partly selective high schools - was creating "engines of high academic success", but at a significant cost.

"It's a very inequitable policy because it takes away cultural and academic resources from many sites and concentrates them into a few," Professor Teese said. "By operating schools like these you drain talent from many other comprehensive schools, which need what the French call pilot students - that is, model students who provide a really good example.

"The aim should be high standards everywhere. It doesn't make sense to have half a system that works and half a system that doesn't," he said.

Mr Bonnor, co-author of the book The Stupid Country: How Australia is Dismantling Public Education, said when two selective schools were established in the Hornsby area 15 years ago, surrounding schools were told this would provide more choice.

The schools made selective, Normanhurst Boys and Hornsby Girls, dramatically increased their share of high achievers, but the nine surrounding comprehensive schools and the low-fee private schools "lost out".

But the principals of those schools are in effect silenced about losing their best academic talent for fear of exacerbating the situation. "I didn't say it when I was principal at Asquith Boys High. It has the danger of increasing the loss of the remaining high achievers from the school," Mr Bonnor said.

"We also now have an outbreak of pseudo-selective schools - both private and public - each setting tests to gather a disproportionate share of the able, the engaged and the anxious. This is especially taking place across northern Sydney."

The principal of one selective high school, who did not want to be named, told the Herald that selective schools had been a disaster for comprehensive schools. "My own view is if I were to wave a wand and start again, I would not have any selective schools or independent schools or private schools or public schools. I think the model I'd like to go for is your local community school. But that's 150 years too late. We've moved on so that's no longer possible."

The government increased the number of selective school places by 600 to 4133 this year to help stem the drift from public to private schools.

The move will also increase the ranking achieved in the HSC results by the top selective high schools. James Ruse Agricultural High School has topped the Herald's HSC performance list for 14 consecutive years.

Last year, government selective high schools took out four of the top five positions. The first comprehensive government high schools to appear on the Herald's list were Killara High School in 54th position and Cherrybrook Technology High School in 59th.

Mr Bonnor said the Department of Education "pretends this problem does not exist". "The department is avoiding the issue and no one wants to know that by offering opportunities for some kids, this is reducing opportunities for others," he said.

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School District Sued for Banning Bibles on Religious Freedom Day

No freedom for Christians

For years, the Collier County School district allowed a local Christian organization, World Changers of Florida, to distribute free Bibles to interested students during off-school hours on January 16 for Religious Freedom Day.

Now the group is filing suit after being told by the school board that it can no longer distribute the Bibles on campus because they do not provide any educational benefit to the students.

The school board and superintendent “have denied World Changers access for no other reason than the religious content and viewpoint of the literature it wishes to distribute, specifically Bibles,” the lawsuit contends. “This unequal treatment, based upon the religious nature of the literature World Changers wishes to distribute, is unconstitutional content-based discrimination, because World Changers’ materials otherwise fit within the parameters Defendants set for the forum.”

The group goes on to say that the school allowed other secular organizations to distribute literature but prevented World Changers from doing so even though it complied with all of the school’s guidelines.

“We are compelled to sue to protect the right simply to make free Bibles available to students in public schools,” Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, the legal group representing World Changers said in a statement. “Many of our founding fathers were taught to read using the Bible.

If it had no educational value, then many of them would have been illiterate. The distribution of religious literature in a forum opened for secular literature is constitutionally protected.”

The lawsuit seeks to have the school district’s actions declared unconstitutional and requests legal fees and unspecified nominal damages.

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Actors attack British girls' school that wanted homosexual scenes cut

Staff at a private all-girls' school asked a theatre company to cut scenes depicting homosexuality from its shows. St Margaret's School, a £10,000-a-year school in Hampstead, north London, made the request after asking the Black Cat Theatre Company to visit and put on performances as part of a sex education programme for 12- to 15-year-olds.

The first performance, on how drugs and alcohol could lead to a greater risk of being sexually attacked, culminated in one boy sexually assaulting another. During a break between shows actors were then asked to omit further references to homosexuality during the visit last month.

Barry Lillie, of Black Cat, told the Times Educational Supplement: "If you are going to broaden children's minds about sex you have got to talk to them about all different types of sex. It is no less important in a girls' school. There are girls that are gay as well as boys." Actors also described the request as "morally reprehensible".

However, Mark Webster, the head teacher of St Margaret's, said staff were merely being "cautious" because they were worried about what the actors might have planned for the remaining performances. He added: "Gay relationships and sex education are part of our school's personal, social and health education programme."

Mr Webster noted that the only homosexual character in the theatre company's storyline "was a rapist", which he said was a negative portrayal. Mr Lillie responded: "We are talking about how rape is about power and control."

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Incompetent British teachers not fired

New concerns have been raised over the problem of incompetent teachers in British schools as official figures showed that hardly any have been dismissed. In the decade since the General Teaching Council (GTC) was created with the power to strike off those found to be incompetent, only 18 have been banned from the classroom. The figure contrasts with the estimate, made by Chris Woodhead when he was the head of Ofsted, that there are 15,000 incompetent teachers in service.

Under current rules, head teachers of state schools can identify underperforming teachers to their local authority. The individuals have their classroom competence reviewed, and they are advised on how they can improve their teaching. In cases where serious failings are identified, the teachers can be struck off by the General Teaching Council (GTC).

However, the investigation also found that as few as 300 teachers a year are entered into the first stage of this process, the competence review – equivalent to 0.07 per cent of Britain's 500,000 teachers.

Procedures vary widely between different council areas.

The programme raises concerns from anonymous head teachers who say they are aware of underperforming staff but feel unable to tackle the problem and fear it would bring unwanted attention on their school.

One of those 18 teachers, David Dobbie, who was struck off last year, was found during the investigation to be working as a classroom technician at Gedling School in Nottinghamshire where he had been given temporary employment through an agency. Anyone struck off may still work in schools in a "non-teaching role" according to GTC rules. They are also free to teach in private schools.

Michael Gove, the new education secretary, announced the abolition of the GTC last month, telling parliament that he wanted to "trust professionals" and give heads more power to improve the quality of teaching.

In a statement, the GTC said it did take action to prevent prohibited teachers from teaching and said it was concerned about "patchy" referrals by head teachers. It also admitted that it did not "seem credible" that the number of incompetent teachers was as low as the number actually struck off, but added: "We do believe that the incidence of true incompetence is low."

The Policy Exchange think-tank concluded in 2008 that it was likely that poor teachers are being 'recycled' around the system.

Susan Woodward, head teacher at Gedling School, said: "Mr Dobbie was working at the school on a part-time, temporary basis until a permanent appointment was made and was informed when he was no longer needed at the school."

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Educational Bias In HS Advanced Placement Government Classes

Once again, we must address ‘What Our Children Are Being Taught In Our Schools.’ This time it is in our nation’s High School Advanced Placement (AP) Government curriculum. It is quite disturbing.

We start with the following practice question from this year’s Barron’s test preparation book for the Advanced Placement (AP) Exam for “U.S. Government and Politics” taken by millions of our brightest HS students. See if you can surmise the answer.

Traditionally, the Republican Party has been viewed as favoring which of the following groups? (A) Big business; (B) The poor; (C) The middle class; (D) African-Americans; (E) Hispanics

The answer, of course, is (A). Consider the effect of teaching this to our children. First, it marginalizes the Republican Party by suggesting upwards of 80% of the electorate are NOT favored by Republicans. It makes you wonder how they ever win elections. Second, it isn’t even true, especially in the last election cycle, when large financial, pharmaceutical, and health care companies backed Obama.

But more importantly, selection (A) could have been ”Economic growth,” “Entrepreneurs,” or even “Business.” But those characterizations do not demonize business or Republicans enough. Wonder if there is a similar question tying Democrats to Big Unions or Big Government? No, there isn’t. I looked.

Reagonomics, Bad; Clintonomics, Good

To continue with the previous discussion, the Barron’s test preparation book also prepares students for the Free-Response Essay portion of the AP U.S. Government and Politics exam. On pages 345-347, the test-taker is asked to: (a.) Identify and explain one key policy of Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton as it relates to economic philosophy; and (b.) Show how it was applied to economic policy.

The following are excerpts of what Barron’s illustrates as an appropriate response to the question.

It’s a lot to read and even more to swallow. (You’re lucky I’m only making you read excerpts)

Ronald Reagan’s Policies: ”Supply-siders held that an abundance of efficiently produced goods could actually stimulate demand enough to raise the entire GNP. During the 1979 campaign, Reagan construed such a theory as the solution to the lingering problem of stagflation. . . .

Yet after his election, supply-side economics did not manifest itself in a significant reduction in government expenditures, nor even an increase in government revenues. . . . [Reagan] successfully instituted a regressive income tax and lowered the capital gains tax, resulting in an expansion of the upper-income tax bracket. But an examination of the fluctuations in GNP indicated that the economy expanded decidedly unevenly, encouraging a widening distribution of personal income comparable to the 1920s. Reagan’s policies had indeed provided American firms the capital necessary to invest and develop more efficient and cost-effective goods and services. Yet unlike Japanese businesses, American firms invested little of such assets, so that the proportion of the GNP dedicated to R&D never increased.

This trend may explain precisely why a boost in incomes of the business class. . . . never increased supply and in turn failed to stimulate demand or produce massive national wealth. Firms and the wealthy used increased revenue to consume rather than to save. Productivity gradually declined, much technological innovation never hit the factory floor, and quite simply, businesses consequently did not need to hire more workers and could not afford to increase wages proportional to the amount of revenues businesses were receiving.

The decline in productivity increased the deficit and increased the wealth of the smallest portion of the economy. This wouldn’t have been quite so harmful had it not been for one other component of Reagan’s policy. . . . the systematic reduction of the government’s mechanism’s of demand. Because this reduction was not offset by an increase in demand, the middle class lost vital programs resulting in loss of wages.

The decline in prosperity of the heart of American society precipitated an electoral crisis in confidence. The middle class identified the U.S. deficit as a symbol of the manner in which government trapped them. Not only did the eight years of regressive taxation inhibit them, but they faced the prospect of having to pay back the debt at increasing levels of interest.”

Bill Clinton’s Policies: Clinton successful defined the agenda of the 1992 election. James Carville identified the principal issue. ”It’s the economy, stupid. . . . ” By the beginning of the 1990s the negative effects of Reagan’s policies manifested themselves in economic recession and massive unemployment. . . .

The Clinton camp articulated a platform that embodied a large increase in government spending. . . . He proposed an increase in education spending, a middle class tax cut (which would undoubtedly have stimulated demand but was not fiscally plausible, and was not enacted), a reduction of corporate welfare, and a general stimulus package, which the Senate never passed. Such a platform theoretically would have reduced the burden of the middle class, because [they] would not have to rely on the trickle-down generosity of the wealthy business class. And since businesses failed to invest the money that Reagan had provided them Clinton sought to stimulate innovation and productivity through labor and educational spending. . . .

Although Clinton’s fiscal policies, alongside a turn in the business cycle, succeeded in ending the recession and stimulating a new period of growth, other problems resulted in a Republican mid-term victory. But after Clinton victory on 1996, the economy remained on solid ground. The deficit was reduced by more than half. Millions of jobs were created. So James Carville’s 1992 prophecy became economic reality in 1996.

REMEMBER, the students taking this AP exam are our best and brightest, and are among those most likely to enter the fields of law and politics.

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Stupid British schools trying to shelter kids from real life

Winning banned in two thirds of schools as teachers reward ALL students

Two out of three schools are rewarding all pupils on sports days to ensure that nobody feels left out, according to a survey. Teachers want to be 'inclusive' and give prizes to both winners and losers to stop anyone's feelings being hurt.

The findings come as the Government has pledged to reintroduce competitive sport into the country's primary and secondary schools. Ministers are launching a new 'School Olympics' programme to end the widespread culture of 'prizes for all'. The championships are intended to give every child an experience of hardfought competition and prevent schools from refusing to pit youngsters against each other.

However, a survey by School Stickers, a provider of rewards for primary and secondary schools, reveals the scale of the problem the new policy must overcome. It surveyed almost 300 primary and secondary schools and found that 69 per cent reward all participants in sports days. The figures are 54 per cent for secondary schools and 77 per cent for primaries. Nine per cent of all schools refuse to single out any winners at all. Extrapolated across the country, this would equate to more than 2,000 schools.

The survey also found that two per cent of schools miss out on competitive games as they have no sports days. This figure equates to almost 500 nationally.

The schools all blame the organisational burden as the reason for not holding one, rather than health and safety reasons.

Henry Shelford, chief executive of School Stickers, said: 'It is ironic that just days after the Government announces plans to reinvigorate competition in school sports, our survey reveals how many schools prefer a more "inclusive" approach.

'With England's footballers again failing at the World Cup, and the 2012 Olympics looming, the nature of sports participation in schools is firmly on the agenda. Each school is unique and needs to choose the system that works for them. 'But I feel sorry for the 500 schools where teachers and pupils want a sports day but can't. 'All miss out on a fun and stimulating day.'

The new school sports championships are designed to reverse the decline in competitive sport brought about by Left-wing councils that scorned it as 'elitist' and insisted on politically correct activities with no winners or losers.

The first championship will take place in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games. They will involve a wide range of sports including football, rugby, netball, golf, cricket, tennis, athletics, judo, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis and volleyball. Schools will compete against each other in district leagues from 2011 with winning athletes and teams qualifying for as many as 60 finals. The most talented will then be selected for national finals.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said: 'We need to revive competitive sport in our schools. 'Fewer than a third of school pupils take part in regular competitive sport within schools and fewer than one in five take part in regular competition between schools.'

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Phenomenal school performance by East Asian students in Australia

Despite the large handicap of coming from a different linguistic and cultural background. Effort alone cannot account for that. For an Asian to become competent in English is a huge leap. Try learning Chinese if you doubt it

CHILDREN of recent Asian migrants are dramatically outperforming students from English-speaking households to dominate the ranks of the top selective high schools.

A Herald analysis shows 42 per cent of children from non-English speaking backgrounds who sat the annual selective high school entrance test last year won a place in the elite system. Fewer than 23 per cent of students whose families speak English at home were successful.

Letters and emails were sent this week to inform 4133 year 6 students that they had won a place for next year at a selective high school. The percentage of students from migrant families entering the selective system has risen dramatically from 29 per cent in 1995 to as high as 62 per cent in 2008. The component is sharply skewed towards children from Asian-origin families.

Students whose families speak other languages comprise a little more than one-quarter of the total public school population.

Many of the successful students are graduates of the burgeoning network of private coaching colleges which gauge their success by their ability to secure places in the selective system and who tailor courses towards the "opportunity class" and selective exams. Coaching colleges are dominated by children of recent migrants.

"Anglo families have a different sense of what a child's life should look like and they are really concerned about narrowing a child's life down to passing the selective school entrance test," says Craig Campbell, a Sydney University academic and co-author of School Choice, a book on how parents negotiate the school market. "But they're having to change because of the competition."

High school principals, worried about losing students and prestige, are said to be pushing hard to establish selective streams in their schools, according to Associate Professor Campbell.

At James Ruse Agricultural High, the state's top selective school, an overwhelming majority of students are from families that have migrated from Asian countries.

The selective system was expanded this year with 600 more places created through the establishment of 14 partially selective high schools, where a high-achieving stream has been added to a comprehensive high school.

The students from migrant families also win up to half the opportunity class placements available for years 5 and 6 at specialised public schools. These classes are designed to provide "intellectual stimulation and an educationally enriched environment for academically gifted and talented children", says the Department of Education.

Anecdotal evidence suggests some parents avoid selective high schools because of the extent of Asian domination. The former head of the NSW selective schools unit, Bob Wingrave, recalls his surprise to hear a colleague had decided against sending his child to James Ruse "because there were too many Asians there".

"All kids who go to a selective high school will benefit from going," Mr Wingrave said. Coaching might gain students a few marks at the most.

Children from a non-English-speaking background answered more questions in the selective schools entry test than other students, he said. "The Anglo kids won't answer it if looks too hard and they are less likely to finish than the non-English-speaking background kids," Mr Wingrave said.

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Education bailout added to House war bill

The Democrats apparently have a bottomless pit of money. No wonder they won't set a budget

The U.S. House approved a war-funding measure that includes $10 billion in aid to state governments to prevent thousands of teacher layoffs, after a veto threat from the White House.

Lawmakers voted 239-182 to back a plan the Obama administration threatened to veto yesterday because the state aid would be financed in part by cutting $800 million from one of the administration’s signature education initiatives. Earlier, the legislation cleared a procedural hurdle with a 215- 210 majority.

The vote sends the $80 billion package to the Senate, where Republicans have signaled they will fight to delete unrelated items added to a bill primarily designed to fund President Barack Obama’s decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

The disputes not only threaten an election-year spending fight among Democrats, they also promise to delay getting the long-stalled measure to Obama’s desk until later this month.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged lawmakers earlier this month to pass the bill before leaving for their weeklong Fourth of July recess, saying the Pentagon would otherwise be forced to do “stupid things” such as taking money out of other programs to ensure adequate war funding. He said the agency may have to furlough civilian employees if the money isn’t approved by mid- August.

The House bill includes $37 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $13 billion for additional benefits to people exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, among other programs.

Separately, lawmakers failed to pass legislation extending unemployment assistance, which means 2 million Americans could see their aid interrupted by mid-July, according to the Labor Department. The House yesterday approved a bill extending the assistance, sending it to the Senate for consideration after lawmakers return to Washington on July 12.

Senate Bill

House Democrats considered passing, without change, a Senate-approved draft of the war bill omitting the teacher funding in order to get the money to the Pentagon this week. Democratic leaders opted instead to add the education funding, which led to the financing dispute with the White House.

“The administration is more than willing to work with the Congress to pursue fiscally responsible ways to finance education jobs,” a White House statement said. “It would be short-sighted to weaken funding for these reforms just as they begin to show promise.”

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, the lead sponsor of the legislation, said tough choices were needed to avoid adding to the deficit. “I didn’t come here to be Arne Duncan’s congressman,” said Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, referring to the secretary of Education. “Who do people think put the money into these programs in the first place? I did,” Obey said. “Welcome to Washington and welcome to hard choices.”

Additional Programs

Democrats also added $5 billion for Pell college tuition grants, $142 million in aid to fisherman and others affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and $701 million for border security. Those costs would be partially defrayed by provisions clamping down on so-called pay-to-delay payments made by brand- name pharmaceutical companies to generic-drug makers to delay lower-priced generic drugs from entering the market.

Senator Thad Cochran, the ranking Republican on the appropriations committee, said his colleagues won’t accept the House changes. Reconciling the competing drafts will delay getting a bill to Obama until “at least” late July, he said. Representative James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the House isn’t “a rubber stamp for whatever the Senate does -- we have opinions too.”

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Muslim pupils taken out of music lessons in British schools 'because Islam forbids playing an instrument'

Muslim pupils are being withdrawn from music lessons because some families believe learning an instrument is anti-Islamic. The move comes despite the subject being a compulsory part of the national curriculum.

While parents have legal rights to withdraw children from religious and sex education classes, no automatic right exists to pull them out of lessons such as music.

One education expert said up to half of Muslim pupils were withdrawn from music lessons during Ramadan. And The Muslim Council of Britain said music lessons were likely to be unacceptable to around ten per cent of the Muslim population in Britain.

However, in certain branches of Islam - such as Sufism, which is dominant in Pakistan and India - devotional music and singing is actually central to the religion.

A BBC investigation found that in one London primary school, 20 pupils were removed from rehearsals for a Christmas musical and one five-year-old girl remains permanently withdrawn from mainstream music classes.

Some Muslims believe that playing musical instruments and singing is forbidden according to Islam. At Herbert Morrison Primary in Lambeth, 29 per cent of children come from mainly Somalian Muslim families. Headmistress Eileen Ross said some parents 'don't want children to play musical instruments and they don't have music in their homes'.

One girl remains permanently withdrawn from the school's music curriculum, which consists of a government-backed project to learn instruments such as the violin. 'There's been about 18 or 22 children withdrawn from certain sessions, out of music class, but at the moment I just have one child who is withdrawn continually from the music curriculum,' Mrs Ross told the BBC. 'It's not part of their belief, they feel it detracts from their faith.' Ofsted and education experts raised concerns over the findings.

The Open University's Dr Diana Harris, an expert on music education and Muslims, said she had visited schools where half of the pupils were withdrawn from music lessons by their parents during Ramadan.

'Most of them really didn't know why they were withdrawing their children,' she told the BBC. 'The majority of them were doing it because they had just learned that it wasn't acceptable and one of the sources giving out that feeling was the Imams.'

A spokesman for Ofsted said: 'Music is an important part of any child or young person's education. Any examples of pupils being treated unequally would be a matter of significant concern.'

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A third of British graduates in low-skills jobs or on the dole six months after leaving university

One in three graduates is on the dole or working in stopgap jobs such as stacking shelves or pouring pints [of beer].

The impact of the recession on graduate recruitment was laid bare in official figures showing a rise in unemployment and a reliance on jobs unlikely to justify the expense of studying. Nearly 20,000 of last year’s graduates – one in ten – were unemployed six months after leaving university – up from eight per cent in 2008.

A further 50,000 failed to land graduate-level posts and resorted to roles for which they are likely to be over-qualified, working as secretaries, waiters, bar staff and factory employees. In total, 34 per cent jobless or in non-graduate roles. Some were taking part-time jobs to help pay for further degrees.

Only 40 per cent managed to land professional or managerial jobs, with the remainder studying a higher degree full-time, working abroad or describing themselves as ‘unavailable for work’, possibly because of gap years.

The figures emerged after two days of bleak reports on the graduate job market. Yesterday experts predicted graduate unemployment could reach a quarter – a record level – amid unprecedented competition for work and looming cuts in the public sector, which employs significant numbers of graduates.

‘The impact of the proposed cuts could be sufficient to have a profound effect on the labour market for new graduates,’ said Charlie Ball, of the Higher Education Careers Services Unit. ‘It is possible that the next four years could be the toughest for new graduates ever.’

The latest study, issued by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, shows how last year’s graduates fared six months after leaving university. Out of 205,300 graduates who gave data, 8,400 were in ‘elementary’ occupations' – for example hospital porters and roadsweepers. A further 610 got jobs as machine operatives while 18,000 work in sales or customer services. And 8,100 were in ‘personal services’ including hairdressing while 13,720 were in administrative or secretarial roles.

Around 1,000 others were in skilled trades such as plumbing. Universities Minister David Willetts said: ‘Employers are continuing to recruit graduates in large numbers even though these are students who graduated at the height of the recession.

‘The job market does remain competitive for new graduates in these difficult economic times, as it does for everyone. However, a degree remains a good investment in the long-term.’

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Texas textbook controversy

Through out my years of living in Texas I have experienced much stereotyping from people outside of the state. They seem to think that we are all country bumpkins who walk around with ten gallon hats and speak with thick country accents. There are even some who think that we drive around with cow horns on the hoods of our cars. They also think of us as inbred yokels who are incapable of having any intelligent thought. Unfortunately the recent scandal over what has been written in the textbooks probably reinforced this image for those who like to turn their noses up at this state.

Recently, the conservative members of the Texas Board of Education passed revisions to the textbooks used by public schools. There are many states who are concerned that these revisions may spread into their domains, since Texas is the largest purchaser of textbooks.

I am not certain what has been written in the new textbooks. All I know is what the media has claimed and we all know how reliable the mainstream media can be. Even the local media has proven itself to be worthless.

One of these changes is the portrayal of America as a constitutional republic as opposed to a democracy. I wasn’t even aware that this concept was being disputed. I was always taught that America was a republic, a form of indirect democracy. Whenever we said the Pledge of Allegiance, the words were “to the republic for which it stands” not to the democracy for which it stands. I didn’t realize that things have changed so much since I last attended public school.

There were some changes that seem absurd, such as the exclusion of Thomas Jefferson from the Texas Curriculum’s world history standards on Enlightenment thinking. I suppose that the logic behind this was to show that the US was founded on Christian values and since Jefferson was a Deist, he didn’t quite fit the mold. I would have to agree that this change is utterly ridiculous. The idea of excluding one of the greatest minds of the Enlightenment period because he contradicted the idea of the US being a Christian country goes way beyond absurdity. Not to say that Judeo-Christian values didn’t play a part in the formation of this country. However one can not deny that there were many Deists, like Thomas Jefferson, who also influenced the formation of this nation.

There were many Hispanic activists that were upset over the absence of key Latino figures in the curriculum, such as Caesar Chavez and the Mexicans who fought on the side of Texas independence. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Chavez is being excluded since conservatives are known for their distain of union leaders. You would have thought that Chavez’s views against illegal immigration would have earned him some points among the conservatives. I do side with the Hispanics on including information about the Mexicans who fought for Texas independence. One of those men was an ancestor of mine, Jose` Antonio Navarro. He was a statesman who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Sadly most people don’t know of him or any of the other Latinos who fought for Texas.

The Democrats on the board also took issue with the curriculum standards regarding economics. One of those standards was the teaching of the rapid inflation that occurred after the abandonment of the Gold Standard. Apparently the Democrats don’t like the idea of anybody pointing out the fallacy of the money out of thin air system that replaced the Gold Standard.

The left-wingers on the board have also complained about the idea of teaching the ideologies of free market economists such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich A. Hayek, alongside the ideologies of Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Keynes. Keynesian ideology is a form of Voodoo economics, which was responsible for prolonging the Great Depression.

We all know that Marxism has not only proven to be a total failure, but it has also led to the death of a hundred million people world wide. Considering that both of these ideologies have proven to be disastrous, I don’t see any problem with free market economics being taught in the curriculum.

There have also been some complaints about the textbooks mentioning the great conservative resurgence of the 1980’s and 90’s. These textbooks would feature organizations such as the Heritage Foundation, the NRA, and the Moral Majority. To what extent I don’t know. The media claims that the new textbooks would show favorable bias towards these organizations. Since I haven’t seen the new revisions for myself I can’t really comment on them.

The media also claims that the revisions put Joe McCarthy in a favorable light. Once again I don’t know how true this is, but they seem to base this on the fact that the new books would make reference to the Venona Papers. Even though McCarthy was a paranoid drunk who helped start a series of witch hunts, it turned out that he was right about many of the high profile people that he accused of being Communists. These revelations would come after the release of the Venona Papers, which came from decoded Soviet cables.

I can’t say that I have ever been fond of McCarthy’s legacy, but it turns out that he was right about many of the people he accused. We shouldn’t ignore the facts just because we may not like a certain individual.

The board also wanted the Republican’s role in the Civil Rights movement to be mentioned, which seems fair. It seems like people have this misconception about the Civil Rights movement being a Democrat vs. Republican conflict, when it was actually a fight against Southern leaders who wanted to cling on to their archaic ways. After all, there was a higher percentage of Republicans who voted for the Civil Acts of 1964 and there were many Democrats, such as Governor Wallace of Alabama, who supported segregation.

The internment of Italian and German Americans during World War II was something else that the board wanted to mention in the textbooks. Most of the history books only make mention of the Japanese Americans who found themselves imprisoned in concentration camps. I believe that the Americans of German and Italian descent also deserve to be mentioned. According to the media, the motive behind this move is to show that the internments weren’t motivated by race. As long as they don’t try to justify one of the grossest violations of civil liberties in American history, I don’t have a problem with it.

With the exception of the exclusion of Thomas Jefferson and key Latino figures that have much historical significance, most of the changes seem with in reason. Most of the bias that I have seen in textbooks usually leans to the left. You never hear that mentioned by any of the mainstream media outlets.

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Math, reading gap among Native American students

I think this shows that only the dumb ones remain on the reservations

Native American students at schools overseen by the federal Bureau of Indian Education performed significantly worse on national standardized tests in reading and math compared with those in public schools.

The National Indian Education Study released Wednesday found lags in achievement and persistent gaps among Native American students and their peers. There was also a significant disparity among Native American students depending on the type of school they attend, according to the U.S. Department of Education study.

Those in public schools, and particularly those in schools where Native American students represent less than 25 percent of the population, consistently scored higher than their peers who attend schools heavily populated by Native Americans. The most stark contrast was seen among those who attend Bureau of Indian Education schools, which were created to provide quality education to Native Americans.

The bureau oversees 183 schools on 64 reservations in 23 states, a majority of which are run by tribes. They educate an estimated 44,000 students — less than 10 percent of all Native American children nationwide.

In reading, fourth grade students at Bureau of Indian Education schools scored an average of 181 on a 500 point scale on the National Assessment of Educational Progress — 25 points lower than Native Americans attending public schools. There was a 23 point gap among eighth grade students. Similar gaps were seen in math.

Poverty, less access to resources and difficulty obtaining and retaining teachers to work in tribal areas could be part of the problem, researchers said.

"If I could pinpoint it, I could bottle it and sell it and solve the problem," said Bart Stevens, deputy director of school operations for the Bureau of Indian Education. "It's one that we keep plugging at, and a lot of things that impact our students are not necessarily within our control, as with any school system."

Overall, Native American students are struggling, with more than a third scoring below the basic level in reading and math, according to the study. Those scores have remained basically unchanged since 2005.

"The fact that our American Indian and Alaska Native students have not made any progress since 2005 is alarming and cause for major concern," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

The American Indians' scores were similar to those of black and Hispanic students.

Kerry Venegas of the National Indian Education Association said the challenges facing Bureau of Indian Education schools are similar to those in large, urban schools — but exacerbated. On some reservations, unemployment hovers at 70 percent and graduation rates are low.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan expressed his dismay at the situation at a National Press Club luncheon in 2009, in which he described having visited a reservation in Montana where the dropout rate was as high as 65 percent. Teachers told him only one student had graduated from college in the past six years.

"If we can't help those Native American children be successful over the next couple of years, than I think I personally would have failed," Duncan said.

The study also included a look at the integration of Native American culture into education. Forty-three percent of fourth grade students said their teachers did integrate Native American culture and history into class.

The issue of retaining Native American culture is not lost among people like Harold Dusty Bull, 60, vice president of the National Johnson O'Malley Association, a nonprofit educational organization. He recalled how in the 1940s Native American children were sent to government boarding schools where they were stripped of their culture and language.

"It started out with bad history, and I don't think it's ever really overcome it yet," he said.

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British parents 'should get grants for private schools'

Private schools are Federally subsidized in Australia, by way of example

Parents should be given grants to send their children to private school, according to an education leader. Families should be allocated a tax code each year and decide whether to use it to send their child to their local state school or top it up to pay independent school fees, it was claimed.

David Hanson, chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, said those on the lowest incomes should be given more money than the richest. He called for independent schools to be seen as an "integral part of education provision", putting them on par with private health care.

Ministers are desperate to create a more diverse education sector in England and have invited parents' groups and teachers to open their own “free schools” funded at taxpayers’ expense. But they are unlikely to directly fund private schools amid fears it will leave them open to accusations of “elitism”.

Commenting on the plan, Mr Hanson said: "This proposal not only extends provision and draws upon public sector expertise, but very importantly would for the first time provide a truly level playing field and therefore dramatically increase social mobility. “In a nutshell, all parents would be able to choose any type of school for their child."

The IAPS, which represents 600 private prep schools, suggested that all parents should have “personal educational grant”, which would be “tapered”, with the poorest receiving the most.

Mr Hanson said the poorest could have a grant of £6,000 and the richest would get just £1,000. All families would then be required to pay – through the Inland Revenue – for their child's schooling. He said the grant could be topped up to pay for a private education, adding: “It should be redeemable in any chosen local authority or private, independent or voluntary school."

Mr Hanson said that parents are already paying for education through their taxes, but this was not made explicitly clear.

Mr Hanson's comments will resurrect the debate about "education vouchers". The Tories announced plans for a "school passport" in 2003 - a voucher-style scheme that would allow parents to "spend" the amount allocated to them on the school of their choice. But the money could not be used in part payment of private school fees. The proposals were dropped shortly after the 2005 General Election.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "We have no intention to introduce anything like the proposal put forward by the Independent Association of Prep Schools. "We are committed to investing more in the education of the poorest, and that is why the new pupil premium is at the heart of this coalition Government's plans for schools.

"Additional money from outside the existing schools budget will be made available to ensure that those teaching the children most in need get the resources to deliver smaller class sizes, more one-to-one or small group tuition, longer school days and more extracurricular activities."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers union, said: "The IAPS clearly either hasn’t read or understood the Coalition Government’s guidance on the establishment of free schools. “Instead of IAPS inventing its own barmy idea, it can simply advise its members to use the one already thought up by the Coalition Government.

“Any independent school failing to make ends meet can now have its bank account under-written by the taxpayer and parents can send their children to the school at no additional cost.”

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