Once a month I will save all of my education exploring news and give an education update on what's going on that's printed in the newspapers, yes newspapers that are dying at an alarming rate. That's another rant for later about how will our democracy survive without a first amendment – freedom of the press - investigating government and keeping people from all of this dishonesty and greed we see today? All in all the last great undercover investigative reporting was Watergate.
The government seems to be giving an increase to states for early education in a recent education bill. Per the New York Times Sunday Sept 20 shows “New Initiative Would Focus on Raising Quality of Early Learning Programs” by Sam Dillon. A higher ed bill that passed the House last week includes early learning and care programs that serve kids birth to 5. To get the money states have to show a curriculum of sorts, a way to review programs and give quality ratings, training requirements, a plan for parent involvement or reach out, and a way to collect data on children. The Dept of Ed and Health and Human services would admminsiter the Challenge Fund. Some are upset because the bill does not raise the number of kids who can get a pre-K program. This is a focus on quality not quantity attending.. 30 states have kept or increased giving money to early learning and some are reducing and eliminating as many as 12,000 children as in Illinois. The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University follows the numbers.
Another cry for help in education is in South Africa where students are teaching themselves in classrooms where facutly don't show up. “Keen to Learn, And Let Down In south Africa” by Celia W. Dugger protrays a racist program with chronic problems in the black schools but not the wealthier neighborhoods. Students are angry as they know education is the way to a better country with a great need for bookkeepers, accountants, engineers, doctors. They are crying for an education.
I must say that when I come in to class to teach I don't have students crying for learning here in the United States public schools. We've lost so many students to a different ethic – not work, but glamor, fast fame, petty disagreements and a view that there is an easy way to money.
Other NEWS Literacy is down in Afghanistan since we have taken over because basic institutions like schools are suffering. Greg Mortenstern, author of Three Cups of Tea is making the rounds talking about his new children's books that explain his program to build and rebuild schools in Pakistan..There are small ways to be a part of that.
Aside personal noneducational news: I have a farm in western Nebraska, Banner county exactly, and there on route 14 is one of the 6 windiest places in the United States. I have experienced it. They formed a wind association to speak with companies that would like to put up windmills/turbines. A company is proposing to install 900 to 1000 wind turbines and 3 substations to run them within 10 years. The company is working on changing the laws to be able to send the electricity beyond Nebraska. It could run 750,000 homes! We'll see how it goes. They are just investigating and putting the ideas in motion in the Nebraska legislature to change the laws. People are excited about the economic lift it would give the county. They estimate that each land owner might receive $12,000 a year from the electricity generated by the windmills. It would be one of the largest windmill farms in the world.
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