By The Fox and Rice Experience

When great leaders die, it is accustomed in almost every culture to honor their legacy by naming something after them or even erecting a statue in their honor.  We repeat: that’s for great leaders who are chosen so by a free society. In tyrannical regimes, this happens a bit quicker. 

In fact, things get named after dictators almost immediately: things such as “The Mao Zedong Porta-Potty” or the “Fidel Castro Cow Insemination Device.”  And so, in this great tradition we give you “The Barack Obama Elementary School,” which opened its doors this week in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  Can’t you already smell the geniuses that this place will turn out?  It makes FRX wonder how many US naval officers per year request a transfer off of the Seawolf-class submarine named the USS Jimmy Carter.  The school is being touted as being an environmentally “green” school with a “red” curriculum. 

And if you click the player, you can hear all of the colorful propaganda the school has to offer:

Tahlequah Daily Press

TAHLEQUAH — A Northeastern State University student was formally charged Tuesday afternoon with first-degree burglary and assault and battery.

Mohammad Saleh Alaji, 23, was charged with forcing his way into the home of Amy Proctor on Aug. 2. Reports state Proctor and her two children were asleep when the incident occurred.

An affidavit filed by NSU Police Sgt. Jim Flores states Alaji, a native of Saudi Arabia, was attempting to get on top of Proctor while she slept on the couch. She was able to escape from Alaji and get him out of the house.

One of the children was allegedly assaulted by Alaji. Court documents state Alaji put the child in a choke hold.

Flores’ affidavit states he spoke to the Bureau of Consulate Affairs after taking a report on the incident.

Alaji’s bond is set at $10,000. He is represented by Tulsa attorney Marvin Lizama. Assistant District Attorney Josh King is prosecuting the case.

First-degree burglary is punishable by imprisonment for seven to 20 years. Assault and battery is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.

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Heads_Up Fuck France

Thomas Sowell, author of Dismantling America (Basic Books, 2010), outlines why he believes America is collapsing.

VIDEO

Road Crews Misspell School near Southern Guilford HS (August 9, 2010)

MyFox8

GREENSBORO N.C. (WGHP) – In what might be the funniest misspelling in North Carolina, a road crew misspelled ‘SCHOOL’ near a high school in Guilford County.

The picture, submitted by Sandy Terrell, shows where crews painted “SHCOOL” near the intersection of Drake Road and Wall Road outside Southern Guilford High School.

The road was recently repaved and crews were working to mark the school zones… or ’shcool’ zones.

A spokesperson for Traffic Markings, a contractor that painted the road, said the company “made a mistake” and it would be fixed. The spokesperson said the paint is “interim paint” that is used before the final paint-job is applied to a road.

FOX8 contacted an employee at Southern Guilford High School who was unaware of the mistake, but said “I will have to check it out on my lunch break.”

 By Maureen Magee –SOS

Public schools know how well English learners perform academically. Achievement gaps between minority groups are well documented. And the most gifted students benefit from specialized programs.

But one group of students that has an increasing cause for concern is often left out of the conversation when it comes to academic reforms, data collection and student services: military children whose parents are on active duty.

A new $7.6 million program funded by the Department of Defense, beginning at seven school districts throughout San Diego County, aims to shine a light on the problems these students face while also establishing solutions.

The University of Southern California School of Social Work will partner with the local districts — and one in Temecula — under the four-year program that could become a prototype for a nationwide reform movement. The partnership will reach an estimated 100,000 students in 149 schools across the county.

USC social work professor Ron Astor, who will lead the project, said today’s military children are coping with far more stress — at home and in the classroom — than did previous generations.

“Some of them have increasing mental health needs, greater fiscal strain and academic needs,” he said. “These military families have stepped forth to make our nation safe. Our country owes these students the very best educational experiences and supports that can be offered.”

When classes start up in the fall, USC researchers will work with schools to assess the problems students face academically and socially. They will inventory successful programs that could be replicated, and they will work to establish new offerings to meet the needs of this population.

In addition, researchers will collect data on student academic performance and social issues, including drug use and school safety. They will review community services and after-school programs available for military students and will collect their own data from students, teachers, parents, social workers and others.

Part of the goal is to get schools to view a student’s military background as a culture that needs to be recognized.

“The more a school understands the culture and background of a family, the more likely they are to build connections,” Astor said. “Just like any other culture, when a school acknowledges it in a history class or with a celebration, it validates and recognizes a child’s experiences.”

Military students have long coped with frequent moves every time a parent is transferred or deployed. But this federal grant comes at a crucial time for more than 1.3 million school-aged children nationwide with parents on active duty, many who have seen multiple deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Several studies show that today’s military families face increased stress and mental health problems. A 2007 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs found that children with parents on active duty tend to worry more and feel sad more than their counterparts in civilian families.

A 2007-08 Pentagon study showed the demand for psychiatric services to serve these children doubled to 2 million outpatient visits compared to the number at the start of hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mental health problems often bleed into the classroom, causing academic problems, said Joe Marciano, president of the Southern California chapter of Operation Homefront, an advocacy group for military families.

“Schools need to do a better job of tracking academic problems and the unique stressors of military students,” said Marciano, a former Marine, middle school counselor and high school administrator. “They need to have their antennae up to detect these problems.”

School districts with significant populations of military students were invited to volunteer to participate in the program.

Dale Mitchell, superintendent of the Fallbrook Union High School District, where more than 10 percent of students have parents in the military, is optimistic about the partnership.

“I hope students are able to, in their personal and social lives, be able to more easily cope with the challenges that are associated with being a child in a military family,” Mitchell said. “I would also hope those students would be more academically successful.

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I smell a rat. As always when there is a “study” (in this case the school aged children of Soldiers), there is a nefarious ulterior motive lurking under the surface.  Getting funding for projects or studies dealing with the children of illegal aliens can be difficult; however, getting funding for children of Soldiers is a lot easier under the guise of a grateful nation and patriotism. Once funding is allocated for the Soldiers’ school aged children, the study of illegal aliens’ school aged children is slowly stirred into the proverbial pustulant parasitic illegal alien piss pot and the real reasons for the study eventually surface (like fat) to the top of the pot.

By Jacey Eckhart

The Virginian-Pilot

Secretary Gates, Mrs. Obama? I know you keep saying that you want to really help military families, so we need you to just take one tiny step out of the box into which all of you dumped the MyCAA program.

In case you forgot, My Career Advancement Account is a program, halted this spring, that offered military spouses up to $6,000 to apply to education, licensing, and other costs associated with promoting a portable career. Spouses had to submit a plan for approval. The funding was granted a semester at a time and it went directly to the educational institution.

Sounds like a really good idea, doesn’t it? That’s why almost 1 in 5 military spouses applied for the program. That’s why we broke the bank on the program – unlike all those other little programs that you guys keep begging us to attend that we neither want nor need.

In fact, the demand for MyCAA was so great that it freaked out all of you who are standing in the box. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said recently that he is concerned that the program has “morphed” beyond its original intent and cost estimates.

Hear these ideas that will help you think of “morph” not in a swine flu way, but in a penicillin way.

1. We now live in a country where more than 70 percent of all mothers work. We also live in an era where education is de rigueur.

A four-year degree does what a high school diploma used to do. If the MyCAA program is designed to provide military spouses portable career skills that would help them find jobs after making permanent change-of-station moves, we need credentials to compete with our peers.

2. Military spouses are more ambitious than you think.

Service members are a pretty good catch. They tend to be smart and hardworking, but a lot of them ain’t crazy about school. That’s why they came to you. That’s why so many of us like them. They are men who act like men. They are women who do not lean.

Consequently, they attract good partners who want something more out of life. Slackers need not apply for the role of military spouse. Ambitious spouses – the ones who don’t really see themselves as the Realtors or home health care providers you want us to be – need this program.

3. Military spouses put their own needs last.

This is a weird one, isn’t it? But in my work I see it all the time. Military spouses are wolves. We protect our young. We protect our mates.

In a time of limited resources – like the post 9/11 GI Bill you seem to think we should be using to pay for a four-year degree for the spouse – we save those things for the good of the pack. Even though you may be able to show me “proof” that using the GI Bill for myself is a better investment, I will be damned if I deprive my spouse or children of what they need.

4. Military spouses cannot fund an entire four-year degree on $6,000.

We’re clever. We’re crafty, but $6,000 does not actually buy a bachelor’s degree. College Board reports that annual tuition at a public four-year college is about $7,020. The private schools your children did or will attend cost around $26,000 per year.

You can afford to fund one year of school for these spouses in exchange for the career demands that military moves and deployments make. It is a great start to a great finish for them.

5. Military spouses are the hammer.

Do not forget what you know about retention. If the spouse isn’t happy, the service member is more likely to move into the civilian world. If you want to hold the best and the brightest, you have to hold the spouse, too. And you can’t hold us with ramen noodles, guys. We aren’t asking for a handout, just a way to adapt to a two-income/multiple move kind of world. You fund it. We will do the rest.

6. Military spouses are a fabulous investment.

Our country has been at war for almost nine years. You know that less than 1 percent of the population is serving that effort. Military spouses bear the stateside burden well and painfully and proudly.

But face it: Your credit with us after multiple deployments is depleted. By playing word games with what the original “intentions” of the program were, you lose even more credibility with us.

Don’t blow it. Fund the program. Encourage the most able spouses. And check the box for truly helping military families.

By Steven G. Vegh
The Virginian-Pilot

A grade-school principal who was put on leave in May after a staffer distributed models of fetuses to students is being reassigned as an assistant principal at a different school.

Oakwood grade school Principal Sheila Tillett Holas will start this fall as assistant principal at Camp Allen Elementary School.

Holas, who did not return a call to her home, was put on paid leave after the division was told about distribution of the lifelike 4-inch models of fetuses. The division, which considered the figurines unauthorized material, found that a guidance counselor had given out 80 to 100 of them, which came with a pro-life message.

Interim Superintendent Michael Spencer said Thursday that the division’s central administration recommended Holas’ reassignment, and the School Board approved the move in June.

Holas led Oakwood for four of her 15 years with the Norfolk school division. In 2009, she won the U.S. Department of Education’s Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.

In a letter and chronology she sent to the board last month, Holas said she told the staffer last fall to stop supplying students with the models. She said she was unaware until this spring that the employee had continued to distribute the fetuses.

Holas said she told Spencer, whose regular position is chief operations officer, about the dolls and that he advised holding off on action, according to her chronology.

Spencer declined on Thursday to say whether Holas’ new assignment was a demotion.

“What we see in Ms. Holas is an education professional who has some good qualities. She did get some great results in the Oakwood school,” he said. The Camp Allen post is “a role I think she can excel in.”

Milton Greene, who ended a term as Oakwood PTA president in June, said he backed the board’s decision.

“She did great with the students; she did a good job while she was there,” he said. “At the same time, we’re getting a lot of press we really don’t need, and the kids, they hear about it. It affects them, they know what’s going on.”

Earlier this year, some Oakwood teachers told the state that Holas promoted prayer in the school with staff and students. The state referred the allegations to the division, which determined that no rules had been broken.

A division-sponsored workplace survey at Oakwood found that most respondents said they had been asked to participate in prayer or Bible study, and most said the invitation came from Holas.

One respondent noted: “Yes, by e-mail from Ms. Holas. Ms. Holas’ pastor came to faculty meeting, first Friday of school, prior to kids’ return. He explained that the teachers were doing God’s work. Jewish teacher walked out.”

Division spokeswoman Elizabeth Thiel Mather said she had no update on the status of the Oakwood guidance teacher who distributed the dolls, who’d also been put on administrative leave with pay.

She said Holas’ leave period ended on July 1, when the reassignment to Camp Allen became effective.

Lee Doren

Many parents around the Country have become increasingly concerned with the poor quality of American Schools.  We often hear about Leftist indoctrination.  But, what about the increase of Zero tolerance polices?

After glancing at some news stories, I thought I was reading the newest issue of “The Onion.”  Sadly, young students are now being suspended from schools around the Nation for things that everyone reading this has done before.  Just check out this video documenting it below.

By SAM DILLON–New York Times

NEW ORLEANS — For two years as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama addressed educators gathered for the summer conventions of the two national teachers’ unions, and last year both groups rolled out the welcome mat for Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

But in a sign of the Obama administration’s strained relations with two of its most powerful political allies, no federal official was scheduled to speak at either convention this month, partly because union officials feared that administration speakers would face heckling.

The largest union’s meeting opened here on Saturday to a drumbeat of heated rhetoric, with several speakers calling for Mr. Duncan’s resignation, hooting delegates voting for a resolution criticizing federal programs for “undermining public education,” and the union’s president summing up 18 months of Obama education policies by saying, “This is not the change I hoped for.”

“Today our members face the most anti-educator, anti-union, anti-student environment I have ever experienced,” Dennis Van Roekel, president of the union, the National Education Association, told thousands of members gathered at the convention center here.

President Obama and Mr. Duncan have supported historic increases in school financing to stave off teacher layoffs while seeking to shake up public education with support for charter schools, the dismissal of ineffective teachers as a way of turning around failing schools, and other policies. That agenda has spurred fast-paced changes, including adoption of new teacher evaluation systems in many states and school districts, often with the collaboration of teachers’ unions.

But it has also angered many teachers, who say they are being blamed for all the problems in public schools.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Duncan played down the tensions. “I have great respect for the leadership of both unions,” he said. “We’re trying to push a lot of change, and we’ve seen extraordinary breakthroughs in the last 18 months. But we won’t agree on every issue.”

He noted the considerable range of views among union leaders nationwide. “Some state and local unions are very thoughtful and progressive and are embracing innovation,” he said. “Others are more entrenched in the status quo.”

Still, administration officials are concerned about the souring relations, and have been working to ease tempers, partly by emphasizing what they consider to be positive leadership by teachers’ unions in some regions.

“The administration is aware of the anger and wants to do whatever they can to cool it off, including getting third parties to issue words of praise for the unions when warranted,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., a Republican who last month used his influential education blog, Flypaper, to highlight the forward-looking positions taken by union leaders in Delaware, Tennessee and six other states. Mr. Finn said he decided to write the post after an administration official pointed out how many local unions had helped lead overhaul efforts.

Better relations are important to the administration. Mr. Van Roekel’s association, with more than three million members, says it spent $50 million in 2008 to help elect the president and more than 50 candidates for Congress and governors’ offices, most of them Democrats.

The American Federation of Teachers, with 1.4 million members, also spent millions of dollars to help elect Mr. Obama and other candidates in 2008.

“If the teachers sit on their hands this fall, it would be a disaster for Obama and the Democrats,” said Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation who has studied the teachers’ unions.

In a skirmish last week over federal education financing, the administration and the teachers’ unions were bitterly at odds. Last year, Congress approved $100 billion in education stimulus funds, about half of it to help states avoid school layoffs.

With that money now running out, House Democrats proposed spending $10 billion more to shore up school district budgets, paying for it, in part, with $800 million in cuts to Race to the Top and two other competitive grant programs Mr. Duncan created to spur his initiatives. Mr. Duncan and the White House supported the $10 billion in new spending, but objected to trimming the grant programs, infuriating union leaders.

“For the Department of Education to say, ‘Everybody else has to sacrifice, but our pet programs must be spared’— that makes me so angry I don’t even know how to say it,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, which has often been more supportive of administration initiatives than the National Education Association .

E-mail messages pleading for the jobs measure rained down on Congress from thousands of union teachers, and despite a veto threat by the White House, Democrats in the House voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to create the $10 billion school jobs fund and to trim Mr. Duncan’s grant programs. The bill must be reworked by the Senate. On Friday, Mr. Duncan shrugged off what appeared to be an administration setback, expressing confidence that lawmakers would eventually find a way to spare Race to the Top.

One group that helped the administration defend Race to the Top was the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit that has pressed for changes in the way teachers are evaluated. Timothy Daly, its president, said the angry rhetoric from union leaders now was less important than the long-term changes the administration has begun to coax from them.

“Sometimes union leaders need to show their members that they are vociferously pushing back,” Mr. Daly said. “But in several areas of the country the unions have come quite a distance.”

As examples of what he called innovations that unions have recently supported, Mr. Daly pointed to a “revolutionary” new contract for teachers in Washington, D.C., a far-reaching state law overhauling teacher tenure passed in Colorado with Ms. Weingarten’s support, and a new contract in New Haven, under which tenured teachers who are ruled ineffective and do not improve may be fired.

“Teachers are like anybody else, we don’t want to make changes,” said David Cicarella, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, who helped negotiate that contract. “But those days are over. The public is sick of hearing that an ineffective teacher has tenure, that you can’t touch them.”

Here in New Orleans, many state and local teachers’ union leaders have expressed ambivalent views on the Obama administration.

“We have to recognize that with Obama we have a voice in the decision-making, they listen to us,” said Earl Wiman, president of the Tennessee Education Association. But he added, “Mostly what we’ve seen out of this administration is a top-down, put-your-thumb-on-somebody kind of philosophy, and it’s aroused more frustration around federal education policy than I’ve ever seen.”

By Elizabeth Piazza–The Daily Times

FARMINGTON — The number of Hispanic students who graduate from Farmington Municipal Schools continues to fall below the state and national average, officials said.

Sixty-one percent of Hispanic students graduate in the district, compared to the state average of 66 percent and an overall national average of 70 percent, said Danielle Montoya, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Public Education Department.

State officials are hoping the Hispanic Education Act, a new law that went into effect Thursday, will offer a more cohesive voice to the Hispanic community throughout New Mexico and address issues to improve achievement gaps.

“The main thing (the Hispanic Education Act) did was formalize community engagement and the community voice in crafting public policy,” Montoya said.

Nearly 56 percent of students in New Mexico are Hispanic. The law requires officials to create a formal advisory council and a Hispanic Education Liaison to focus on education policy and develop strategies to improve achievement.

The liaison will work with the advisory council to serve as a resource for the 89 school districts throughout the state, Montoya said.

The act also requires the Public Education Department to provide an annual report on the status of Hispanic education.

Officials will track college remediation and retention rates in New Mexico and throughout the United States in addition to other statistics such as graduation and drop-out rates.

“It will help us come up with 

solutions,” said Montoya of the data analysis.

More than 2,800 Hispanic students attend Farmington schools, from preschool through 12th grade.

Yet despite the lower graduation rate, Gayle Barfoot, director of the bilingual education program in Farmington Municipal Schools, believes the district’s Hispanic programs remain strong.

“Our Hispanic students are progressing quite well,” Barfoot said. “Generally speaking, Hispanic students really lag behind the Caucasian population, but not here. They do very well.”

The school district does a “nice job of integrating those immigrant students in school,” said Barfoot. “We have a really good program here for Hispanic students and Native American students both for home language and English academic acquisition.”

The district also requires every new teacher to become certified to teach English as a second language within five years of becoming employed.

The district is cognizant of the obstacles Hispanic students face in school and “we are making progress,” Barfoot said. “The new law will only strengthen our focus on the Hispanic community.”