Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/11/135311793/the-root-the-price-of-funding-jails-over-schools?ft=1&f=1057
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/76436085?client_source=feed&format=rss
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/11/135305409/frances-burqa-ban-adds-to-anti-muslim-climate?ft=1&f=1004
In Newark, the Ironbound Community Center runs a neighborhood preschool in a gleaming new building that provides 150 children — mostly from low-income, minority families — with a full day of learning through play.
On a recent day, some kids worked on writing their names in a small group with a teacher, others played with blocks and another cluster played inside a cardboard castle. Programs like these are offered free to all children in New Jersey school districts that have a high percentage of low-income kids.
"Children play with each other; conversation is always encouraged," school director Grace Blanco says. To qualify for the state funding, Blanco says, her preschool must have certified teachers, small class sizes and a curriculum based on research that has found young children learn best through play and conversation.
"Teachers talk to children, ask questions — open-ended questions. The children really choose what they want to do and how they're going to play," she says.
Without this free preschool, Blanco says, many of these kids would be in a low-cost day care watching TV, and that's one of the reasons most poor children arrive at kindergarten behind middle- and upper-income classmates.
A Good Cause, But Costly
The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University has followed the impact of these high-quality preschools on low-income children. Its director, Steven Barnett, says New Jersey has made considerable progress in closing the gap in skills between high- and low-income kids when they arrive on the first day of kindergarten.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/10/134403367/which-children-should-get-new-jerseys-funding?ft=1&f=1014
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/76139906?client_source=feed&format=rss
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The fiscal year is 189 days old, and the federal government is still operating without a long-term spending bill. And now, if lawmakers can't cut a deal, the government will shut down.
Usually, lawmakers make some effort to pass a real, 365-day budget. Not this year.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/XZC6CJMifno/index.htm