Student Teachers

Local school districts have no money. Voters are turning down propositions for increasing spending. The unions refuse to give enough concessions. The result is squeezing wherever the districts can squeeze. Unfortunatly for those trying to become teachers things just got worst in Medford NJ (where I live). Now the student teachers may have to PAY for the right to student teach.

Allocating Cuts in Education

Our government is spending more than the taxes it takes in. This has gone on for a while, and happens on all levels of government (federal, state, and local). Lately the states have done so with the help of the stimulus package a couple of years ago. It just ran out and the states have to figure out how to deal with that problem.

Step one seems to be accepting this fact and taxing more or spending less (the latter in the case of PA). Step two is who to tax or who to cut. This article seems to move from step one into step two of this process for education. In other words, how should the state properly allocate the cuts more efficiently?

Future of Education

There is plenty of uncertainty associated with the future subsidizing of education by the Federal Government. This is apparent in the fight in states fighting with their teacher unions. Two good opinion pieces (good for perceptive, not so good for citations on position papers) are found in the NY times. The first by the left leaning Paul Krugman. The second by right leaning David Brooks.