Jack Tate stood tall for welfare, needs of children

Opinon section

The Charlotte Observer

Oct. 17, 2008

John Tate gave an apt epitaph for his father Jack, who died Tuesday. Said the son: “He will be remembered, first and foremost, as a good public servant. He was about the common good, building community, and trying to help kids. He wanted to make sure they had a fair chance and he knew the best way to achieve that was through education.”

This community and its children are greatly indebted to him for doing so. Though John Austin “Jack” Tate died at 91, he leaves a legacy of civic action and commitment to children's issues that provides a solid foundation for this area to build upon.  More>>

Program pays students for good grades, parents get involved

Deborah  Feyerick

CNN.com

September 18, 2008

Tired of watching kids fail in school, the education activist came up with a plan. She called a meeting with the parents and told them she'd pay them $25 just for showing up.

"Ten dollars isn't dignified, $30, that's too much," says Wiley. "But $25, that sounded real good. Real good."

At the first meeting in May, parents introduced themselves and explained why they had come. Wiley says she was struck by the level of pain of the parents.   More>>

NC online students can graduate early, or catch up

Natasha Robinson, Associated Press Writer

The Raleigh News and Observer

August 7, 2008

Kylee Patterson graduated from high school with a full year of college already completed - a move that saved her $15,000 on tuition and books.

While attending Scotland High School of Math, Science and Technology in Laurinburg, the 17-year-old began her day at Richmond Community College in Hamlet and earned other credits in an online course.  Now she's got college friends and college credits, and a head start toward becoming a pharmacist.  More>>

Math Study Finds Girls Just as Good as Boys

Largest study of its kind finds girls are just as good as boys in math

By Libby Quaid AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON July 25, 2008 (AP)

Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys. In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science.  More>>

To see ABC News report on this closing of the math achievement gap between girls and boys, click here.

More Schools Trying Separation of the Sexes

Michael Alison Chandler and Maria Glod

Washington Post
Sunday, June 15, 2008

Mrs. Demshur's class of second-grade girls sat in a tidy circle and took turns reading poems they had composed. "If I were a toucan, I'd tweet, I'd fly," began one girl. When she finished, the others clapped politely. Down the hall, Mr. Reynolds's second-grade boys read poems aloud from desks facing every direction.

A reading specialist walked around with a microphone. "If I were a snow leopard, I would hunt, I would run," began one boy. One classmate did a backbend over his chair as he read. Another crawled on the floor. So went a language arts lesson at Washington Mill Elementary School last month, with boys in one room and girls in another.

The Fairfax County school, in the academic year that is ending, joined a small but fast-growing movement toward single-sex public education.   More >>

State AYP Results Spark Editorial Reaction

The preliminary statewide testing results released last week revealed that nearly two-thirds of North Carolina’s public schools failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in line with federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requirements. The state had moved to a tougher standard for test scores in order for schools to meet AYP this year, so it was more likely that schools would fail this year, even if their test scores held steady or saw a modest increase. Final results, including those from the new statewide reading test, are expected in November.

Nonetheless, the poor AYP passage rate set off a storm of commentary and controversy. Newspapers across the state weighed in on impacts of federal sanctions on struggling local schools, including the offer of tutoring or school choice options to families, drastic overhaul of school governance, or even the possibility of state takeover. Many noted that schools serving larger populations of low-income and minority students would be affected disproportionately by those sanctions. Some editorials noted that schools should receive “carrots” for improvements made to date, not just “sticks” when reforms take time to show good results. Links to some key articles and editorials appear below. More>>

NC Gubernatorial Candidates Differ on K-12 Education
Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory, the two gubernatorial candidates in the 2008 election, differ on issues concerning the lottery, vouchers, and what should be the top priorities for public K-12 education in North Carolina.  More>>

Presidential Candidates Differ on K-12 Education

Friday Report

NC Public School Forum

July 18, 2008

Both presidential candidates addressed the NAACP’s annual conference in Washington, DC this week, using the opportunity to highlight their priorities on public education, among other issues. More>> 

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