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The Big Payoff From Black Colleges
To a hammer, goes the saying, the world is a nail. Perhaps to an economics writer, even a distinguished one like David Leonhardt of the New York Times, the world is an economics equation. And perhaps that is what has led Leonhardt astray in a post to the Times’ Economix blog, “The Declining Payoff From…
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The Akron Mom and Me
Fifty years ago I was getting ready to start high school, headed ultimately for college. But school officials in Los Angeles, where my family lived, had other ideas. They put me on track to attend L.A.’s Manual Arts High School, which, as its name suggests, tracked most students into trades rather than to college. Fortunately,…
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Education Reform: What Adrian Fenty and Michelle Rhee Got Wrong
For three years, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee promoted the notion that education reform could happen only if she was totally in charge and everything was done her way. It was her way — or her way. She justified every policy, every action, by saying that it was all about the kids, not about…
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Is D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's Loss a National Defeat for Education Reform?
Four years ago, Adrian Fenty faced a well-regarded chair of the D.C. City Council in the Democratic mayoral primary — the only primary that counts in this overwhelmingly Democratic city. He carried every electoral precinct in the city. This year he faced another well-regarded City Council chair in another mayoral primary. This time he lost.…
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Prepping Your Kids for College
I don’t quote Ronald Reagan often, but the annual sight of parents taking new freshmen to college always reminds me of one of his sayings. Negotiating arms-control agreements with the Soviet Union, Reagan said that his principle was, “Trust — but verify”: We wouldn’t sign a treaty with the Soviets if there weren’t a basic…
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Six Rules for Paying for College
President Obama has declared that the U.S. should recapture its position as the number one nation producing college graduates by the year 2020. If we are to be globally competitive, he argues, we must have a highly skilled, 21st-century workforce — and that means more Americans with college degrees. Across the country, school systems are…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
