Quality Education
Top Stories
Obama’s Budget: Supporting Students, Not Banks
President Obama’s 2010 budget would transform the federal financial aid system that struggling students and families rely on to pay for college. The proposed budget cuts excessive lender subsidies, moves to more efficient direct lending instead, and invests the savings in students. Our report examines the impact, for the entire country and for students in each state.
» Related Reading: The Obama Budget: A Stick In the Eye For Banks
Featured Issues
America's Student Debt Now!
June 11th, 2009
Attending the “Degrees of College Debt” panel at the America’s Future Now! conference last week, it was astonishing to hear dozens of graduates describe the mountains of debt they are climbing; $10,000! $50,000! $120,000 of debt! attendees shouted, when asked by the panel how much debt they had. more »
No Child Left Behind Fails Us All
We have seen a “bailout” of corporate and Wall Street swindlers, with the working class being forced to pick up the tab. Struggling homeowners deserve a break, not the devastation of foreclosure. Hardworking families deserve a break, not the shock of unemployment. And public educators deserve a break, not the damaging mandates of program improvement and the threats of state takeover that have fallen on my high school and countless others like it due to the draconian quotas of the No Child Left Behind Act. ... more »
Banking Collapse Lands on America’s Schools
One of the worst casualties of the Iraq war and the Wall Street failures is the U.S. public school system, which is central to the nation’s economic, intellectual and social health. With financial resources being consumed, education cuts are on the way. ... more »
The Case
Conservatives Letting Head Start Fall Behind
President Bush signed bipartisan legislation in December reauthorizing the Head Start program. But even as they praised the program, Congress funded the program at $480 million below its authorized level. Then President Bush in early February proposed a budget that would reduce funding even further below what the Congress authorized. more »
Progressive Values for Education
Americans want schools that teach values as well as math and reading. more »
The Facts
Investing In People
Here are some basic facts behind our call for "real investment" in people, assembled from recent government and private studies. We've fallen behind as a nation, but making the right spending choices will yield lasting dividends.more »
COHEAO and NACUBO Survey Reveals Perkins Loan Shortfalls
Of the institutions that responded to the survey, 28 percent indicated that they expected their institution to have a shortfall in their Perkins Loan fund on June 30, 2008, which would require their institution to make a loan to the fund. Another 18 percent were unsure if they would have a shortfall. more »
The News
For Colleges, Small Cuts Add Up to Big Savings
June 19th, 2009
School Systems Juggle Cost of Free Lunches
June 11th, 2009
The Case
Iraq Has Another One of Its Famous Turning Points
As the media trumpets sound for the pullback of American troops from urban areas in Iraq, the essential lesson of our involvement must be recalled: Nothing about our entanglement in Iraq has ever been as it seemed.
Education Equals Job Security
U.S. Labor Department statistics show that while the nation's overall jobless rate rose last month to 9.4 percent (the highest since 1983), it was a staggering 15.5 percent among those who haven't completed high school — and a mere 4.8 percent among those with four-year college degrees. You don't need a college education to detect this indisputable lesson of those numbers: The more educated you are, the less vulnerable you are to recession-related job loss.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
mar
26
2009
6:00 am
6:00 am
With all the fuss over Wall Street bailouts and AIG bonuses, one banking breakthrough is going unnoticed. Obama's proposed budget completely eliminates an unnecessary, obsolete bank subsidy: College student loans – where the subsidy goes to the bank, not the student. It’s a stick in the eye of the banking industry, and the banks aren’t taking it lightly. more »
mar
18
2009
4:42 pm
4:42 pm
New data released today by the Department of Education shows that college costs increased substantially for the 2007-2008 school year. Although colleges continue to welcome large numbers of students, the price tag for higher education climbs upward. Students are struggling and America is falling behind. more »
mar
12
2009
12:23 pm
12:23 pm
Certainly, lots of people hear president Obama's recent speech on education. But there's on person I especially hope got to hear it, because there was a teachable moment there, applicable to every challenge we're facing, and essential for Americans to understand if we're to meet them.
feb
10
2009
7:12 am
7:12 am
Yesterday, President Barack Obama made clear he is not accepting the Senate "Gang of Moderates" compromise as is, while the Senate moderates failed to mount a logical defense of their cuts. more »
dec
21
2008
4:53 pm
4:53 pm
If you're a procrastinator like me, then you are frantically scurrying at the last minute to pick up holiday gifts for friends and family. So let me suggest four great gifts for you or any progressives you know - gifts that make great presents and that also help build and support the progressive movement. Here they are in no particular order: more »
jun
19
2008
5:03 pm
5:03 pm
It's the kind of thing that's easily written off as a photo opportunity: a presidential candidate sitting down with a worried student and a financial aid administrator, working out a plan to help the student pay for her education. But, not if the candidate is one who understands the importance of education, and the difficulty of paying for it. So, when I read about Barack Obama helping a college student with her tuition concerns, it made sense.
jun
17
2008
11:45 am
11:45 am
The propaganda machine supporting school vouchers, headquartered in the office of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, is determined not to let the facts get in the way of conservative ideological spin. more »
mar
26
2008
11:44 am
11:44 am
If "making the grade" is no longer a path to "moving on up," then it looks like the decoupling of education from employment, upward mobility, and the American Dream is at least underway. Or maybe it's already happened.more »
