Education News: October 6, 2006

Following are some of the top headlines from the world of education for the week ending October 6, 2006.

Hispanic Students Driving U. S. School Growth
(Source: The Miami Herald, 10/06/06) The Pew Hispanic Center recently released a studying showing that the number of Hispanic students in the classroom has increased by 3 million between 1993 and 2003.  In the same time period, the number of black students increased by 1.1 million, the number of Asian students increased by 500,000, and the number of white students have decreased by 35,000.  The study also shows that Hispanic students are generally found in older schools, despite the fact that over 15,000 new schools have been built between 1993 and 2003.

City Considers Plan to Let Outsiders Run Schools
(Source: The New York Times, 10/05/06) The city of New York is considering letting private groups run some city schools, which would be a landmark change to the way that the New York public educational system runs.  Up for debate are relatively new schools that benefited from grants by the Gates Foundation.  Many of those grants run out this year, and there are no plans to renew them.  Private organizations such as the College Board and Outward Bound could be contracted to manage schools and produce results.  While organizations currently do consulting work for schools, the actual contract relationship would signal a formalization of the process.

Google Launches Literacy Project
(Source: The Washington Post, 10/04/06) On Wednesday, October 4th, Google launched www.google.com/literacy, a literacy project designed to increase literacy rates around the globe. There is also a German version of the site available.  Google is asking groups to upload educational videos to the site so that they can be shared with everyone.  The site will also provide links to literacy organizations and reading sources.

Bush Calls For Summit to Address School Violence
(Source: The Washington Times, 10/03/06) In the wake of three deadly school incidents, President Bush has called for a conference to address school violence next week.  Among those to attend will be members of parent-teacher organizations, teacher unions, school principals, and law enforcement.  President Bush’s spokesperson released a statement saying:  "The president is deeply saddened and troubled by the recent school violence and shootings that have taken place in different communities across America.  It breaks America's collective heart when innocent children who are at school to learn are violently taken hostage and cut down in their own schools."

Fifth Girl Dies After Amish School Shooting
(Source: CNN, 10/06/06) In the third deadly school shooting in the last week, a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse on Monday and held female students hostage, eventually killing five girls and himself when the police stormed the building.  Charles Carl Roberts IV, a commercial truck driver and father of three, had no affiliation with the Amish community, though he lived relatively close by.  In a cell phone call shortly before he died, he indicated that the event was to take revenge for something from earlier in his life.