Who would ever guess that 67% or 2/3 of students at top colleges in America are from the Elite class? Only 15% of the students come from the middle and lower class in America.

The argument is being made that these percentages are a major reason why the system in America makes it very difficult for someone to move up from one economic class to another one. Read the full story.

If an elementary school teacher graded you on your involvement in your child's education, what kind of a grade would you get?

Should your kid's first-grade teacher be grading you in the first place? If Florida state Rep. Kelli Stargel's bill becomes law, public school teachers will be required to grade the parents of students in kindergarten through the third grade.

The parents' grades of "satisfactory," "unsatisfactory" or "needs improvement" would be added to their children's report card. Read the full story.

Pennsylvania's McCaskey East High School located in Lancaster has come up with a controversial plan to help the school's black students: to segregate them.

The policy applies only to homeroom, which meets each day for six minutes and once a week for 20 minutes, and was intended to help close the school's racial achievement gap. Read the full story.

A lot of people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful kids. They wonder what these parents do to produce so many math whizzes and music prodigies, what it's like inside the family, and whether they could do it too. Well, I can tell them, because I've done it. Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do:

• attend a sleepover
• have a playdate
• be in a school play
• complain about not being in a school play
• watch TV or play computer games
• choose their own extracurricular activities
• get any grade less than an A
• not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama
• play any instrument other than the piano or violin
• not play the piano or violin.

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up.

But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more. Read the full story.

Based on many sources of information, a generation of lawyers face the toughest job market in decades. Since 2008, some 15,000 attorney and legal-staff jobs at large firms have vanished, according to a Northwestern Law study. Associates have been laid off, partners nudged out the door and recruitment programs have been scaled back or eliminated.

And with corporations scrutinizing their legal expenses as never before, more entry-level legal work is now outsourced to contract temporary employees, both in the United States and in countries like India. It’s common to hear lawyers fret about the sort of tectonic shift that crushed the domestic steel industry decades ago. Read the full story.


The Wall Street Journal reported that a survey found that nearly 25% of employed graduates said their work was temporary. And almost 22% said they were still looking for work even though they were employed, up from 16% in 2008.

Last year in 2009, 21 Oxbridge colleges did not offer admission to a single black student.

The worst offender is Oxford college, Merton, which has admitted no black students n the last five years and just one in the last decade. Cambridge accepted six, according to the Daily Mail.

The racial disparity at the schools extends to Cambridge's faculty as well. There are no black people among the more than 1,500 academic and lab staff employed by the university.

Harvard researcher, Michael Hurwitz studied the legacy advantage at undergraduate institutions in America and found that it is a bigger issue than previously reported.Read about the research in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

According to his research, those who are considered to be primary legacies -- applicants whose parent obtained an undergraduate degree from the institution -- have an advantage of 45.1 percent, and those with a sibling, aunt, uncle or grandparent who attended or a parent who was enrolled at the graduate level -- secondary legacies -- are 13.7 percent more likely to be accepted than students with no connection at the top schools in the country.

Remember President George Bush had average Prep school grades and average SAT scores but he was admitted to Yale as a legacy student because his dad and grandfather both attended and graduated from Yale.

Police and protesters scuffled at a school board meeting in Raleigh, NC because protesters claimed that a new busing system would resegregate the school system.

Protesters refused to leave the meeting when asked by officers and officers started to use force. The only black school board member tried to intervene and asked cops not to use force. They did not realize who he was initially and almost arrested Mr. Sutton.

The Huffington Posthas more details on this story.

Katie Washington, a biological sciences major from Gary , Ind. , has been named valedictorian of the 2010 University of Notre Dame graduating class and will present the valedictory address during Commencement exercises May 16 (Sunday) in Notre Dame stadium.

Washington, who earned a 4.0 grade point average, has a minor in Catholic Social Teaching. She has conducted research on lung cancer at the Cold Spring Harbor labs and performed genetic studies in the University’s Eck Institute for Global Health on the mosquito that carries dengue and yellow fever. She is the co-author of a research paper with David Severson, professor of biological sciences.

Washington directs the Voices of Faith Gospel Choir at Notre Dame, is a mentor/tutor for the Sister-to-Sister program at South Bend’s Washington High School and serves as the student coordinator of the Center for Social Concerns’ “Lives in the Balance: Youth Violence and Society Seminar.”

She has definitely made her family proud and is following in their footsteps. Her father is a doctor, her mother and sister are nurses, one brother is completing his residency and another brother who works for British Petroleum.

Upon graduation, Washington plans to pursue a joint M.D./Ph.D program at Johns Hopkins University .

Harvard University has changed their student financial aid policy.

According to their website, their new financial aid policy has dramatically reduced the amount families with incomes below $180,000 are expected to pay, and parents of families with incomes below $60,000 are not expected to contribute at all to college costs.

They no longer consider home equity as a resource in our determination of a family contribution, and students are not expected to take out loans, which have been replaced by need-based Harvard scholarship.

This new program has reduced the cost to middle income families by one-third to one-half, making the price of a Harvard education for students on financial aid comparable to the cost of in-state tuition and fees at the nation’s leading public universities according to Harvard's Financial Aide office.

Raging is a recurring, drunken activity that requires consuming large quantities of alcohol before or at a party, and then the night could end in making out with a stranger or acquaintance.

These kind of casual hook ups fueled by alcohol are the norm at many college campuses. Unfortunately, there are emotional devastation experiences for many students that are into these hook ups.

Some students even have their hearts broken by the hook-up scene. This will happen when one person expects more to come from the hook up.

The term "hook up" is ambiguous, usually defined as a no-commitment, physical encounter with a stranger or acquaintance. Hooking up can range from just a make-out session all the way to sex. Other lingo for the no-commitment sexual encounters are "booty calls" or "friends with benefits."

There is a Jennifer Nicholas who had sex while experiencing a friends with benefits relationship with a guy. When she was 22, she was at the doctor's office and was told, "Surprise! You've got herpes."

Too many people trust their friend without really knowing their sexual history. Since everything about a person's sexual history is rarely shared, a false comfort level can be created that often times leads to unsafe sex. This is how Jennifer Nicolas caught herpes from her friends with benefits relationship.

Unsafe sex should not take place without STD (sexually transmitted diseases) testing. The testing only takes minutes and the costs are inexpensive.

This could be the difference between a lifetime disease like herpes or a deadly disease like HIV/Aids.

Friends that do not understand a position of no hook ups unless there is romance and traditional dating are probably only a friend because they want the benefits without the commitment. At the same time, there are some people that do not respect themselves enough or have low self esteem that will make them feel as though friends with benefits are cool.

Once again, President Obama has accomplished one of his top priorities. The Student Loan program will change in ways that will benefit students across the country.

The Student Loan bill which was attached to the Health Care Reform bill to give both the best chance of passing will significantly decrease the reliance of private lenders including banks to make loans to students.

President Obama wants to use the savings to send approximately $4 billion to historically black colleges and community colleges.

According to Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas, the chairman of a House higher education subcommittee, moving to the federal government's direct loan program, we will put the best interests of students first and make college loans more reliable and affordable.

The Huffingtonpost reported that the bill rewrites a four-decades-old student loan program, and the savings will direct $36 billion in new spending to Pell Grants for students in financial need.

Many private lenders have promised to continue fighting this bill. They have also stated that thousands of jobs will be lost.

Urban Prep Academy is an all male charter school in Chicago. It has done what many thought was impossible. Every single senior attending the high school has been accepted into a 4 year college or university. This is the school's first graduating class.

What is most impressive is that this school is operating in an area where poverty is high and most of their students are considered low income. According to their website, 82% of their students are low income in a district with 85% and a neighborhood with a 93% low income rate.

Furthermore, the school is a public high school open to anyone. They use a lottery system to select the students. The 2010 graduating class started out 4 years ago with only 4% of students reading on grade level.

Since the school offers an 8 hour school day, students typically put in more than 170 extra school days per year than many high schools. The students must take a double period of English every day and 4 years of Math, Science, and Social Studies. Everyone must also take 3 years of Foreign Language.

This charter school could potentially be a model school for schools in this country that are low performing. School administrators should consider sending their diplomats to the school to find out the main reasons for Urban Prep Academy's success.

High levels of low income students in a school generally translates into poor performing schools. Urban Prep Academy has beaten the odds and one has to hope that they have found a formula that can be duplicated and will prove to be successful over time.

ABC News named the school "Person Of The Week."Read the story.

Three school teachers are accused of giving children pictures of Dennis Rodman, Rupaul, and O.J. Simpson to display during a parade honoring Black History Month.

The Superintendent has placed the three white male teachers on leave during the investigation. The teachers teach 1st, 2nd, and 4th grade at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles.

There were other students that carried pictures of traditional black heroes such as Harriet Tubman as well as leaders of today like President Obama.

Complaints were made to the NAACP and they contacted the school district.

It is difficult to understand why the three teachers choose the two athletes and an entertainer. These three while successful in their chosen fields are not necessarily the kind of people most African Americans want their kids emulating or even honoring during Black History Month.

Even though most African Americans would never choose these three men to represent the best and the brightest of African Americans, the teachers probably have a right to promote them since there were no school policies in place which specified the individuals that could be selected for the kids to display during the parade.

Michael Jackson also had his picture displayed during the parade. Many will argue that he also had a fall from the top or a history that was questionable.

At this point, it is probably best to say that it is premature on the part of those folks that are calling for the teachers to be fired. It is probably more important to put a policy in place to make sure that displaying the photos of African Americans like Rodman, Rupaul, and Simpson never happens again.

Some UC San Diego students are angry about a ghetto-themed “Compton Cookout”. Some of the angered students even took part in a day of protest.

A party invitation posted on Facebook told students to wear large T-shirts, rapper-style urban clothing by makers such as FUBU, and gold chains, according to a copy posted on the Web site for San Diego TV station 10News. Women were urged to go as "ghetto chicks." The post said such items as watermelon and cheap beer would be served.

They are also angry because of a segment on a student-run television station that used racial epithets to defend the off-campus party.

At this time, the University has frozen funding to the campus television channel until it has been determined that new rules make sure that student fees do not support hate speech.

The L.A. Times reported that members of the Pi Kappa Alpha were identified as among the organizers, but the fraternity’s president has distanced himself from the event, saying his club did not sponsor it.

The campus plans to hold a teach-in about the issue next week but it is voluntary and some people feel that the only people that will show up are those individuals that are already sensitive and aware of these issues.

The President wants to make sure that students attending primary and secondary education schools are either career or college ready when they finish high school.

Obama told a gathering of the nation's governors at the White House that students in the U.S. lag behind by several crucial measures. For example, eighth-grade students rank ninth in the world in math and 11th in science.

He also mentioned that business owners have told him too many young adults do not have the necessary skills to be effective in the job when hired.

Since so many American students do not successfully complete high school and they are not interested in college, it will be great to prepare these students for emerging industry jobs that do not require a college degree. To complete globally, students that are interested in college will need to be better prepared to effectively compete against global competition.

What will America do about the students who grow up in poverty. All indicators show that this group of students make up the largest share of students that do not finish high school.

Even though children make up 25% of the total population in America, they are 35% of the poor population in the country according to the National Poverty Center.

If the Presidents new proposals do not focus on why the poor have fared poorly in education when compared to middle class and wealthier students, will these new proposals and investments make a difference?

Over the years, politicians have talked about increasing education funding for those students at the pre-k and kindergarten level. This will help, but what about all the kids that start falling behind in elementary and middle school. The support of parents which too many students do not have is a big part of the equation which is not being discussed.

When times become tough and money needs to be saved, some politicians will propose what would have been unthinkable when the economy was healthy. Some in the state of Utah have started thinking about eliminating the 12th grade reports the Los Angeles Times.

Are teenagers ready for the real world at 17 years of age? Aside from the money saved, what are the other benefits and possible costs associated with eliminating 12th grade? Could this be the start of a new movement in the United States?

Remember that America is already closer to the bottom than the top when it's education system is compared to other developed and wealthy nations. It would be important to know if dropping 12th grade would improve the education experience for those young adults affected.

Montana Lance, a 9 nine old fourth grader went to see the school nurse. He then went into the restroom, locked the door and hung himself. This is a real tragedy.

For many people, they cannot imagine kids this young even contemplating suicide. Between the years 1999 through 2006, there have been 33 suicides by kids with the age range of 5 to 9 years old reported CNN.com.

It is very important to pay attention to mood swings of children. It is also relevant to take note if your child is isolating himself much more than usual.

It does not matter whether the kids committed suicide are black or white. The suicide for both both races of children are startling and growing.

Donna Barnes, co-founder of the National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide stated that many Black people consider themselves strong people that can deal with their problems, and do not have time for depression.

Statistics help feed the fiction that black teens do not kill themselves. Whites who are 15 to 19 years old are twice as likely to kill themselves as their black counterparts. These statistics do not tell the complete story.

From 1980 to 1995, the suicide rate among black boys age 15 to 19 jumped 128 percent while it only increased by just 19 percent for white boys in the same age range, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although it has declined some since then, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young black males.

This is an issue that must taken seriously and it should not be ignored.

The Arkansas Times reports on Will Phillips, an elementary school student who refuses to say the pledge of allegiance in school because of discrimination against gay people:

"I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer," Will said. "I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all."

After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week, a retired educator from the district, who knew Will's mother and grandmother. Though the substitute tried to make him stand up, he respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day.


A columnist for the Arkansas News has stood up for Phillips against his angry substitute teacher. Predictably, fellow students have taunted the kid and called him a "gaywad," but he says he doesn't see his quiet act of protest ending any time soon.

As we all know, there is often honor in doing what one believes in right, just even when it is at odds with the majority.

The AP reported that in Hamilton, OH a young Cincinnati Bengals fan has been penalized for clipping. Dustin Reader got the NFL team's stripes and "B" insignia cut into his hair as a tribute to the team's good season. When he showed up to school in the southwest Ohio city of Hamilton on Monday, officials put the eighth-grader into in-school suspension. The school said its code of conduct prohibits extreme and distracting hairstyles.

Reader's parents and barber said they don't understand why the haircut is out of bounds. His father said his son just wants to show pride in the 6-2 Bengals.

School officials said he will continue to do his studies away from other students until the hair grows back or he changes the style.