Black Ohio Mom Jailed for Sending Kids to Better School District

During the state of the union, Obama stressed about more schools, better education, and the need for more teachers. Ironically, there is a report of a black mom in Ohio, 12 credits shy to be a teacher, got in trouble with the law because she wanted the best school and education for her daughters. The end result led her to a 10-day prison sentence and ruining her chances to become a teacher. Also, the courts are mandating that her kids return back to the failed school district

What she did was technically wrong, but since we have a government stealing our hard earned money, dictating what we can and cannot do, and failing to fix the education system, there is very little option for the America public. It is hypocritical that a failed school district must punish those who doesn't want to be part of that failed school system. I must commend the mother who wanted only the best for her children. The government will not do it. We must do what is right for the family. If the school system fails, it must be closed down and move these students to a better school system that has the resources to give them a chance. The school education system is not a daycare allowing the parent to go to work. It is a system that provides a future for our children to survive in society.

(ABC NEWS) An Ohio mother's attempt to provide her daughters with a better education has landed her behind bars.

Kelley Williams-Bolar was convicted of lying about her residency to get her daughters into a better school district.

Williams-Bolar decided four years ago to send her daughters to a highly ranked school in neighboring Copley-Fairlawn School District.

But it wasn't her Akron district of residence, so her children were ineligible to attend school there, even though her father lived within the district's boundaries.

The school district accused Williams-Bolar of lying about her address, falsifying records and, when confronted, having her father file false court papers to get around the system.

Williams-Bolar said she did it to keep her children safe and that she lived part-time with her dad.

While her children are no longer attending schools in the Copley-Fairlawn District, school officials said she was cheating because her daughters received a quality education without paying taxes to fund it.

Williams-Bolar refused and was indicted and convicted of falsifying her residency records.

She was sentenced last week to 10 days in county jail and put on three years of probation.

Students Set Own Agenda at School and U.S. Teens Lags as China Soars on Education

The problem with the education system in America stems from finding the right gimmick, instead of teaching our kids. It is a no-brainer. The reason America continues to fall behind other countries in education is because teachers don't know how to teach and parents opting to put their kids on Ritalin and mood enhancement drugs.

(Sun Sentinel) As public schools adopt tougher standards and emphasize standardized tests, alternative schools have become more popular.

"The regular public school system and even some private schools tend to operate under the paradigm that kids are lazy and need to be forced to learn,'' said Jerry Mintz, director of the New York-based Alternative Education Resource Organization. "We take a diametrically different approach that starts with the assumption that kids are natural learners.''

Mintz said in the past two decades, the number of home-schoolers nationwide has grown from about 20,000 to about 2 million. He said there are about 12,000 alternative schools, including charter and public alternatives and Montessoris.

Of those, about 200 are "democratic schools," in which students play a big role in decision-making, he said.

There has been a lot of debate, however, about the concept. While some experts say it is needed to keep children motivated and feed their innate curiosity, others have argued that kids who lack motivation can flounder.

BUT...................

(Bloomberg) Fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. ranked 25th among peers from 34 countries on a math test and scored in the middle in science and reading, while China’s Shanghai topped the charts, raising concern that the U.S. isn’t prepared to succeed in the global economy.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, which represents 34 countries, today released the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment. For the first time, the test broke out the performance of China’s Shanghai region, which topped every country in all academic categories. The U.S. government considers the test one of the most comprehensive measures of international achievement.

In-state tuition for illegal immigrants is preserved with California Supreme Court ruling

(L.A. Now) The California Supreme Court decided unanimously Monday that illegal immigrants may continue to be eligible for in-state tuition rates at the state's colleges and universities rather than pay the higher rates charged to those who live out of state.

In a ruling written by Justice Ming W. Chin, one of the panel's more conservative members, the state high court said a California law that guarantees the lower tuition for students who attend California high schools for at least three years and graduate does not conflict with a federal prohibition on giving illegal immigrants educational benefits based on residency.

College students who are in the country illegally are barred from government financial-aid programs. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected eventually to decide whether the lower tuition rates also violate federal law.

If the Federal law and State law have similiar positions, the court always side on the stricter policy. In this case representing Federal statute, illegal aliens are not priveldged to recieve financial-aid programs from the American tax-payers. But in California, it is a normal occurance to take care of any illegal alien wanting an education. In fact, about 25,000 illegal aliens are estimated to receive in-state tuition rates in California. No wonder California is going bankrupt.