Well, I checked the facts, and the Politico was correct.  I only doubted the reporting due to the massive amount of President Obama’s proposed increase in education spending.  Could it possibly be true?  Tuesday’s February 2^nd Politico column by Eamon Javers and James Hohman on the newly released proposed federal budget contained this text on one of the “Winners” – Education:

Obama calls for ramped-up education spending. Department of Education outlays would increase from $32.4 billion in 2009 to $71.5 billion in 2011. Obama puts money into a laundry list of initiatives, from a $1.6 billion increase in child care funding to making permanent the expansion of Pell Grant payouts.

He has sought to please his supporters in the powerful teachers unions by pushing to rework the unpopular parts of Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Now he’s trying to put $3 billion more into K-12 education generally, with up to an extra $1 billion if Congress reworks the education system in the way he wants this year.

If you look at the 2011 budget’s section for the Department of Education (pp. 63-68), go to page 68 and look for the line entitled “Total, Outlays.”  There one finds that the actual 2009 budget for the Dep’t of Education was $32.409 billion and that the projected amount for 2011 is $71.479 billion.  By my calculation that is a 121% increase in two years.

I am not an expert on direct loan programs, but on the same page the figures for disbursements increases from $100.7 billion (2009 actual) to $135.0 billion (2011 projected) – a 34% increase over two years.  This Congress wants to enact a statute to federalize the student loan programs, so the budget contains this gobbledygook comment: “This measure would then use savings to make historic investments to increase college access and success, and would lay a foundation for success for America’s youngest children.”  What does that mean?  $$,$$$,$$$,$$$.$$  Good grief.

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New video exposé of U.S. Department of Education Safe & Drug-Free Schools “Czar” Kevin Jennings:

Read more at stopjennings.org.

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The state of morality on the American college campus seems to be in perpetual decline, and I have shuddered to think about what it will be like in a dozen years when my own daughters will be getting ready for college.  But from a liberal college in a liberal state comes a small ray of hope.  Tufts University has revised its “guest policy” for dorm visitors for the new school year to include the following new rule:  “You may not engage in sexual activity while your roommate is present in the room.”

Shouldn’t this be obvious?  Word from my friends with kids in college is that, shockingly, it’s not.  Nor is it a problem unique to Tufts.

So a tip of the hat to the Tufts’ administration for having the courage to draw a line.  And if Tufts can do it, any school can.

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Here’s something for your news cravings today.

• “Commentary: States should decide on gay marriage,” Jared Polis, CNN (September 24, 2009)
• “Tight schedule on move to block Ariz. abortion law,” Paul Davenport, Associated Press (September 23, 2009)
• “Study confirms most Americans want health care change but not abortion funding,” Catholic News Agency (September 23, 2009)
• “Britain To Clarify Policy on Euthanasia,” Karla Adam, The Washington Post (September 23, 2009)
• “Christian Leaders Urge Sanctions Against Iran,” Angela Abbamonte, Religion News Service (September 23, 2009)
• “‘Our Time has Come’ Or Has It?,” Ken Blackwell, American Thinker (September 24, 2009)
• “Group aims to reverse S.D. ban on embryonic stem cell research,” Katy Urban, KOTA News (September 23, 2009)
• “High-schoolers get stem cell lesson,” Carolyn Johnson, KGO-San Francisco (September 23, 2009)
• Fox News (September 24, 2009)
• “Both Sides On Defensive In Maine Marriage Debate,” WMTW (September 24, 2009)
• “No excuses,” Alisa Harris, WORLD Magazine (September 26, 2009)

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In the latest Mapping America, the National Survey of Children’s Health shows that children who live with both biological parents or with two adoptive parents and worship at least monthly have parents who score lowest on the parental concerns scale.

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In the latest Mapping America, the National Survey of Children’s Health shows that children who live with both biological parents or with two adoptive parents are less likely to have parents who have concerns about their children’s achievement.

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Continue reading »

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Gone are the days of the Daily Buzz and Blogosphere Buzz. Instead, I decided to incorporate the two to create “In the Know.” Don’t worry, you will still receive your daily dose of news.

Here’s some articles of interest for your morning:

• “New Method For Safer Bone Marrow Transplants For Sick Children,” Medical News Today
• “Wuerl Ups Opposition To Gay Marriage,” Tim Craig, The Washington Post
• “I Told Me So: Self Deception and the Christian Life,” Matthew Lee Anderson, The Evangelical Outpost
• “Abortion laws ’still won’t protect doctors’,” Brigid Andersen, ABC News (Australia)
• “End-of-life fears,” Emily Bregel, Chattanooga Times Free Press
• “Adult Stem Cells May Help Avoid Hip Replacements,” Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• “Normalizing transgenderism in schools,” Pete Chagnon, OneNewsNow
• “The issue of social justice is far bigger than the abortion debate,” Kathryn Jean Lopez, New York Daily News
• “Group Asks Court to Reconsider Removing Girl from Home School,” Joshua Rhett Miller, Fox News
• “Individual Catholic Bishops Speak Out Against Pro-Abortion Health Care Bills,” Christine, A Catholic View
• “How then shall we educate?,” Amy Henry, WORLD Magazine
• “A Stem-Cell Discovery Could Help Diabetics,” Alice Park, Time
• “Idaho school sues state over Bible plan,” Associated Press

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Here’s a compilation of articles for your reading pleasure.

• “Maine gay marriage opponents submit challenges,” Associated Press (July 31, 2009)

“Leaders of the Stand for Marriage campaign said Friday they collected more than 100,000 signatures of registered Maine voters. Cartons containing the petitions have been turned into the secretary of state’s office to be certified.”

• “The Case for Early Marriage,” Mark Regnerus, Christianity Today (July 31, 2009)

“If you think it’s difficult to be pro-life in a pro-choice world, or to be a disciple of Jesus in a sea of skeptics, try advocating for young marriage. Almost no one empathizes, even among the faithful. The nearly universal hostile reaction to my April 23, 2009, op-ed on early marriage in The Washington Post suggests that to esteem marriage in the public sphere today is to speak a foreign language: you invoke annoyance, confusion, or both.”

• “Stimulus Bill Funds Go to Art Houses Showing ‘Pervert’ Revues, Underground Pornography,” Joseph Abrams, Fox News (July 30, 2009)

“The National Endowment for the Arts may be spending some of the money it received from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night “pervert” revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco.”

• “Liberal and Conservative Senators Unite on Bill to Reinstate D.C. School Vouchers,” Adam Brickley, CNSNews.com (July 31, 2009)

“A bipartisan group of senators announced Thursday that they plan to introduce legislation to revive the District of Columbia’s recently terminated D.C. Opportunity Scholarship school-voucher program.”

• “Portugal’s high court keeps gay marriage ban,” Barry Hatton, Associated Press (July 31, 2009)
• “Researchers May Have Found Equivalent of Embryonic Stem Cells,” Rob Stein, The Washington Post (July 24, 2009)
• “UF scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells,” University of Florida News (July 30, 2009)

“University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.”

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In the latest Mapping America, the National Survey of Children’s Health shows that children from intact families who worship at least monthly are less likely to have their school report behavior problems to their parents than are children who live in non-intact households and worship less than monthly.

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Here’s what we are reading today.

• “Pro-Life Leaders Denounce Murder of Abortion Doctor George Tiller,” FOXNews.com (June 1, 2009)
• “NY exhibit on gay rights hits amid marriage debate,” Daniel Trotta, Reuters (June 1, 2009)
• “Maryland AG Considers Recognizing Gay Marriages,” WBAL-TV (June 1, 2009)
• “Adult Bone Marrow Stem Cells Injected Into Skeletal Muscle Can Repair Heart Tissue,” Science Daily (May 28, 2009)
• “Spaniards against free abortion for 16-yr-olds – poll,” Raquel Castillo, Reuters (June 1, 2009)
• “The Debate Over Sex Ed.: Fight is on in legislature over what class includes,” James Romoser, Winston-Salem Journal (May 31, 2009)
• “Local pastor prepares to take teen abstinence class to masses,” Harriet Vaughan, The Tennessean (May 29, 2009)
• “Ticket to learn,” Alisa Harris, WORLD Magazine (June 6, 2009)
• “Adult stem cell research moving forward, but still slow,” Brandi Powell, News 24 Austin (May 31, 2009)

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Today, I had the opportunity to attend the “Save Our D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Rally” at Freedom Plaza. Students from several Charter and private schools were in attendance chanting, “Put Kids First,” as well as parents, who were very concerned about the loss of funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships, which allow students to attend private schools, instead of lower performing public schools throughout the District.

The crowd heard from many speakers, including Former Mayor Anthony Williams, Council member Marion Barry, School Choice advocate, Virginia Walden Ford, and many others, who were concerned about the education system in Washington, D.C.  While there were many parents who spoke on behalf of the scholarships, the real impact came from two young men who talked about the education that they are able to achieve at the private schools where they are attending, compared to the public schools they used to attend. Both of these young men are brilliant, and there is no doubt that they will be able to achieve whatever career path they choose to pursue. Here is the video of their speech:

Why President Obama would want to end their dreams by eliminating these scholarships is puzzling. Obama was a product of a quality private education, and he has chosen the same education for his daughters, Sasha and Malia. Why would he deny the same opportunity for students in the District?

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