Education   

 

Stimulus funds create jobs for youths

Although just 15 years old, he's already 61/2 feet tall. So you can easily understand why Jerimyjah Batts dreams of one day playing professional basketball.

 

Rendell plans 13% cut in higher-education budget

Pennsylvania's higher-education budget would shrink more than 13 percent under Gov. Rendell's latest spending proposal. Overall, funding for higher education would fall $288 million, to $1.83 billion, but not all schools would suffer equally.

 

Board of Education unveils new testing proposal

The chairman of Pennsylvania's State Board of Education announced a new proposal yesterday for the creation of statewide end-of-course exams that some high school students would have to take to get diplomas.

 

Phila. schools agree to settle 1970 desegregation suit

Nearly 40 years after the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission went to court seeking equal education for white and minority students in the city, the Philadelphia School District is poised to settle the landmark desegregation case by instituting reforms to benefit black and Hispanic children.

 

Law eliminating school districts criticized

When Gov. Corzine signed a bill last week that established a process to eliminate 26 small school districts that do not operate schools, it seemed to many people a no-brainer. Legislative sponsors hailed it as a commonsense step toward consolidation that would save public money and still support education.

 

Middle school to reopen, but for different uses

Classrooms are dusty and empty, halls silent. But reminders of student days at John Wanamaker Middle School at 12th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue are everywhere.

 

Penn to partner with Posse Foundation

Beginning next year, the University of Pennsylvania will partner with a foundation that handpicks high-achieving students from poor urban backgrounds to attend highly selective colleges.

 

Agora Cyber Charter School seeks to halt state hearing

A week after filing a flurry of lawsuits to save its operating charter, an online charter school based in Devon yesterday asked U.S. District Court to halt a state hearing that could lead to its closing.

 

After 40 years, Phila. schools settle desegregation case

The Philadelphia School District is expected to formally settle an almost 40-year-old desegregation case today. At a special meeting scheduled for this morning, the School Reform Commission is set to vote on a settlement for a lawsuit that at first sought to desegregate city schools, then focused on providing equal opportunities for minority students.

 

Through chess, reaching out to at-risk youth

More than 1,000 elite chess players from around the country came to Philadelphia over the holiday weekend hoping to win the most prestigious American tournament of the year.

 

Troubles at VA beyond 1 doctor

Gary Kao is the only one named in the unfolding scandal. He and others say he's a scapegoat.

Is Gary Kao a renegade physician, or a sacrificial lamb - or maybe just a doctor who was allowed to get in over his head?

 

Karen Heller: An education in survival

Shinelle Diamond Superville has the name of a superhero. Which is fitting. Much of what we take for granted in life, Superville does not.

 

Mentoring program helps Latino students

Wender Ozuma, 18, is prepared to face the world and his future. "I want to manage a company," Ozuma said recently, attired in blue shirt and a black tie. "I feel comfortable in an office environment, dressed up professionally."

 

Fewer N.J. schools on federal 'need improvement' list

The Pennsauken School District and Camden Academy Charter High School have worked their way off the list of New Jersey districts in need of improvement by federal performance standards.

 

Two charter-school officials charged

Kevin M. O'Shea and Brien N. Gardiner did not stint on the decor of their executive offices at Philadelphia Academy Charter School, where they ran up $145,000 in expenses that included flat-screen TVs, lavishly appointed bathrooms, and a kitchen with granite countertops.

 

Phila. union president says teacher morale 'very low'

Battered by tough talk and finger-pointing from the school superintendent, Philadelphia teacher morale is "very low" - a potential impediment in negotiating a new contract by Aug. 31, their union president said yesterday.

 

Teacher-certification programs booming in N.J.

They have worked as a clothing buyer, cabinetmaker, personal trainer, painting contractor, psychologist, grant writer, cell biologist, journalist, artist, home builder, and executive coach.

 

Phila.-area charter school fights revocation in court

With the state poised to pull the plug over alleged mismanagement, an online charter school based in Devon is fighting back in not just one court, but three.

 

Stolen student funds repaid to Germantown High

A former school-operations officer at Germantown High School yesterday repaid $23,023.72 that she admitted stealing from the school's student-activity fund.

 

Area schools squeezed by budget pinch

Many programs are threatened. In some districts, staff members are sacrificing to help out.

No more middle school. Goodbye freshman and J.V. sports. Close a school; slash the music programs. The blade was about to fall this month on all this and more at the Quakertown Community School District. But at the last minute, something extraordinary happened: Teachers and other employees agreed to $700,000 worth of contract concessions to blunt the ax.

 

Phila. gets ready for summer - and school

Throughout the country, brutal budget tightening has reduced summer-school offerings in some districts and eliminated the classes altogether in others.

 

Penn State extends reach worldwide with international programs

At first blush, Penn State - tucked away in the mountains hours from a major city - may not seem a likely locale for a worldly program.

 

Rowan, Cooper to run new medical school in Camden

A newly established four-year medical school in downtown Camden, jointly run by Rowan University and Cooper University Hospital, will expand both the South Jersey medical community and Camden's educational hub, officials said yesterday.

 

Video: Getting into college

Getting into college video

 

Most N.J. school budgets approved

But the few that were rejected carry painful consequences, area superintendents said.

New Jersey voters approved about 73 percent of school budgets Tuesday, but where they said no, the consequences may be painful, local superintendents said yesterday.