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The Newtown tragedy last December brought to light the vulnerability of public schools across the country. To answer concerns about student and staff safety, many have clamored for the addition of armed guards in every school nationwide. However, research suggests that placing armed police officers in schools may create more issues even as it is addressing the need for student safety. Police presence in schools may actually increase the number of students in the criminal justice system – often for minor crimes that could have been handled at the school level.

Not a New Idea

Despite the increased rhetoric surrounding police presence in school in recent months, the idea is not new. According to the , school districts have been using federal funding and other resources to bring police officers into schools since the 1990s. Known as “school resource officers,” these armed officers typically patrol high schools and middle schools, but some have been placed in elementary schools as well. Deseret News reports that the U.S. Department of Education recently found around 28 percent of all public schools report they have an armed security guard on school grounds during class hours at least once a week.

Hundreds of larger school districts, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Houston, have actually established their own police departments. These departments, boasting thousands of sworn officers and other staff members, are under the direct oversight of district officials. The Los Angeles School

Climate change has never been a consistent part of school science curriculum. Some teachers have touched on the subject, but few have delved into the matter with the depth it requires for thorough understanding. Sometimes it is presented as a controversial theory, and at other times it is taught as irrefutable fact. Now, new national science standards are due out that could streamline the educational approach to the subject of climatic shift.

About the New Standards

The new science standards were created as a result of a partnership between the National Research Council and the National Science Foundation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and National Science Teachers Association. The non-profit group Achieve was also a part of the collaboration. Standards introduce the concept of climate change at a much younger grade and continue to expand on the subject throughout middle and high school. Mark McCaffrey, programs and policy director for the National Science Foundation called the new standards “revolutionary.”

This video from Teacher TV offers an overview of climate change.

Until now, the only effort to establish national science standards was in 1996, when the National Science Education Standards were published by the National Research Council. However, few states did much to bring those standards into the classroom. In 2010, a new effort was launched to produce standards in science, and the National Research Council recruited the other entities

The right to a free public education has been hotly contested in California public schools in recent years. The addition of multiple fees for classroom and extracurricular activities has created a serious financial quandary for many families in the state. As a result, state lawmakers have passed a new law that addresses the issues of high fees, which include guidelines on the fees that can be required and how to help low-income families participate. Unfortunately, the law so full of good intentions has created a whole new set of problems for parents, students and school staff.

The Problem with School Fees

Issues with school fees have been reported by parents and students in the California school system for some time. An investigation by the ACLU in 2010 revealed that many schools were requiring students to purchase workbooks, textbooks and other essentials in school districts across the state. Investigators also discovered that students who were unable to pay were sometimes singled out from the rest of their classmates, according to a report at the .

In some of those cases, students were told to shell out hundreds of dollars for graphing calculators, athletic uniforms – even uniforms required for physical education classes at the school. Although many of these fees had previously been ruled illegal in litigation, schools were continuing to assess them. They were presenting a particular hardship for low-income students, who either had to go without important supplies or activities or

Prayer appears to be on its way back to public schools after a hiatus due to a 2000 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court prohibiting student-led prayers over public address systems at school events. Thanks to a new law in Mississippi, schools will need to adopt a policy that allows for student-led prayer in a variety of venues. While the law has been applauded by many, it has also received plenty of opposition, as well as hints at a future lawsuit.

Governor Puts Signature on School Prayer Law

The reports that Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has signed a new law that allows students in Mississippi schools to pray at school events, over school intercoms, and before school athletic contests. All prayers issued by students must be accompanied by a disclaimer, stating the prayer is not endorsed by the school district. Governor Bryant explains that the purpose of the new law is to protect religious freedom in public schools in his state – not to establish or sanction religion in schools.

The Republican Governor was joined by supporters, including lawmakers and ministers, when he signed the bill into law. One of the ministers in attendance, Rev. David E. Tipton, Jr., was quoted in the as saying, “We have listened to the argument of the separation of church and state too long, and those barriers, I believe, is a façade with a certain agenda that has actually, I

Race to the Top, the education reform championed by the current administration, is now in full swing. States nationwide have received funding from the program in exchange for changes to their public education systems that would benefit the students in those states. While some are touting the program's success already in its early stages, others are voicing concern that it is not doing what it was meant to do.

An Overview of the Program

Race to the Top was introduced by President Obama in 2009 as a competitive fund to promote school improvement on both a state and local level. At that time, $4.35 billion was pledged in what the White House called the “largest ever federal investment in education reform,” according to the . State governments were called upon to submit plans for education reform to gain a portion of the funding pledged for the program.

The stresses four key areas of reform for Race to the Top funding criteria, which include:

• Improvement of assessments and more rigorous standards for schools
• Turn-around of failing schools through increased emphasis and resources
• Support that allows teachers and staff to be more effective
• Better methods for tracking the progress of both students and teachers

Each state had the opportunity to submit a plan to the U.S. Department of Education for education reform, keeping these four criteria in mind. Since the program was launched, 46 of 50 states have submitted plans, and some of