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Forget Adam and Eve or sex education. The latest curriculum controversy surrounds global warming. In fact, South Dakota’s legislature recently passed a resolution that called for the “balanced teaching of global warming.” Global warming, the resolution states, is “a scientific theory rather than a proven fact.”

Some States Mandate That “Both Sides” of Global Warming be Addressed

According to the , South Dakota is not the only state to have introduced legislation addressing the question of how global warming should be taught in schools. Among the other states that have taken or are considering such steps include:

• Texas - The Texas Board of Education declared in 2009 that public school teachers must present both sides when discussing global warming and evolution.
• Kentucky – A bill recently introduced in the Kentucky legislature encourages teachers to discuss “the advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories,” as the Times reports, including “evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning.”
• Louisiana – Louisiana’s state legislature passed a law in 2008 that says that the state board of education “may assist teachers in promoting ‘critical thinking’” on subjects such as evolution and global warming, according to the Times.

This video from PBS looks at attempts to rein in climate change education.

Why Global Warming and Evolution Are Linked Together

Legislators may be using the question of whether global warming should be taught as a

These days, choice is a word that’s frequently heard in discussions of public education. If parents don’t like the local traditional public school, they can investigate charter schools, private schools, or neighboring public school districts with open-enrollment options. However, all this choice has resulted in hard times for some of the nation’s public schools, which are facing dwindling student populations and subsequently dwindling funds.

In an attempt to fight the tide of dwindling student populations and to prevent more students from leaving, some public schools are putting their efforts into marketing campaigns designed to sell prospective students and their families on the virtues of their neighborhood public schools. Below, we look at this surprising trend.

Why Do Public Schools Need Marketing Campaigns?

Charter Schools

Although school districts can attribute some of their declining enrollment numbers to inter-district transfers or students choosing to attend private schools, the reality is that the explosive growth of charter schools is the main cause of public schools’ enrollment woes.

According to , there are currently more than 3,500 charter schools in the U.S., and more than one million public school students attend a charter school rather than a traditional public school.

Charter schools are very popular with politicians from both sides of the political spectrum, and many state legislatures are pushing to lift caps on the number of charter schools that are allowed. The result is that more and more students are enrolling in charters rather than

Quaker schools have been quietly thriving throughout the country for a number of years, and for parents who find that traditional public and private schools do not provide the environment they want for their children, Quaker schools are an ideal choice. From six Quaker schools in California to eight in New York, and even the one in DC where President Obama's daughters attend, these campuses challenge traditional education's standard teaching methods.

While the overtly Quaker schools today are all private, there may be a future movement wherein charter schools become quietly inspired by Quaker philosophies - minus the religious components.

What is Quakerism?

A Quaker education is one that focuses on the development of the individual student, and the school environment is meant to cultivate "a strong sense of social understanding, skills to deal with adversity, tolerance and respect for others, and a strong sense of self-worth so that [students] have the power needed to succeed," according to a graduate of a Quaker school quoted by .

A Quaker education focuses on the core values of Quakerism, which are called testimonies:

• Peace
• Equality
• Simplicity
• Integrity
• Community
• Service

The first Quaker school in America, the , was originally opened in 1689 as a public school, opening its doors to all students of all socioeconomic means. In fact, Penn Charter was one of the first schools to offer financial aid for its students and teach females and students of all racial

High school students are faced with the daunting task of making choices that will have momentous consequences on the remainder of their lives. They must choose whether to pursue higher education at a four-year college or university, begin their studies at a two-year community college, start a vocational training program, or enter the workforce directly after high school.

For those students who decide they want to pursue a college education, the choices to be made only multiply: students must decide how to present themselves in the optimal light on college applications, which colleges to apply to, and which college to ultimately attend.

Fortunately, most public high schools have a “guidance office” and guidance counselors who are given the job of helping students to navigate the sea of tough decisions that must be made towards the end of high school.

But are high school students getting the help and advice that they need from the guidance counselors at public schools? A released by the nonprofit research organization Public Agenda suggests that most people who have graduated from public high schools in the last decade do not feel that their school guidance counselors provided them with any meaningful advice.

This video shows a demonstration interview by a guidance counselor.

The Problems with the Current High School Guidance System

Lack of Personal Attention

In its to