A great place to start is looking at the data:

Gallup Poll “Education” 9-5-07

If you read this Gallup Poll analysis and then come to the PVC meeting I will love you!

Next article: Europe’s bold moves toward parental choice show radical de-bureaucratizaiton (What? Since when am I not allowed to make up words?). What can Americans draw from this “blind man and an elephant” parable to the our education system?

Schools unchained: How to go about giving parents the schools they want

This week in PVC you’re gonna get schooled! …so to speak.

• Abstinence-only education doesn’t work.
• Interracial marriages are on the rise. It’s been 40 years since the Supreme Court invalidated miscegenation laws in the landmark decision of Loving v. Virginia, calling the freedom to marry “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”
• DailyKos links to this interview:
  

  Q: You began in the Justice Department during the Watergate years. How would you rank Alberto Gonzales in terms of politicization of the department in comparison to the other AGs you have worked for?

  A: …[I worked in the Department for over 30 years under] more than a dozen attorneys general, including Ed Meese as well as John Mitchell, and I used to think that they had politicized the department more than anyone could or should. But nothing compares to the past two years under Alberto Gonzales.

• The Cal State University faculty authorized a strike this week due to stalled contract negotiations. Contract negotiations have been ongoing for over twenty months. CSU faculty, on average, are paid less than community college professors and in some cases less than high school teachers. Their salaries have been rising at a rate lower than inflation. Not to worry, CSU executive salaries continue to rise; in some cases, they are paid as they leave. Want the breakdown? The CSU faculty strike will be the first CSU strike ever and the largest university strike in US history.
• In similar education news, we forgot to tell you last week that the UC Regents voted to raise student fees in accordance with the UC Compact. Remember four years ago when fees were almost half of what they will be next year?
• John Edwards’ wife’s cancer has returned. Edwards is staying in the race.
• Al Gore lobbies Congress to take action to prevent (further?) global warming. Rep. Joe Burton remains convinced that global warming does not exist.
• Karl Rove, among others, has been subpoenaed.
• In more important news, it seems that the key to success is a British accent.

Q: Where would you find Christian fundamentalists supporting a student who, at a school event, displayed a sign that said “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”?

A: At the U.S. Supreme Court.

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