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[Susan Ohanian <susano@gmavt.net>]

Howard Gardner had a good letter in the New York Times Magazine.

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Bias Feared in School Plan for Councils
David Herszenhorn
New York Times
2003-12-01
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1419

New York City's plan to replace its 32 elected school boards with parent councils, which are to be chosen, under a new state law, by officers of parent associations, is coming under fire. Critics point out that this tramples on minority representation as numerous minority schools don't have parent associations. And there are other problems with such a scheme.

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When a School Doesn't Have Enough Teachers
Caroline Cole
Boston Globe
2003-12-01
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1420

Andover High School is violating state law by providing too few courses, too little class time, and too many study halls, according to Massachusetts state education officials who have ordered the district to hire more teachers or risk losing $4.9 million in state aid. When you read how many study halls kids have, you know something is seriously amiss.



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Here's an Uplifting Story About the People's Generosity
Robert Franklin
Star Tribune
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1421

Many have never entered a college classroom except to clean it up. But custodians at Carleton College donate money from their pay checks to support a fund for scholarships--to help students they know are struggling.

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Computer Illogic Despite Great Promise, Technology is Dumbing Down the Classroom
Todd Oppenheimer
San Francisco Chronicle
2003-11-30
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=1422

Aaccording to national estimates, U.S. schools have spent roughly $80 billion on school computing just in the last decade. This, at a time when activities that aren't available outside school the way computers are -- programs such as art and music classes, shop and physical education - - were being cut back or eliminated. While gathering material for a book, Oppenheimer visited dozens of schools across the country. He provides a couple of snippets of what he found here.

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To the editor
Howard Gardner, Cambridge, MA
New York Times Magazine
2003-11-30
http://susanohanian.org/show_letters.html?id=206

Not directly about education, still this letter is definitely worth reading.