The movement towards younger libertarians...

Interesting article from Campus Progress, Behind the New Student Libertarian Movement that's written in their "field report" segment. Realistically the only way for any political party to grow is to recruit new members, either from other parties or to get those who are new to the political world involved. Youth are typically the most dedicated volunteers during election time. Part of the recommended piece:

But even though he appeared at CPAC, McCobin’s tendency to get pegged as a conservative is one of his pet peeves; he is adamant that libertarians, and SFL in particular, are not right-wingers. “There’s definitely a feeling, there’s a lot of pro-liberty individuals, especially younger individuals, who don’t associate with the cultural right, with the conservative, Christian coalition,” McCobin emphasizes. “That’s just not what we’re about.”

For the first time since the early 1980s, SFL holds the position as the only major national student organization dedicated to libertarianism, or as the SFL calls it, “pro-liberty” ideas. The last time there was a visible libertarian student movement, it was strongly allied with the right, united by the common enemy of communism as well as conservative economics.

New math got you frustrated?

Chances are if you are a parent of a child in K through 12, you'll come across math problems that you have no clue as to what your child is learning. They call it "new math" and it can be a challenge to solve math problems because while it seems like the "old math" you knew, they call it different terms. If you don't have an older child around to ask for help, you need to turn to an online Math problem solver to be able to get help with math.

TutorVista is one of the more popular online tutoring systems out there, they offer an unlimited monthly package for under $100.00 a month, they also have a free demo that you can try out and they offer free algebra help for both high school and free college algebra help as a part of their free online math help. This can really come in handy when your child comes to you, with a problem that you know you can't solve. Since it's available 24 hours a day seven days a week, you can also use the service to brush up on your "new math" skills, which is especially helpful if you are considering going back to school...

Is Obama’s Speech Indoctrination?

There's been quite a bit of discussion on both of my other blogs on the topic of President Obama's speech to school children. This article, however, takes a bit of a different view that I found interesting. Written by Jacob G. Hornberger, on Media With Conscience I found this part to be one small aspect of the larger recommended article something not written much about:

You can always count on conservatives for injecting a bit of humor, albeit unintentionally, into any national political debate. The latest example involves their railing against President Obama’s plan to deliver a speech to the public-school students of America. The conservatives are calling the president’s speech “indoctrination.”

Why is that funny? No, not for the reason liberals are giving — that the very notion that a presidential speech to public-school students could be considered “indoctrination” is just plain loony.

No, the reason this whole controversy is funny is because it is obvious that neither conservatives nor liberals have given any consideration to where those students will be located when the president delivers his speech: at government centers of learning that their parents have been forced to send them to, thanks to compulsory-attendance laws.

What do conservatives and liberals think takes place in a government center of learning?

The best indoctrination, of course, is where the people who have been indoctrinated don’t even know that they have been indoctrinated. Most public-school graduates, whether in Cuba or the U.S. or elsewhere, are prime examples of this type of success story.

Thought provoking piece on Libertarianism & Education

I came across Radical libertarianism does not provide for fairness in education when reading Libertarian news stories. It's a well done and thought provoking piece that covers some of my own personal concerns when it comes to balancing libertarianism and education.

One small part of the highlighted piece:

Despite my libertarian streak, I find that the only feasible option to correct this inequality would be either to place a restriction of attending public schools only or to implement a voucher system in which tuition would be limited to the cost of the voucher alone. Restricting schooling options to only public schools is suboptimal because it would not account for geographic disparities—someone living in the ghetto will still have to attend school in the ghetto, and richer families will still have a benefit, if a more subtle one. A voucher system would only work if parents could not pay for tuition beyond the voucher itself. Otherwise, we would be back at square one—rich parents would send their children to schools whose tuition is much higher than the cost of a publicly-issued voucher.

The continued death of communication in public education

While I vented earlier on one of my other blogs about the most recent episode of miscommunication and lack of concern for customer service as well as the well being of the student, I couldn't help think that part of the problem is some urban schools, such as the one my daughter attends treats the students and parents as if there is a barcode scanner on their heads without bothering to check prices or even stock numbers...

It's difficult to keep arguing for the benefits of an urban public school when the reality is they give parents more reasons to leave than to stay...

In some areas tech jobs still growing

In some parts of the country there are still quite a few jobs open related to technology, especially those that require training such as programmer jobs. Even here in Toledo where the unemployment rate is higher than the rest of the state, there are still openings on many of the free job boards for positions where programming experience is required. It's why many people are opting to return to school to take additional classes to be able to find employment.

Every US Citizen should know these...

It's the title of the YouTube video and I agree with it. The results were very disappointing and gives evidence our educational system is pretty horrid. I recommend that you watch the video and as you watch along see how many of the questions you can answer.



I had my 13 year old watch it and her best friend watch it, thankfully due to my supplemental teachings I've done with her she was able to answer most of the questions. Her friend did not fare so well...

Score for Math Tutoring...

There are other companies out there that offer Math Tutors and some promise the same level of results, yet the majority of teachers I have asked when discussing tutoring have recommended Score. As I've stated in the past, my son had problems with math that we did not catch soon enough and he struggled until the problem was identified. Had we acted sooner in getting him the additional tutoring he needed, most of the problems he experienced would have been avoided. As a parent, math was my weak area and I did not realize until years later that I did not stress math skills enough with my children when they were younger. All of us have our strong and weak subjects, which is an additional reason Score can be of great assistance in making sure your child excels even in areas you don't.

Teen Wins Fight for Antiabortion Club at School

While I can't say I agree with all of her message, I support the right for her to be ale to state it and given there are quite a few other high school clubs that are not related to education, I'm glad that the school district involved permitted the creation of an antiabortion club.

Student Loan Consolidation resource

Depending on the amount of student loan balance you have outstanding at the time of graduation, and the specific terms of your initial loan it can be a huge challenge to meet student loans payments. Falling behind on student loan payments is not a smart financial move as the governmental agencies are very unforgiving when it comes to a default situation. The wise choice when faced with getting behind is to consider a student loan consolidation loan. Internet resources like www.premierstudentloan.com are helpful from an informational standpoint and as a resource to help you discover if this is an option you should consider.

Another reason for Math tutoring...

Recently I was disturbed by the discovery that while my youngest daughter was in what is considered an honor's level math class at the public school she currently attends that the book she is using in the 7th grade honors class is the same one she used at a different public school system in the 5th grade. This made it clear to me that Math Tutors would be desperately needed to ensure that she did not develop future issues when she entered high school and then college when it came to being behind her college age peers. There has been a disturbing number of students who have needed remedial help when they have entered college and I believe it is this curriculum gap and parents not recognizing it early enough to take advantage of programs like Score to diminish the affect of this school failure on their children.