I always try to make it a point to see both sides of an education issue, and as Project Runway host Tim Gunn always tells his fashion designer cast, try to make it work The concept of true school choice fits that challenge

I've got Ironman to blame for catching the comic bug over the past few weeks This weekend I went to see another Marvel character, The Incredible Hulk, be re-introduced to the public

I have a novel in editing, a story of a college administration in the aftermath of the murder of a US

I am completing Defending College Heights, a novel about an Irish Catholic family and a college administration in the aftermath of the murder of a US

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings introduced new proposed regulations to help clarify how schools, districts and states implement policies and business practices under No Child Left Behind Among these proposals, Secretary Spellings has asked that high schools be required to use graduation rates that track cohorts of students as they progress through high school

I just read in the May 19 Christian Science Monitor that a Massachusetts legislator proposes a 25 percent tax on college endowments over $1 billion

My first post about comics as an educational aid generated an interesting response — from the managing director of Classical Comics, a comic book company in the United Kingdom Not to be confused with Classic Comics, often teasingly referred to as a study guide for college literature classes here in the State, Classical Comics turns classical literature into high-quality visual graphic novels

High school students interested in serving in our armed forces must take an entrance examination called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) The ASVAB is used to not only assess a recruit’s aptitude for military service, but also help identify their Military Operational Specialty — service-speak for job — if they choose to serve

Before becoming a writer, I spent ten years marketing Web-based job posting and resume tools to college career centers One outcome of this experience is that I gained considerable appreciation for career counselors and guidance counselors at the high school level

I've read about the decisions of flagship state universities to increase merit-based, not need-based scholarships to the best-of-best students, the ones who might have chosen an Ivy League school, or other highly selective private college This is not an academic strategy as much as it is an economic development strategy; state politicians do not want the best students to take their talents out of state, and possibly never return

During the last weekend in April, West Point cadet Caleb Campbell was drafted to serve in a different Army He was selected in the seventh and final round of the National Football League (NFL) draft

Last week, I was one of the first to see Ironman, the first summer blockbuster movie and the next hero in the Marvel Comics universe to come to the silver screen I like the movie so much I went to see it again in an early morning matinee

These past weeks there has been talk in the higher education press about private lenders and state guarantee agencies either withdrawing from the government-subsidized student loan market or refusing to underwrite new loans These financial institutions cite either a cash crunch or a credit crunch, or reductions in the federal interest subsidy as the reasons for pulling back on such loans

This day, May 6, 2008, I spot a front page headline in my local New Jersey paper, The Trenton Times that reads: Ewing HS vote is void a second time

This day, April 29, 2008, I spot a front page headline in my local New Jersey paper, The Trenton Times that reads: Students kept off ballot: District to explore race factor while rescheduling vote Our local races for school board took place last week, so I thought this was an aftermath

On April 17, I checked my inbox and found a message from a reader who had read the previous day's column on the JP Morgan/Chase decision to discontinue lending to schools with historically low repayment rates I had pointed out that Chase's spokesperson refused to list the affected schools, but that borrowers deserved to know

On April 16, JP Morgan/Chase Manhattan, the bank that recently worked with the Fed to acquire the former Bear Stearns investment bank, announced that they will not be making student loans to entering or continuing students enrolled at schools that have a poor repayment rate Yet their spokesperson refused to mention the schools that would be affected by the announcement

When I became a writer, I started and then I stopped working a story on bullying I felt that readers would not be sympathetic with a male main character who was the butt of abuse, practical jokes and malicious innuendos

Shortly after I heard about President Bush's proposal for Pell Grants for low-income children to attend parochial schools, I finished reading More than a Dream: The Christo Rey Story, a inspirational book about the founding of the first Christo Rey Jesuit high school in Chicago's Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood

In 1980, the Reagan Revolution meant not only a reconsideration of sex education, but also a reconsideration of the theory of evolution Back then, the alternative theory was called creationism or scientific creationism; today it's called intelligent design

During his final State of the Union Address, President Bush announced two proposals for faith-based schools; one, a grants program for low-income students similar to Pell Grants for college students, and the other a national Presidential summit on faith-based education The summit is more important than the grants program

On February 12, the true Lincoln's Birthday, I read in USA Today that the Bush Administration proposes to eliminate Federal funding for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a non-profit program that has distributed 325 million new books to more than 30 million children over the past 42 years RIF has been a popular program on both sides of the political aisle

As 2007 drew to a close, four of the nation's most selective colleges: Harvard, Duke, Swarthmore and Pomona, all announced plans to revamp their financial aid policies by replacing loans with grants Other institutions, most notably Princeton and Columbia, had already implemented similar plans

Since I wrote a novel based around sex education, I've tried to pay attention to other books and movies that do the same I reviewed Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher, which I thoroughly enjoyed

Every profession could use a good TV show to help it flourish in tough times With No Child Left Behind, maybe teachers need one more than ever