High school sophomores should be ready for college by age 16. That’s the message from New Hampshire education officials, who announced plans Oct. 30 for a new rigorous state board of exams to be given to 10th graders. Students who pass will be prepared to move on to the state’s community or technical colleges, skipping the last two years of high school. (See pictures of teens and how they would vote.)

Once implemented, the new battery of tests is expected to guarantee higher competency in core school subjects, lower dropout rates and free up millions of education dollars. Students may take the exams – which are modeled on existing AP or International Baccalaureate tests – as many times as they need to pass. Or those who want to go to a prestigious university may stay and finish the final two years, taking a second, more difficult set of exams senior year. “We want students who are ready to be able to move on to their higher education,” says Lyonel Tracy, New Hampshire’s Commissioner for Education. “And then we can focus even more attention on those kids who need more help to get there.”

But can less schooling really lead to better-prepared students at an earlier age? Outside of the U.S., it’s actually a far less radical notion than it sounds. Dozens of industrialized countries expect students to be college-ready by age 16, and those teenagers consistently outperform their American peers on international standardized tests. (See pictures of the college dorm room’s evolution.)

With its new assessment system, New Hampshire is adopting a key recommendation of a blue-ribbon panel called the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce. In 2006, the group issued a report called Tough Choices or Tough Times , a blueprint for how it believes the U.S. must dramatically overhaul education policies in order to maintain a globally competitive economy. “Forty years ago, the United States had the best educated workforce in the world,” says William Brock, one of the commission’s chairs and a former U.S. Secretary of Labor. “Now we’re No. 10 and falling.”

As more and more jobs head overseas, Brock and others on the commission can’t stress enough how dire the need is for educational reform. “The nation is running out of time,” he says.

New Hampshire’s announcement comes as Utah and Massachusetts declared that they, too, plan to enact some of the commission’s other proposals, such as universal Pre-K and better teacher pay and training. Still more states are expected to sign on in December. And the largest teacher union in the U.S., the National Education Association, is encouraging its affiliates to support such efforts.

Some reform advocates would like to see the report’s testing proposals replace current No Child Left Behind legislation. “It makes accountability much more meaningful by stressing critical thinking and true mastery,” says Tracy.

No date has been set for when New Hampshire will start administering the new set of exams, which have yet to be developed. But to achieve the goal of sending kids to college at 16, Tracy and his colleagues recognize preparation will have to start early. Nearly four years ago, New Hampshire began an initiative called Follow the Child. Starting practically from birth, educators are expected to chart children’s educational progress year to year. In the future, this effort will be bolstered by formalized curricula that specify exactly what kids should know by the end of each grade level.

That should help minimize the need for review year to year. It will also bring New Hampshire’s education framework much closer to what occurs in many high-performing European and Asian nations. “It’s about defining what lessons students should master and then teaching to those points,” says Marc Tucker, co-chair of the commission and president of the National Center for Education and the Economy in Washington. “Kids at every level will be taking tough courses and working hard.”

Right now, Tucker argues, most American teenagers slide through high school, viewing it as a mandatory pit stop to hang out and socialize. Of those who do go to college, half attend community college. So Tucker’s thinking is why not let them get started earlier? If that happened nationwide, he estimates the cost savings would add up to $60 billion a year. “All money that can be spent either on early childhood education or elsewhere,” he says.

Critics of cutting high school short, however, worry that proposals such as New Hampshire’s could exacerbate existing socioeconomic gaps. One key concern is whether test results, at age 16, are really valid enough to indicate if a child should go to university or instead head to a technical school – with the latter almost certainly guaranteeing lower future earning potential. “You know that the kids sent in that direction are going to be from low-income, less-educated families while wealthy parents won’t permit it,” says Iris Rotberg, a George Washington Un

My husband and I have been married for 14 years and we have a 13-year-old son. We have recently gotten back together after a 3 month separation. I left my job and family in Missouri a month ago to to be with my husband in Massachusetts. My son seems to be very happy to have his family back and is adjusting very well. However, my husband and I still seem to be having some communication issues. I feel that he has always been a little insecure and he is a little overbearing and selfish at times. He is often unwilling to compromise and feels it is his way or the highway when it comes to making decisions. When we argue whether he is wrong or right, he waits for me to come to him for resolution and I find that he is not willing to talk things out unless I apologize, even if I feel I am not wrong. I apologize often just to make peace. I cannot continue this relationship like this. Any advice on what I can say to him to improve our communication so that we both are happy?

Congressional Legislation

Stimulus Bill
Bill # S.1

Original Sponsor:
Harry Reid (D-NV)

Cosponsor Total: 17
(last sponsor added 01/07/2009)
16 Democrats
1 Independents

About This Legislation:

1/6/2009–Introduced. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – Calls for the enactment of legislation to create jobs, restore economic growth, and strengthen America’s middle class through measures that: (1) modernize the nation’s infrastructure; (2) enhance America’s energy independence; (3) expand educational opportunities; (4) preserve and improve affordable health care; (5) provide tax relief; and (6) protect those in greatest need.

Detailed, up-to-date bill status information on S.1.

Alabama
Richard Shelby (R) —
Jeff Sessions (R) —
Alaska
Mark Begich (D) 01/06/2009
Lisa Murkowski (R) —
Arizona
John McCain (R) —
Jon Kyl (R) —
Arkansas
Blanche Lincoln (D) —
Mark Pryor (D) —
California
Dianne Feinstein (D) —
Barbara Boxer (D) 01/06/2009
Colorado
Mark Udall (D) —
Michael Bennet (D) —
Connecticut
Christopher Dodd (D) —
Joseph Lieberman (I) 01/06/2009
Delaware
Thomas Carper (D) —
Ted Kaufman (D) —
Florida
Bill Nelson (D) —
Mel Martinez (R) —
Georgia
Saxby Chambliss (R) —
Johnny Isakson (R) —
Hawaii
Daniel Inouye (D) —
Daniel Akaka (D) —
Idaho
Mike Crapo (R) —
Jim Risch (R) —
Illinois
Richard Durbin (D) 01/06/2009
Roland Burris (D) —
Indiana
Evan Bayh (D) —
Richard Lugar (R) —
Iowa
Tom Harkin (D) —
Charles Grassley (R) —
Kansas
Sam Brownback (R) —
Pat Roberts (R) —
Kentucky
Mitch McConnell (R) —
Jim Bunning (R) —
Louisiana
Mary Landrieu (D) —
David Vitter (R) —
Maine
Olympia Snowe (R) —
Susan Collins (R) —
Maryland
Barbara Mikulski (D) —
Benjamin Cardin (D) —
Massachusetts
Edward Kennedy (D) 01/06/2009
John Kerry (D) 01/06/2009
Michigan
Carl Levin (D) 01/06/2009
Debbie Stabenow (D) 01/06/2009
Minnesota
Al Franken (D) —
Amy Klobuchar (D) 01/06/2009
Mississippi
Thad Cochran (R) —
Roger Wicker (R) —
Missouri
Claire McCaskill (D) 01/06/2009
Christopher Bond (R) —
Montana
Max Baucus (D) —
Jon Tester (D) —
Nebraska
Ben Nelson (D) —
Mike Johanns (R) —
Nevada
Harry Reid (D) 01/06/2009
John Ensign (R) —
New Hampshire
Jeanne Shaheen (D) —
Judd Gregg (R) —
New Jersey
Frank Lautenberg (D) 01/06/2009
Robert Menendez (D) 01/06/2009
New Mexico
Jeff Bingaman (D) 01/06/2009
Tom Udall (D) —
New York
Charles Schumer (D) 01/06/2009
Kirsten Gillibrand (D) —
North Carolina
Kay Hagan (D) —
Richard Burr (R) —
North Dakota
Kent Conrad (D) —
Byron Dorgan (D) —
Ohio
Sherrod Brown (D) 01/07/2009
George Voinovich (R) —
Oklahoma
James Inhofe (R) —
Tom Coburn (R) —
Oregon
Ron Wyden (D) —
Jeff Merkley (D) —
Pennsylvania
Arlen Specter (D) —
Robert Casey (D) 01/06/2009
Rhode Island
Jack Reed (D) —
Sheldon Whitehouse (D) —
South Carolina
Lindsey Graham (R) —
Jim DeMint (R) —
South Dakota
Tim Johnson (D) —
John Thune (R) —
Tennessee
Lamar Alexander (R) —
Bob Corker (R) —
Texas
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) —
John Cornyn (R) —
Utah
Orrin Hatch (R) —
Robert Bennett (R) —
Vermont
Patrick Leahy (D) —
Bernard Sanders (I) —
Virginia
Mark Warner (D) —
Jim Webb (D) —
Washington
Patty Murray (D) —
Maria Cantwell (D) —
West Virginia
Robert Byrd (D) —
John Rockefeller (D) —
Wisconsin
Herbert Kohl (D) —
Russ Feingold (D) —
Wyoming
Michael Enzi (R) —
John Barrasso (R) —

Source Library of Congress

I just graduated with a B.A. in Elementary Education in December and have been applying for jobs for the 2009-2010 school year all over the place. I started in early spring and have applied to roughly 40 different schools or school districts.

I’m not being too picky about where I’m applying; I’ve applied to several different states, from Massachusetts to Georgia. I’ve applied to big cities and small towns. Since most places are far away from me, I’ve done most of it on the internet or by mail (sending files with my resume, recommendations, transcripts, certification, etc.).

I have not received a single call for an interview. My resume is impressive and my recommendations are excellent. I am on several different websites (teachers-teachers.com, teacherjobs.com, schoolspring.com, etc.). I’ve even been to a job fair for educators. But still, nothing.

Am I doing something wrong? Or am I not being patient enough? When do most schools hire teachers? Am I totally screwed??

HELP!!!

An unemployed mother of 6 children (age 15 and under) has been receiving food stamps and TAFDC in Massachusetts. Her teen daughter, a full-time high school student, worked a part-time job; 9 hours per week from May 1 to July 1 and then 20 hours per week from 7/1 to 8/1. Now DTA has cut off the family’s benefits. I thought that income from a teen who is a full-time student did not count toward “Family income” when calculating benefits. I want to write a letter supporting this mother’s dispute. What should I say?

just tell me if it’s good or not
and please read it! how can i make it better??

Do you know how and for what reasons the first 13 colonies of North America were found? Many of us today don’t know why these colonies were established, but we should because it’s an extremely important event in history. Many of the first settlers in the North America came from England, they came for reasons such as these: wanted land to plant on, religious freedom, wanted to become rich or famous, needed a new beginning, wanted to escape paying debts and others. The first successful settlement was Jamestown, Virginia and then other colonies arose. The 13 colonies of North America are: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut (New England Colonies), New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania (Middle Colonies), Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia (Southern Colonies). Each of these colonies have different laws, government, religious beliefs, way of life and how they were set up.
First, lets talk about the New England Colonies and the first successful settlement Jamestown, Virginia. During the 1580s English had tried a couple of times to establish a colony on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, but their attempts failed. Later, The Virginia Company was developed, it was a joint-stock company. In December 1606 they began their journey and on April 1607 they entered the Chesapeake Bay. They named their new settlement Jamestown in honor of their king who granted them the right to organize settlement. The colony was build on a peninsula so it could defend itself from attack but many died do to disease, hard labor, weather and hunger. With the Virginian leader John Smith the colony survived 2 years, but it was later John Rolfe who learned how to grow tobacco and saved the colony. Virginia had made a great profit growing tobacco, then many others came to the colony and House of Burgesses was formed to let people have a say in their government. Groups of people came to the New England Colonies in order to find religious freedom. At that time many people disagreed with the practices of the Anglican Church and wanted to reform it, those people were called Puritans. Others who wanted to leave and set up their own churches were called Separatists (Pilgrims). Separatists were later persecuted in England which caused them to flee to Netherlands. They did not stay their long causing to lack of jobs, so they made an arrangement with the Virginia Company to settle in North America for free religious practice. One of the New England Colonies is Massachusetts. It was founded for religious freedom by John Carver, William Bradford and John Winthrop, and settled during 1620-1630. Second colony is New Hampshire, it was founded because of profit of trade and fish by Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason and settled in c.1620. Another colony is Rhode Island, which was founded for religious freedom by Roger Williams in 1636. Last of the colonies is Connecticut which was founded in 1635 by Thomas Hooker because of profit from fur trade, farming; religious and political freedom.
Second, the Middle Colonies, that also play a huge role. The first colony is New York, it was founded by the Dutch settlers in1624 to expand trade. The colony had a really an excellent harbor that the English wanted to acquire. So in 1664 they attacked and Peter Stuyvesant who was the governor surrendered because he was not prepared for the battle. King Charles II the gave this colony to his brother Duke of York, who renamed it New York. New York became a proprietary colony. Later, the colony became widely populated and demanded a representative government. The English government allowed New York to elect a legislature starting in 1691. A different colony is New Jersey, it was founded by John Berkeley and George Carteret during 1638 and gained profit from selling land. The colony did not gain much success and became a royal colony. Another colony is Delaware, it was founded by Swedish settlers in 1638 in order to expand trade. Last Middle Colony is Pennsylvania founded by William Penn in 1682 and gained profit by selling land/ religious freedom. Penn belonged to a Protestant group of dissenters called Quakers. They believed that everyone was equal in god’s view, had toleration towards other beliefs and were pacifists. Penn wrote the city’s first constitution and believed that settlers should pay for land(since it’s the Native America’s). He also encouraged others to come by advertising in different languages and granted the colonists the right to elect representatives to the legislative assembly.
Finally, The Southern Colonies that were founded for different reasons. The colony of Maryland was lead by Cecil Calvert son of George Calvert who always wanted to create a safe place for the Catholics. Cecil had sent two of his brothers to rule the colony when he gained it in1634. They at first turned to tobacco as the main crop knowing it saved Virginia, but planted corn as well. The city Baltimore founded in 1729 had became Maryland’s largest port and settlement. As you know there were conflicts between colonies and one was the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was soon resolved but another conflict arose when Calverts had welcomed Protestants in Maryland. As you know the colony of Virginia became very wealthy and it kept on growing. William Berkeley had made an agreement that for a piece of land he would keep his settlers out of the Native American lands. Nathaniel Bacon, a leader of the western part of Virginia did not agree. He and others had settled in Native American lands and set fire to the capital Jamestown. It was known as the greatest rebel ever. Bacon’s sudden illness and death was the only thing that kept him from taking charge of Virginia. A new proprietary colony was set up called Carolina. It was ruled by eight prominent members of kings court. They divided the colony and each ruled one part. John Locke was the one to write constitution for the colony. The people of the colonies disagreed and went they’re separate ways creating North Carolina and South Carolina. The Carolina’s was the colony who had many rice fields and more than half of the population were enslaved Africans. In 1729 the Carolinas became two royal colonies. The last colony and final colony is Georgia. It was founded in 1733 by James Oglethorpe for religious freedom; protection against Spanish Florida and a safe home for debtors. This was a safe colony if you had not payed your debts.
In Conclusion, I hope that you understand how important it is to know about the history of these colonies and reasons for their findings. Each of the colony had something different about it and unique. Each colony also has different religions, crops, culture and clothing. This all depends on where and how the colony was developed. From this essay you should have learned who was the founder of the colony, why it was established and in what year it was set up.

I’m 19 years old and I live in Massachusetts. I already have a job and I’m in the process of getting a second job at a hair salon at the moment. Being a stripper interests me and I’m very comfortable with my body. I know people are going to judge me for it but I could honestly care less because being a stripper doesn’t make you a ***** or anything like that. Anyway, what do I have to do to get into this? Are there certain requirements?
I do have respect for myself. It seems like something that I’d actually ENJOY doing because like I said before, I am very comfortable with my body and you make a lot of money. Being a stripper doesn’t make you a bad person. I’m basically just like anyone else who has something in mind that interests them. Some people want to become cops, lawyers, etc. It’s not like I want to do it for the rest of my life. It’s just something I’d like to do for fun and try out!

This is going to be long, but it’s a somewhat desperate cry for help, and I really have no idea where else to go with it.

I am a 24-year-old college student on my third major; I decided to switch from something I knew how to do, to pursue a lucrative job I’d probably **** (computers), to something I like and will continue to love to do, though it’s not as lucrative (teaching literature). Last year, I moved on from a community college to a University, and I’m now broke.

Last year, I moved back in with my mother; my parents have been divorced for 6 years. My father quit his medical practice in my hometown, moved across the country, quit his job there, and is now filing for bankruptcy and does not pay my mother alimony. My mother lost her job a couple of weeks ago working for a land company, and cannot file for unemployment. She has a master’s degree in business, but her degree is “old”, and at 52, she is having difficulty competing with younger people. She does not have a lot of money, since in the divorce, my father took most of our “stuff”, and she was left with our property – which isn’t selling.

Just after the divorce, I sold most of my stuff – movies, books, DVDs, video games, computer equipment, even furniture – to save money for college expenses. For a couple of years, it was just fine – I had just enough spending money and a steady enough job that paid enough and had enough hours that I could focus on my classes and not have much to worry about while I lived at home and helped pay for groceries and such.

Well, that all changed pretty quickly.

Last summer, my car broke down – the transmission blew while pulling out of a parking lot. I had to wind up buying a new car. There goes a lot of money, right there.

After that, a theater group I’m in went to Salem, Massachusetts to do some research on the Salem Witch Trials for the play, The Crucible. I wound up having to take my car, because I was the only other person with a reliable automobile for the long trip besides the one car we had already planned to be taking. Which meant that I needed to buy new tires. Some people pitched in for gas, and everyone paid for their hotel room, but as the trip went on, I wound up covering a lot of expenses. I spent $1800 in a single weekend buying tires, gas, food, drinks, tours, books, and props for the play. I was paid for about $70 worth of props and a fair amount of the gas from everyone. Not a single person paid me back for the food and drinks I wound up buying, or the tour tickets I bought them. Some people bought me dinner at later dates and such, but I didn’t get paid back. I’m a college student, I can’t afford to throw that kind of money down on a weekend excursion. But, I did. I have since not trusted anyone to borrow money from me.

Later that summer, I was in a car accident with my (now-ex) girlfriend. I spent a week in the hospital and suffered a closed head injury that has affected and continues to affect my memory and attention, to the point where I basically read at a snail’s pace. Doesn’t bode well for classes, especially for classes in my particular field of study (English/Education/Literature).
Worst part is, my insurance didn’t initially pay for anything at all. I was airlifted from the accident – cost $900. My anesthesia still hasn’t been paid for, don’t remember how much that was. One of my surgeries wasn’t even initially covered – I wound up ponying up for a lawyer, with my mother’s help, which helped us to get them to pay for most of it, finally – then we had to pay the lawyer, of course. It’s still ongoing. Anesthesia still isn’t paid for. We still can’t afford it ourselves, either.

After the accident, I had a hard time going back to real life. I couldn’t move to where I had planned because I couldn’t take a full load of classes that semester, move, and find a new job without being completely overwhelmed, so I stayed at home and took 2 classes and went back to work as I had been.

As far as work goes, my workplace was told by one of my doctors to only have me work 8 hours per week, because of my mental condition (I still tend to get pretty overwhelmed by things) – at 8.50 an hour, that’s not a lot of money. I received a month of lost wages, and am supposedly to be paid 80% of the difference between my 8-hour weeks and what I would otherwise be working since that month, but I haven’t seen a dime.
I’m also buying audiobooks and cliff’s notes to help with my reading and retention, which my insurance company is supposed to help pay for. They haven’t done that, either.

I used to work as an English tutor for local high school students; I still get calls about it every so often, and I still try to do a little bit of work. It pays pretty well ($20/hour sometimes) for the short periods of time I get to do it, but it takes a lot out of me. I buy copies of all the required readings at the local high schools and keep up on those books, on top of the own that I have for my classes.

Hi, im thinking about moving to Canada, have been for awhile now. I live in Massachusetts right now, but have been drawn to Canada for years. I can never find much pride or much to celebrate in being an American. Massachusetts is beautiful, but is very expensive to live in. Living here half my life, I feel the people are rude, uptight, and set in their ways. I cannot afford college, dental, or health care, and feel like im just a number in a corporate and government system who is thought about only as a consumer. I dont know if its the complete opposite in Canada, and feel foolish believing it is that drastically different than the U.S but it is nice to know that they have universal health care, That makes me believe that the government cares about the people atleast somewhat. Does one stand any shot as a Entry level worker in Canada? I find the environment to be so beautiful and find it so lovely that the people there take care of it. It seems like a wonderful place for an aspiring artist/musician like myself. Vancouver Island and the Atlantic Provinces interest me the most, but Vancouver Island especially because im drawn to the west coast perspective of life. They have mountains, the ocean, close to nice cities, and its far away to start anew. Can you give me some further knowledge of Vancouver Island such as cheap places to live that have entry level jobs available? and how life is like in Canada? Im starting my savings now and am very serious about moving there within a year or two. Thanks so much!

please can u give me direction……the address is 250 Rithlerford in Massachusetts?
can u give me more information because i dont know where.please a need the zip code .thanks