Educational systems and learning frameworks

Education

Care2. "Hillary Clinton: Child Poverty." feeds.huffingtonpost.com. 2008. http://www.care2.com/politics/20837

The Internet article provides the point-of-view of Hilary Clinton, the Democrat candidate aiming to win the presidential post in the 2008 elections. The writing presents Clinton's point-of-view in regard to the importance of education for the development of children and their potential. She considers that despite the fact that the United States is one of the richest countries in the world the education system does not provide children to fully develop their potential. More precisely, she considers that "13 million children still live in poverty and 5 million live in extreme poverty. Too many children are expected to overcome these hurdles, become productive citizens, and compete in a modern global economy without the benefit of sound schooling, decent housing, proper nutrition, and adequate health care." From this perspective, she points out the need for education but also for programs which support this education. Her stated aim in resolving the issue focuses on reducing child hunger by 2012 and child poverty by 2020. Although she rightfully considers these plans to be ambitious, she clearly states her desire to achieve them.

This point-of-view is important for the subject at hand because it focuses on the perspective one of the potential presidents of the United States has on the issue of poverty and education. It offers a good insight on the possible measures and programs that will be implemented by a future Clinton administration. The shortcoming of this source however relies in the electoral nature of the declaration. Taking into account the fact that Hilary Clinton is in the end a candidate for president, the plans she discusses can also be seen as electoral leads. However, they are important because they offer, at least officially, some guide lines for future plans.

Dervarics, Charles. "U.S. Sen. Barack Obama Joins Education Committee." Diverse. 2006. http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_6772.shtml

Charles Dervarics presents the initial role of Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the issue of education. The article focuses on several aspects. On the one hand, it offers a background on the initiatives the Democrats aim to consider after the inclusion of Obama in the Education Committee. On the other hand, it develops on the framework of the education policy as viewd by the Democrats. In this sense, it is argued that the election of Obama as a member of the Committee may prove important for the development of education programs, especially those that target higher education, because it would eventually offer a platform for Obama to address the issue of education fees, the access of students to higher education and at the same time, the limitation of this access by the high fees of colleges.

The article is important because it offers relevant information regarding the general approach taken by Obama on the issue, the initiatives he was and is part of in the Senate, as well as a wide perspective on the issues affecting higher education and the possibilities offered by these institutions to poor students. Also, it points out, through references made to certain statements of other Democrat Senators that the issue of financing the education of the poor must take into consideration methods that are indeed advantageous for the students. In this sense, "we will reform the student loan program so it works for students and not just the banks" therefore suggesting possible alternative means to help students attend higher education.

Green, Elizabeth Hartline. "Where do the candidates stand on education? Rudy Giuliani on education." DMI Blog. 2008. http://www.dmiblog.com/archives/2007/07/where_do_the_candidates_stand_1.html

The entry blog provides the reader with information about the stand Rudy Giuliani, a Republican has on the issue of education. Inevitably he discusses the issue of better financing education as a means to increase poor children's access to school. In this sense, he is a promoted of charter schools and vouchers because they offer a different financing plan than the current strategy. More precisely, he considers the idea of charter schools because the funds would go directly to schools and are not overseen by school districts; on the other hand, vouchers provide parents the possibility to offer their children private schooling.

The article offers a good reference point for discussing Giuliani's strategy in terms of education and the way in which education ban be made available to poor children. Although it is no longer a relevant candidate for the presidential race, his point is worthy for consideration as a possible and viable solution for the resolution of the issue under discussion.

Hillman, Nick. "Majority of Southern Public School Children Live in Poverty.." Sharing Witness. Indiana University. 2007 http://www.sharingwitness.org/hunger_poverty/majority_of_southern_public_sc/

The perspective given by the article includes first and foremost the idea that indeed South schools are part of a poor educational system which affects the preparation of children coming from poor communities. However, he describes the way in which this issue was addressed, in parts successfully even, by the New York State, implementing the initiatives of the incumbent governor. Therefore, he presents the positive aspects of the New York education system as being important lessons for the South to take into consideration. Finally, he argues the need for increased measures that would provide help for students in their final high school years which in turn would be benefic for preparing them to go to college. These measures include need-based grants, creative links between K-12 students and college.

The article offers an interesting perspective on the way in which communication can be established between various education levels. Also it is important to see the experiences from different areas of the country that have had positive results. Finally, the fact that the New York state was able to achieve positive results is useful for pointing out the need of political will in solving such situations.

Lazarus, David. "Education can crush poverty." San Francisco Chronicle. 2005. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/16/BUG5BEOD4L1.DTL

David Lazarus presents the conclusions of the discussions held by an OEDC led meeting concerning education and poverty. It was argued that indeed education plays a major role in the development of a society. At the same time however, it was also concluded that the U.S. despite its economic development ranks bellow many developed countries. Firms from the United States complained about the limited level of U.S. employers and their only basic knowledge.

The article is significant not so much for the information related to the importance of education it provides but for the perspective it offers on the policy conducted so far by the Bush administration. Although the "No child left behind" program initiated by the current presidency tries to address the issue of poor children and their education needs, the tax policy president Bush related to this project does not offer any positive conditions for its development. In this sense, it is considered that the tax cuts only favored the rich and not the poor families; therefore, poor children are still left behind and unable to attend school.

National Ministries. Advisory Group Meeting Refines Public Education Emphasis for Children in Poverty Initiative. 2007. http://www.nationalministries.org/front_center_cippe_advisory.cfm

The National Ministries is an initiative which tries to promote reconciliation and the improvement of the less advantage categories of the society. Some of their projects include helping children in poverty, support in disaster situation, fostering and improving intercultural relation to the extent in which a more harmonious society can be formed in the conditions in which the current American society is constantly under the pressure of racial confrontations and discrimination. The article presents the point-of-view of this organization concerning the condition of poor children and their access to the system of education. It focuses on the concluding ideas of the meeting of a work group which included the Evergreen Baptist Association, American Baptist Churches USA, and Jan Resseger, minister for public education and witness for the United Church of Christ. The main idea resulted from the discussions took into consideration the possible means through which organizations such as the Baptist Church or the National Ministries can help improve the public education system in the U.S. In this sense, they consider that there is a strong need for including poor children in the educational system by supporting financially and morally their progress. Also, they view the issue of the inclusion of poor children in the educational system as part of a wider initiative aimed at eventually eradicating poverty inside families because education represents a means of personal improvement and in the end of professional achievements that would result in better incomes and a decent life outside of the poverty line.

The article is significant for the issue of education and poverty in the U.S. As it offers, first and foremost a general view on the way in which poverty can affect the desire for study and the available resources for education. Secondly, it represents a good source for discussing possible solutions for poor children and the educational system and perspective.

Salas, Anthony. Poverty and Education. University of Michigan. 2007

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/salas.356/home

The article discusses the issue of decreasing the value of education and its results by considering the main cause to be poverty. More precisely, the article points out through thorough references that the quality of the education system has decreased especially in impoverished communities throughout the United States. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of education, the article argues, one must first and foremost tackle its root cause, poverty. By comparing other education systems to developing countries, it is concluded that the U.S. does not take the necessary means to address the issue of poverty among students. The article underlines the differences existing between rich communities where students have higher scores and those in which 75% of the students are poor, in which case they obtain less than the international average scores. It is also important to underline the dangers the article considers as being imminent in communities where students lack the possibilities to attend school. In this sense, the violence and the drug abusers become more and more common, an issue strictly related to high poverty areas. The article draws in the end an alarm signal which aims to draw the attention on the need for increased measures related to poor communities and the education possibilities there.

The article is useful because it offers an important analysis of the effects of poverty on the level of education in the community. Also, it will be important for defining the background of the issue under discussion which is the relation between poverty and education and the conditionality relation existing between them. At the same time, it offers a good and useful image of the magnitude of the issue from the comparison between the U.S. And different countries it provides.

Southern Education Foundation. A New Majority. Low Income Students in the South's Public Schools. SEF Report. 2007

http://www.sefatl.org/pdf/a%20New%20Majority%20Report-Final.pdf

The report presented by the Southern Education Foundation represents an important point-of-view related to the situation in the Southern parts of the U.S. This approach strengthens the opinion that indeed the education system in the South is facing increasingly worrisome problems related to the conditions of the students and the low level of education results. The report points out the fact that the historical background of the region and the racial discrimination that dominated parts of the South has had a big impact on the education system. In this sense, the funding was often influenced by racial discrimination. It also shows the history of low income students from kinder garden to college which points out that more that 37% of them belonged to poor families. This figure, as an example, is indeed relevant for the situation in the region.