EDUCATION
CHARTER SCHOOLS
“Hip-hop high school organizers face tough questions from school board.” By Kimberly Melton. Oregonian. November 2, 2009. Community members, artists, parents and students spoke to Portland School Board members Monday, seeking support for what they hope will become the district’s next public charter school: the High School for Recording Arts Portland. The charter high school hopes to serve about 200 students starting next fall and plans to operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a schedule the developers say is more in line with student sleep patterns and takes advantage of the hours when adolescents are most alert. Students also could earn passes to work in the studio from 5 to 8 p.m.
“Va. unlikely to put charter schools on fast track; But advocates say political changes create opportunity.” By Michael Birnbaum. Washington Post. November 8, 2009. Tuesday’s elections in Virginia swept a staunch supporter of charter schools into the governor’s mansion, raising hopes for advocates in a state that has been skeptical of the publicly funded, privately run alternatives to regular public schools. But despite Republican victories in the governor’s race and some key legislative contests, significant hurdles stand in the way of any quick moves to ease approval of charter schools, education activists say. Virginia’s constitution places tight limits on what kinds of schools can be established without the assent of local school boards, which typically oppose charter schools. The state Board of Education is stocked with charter doubters, and term lengths mean the board will stay that way for at least another year and a half. And leaders in the Democrat-controlled state Senate remain opposed to charter legislation. There are only four charter schools in Virginia, a stark contrast to the District of Columbia, which has 58.
“Parents call on state to revoke charter; Say proposed Gloucester school is not innovative.” By Kathy McCabe. Boston Globe. November 8, 2009. Angry parents staged a boisterous protest in front of City Hall, where the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held a special meeting yesterday to discuss its approval of a new charter school during which a top education official apologized for sending an e-mail last February that ignited controversy. The meeting was scheduled to review the process the board used to approve the charter for the school, which proponents said is needed to provide an alternative form of public education for Gloucester families.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
“Prep Schools Face Cuts in Student Aid.” By Geraldine Fabrikant. New York Times. November 7, 2009. Private boarding schools, like their university brethren, have suffered significant declines in their endowments as financial markets withered, raising the question of whether they can continue to offer admission to students needing financial aid. The schools are left with limited options, since this is a bad time to dip more deeply into their endowments and raising tuition would just mean that more of their families may qualify for financial aid because their incomes may become insufficient to pay tuition bills.
HIGHER EDUCATION
“23 Private College Presidents Made More Than $1 Million.” By Tamar Lewin. New York Times. November 2, 2009. The presidents of the nation’s major private research universities were paid a median compensation of $627,750 in the 2007-8 fiscal year — a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year — according to The Chronicle of Higher Education annual executive compensation survey. According to the survey, published in Monday’s edition, 23 private college presidents made over $1 million in total compensation, and 110 made more than $500,000. Such large pay packages are still relatively new in higher education: as recently as 2002, there were no million-dollar presidents, only four earning more than $800,000, and 27 earning more than $500,000.
Related Story:
“23 college presidents make more than $1 million.” USA Today. November 3, 2009.
“Harvard’s Medals of Honor.” By William McGurn. Wall Street Journal. November 3, 2009. Most Americans would not be surprised to learn that Harvard is our nation’s oldest institution of higher learning, that it boasts the largest endowment, and that it has produced more U.S. presidents than any other university. Most Americans, however, might be hard-pressed to guess another Harvard distinction: the highest number of Medal of Honor recipients outside the service academies.
“The Need for Unrestricted Funds; Harvard donors should consider avoiding earmarked gifts.” Editorial. Harvard Crimson. November 3, 2009. With drastic budget cuts across its many schools and an endowment that dropped roughly 30 percent in the last fiscal year alone, the university, in tightening its belt, has also given careful consideration to the ways in which it can continue providing its essential programs and services in such a bleak economic environment. And one of Harvard’s better ideas in protecting both its financial health and efficiency has been to emphasize flexible funding and unrestricted donations in the development office.
“Levin to visit India.” By Nora Caplan-Bricker. Yale Daily News. November 4, 2009. Continuing Yale’s ongoing efforts to strengthen ties with India, University President Richard Levin will leave for India tonight as part of a delegation of faculty to speak at two conferences and meet with Indian leaders and participate in the India Higher Education Summit. The India initiative, announced last November, will draw from a $75 million endowment to expand faculty and curriculum in Indian studies at Yale, and bring students and scholars from India. The University will also aim to increase study and research opportunities for Yale students and faculty in India and raise Yale’s profile there by forging relationships with businesses, universities and other organizations. The Indian government plans to build what it hopes will be “world-class universities,” Levin said, and is looking to Yale for advice.
“Admissions officers scour the globe for Elis.” By Carmen Lu. Yale Daily News. November 5, 2009. Despite a 7.5 percent budget cut this past year, Yale’s Admissions Office has kept its international travel component. While Harvard admissions officers currently do not travel abroad and cut travel by 50 percent this spring, the Yale Admissions Office still recruits in person across the globe. International travel not only enhances Yale’s global visibility, but it also allows admissions officers to gain a better understanding of the educational and cultural background of candidates applying from abroad. Last year, Yale College received 4,032 international applications and accepted 115 foreign students from 38 countries.
“M.I.T. Considers Increase in Student Body by 300.” By Jacques Steinberg. New York Times. November 7, 2009. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is considering expanding its student body by more than 7 percent, or more than 300 students, if it is able to create additional student housing, the dean of admission, Stuart Schmill, said Thursday. Mr. Schmill was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying that M.I.T. was exploring whether higher enrollments would increase revenue. But reached by telephone, he said that the primary motivation was not to raise money but to return the undergraduate student body to the size it was in the 1980s and 1990s.
“Concierges and Marble Baths: For Some at Columbia, This Is Dorm Life.” By Lisa W. Foderaro. New York Times. November 7, 2009. Columbia, which provides housing for more than half of its 13,000 graduate students, owns dozens of apartment buildings, many with prewar charm and within walking distance of the university’s campus in Morningside Heights. Now it also offers students an apartment in the Arbor, a sleek building in Riverdale that was privately developed as a condominium. The university snapped up the Arbor in July 2008 for $67 million after the developer struggled to sell the condominiums. (Prices started at $400,000.) Robert Hornsby, a spokesman for Columbia, said the decision to buy the Arbor, which has 127 apartments, was part of a strategy of “opportunistic purchases. Other colleges have taken advantage of the real estate slump to push expansion plans. The City University of New York recently decided to move its law school from a cramped former junior high school in Flushing, Queens, to an underused Citigroup office building center in Long Island City, also in Queens. CUNY will pay Citigroup $155 million for six floors in the two-year-old building, far less than the cost of new construction.