Money, money, money!

To begin with, I read one of the most exciting articles about the stimulus plan in reference to education that I have in a while today. Found in the Associated Press, the article is called "Schools to begin receiving economic stimulus money." As if the title doesn't give away why my excitement level rose when I read this article, there is even more to be excited about.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday released the first $44 billion in economic stimulus money directed to schools, but said strings will be attached to the next round of aid. The Obama administration views the stimulus as a chance not only to save thousands of teachers' jobs but to overhaul the nation's failing schools.

I am very happy that the Obama administration is viewing this opportunity with such an optimistic eye. The fact that my future employment will also be safe is a selfish pleasure. The amount of education reform that can occur from this money, I believe will help the country's education system tremendously. Today, the administration made available half of the dollars for federal programs that pay for kindergarten through 12th grade and special education. Duncan is also going to providing applications for states to get even more money from the special fund that I mentioned in a blog a couple of weeks ago. I just hope that the plans to use this money can actually be used to create and fix schools that are struggling. At this point, all we can do is hope.

The second article that I found to be most interesting this week was entitled "School chief: Mayors need control of urban schools." This article was also about Arne Duncan. This article, published on Tuesday discusses the fact that Duncan believes that mayors should take control of big-city school districts where academic performance is suffering.

Mayors run the schools in fewer than a dozen big cities; only seven have full control over management and operations. That includes Chicago, where Duncan headed the school system until joining the Obama administration.

With superintendents changing so frequently, especially in larger cities, it does make much more sense for the mayor to have full control of a school system. I agree with this, especially for the fact that the mayors are elected by the public and therefore should be involved in their cities school system. The fact that so many are not, does make their involvement look limited to a point. With larger cities containing so many struggling schools, it would appear that having an overall controller could only aid in the process of reforming these schools. Especially with all of the money that the larger cities in states could be receiving, it is time for these cities to take action in reform. The use of this money is going to be crucial and if someone overlooking an entire city can help, then I believe that they should.

Finally, the third article that caught my interest was entitled "7 students punished at Winfrey's school for girls". This article was interesting, not only because it was Oprah's school where these students were punished for trying to force students into relationships and to engage in sexual contact, but because this is not the first time that Oprah has been disappointed in the way that things were being run at the school since it opened. I have loved the fact that Oprah opened this school in South Africa, since I first heard of it in 2007. She spent over $40 million in building the 28-building campus at which each girl that attends lives in a two-bedroom suite.

It's the fulfillment of a promise she made to former South African President Nelson Mandela and aims to give poor girls a quality education and prepare them for leadership positions in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of white-minority rule.

I can only hope that this promise can continually be fulfilled for years, and that events just like this one do not cause the school any harm. Spreading quality education to places that often lack it for all of their children is something that I am a strong believer in. I think more Americans should look abroad to focus their interests in helping out the rest of the world. I believe that the world would be a better place if this occurred.