Describing education and education equality as the “civil rights issue of our time,” President Obama called Wednesday for a renewed effort to eliminate the achievement gap between African-American students and others.
Principals 'need support to handle bullying in school' [schooldays.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2011
Principals should be given greater support to handle difficult cases of bullying in primary and secondary schools, according to one opinion.
Brian Mooney, writing for the Irish Times, stated that they are not receiving enough backing from their peers or the Department of Education, leaving them vulnerable to making mistakes.
The guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin, was referring to the incident last month, which saw principal Dr Austin Corcoran found guilty of "deliberate and conscious" bullying of teacher Bridget Sweeney.
Dr Corcoran had hired a private investigator to follow his employee, which was vilified by the judge.
Full Story: www.schooldays.ie
Catholic partnership sets out markers on what changes it may find acceptable [IrishTimes]
- Published: 07 April 2011
ANALYSIS: The Catholic Church will not give up control of primary schools easily
THE 8,000-WORD position paper prepared by the Catholic Schools Partnership is an impressive document which outlines in a measured way the contribution made by Catholic schools to Irish society.
The partnership unveiled the document in St Patrick’s National School in Diswellstown, west Dublin. With 45 nationalities and children of all faiths and none, it’s the kind of school which represents the new, inclusive face of Catholic education in modern Ireland.
During the press conference, much praise was lavished on a primary school system which is high quality and supremely cost-efficient. A central theme? The system was not broken – so why rush to fix it?
The problem of course is that Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn has a very different perspective. The Minister has cited the views of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who has said he has 90 per cent of all Dublin schools under his control to cater for about 50 per cent of the population who actively want a Catholic education.
Opinion polls also suggest an appetite for change. The most recent Irish Times poll on the issue indicated clear majority support (61 per cent) for State control of primary schools.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
Obama Takes Aim at Inequality in Education [NYTimes.com]
- Published: 07 April 2011
“Too many of our kids are dropping out of schools,” Mr. Obama told a mostly black audience in the ballroom of the Sheraton New York Hotel in Manhattan. “That’s not a white, black or brown problem. That’s everybody’s problem.”
Educational Leadership - the transition years [ASCD.org]
- Published: 07 April 2011
The Transition Years
Feature Articles
Perspectives / Getting Somewhere
Church urges pilot schemes [Herald.ie]
- Published: 07 April 2011
Pilot schemes should be set up to assess the transferral of Catholic schools to non-denominational bodies, church representatives have said.
The Catholic Schools Partnership raised concerns over controversial plans by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to transfer 50pc of its 3,000 primary schools to other patrons from January.
The group said in areas of the country where premises are no longer viable as Catholic schools, lengthy talks must be held within local communities to plan for greater diversity of school provision in that area.
