The Department of Education is administered by the United States secretary of education. It has 4,400 employees and an annual budget of $68 billion.
Jan 13, 2023 — Overall, the U.S. Department of Education
received a $3.2 billion increase in funding to a total of $79.6 billion for fiscal year 2023.
Only 35 percent of fourth graders are reading at
or above grade level. In addition,
64 percent of eighth graders are reading below grade level, whereas 36 percent
are reading at or above grade level. Still, these statistics do show an
improvement at both grade levels. Approximately 40% of
students across the nation cannot read at a basic level.
Program for International Student Assessment results showed U.S. students hit an all-time low in their math scores last year, while reading scores appear to have plateaued. Out of 81 countries, the U.S. was sixth in reading and 26th in math.
Student
Activism and College Admissions
How colleges and universities view student activists may depend on the campus climate and values. By Josh Moody Sept. 24, 2020
High school students in the U.S. have long been at the forefront of social change through activism. Student protests have helped lead to landmark Supreme Court rulings on matters of racial equality and free speech rights within schools.
The Little Rock Nine's action in 1957 helped force the actual desegregation of public schools three years after a historic decision by the Supreme Court, and 13-year-old Mary Beth Tinker of Iowa fought for her right to protest the war in Vietnam by wearing a black armband in school in 1965 – and ultimately won. These are two examples in a long history of student activism that continues to be written.
Recent examples include mass walkouts across the country in 2018 to protest gun violence following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. In 2019, students walked out en masse to put a spotlight on climate change. And this year, many high school students have focused their attention on the Black Lives Matter movement, joining mass protests across U.S. cities prompted by police killings of Black citizens.
But what does student activism mean for college admissions? And how do universities view student activism? Those answers, experts say, may depend on the institution itself and the type of activism a student chooses.
Ted Thornhill, a sociology professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, found in a 2018 study that colleges were less likely to respond to applicants with seemingly Black-sounding names who were involved in matters of Black activism.
Thornhill contacted 517 college admissions officers, sending emails from fictitious Black applicants. Using four email templates for these fake applicants, he built in various interests and extracurricular activities. He ultimately found that emails sent emphasizing activism around racial issues were the least likely to get a response from admissions offices.
But much has transpired since 2018. Mass protests across the U.S. this summer have made the Black Lives Matter movement a household name and many white allies have joined. Likewise, many colleges have issued statements of support and some acknowledged their racist past, removing monuments to Confederate soldiers and renaming buildings.
Recent
movements allow Thornhill to express guarded optimism for politically active
Black college applicants.
"My suspicion is that some institutions will be more likely to embrace these student activists in a manner that they perhaps hadn't previously, because it's at the forefront now," Thornhill says. But he encourages high school activists to look past the Black Lives Matter statements on college websites and to focus on practices rather than public relations.
Some colleges made their stances on student activism clear in 2018, when walkouts over gun violence were in full force, making statements that an applicant's disciplinary history due to protests would not be held against them.
Two
of the organizers supporting the protests at Columbia University and on other
campuses are Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. Both are supported by the
Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and was
previously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It in turn
supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/05/pro-palestinian-protests-columbia-university-
Comments
The disturbing article above confirms
the role of US colleges in the social activism indoctrination of US students.
US Education needs to be restricted to useful information. Students need to
learn to reach conclusions based on proven theories, not ideological
propaganda. New colleges with new faculties are needed to teach the “scientific
method”. Students need to view themselves as customers, not slaves to Left-Wing
Ideologies.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea
Party Leader
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