Sign up to watch live the Values Voter Summit September 12-14!!!-"among the 20 events most crucial in determining the next president. The list from Cox News Service also includes the Democratic and Republican conventions and the anniversary of 9/11. Values voters from across the nation will gather Sept. 12-14 in Washington, D.C., to hear from national leaders on pro-family issues"
LIVE Values Voter Summit-"I am blogging live the speakers at the Values Voter Summit in Washington D.C. sponsored by Family Research Council."
25 Pro-Family Goals for the Nation- From Family Research Council. Topics tackled: "Bioethics" "Courts and Law" "Culture and Media" "Family Empowerment" "Human Life" "Marriage and Family" "National Security and International Affairs" "Religious Liberty"
Other Values Voter News
McCain vs Obama
The Greatest Scandal - Obama, McCain and School Choice-"The Wall Street Journal reports: The profound failure of inner-city public schools to teach children may be the nation’s greatest scandal. The differences between the two Presidential candidates on this could hardly be more stark. John McCain is calling for alternatives to the system; Barack Obama wants the kids to stay within that system. We think the facts support Senator McCain . . ."
Alabama
Ala. Policy Institute: New Education Study First to Compare School-by-School Inputs vs. Outputs-"A 119-page report released today by the Alabama Policy Institute (API) is the first of its kind to analyze Alabama’s academic inputs vs. outputs, broken down by individual schools, counties and systems. The report, “Alabama’s Public Education Dilemma: Does Funding Influence Outcomes,” reveals an inconsistency between the inputs Alabama taxpayers and the Federal Government provide, and the academic outcomes received in return. Most education reports only measure success by results, and do not consider the relationship between inputs (e.g. teacher pay, teacher readiness and course difficulty) and those results,” says API Vice President Jeff Fink. “This API study attempts to connect the dots for an accurate picture of the value of Alabama’s education system.”. Alabama’s education investment (in other words, its “inputs”) is considerably high given the fact that Alabama teacher’s salary and benefit packages rank 19th highest in the nation when adjusted for pensions, cost-of-living and other value factors; Alabama ranks 4th in the nation in teacher to non-teacher ratio; the overwhelming majority of teachers teach their specialty; and Alabama has some of the most challenging graduation requirements. However, the results (i.e. “outputs”) do not match the inputs: Alabama students consistently score below most states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the ACT; Alabama’s graduation rates are 45th in the nation; and the state spends between $304 and $454 million per year on remedial education....“School-by-school analyses of student outcomes on Alabama’s standardized tests show that throwing more money at these problems does not appear to be the solution,” says Dr. John R. Hill, author of the report. “In fact, the opposite seems to be true.” We invite you to view this report in its entirety on our website: http://www.alabamapolicy.org/. The Alabama Policy Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit research and education organization dedicated to the preservation of free markets, limited government and strong families, which are indispensable to a prosperous society."
New Jersey
NJ: New charter school the pride of Camden-"The Philadelphia Inquirer reports According to a National Alliance for Public Charter Schools study of districts with over 10,000 students, in the 2006-2007 school year Camden with 13 percent of its students in charter schools joined Philadelphia as one of the top 10 of districts nationally with the highest charter participation. The district with the highest charter market share was New Orleans, with 57 percent of its students enrolled in charters. National Alliance president Nelson Smith said many of the highest charter participation districts are in urban communities with underperforming schools. “When the charter option is made available, the parents flock to it,” Smith said.
UK
Compel sex lessons at 11, says Government report-"The Christian Institute reports: “Eleven-year-old school children should be forced to undergo sex education regardless of their parents’ wishes, a Government-funded report says.”
NEA
Phyllis Schlafly: The NEA Spells Out Its Policies-"Phyllis Schlafly has this commentary on Townhall: The nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association, attracted 9,000 delegates to its annual convention in Washington, D.C. over the Fourth of July weekend. Delegates sported buttons with provocative slogans such as “Gay marriage causes Global Warming only because we are so hot!”, “Hate is not a family value,” “The ‘Christian Right’ is neither,” and “Gay Rights are civil rights.”
Video
Video Commentary - Research says conservatism really is better
