Education

President Obama made some proposals Thursday about how we can reduce college costs around the country. Speaking about this on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir show hours later, Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) actually said, and I quote, “There is no reason why a young person should have to pay for college.”

Whatever they're paying Teresa Ghilarducci, who is "the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz chair of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research," it's too much. The bolded sentences seen after the jump which Ms. Ghilarducci included in a Friday New York Times op-ed (HT "Mungowitz" at the "Kids Prefer Cheese" blog via Megan McArdle) makes my contention an open and shut case (…

During a weekend dominated by partisan bickering over the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, it was refreshing to see a network that wasn’t exclusively covering the reaction to the verdict. On the Fox News Channel program America’s News Headquarters, host Shannon Bream served as the moderator of a “fair and balanced debate” on the recent revelations that a Tucson school district received…

CNN's New Day continued its advocacy for Congress to "fix" student loan rates, on Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of asking why the House and Senate differ on the solutions and addressing the larger debate about rising tuition costs. Co-host Chris Cuomo lectured House Republicans in particular. "The Republicans say education matters also," he called out the GOP on Tuesday's New Day. When co-…

In a show of advocacy and not journalism, CNN skirted the policy details of the student loans debate and instead just paddled Congress for letting the loan rates double, on Monday's New Day. Co-hosts Kate Bolduan and Chris Cuomo begged Congress to "fix" the student loan rate increase that automatically went into effect on July 1. They dubbed it the "'Come on Congress' campaign." Cuomo…

President Obama continued his War on Christianity Monday and the broadcast networks continued to ignore it. Obama was in Northern Ireland for the G-8 conference and used a town hall meeting for youth in Belfast to show his contempt for religious education. The president criticized separate religious schools for promoting “division.” The story drew attention in conservative media outlets and…

High school kids who graduate with flying colors in District of Columbia schools often find that college kicks their butt, the Washington Post's Emma Brown reported in a front-pager today headlined "College-bound D.C. grads pack hopes and fears." "Past valedictorians of low-performing District high schools say their own transitions to college were eye-opening and at times ego-shattering, filled…

It’s become a pretty much a staple of modern Democratic political rhetoric to say that today’s Republicans have departed from their predecessors in being more obstructionist toward liberal policy objectives. Since it’s something Democrats say a lot, it’s also a frequently repeated talking point in the self-described mainstream press as well. Even some Republicans, like Bob Dole for instance,…

Looks like Mike Barnicle's not going to let anyone get to his PC-left when it comes to women. On today's Morning Joe, Barnicle claimed that "a lot of men . . . fear the fact—and I think it's a fact—that women are better balanced than men.  They have better judgment about things than a lot of men."  Barnicle's comment during a discussion about the statement made yesterday by Mississippi…

Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift on Friday said something that might explain a lot to conservatives. After Pat Buchanan commented on PBS’s McLaughlin Group that "the United States is moving towards Third World [education] standards because most of the students coming in now, the principle feeder nation in the country now is Mexico which is at the bottom of the OECD,” Clift replied, “When my ancestors…

Full of hot air and partisan bluster, MSNBC's Ed Schultz cynically and ghoulishly exploited the disaster in Moore, Oklahoma last week to blast Republicans over unrelated education policies. Schultz recounted the inspiring stories of teachers who threw themselves on students while their schools were being ripped apart by the tornado. But his monologue took an ugly turn when he pivoted to the…

It sounded like a freedom-of-religion case when a Columbus, Texas high school relay-race team was disqualified from the state track championship because Derrick Hayes pointed heavenward after his team won the race. That would seem odd in a red state like Texas. It turned out that officials were so strict, they warned runners to make no hand gestures after the finish line. Hayes had apparently…

In 2005, USA Today uncovered the scandal that black columnist Armstrong Williams was paid to promote Bush’s Education Department initiatives. In 2013, it’s never a scandal when MSNBC anchors promote Obama’s Education Department initiatives. It’s another Great Leap Forward for government-media synchronicity. Today at 4 pm, after her daily on-air hour is up, MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall is serving…

Two years ago, Jimmy McMillan ran for New York governor and became a viral sensation, with more than 7 million Youtube views.  Now the creator of The Rent is Too Damn High party is running for New York City mayor and has expanded his platform is his new rap anthem video. In the first 30 seconds of his video, the news reporter declared that rent in New York is at an all time high. “Critics say…