Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Dec. 1, 2010, edition 1 / Page 3
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Seeing Red: Republicans Take the House Riding on the coattails of Obama in 2010, many Democratic representa tives and senators were rushed into office with the promise of change. However, two years later many Americans found themselves un happy with the representatives they had voted into office, resulting in a resounding Republican victory in this year’s elections. On the national level, the Repub licans gained sixty seats in the House of Representatives, giving them a majority in the House for the first time in four years. Republican representative John Boehner from Ohio will presumably win the vote for Speaker of the House, due to his position as minority leader for the current iiith Congress. Though she has faced resistance from both parties, cur rent Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced her intentions to stay on as minority leader for the Democrats. The Democrats narrowly kept the Senate majority by six seats. The new Republican House will be sworn in on Januaiy 3rd; however, many members have already gone public with big goals. Boehner’s main initiative is to repeal the new healthcare bill created under the 111th Congress. Kentucky Sena tor Mitch McConnell wants to see that Obama is a one-term president. Many Tea Party freshman congressmen would like to balance the budget and suspend earmarks. Tbe Tea Party was a major force in the election. Their extreme stances Emily Hawkins, Staff Writer image from http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/house/house.html garnered much public support, enough to be considered one of the most successful “third- party” movements in history. More than 30 Tea Party-supported candidates won, some of whom include Rand Paul in Kentucky, Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania, and Marco Rubio in Florida. Though most candidates ran under the Republican Party, they rep resent an ultra-conservative and libertarian minority part of the party. Some Tea Party representative-elects, including Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota, are even consid ering running for leadership positions in the Republican House. On the state level. Republicans seized both the House and the Senate for the first time in over a centuiy. The current House minority leader Paul Stam said that the Republicans “are going to govern in a different way. We’re going to govern in a frugal way, in a responsible way.” The Re publicans will have a major say in state social and economic policy, as well as the ability to redistrict lines for legislative and congressio nal seats. Only one major obstacle stands in tbe way of victorious North Carolina Repub licans: Governor Bev Purdue and her veto power. fsWIn Raleigh: 12/1-12/11 . ■" J ‘ " ' Collected by'AsJUeigh Phillips Dec.~i: NC State University'Theater Presents Inspecting Carol @ Titmus Theater 2; BTR Christmas Concert“@ Jones Auditorium ■ ' Annuals and The Light Pines @’tir Na Nog 3: Hurricanes vs. Avalahche @ RBC Center 3- 5: Aftiadeus presented by NC S3miphony and PlayMakprs Repertory Company @ Mejmiandi Concert Hall . 4: American Aquarium («) The Pour House 4- 11; Winterfest @ Downtown 5: Traris Biberian Orchestras® RBC Center f 8 -11: DisneylDn Ice Presents Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 @ RBC Center A Christmas Carol (^' Memorial Auditorium ' Ti: Carolina Chocolate Drop^S'With The Low Xnthem @ Lincoln Theater Kooley High @ Pour House " Schooner and Practice Boyz.@ SlitnJs Downtown Education Reform in NC Testing Kristen Gallagher, Staff Writer On October yth, the North Carolina State Board of Education voted to end a 10-year old policy that once required end-of-grade reading and math tests in grades 3, 5, and 8 for grade promotion. Though schools are still allowed to use those tests for promotion and retention, they are no longer required to use them as indicators. New standards have been put in place, although they won’t go into effect immediately, accord ing to the Fayetteville Observer. The Fayetteville Observer also reported a comment from Board Chairman Bill Harrison, who said the testing policy didn’t work, in part because exceptions allowed local school principals to promote children who failed the tests. Har rison thought “the policy didn’t make a difference in the percent age of children who were held back.” According to Sheri Strick land, who is the president of the N.C. Association of Educators, “We’ve never believed a single test at the end of a grade should be the sole determination on whether a student is ready to move on to the next grade.” 'These new policies allow teachers and principals more say in the decision to promote a student. It will hopefully allow for more chances for teachers to understand, document, arid use a child’s in-class progress, rather than to teach to the test. Individu al school systems vdll have the op tion to keep the tests as promotion standards, and are also allowed to have stricter policies than the state. The Times News noted that the tests were referred to as “gateway standards” because there they functioned as unique tests, as other grades didn’t have similar tests. The Times also insinuated that though the changes sound big, in reality, they are unlikely “to have much impact.” In addition, the state eliminated the requirement that high school students pass end-of- course tests in Algebra I, English I, Biology, Civics and U.S. History before they graduate. Education Board member Patsy Simpson criticized the state, saying that the changes may be confusing to already stressed-out parents, and that it gives the impression that North Carolina is “dumbing down education.” The change was brought about after state officials reviewed data from the past ten years and found that “the gateway tests had not made a significant difference in the promotion or retention of students,” according to Education Week. The same publication inferred that one reason for that was that local North Carolina principals, “by law, have the right to make their own decisions about which students move up or are held back.” In 2008, 5% of North Carolina’s almost one-and-a- half million students were held back, according to the Associated Press. 'The press release from the NC State Board of Education de scribes the policy changes as a com ponent of the new “Career & College: Ready, Set Go!” education plan. Ap parently, the new policy’s purposes are to diagnose “student learning to ensure students are on track academ ically” and to provide better school accountability. The state looked at five indicators to measure school ac countability: student performance on the affected tests, measures of college readiness, academic growth, the five- year graduation rate and the “rigor of students’ high school mathematics course selections.” The new program hopes to help teachers “spot student learning problems early and to adjust instruction accordingly.” The pro gram also adds at least one new test: 11th grade studerjjs will now have to take a college admissions test. The press release noted that “students who are not college-ready at 11th grade will have an opportunity to participate in an academic camp dur ing the summer before their senior year to boost their college readiness.” Advertise Here heraid@email.meredith.edu
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