Schargel Consulting Group

Missouri cuts K-12 spending

With states finding shortfalls in their budgets because of the recession, Missouri along with other states has decided to cut spending for public education. I understand the need for cuts but I believe that cuts in education should be among the last cuts made by states. The Kansas City Star reported ...

Zero tolerance laws

Alexa Gonzalez, 12, was arrested by New York City Police for drawing on her desk in her middle school because of a zero tolerance law. Zero tolerance policies became more popular after the Columbine High School massacre. There was no profanity, no hate. Just the words, "I love my friends ...

Applications for Grad Nation Dropout Prevention Grant

President Obama's plan to transform the nation's 5000 lowest performing schools in the next 5 years requires schools to adopt one of the four reform models: Turnaround model - Requires districts to replace the principal and at least half of the staff, adopt a new governance structure and launch a new ...

President Obama dedicates $900 Million for Dropout Prevention

On March 1, 2010, General Colin Powell, America’s Promise Alliance Chair Alma Powell and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the formation of Grad Nation. Grad Nation is a 10-year campaign to mobilize the nation as never before to reverse the dropout crisis and enable our children to be prepared ...

Why should high school be four years?

Why shouldn't high school be two years for those students who can complete all of the credits they need in a shorter time? An article in the New York Times (2/18/10) indicated that dozens of public high schools in eight states will introduce a program next year allowing 10th graders who ...

2nd Annual National Forum on Dropout Prevention Strategies for Native and Tribal Communities

Franklin will be delivering two presentations at the 2nd Annual National Forum on Dropout Prevention Strategies for Native and Tribal Communities: Reconnecting Native and Tribal Communities, April 18th-21 at the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. The presentations are Helping Students Graduate: Strategies and Tools to Help Raise Native and Tribal ...

Public Skepticism about College Costs

Six in 10 Americans now say colleges mainly care about their bottom line instead of making sure students have a good educational experience. And that feeling has been rising, jumping eight points in just two years, according to the latest survey. Squeeze Play 2010,is a new report from Public Agenda and ...

Is the cost of college worth it?

What do Bill Gate of Microsoft, Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, Michael Dell of Dell Computer, Larry Ellison of Oracle and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook have in common? They all dropped out of college. College costs are rising fast - faster than the cost of inflation. So there is a ...

Michelle Obama: Teachers Are the Key to a Successful Economy

US News and World Reports had an interview with Michelle Obama, first lady of the United States (www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/10/15) I find her comments worth repeating here. "We all remember the impact a special teacher had on us—a teacher who refused to let us fall through the cracks; who pushed us and believed ...

Teen Boys Lie About Having Sex

A survey commissioned by Seventeen magazine and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, asked 42 questions of 1,200 males between the ages of 15-22 about sex and relationships. The findings indicate: 30% said they were virgins 45% lied about how far they have gone. 24% lied about the number of sexual ...