Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement. John McCain will devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high performing teachers to locate in the most challenging educational settings, for teachers to teach subjects like math and science, and for teachers who demonstrate student improvement. Payments will be made directly to teachers. Funds should also be devoted to provide performance bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement and enhance the school-wide learning environment. Principals may also consider other issues in addition to test scores such as peer evaluations, student subgroup improvements, or being removed from the state’s “in need of improvement” list.

Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development. Where federal funds are involved, teacher development money should be used to enhance the ability of teachers to perform in today’s technology driven environment. We need to provide teachers with high quality professional development opportunities with a primary focus on instructional strategies that address the academic needs of their students. The first 35 percent of Title II funding would be directed to the school level so principals and teachers could focus these resources on the specific needs of their schools.

John McCain Will Expand The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. In our nation’s capital, we have seen the dramatic benefits of giving parents control of money and choices. The Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 students from families with an average income of $23,000 a year. More than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. The budget for the Opportunity Scholarships is currently $13 million. John McCain believes that this extremely successful program should expand to at least $20 million benefiting nearly a thousand more families.

John McCain Will Offer $250 Million For Digital Passport Scholarships To Help Students Pay For Online Tutors Or Enroll In Virtual Schools. Low-income students will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Providers could range from other public schools, virtual charter schools, home school parents utilizing virtual schooling resources or district or state sponsored virtual schools. The Department of Education would competitively award the funds to a national scholarship administrator who would manage the student applications, monitoring, and evaluation of providers.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/read.aspx?guid=2ca6f926-4564-4301-87cd-a5f35e68c0d4

“The University of Toledo is offering full scholarships for all 11 boys — with a potential value of more than $250,000 — and Lourdes College will give scholarships of $2,000 per year, per child, renewable for four years.”

UT – a PUBLIC UNIVERSITY – IE funded by TAXES giving away 11 scholarships based solely on the fact that these children made it on TV. Lourdes – GREAT – private university. Private citizens or a private company raising or donating a fund for college – EVEN BETTER. But, for UT to give these away is wrong.

Come all ye haters and attackers – I know your out there. It is situations like this which pit my sympathy and empathy against my political ideology and economic philosophy which make for the best debate.

TAHL

and I agree with you wholeheartedly

it ain’t worth it unless you get face time in front of a camera

A woman who fought back from drug use and being homeless to being drug free and working to help others shared her story this week. The media didn’t cover it because it interfered with their coverage of the house being destroyed.

So to me Kate, this is more than just about one house or Ty’s goals, it’s what does it say about us as a community, as a nation when we will help when it’s going to get us media coverage but on a daily basis we ignore those who truly need help more.

I read his story in Guideposts magazine and here is a paragraph that might help – but we need to remember that we get to direct other people’s goals and dreams – only our own. One would hope that people would be more tolerant of others’ aspirations rather than try to get ownership. It’s one thing to weigh in with opinion, it’s another thing entirely to discourage the efforts of others.

Ty Pennington: “That’s why I wanted to do the reality TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I wanted people to know that their dreams, the impossible things that they had hoped for, really could come true. The people on our show always amaze me. They lose jobs, they face catastrophic illnesses, but they never give up. At the end of the show, when everyone shouts, “Move that bus!” and the family gets to see their dream house for the first time, I ask them to take a private off-camera moment to give thanks.”

http://www.guidepostsmag.com/

I think people were and still are caught up in this media event. It took television coverage to bring people together to demolish a perfectly fine house and build a mansion in its place. I didn’t see the rush to rebuild the apartment building destroyed on July 4th. These donations are getting out of hand. I just heard something on the radio about college scholarships given to their children, a year’s worth of pizza and a vacation from Kalahari Resort?????? I didn’t know this family was so needy. I would rather see donations made to help others in need be given in honor of this family. It’s nice this family was given more room to raise their children, but it’s starting to make you say,” What” when you hear of the things they are given.

I’ve also seen home improvement business advertising their part in this media event. I know it’s publicity but if you want to do something, do it out of the goodness of your heart, not for what you can get from it.