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From The Wires (page 2)MOHELA must focus on helping students pay for school
By Admin, Section From The Wires
By Jay Nixon, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Affordable college education, even at a state university, is no longer a guarantee for middle-income families in Missouri -- and it is clearly out of reach for most lower-income families. Consider these recent headlines: "Tuition Soars," "Parents Feel the Pinch," "MU Tuition Highest in Big 12," "Missouri Gets an F in College Costs." The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reports an 11 percent decline between 1992 and 2006 in the number of 18- to 24-year-olds in Missouri attending college. Patrick Callan, the center's president, issued this assessment: "We're in a situation where perhaps for the first time in our history the next generation will not be as educated as the one that came before." The same report shows that a Missouri student from a low- to middle-income family would spend 47 percent of that family's annual income to attend a public four-year college and 34 percent to attend a community college. At a time when Missouri families are struggling to afford tuition, Gov. Blunt is advocating a plan that will make it more difficult for these families to afford college. He has proposed diverting $350 million from the state's student loan fund to help finance construction on our college campuses. (766 words in story) Full Story Valuing Families: The New Federal Threat to TANF Recipients
By Admin, Section From The Wires
From the Stateside Dispatch
Unfortunately, just as many states have begun expanding support for the working poor after the budget constraints due to the post-2001 recession, new federal TANF rules mandated by last fall's Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) are further restricting state's flexibility in administering TANF in their states. Many programs that help recipients get training or education to improve their chances of getting a job will no longer qualify as welfare-to-work activities; recipients will be limited to 12 months of vocational educational training and no more than 30 percent of a state's welfare-to-work participants will be allowed to participate in such programs. As the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities (CBPP) notes, the incentives are perverse, since "The cheapest and easiest way for a state to meet the new work rules and avoid fiscal penalties is to assist fewer poor families." (350 words in story) Full Story No $2B for 9/11 heroes
By Admin, Section From The Wires
BY LISA L. COLANGELO and MICHAEL SAUL in New York
and MICHAEL McAULIFF in Washington, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Senate Republicans killed a bid for nearly $2 billion to help sick 9/11 responders yesterday - blocking the measure without letting it come up for a vote. Senate leaders invoked parliamentary rules, saying Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) amendment to a measure funding port security was not "germane." People suffering the effects from 9/11's toxic dust were outraged by the move. "How could they just throw this out?" said Laura Picurro, of Toms River, N.J., whose husband, Joe, became disabled after doing volunteer iron work at Ground Zero. "Maybe they should talk to these sick and dying workers," she said. "I find it absurd they didn't even consider it." Clinton's amendment would have provided $5,800 a year for five years for each person sickened from Ground Zero exposure. She vowed to resubmit the measure or propose other legislation to help responders and nearby residents. "Their country should answer their calls for help," Clinton said. Although Clinton got stiffed on money for the sick, she did obtain passage of a measure to create a national monitoring system to keep tabs on people who suffer from responding to future attacks or disasters. Mayor Bloomberg, who has been reluctant to link the illnesses of 9/11 responders to their service, said he "absolutely" endorsed Clinton's proposal. "This was a national attack on the country, and I think the federal government has a responsibility," he said. "We cannot handle this ourselves. We just don't have enough money." (494 words in story) Full Story Legislature Refuses to Call Itself Into Special Session.
By Admin, Section From The Wires
by Bob Priddy,
MissouriNet
Hundreds of disabled Missourians who have gone to the state capitol hoping state lawmakers would reinstate the Medical Assistance for the Working Disabled program have gotten nowhere. It's not on the agenda for the veto session, which started today. An effort to get the legislature to reinstitute the during by calling a special session during the veto session has failed in the state senate. A similar effort has failed in the House. Senate democrat leader Maida Coleman tried to make a motion to call the legisalture into special session but Senate leader Michael Gibbons of Kirkwood ruled her motion was unconstitutional. However he said he would take her comments to mean that Democrats would work with Republicans next year in reforming the healthcare system in the state. Gibbons says the constitution does not allow the legislature to call itself into special session while it is holding a veto session. The veto session is held to consider overrides of any vetos from the spring session. No override attempts are expected. AUDIO: Maida Coleman speaking in Missouri Senate (6 min MP3) News-Leader - Health fair at OTC includes no-cost screenings
By Admin, Section From The Wires
Kathleen O'Dell,
News-Leader
A family fair that will include free dental and health screenings, grocery packs, food samples, school supplies, music, entertainment and games for all ages is planned Saturday at Ozarks Technical Community College. Hand in Hand Ministries is partnering with more than 60 community agencies to sponsor the "Vitality, Vim and Vigor Community Health Celebration" from 3 to 7:30 p.m. on the north side of Information Commons West. Events will be indoors and on the lot at the corner of Sherman Avenue and Central Street. The theme is creating a healthy and active community, said Julie Kay Humphrey, program coordinator for Hand In Hand Ministries. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department, CoxHealth CARE Mobile, OTC dental hygiene department, AIDS Project of the Ozarks and Jordan Valley Community Health Center will also provide preventive health care screenings including diabetes and high cholesterol tests. Folk dancing, children's vocal music groups, Jazzercise, church bands and other local musical groups will perform throughout the event. "Everything is free -- we want to emphasize that," Humphrey said. "To emphasize health, all of the recipients of groceries and school supplies will attend a brief, 3Vs nutrition presentation," patterned after the Vitality, Vim and Vigor project, she said. Everyone who attends will also receive a "passport to health" that must be stamped by at least 10 groups set up at the fair before the passport is entered in a gift drawing. The goal is to provide a family event to create awareness about community organizations that provide services and advocate for good nutrition, health educator and more active lifestyles for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health in southwest Missouri, Humphrey said. (693 words in story) Full Story MPACT Newsletter September 9, 2006
By Admin, Section From The Wires
Schools Back in Session; Do You Know What Your Child's Rights Are?
Come learn about Special Education Advocacy under the newly reauthorized IDEA as well as sessions on Literacy and IEP Goals; Functional Behavioral Analysis; and a bonus session on Transitioning to College. This conference is presented by MPACT and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, on Friday, September 15th. To register online go to http://www.ptimpact.com/MattCohen/Register.htm or download the flyer at http://www.ptimpact.com/MattCohen/MPACTConference.pdf . Time's running out, don't miss this wonderful opportunity to better your knowledge and your advocacy skills! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Community Based Meetings on IDEA (746 words in story) Full Story Law has no room for disabled students
By Admin, Section From The Wires
Special-education students take the same state assessment tests as all other students.
Cory de Vera, News-Leader Every area school that failed to make adequate yearly progress this year in math did so because special-education students didn't meet state goals. The vast majority of children in special education, no matter the disability, are taking the same state exams as their non-disabled peers. Under the No Child Left Behind law, the expectation is that schools should be able to propel students with academic disabilities to the same level as those without disabilities. Yet, 15 area schools also failed to make AYP in communication arts because too few special-education students proved proficient. The task of trying to prepare disabled students for the state Missouri Assessment Program exams frustrates some parents. "I'm so anti-MAP testing for kids in special education," said Debbie Bushong, a mother of a special-needs child who also used to work with special-needs children in Willard. "The MAP won't tell me a thing, and it stressed the kids out. I'm aware he's delayed." In light of the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind law, the scores raise the question: Is there a better way to hold schools accountable for the achievement of special- education students than expecting all of them to meet the same standards as everyone else? (1155 words in story) Full Story Military recruiter, data issue revisited
By Admin, Section From The Wires
Activists want students better told how to keep info from recruiters.
by Cory de Vera, News-Leader For the second year in a row, members of the Peace Network of the Ozarks on Tuesday asked the Springfield Board of Education to do a better job letting students know how they can keep their directory information out of the hands of military recruiters. Though many public schools have routinely turned over student addresses and phone numbers to military recruiters for years, a provision in the No Child Left Behind law specifically requires public high schools to do so. The law also gives students the right to withhold their information from recruiters. "I love our country, but I think it is shameful that our government uses public school records to troll our children," said resident Sharon Ash. As part of her plea, Ash held up pictures of young men who had been killed in Iraq, and read paragraphs from a recent news story about a number of recruiters across the country who have sexually harassed or assaulted high school students they were recruiting. In Springfield, families can restrict their child's information from distribution to recruiters by filling out a form in the back of the student handbook. Doing so, however, also restricts information from being distributed to other institutions that may ask, such a PTA that wishes to put together a directory or a summer camp that wishes to advertise its services. Gene Davison, chairman of the Peace Network, asked the board not to punish those who wished to opt out of military recruiting by withholding their information from other organizations, and also asked the district not to "bury" information about opting out in the student handbook. (1 comment, 470 words in story) Full Story
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