President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act which will make higher education more affordable by reforming student loans, allowing students to get loans without relying on large banks, and saving American taxpayers $68 billion in the coming years. The President explained that the government will reinvest into education by “upgrading community colleges, increasing Pell Grants, and making it easier for students to pay off their loans.” College has become more expensive while the job field has become more competitive. It has become harder for parents to provide their children with the opportunity to pay for college. College students are graduating in debt and without the prospect of a job. This act is a sigh in relief for many parents and students as they prepare for college. When the economy prospers everyone does well but when no one gains the middle-class and the poor suffer.

Parents stood in line to register their children in kindergarten at Ann Street School, in the Ironbound section of Newark. The school only has space for 85 kindergartners but over 120 parents waited in line for hours. Some parents waited on line for nearly 24 hours and brought chairs and blankets to stay the night. So what makes this school so popular that has parents waiting in line nearly 24 hours? Ann Street School is a blue ribbon school. Parents in Newark move to the school’s surroundings so that their child can attend the school. Lately, just living in the area does not guarantee a spot in the school. What should the city do? The schools in the Ironbound section are over 100 years old…I think it’s time to build new schools that can hold a larger amount of students.

As a future educator, I want what is best for my students and that is, them having the opportunity to attend college. High school senior stress over letters of recommendation, personal statements, and their GPA’s but soon they will have to start stressing over what they post on Facebook. A new survey from Kaplan Test Prep revealed that 82 percent of admissions officers use Facebook as a determining factor of a student’s admissions. While many people get recruited on Facebook for jobs, the prospect of having a student’s dream school determine their admission based on their Facebook profile is not comforting. Students are told all the time that first impressions mean everything in interviews and that will soon have to relate to Facebook. While students can show qualities of themselves on Facebook that they might not be able to in writing or numbers to admissions officers, it can also hurt their chances of being accepted. Hopefully students will use it to their benefit!!!

Parents of Newark students are worried and angry over the recent news that five new specialized district high schools will open inside existing comprehensive high schools. After the announcement in September that Facebook CEO donated 100 million dollars to the Newark Public Schools, other private donors have showed interest as well. The parents, teachers, and students of the Newark Public Schools are worried on how the huge amount of money will be used. The money is gaining interest in the Newark Public Schools and even though Mayor Cory Booker has no legal authority over the school system he is spending a lot of time and effort on deciding how the money should be spent. These radical and random changes worry residents. Residents need to be involved on this issue and there needs to be transparency. High school principals are stating that parents have already withdrew their child from the school because of the new changes. Incorporating new charter schools within an existing school will cause a lot of conflict and tension, especially when it is not accepted by the community. Politicians claim that parents will have the opportunity to voice their view on the proposal. Within time we will know.

Recently, CNN came out with an article on “How video games can make you smarter”. Scott Steinberg argues that video games can make someone smarter because they produce hands on experience, job training, contextual learning, and teamwork and collaboration. While all this might be true, will we have to result to playing video games to grabs someone’s attention? Are video games addicting? Should students play video games then do their homework? How many hours should a student play video games?   Do video games produce better teamwork qualities than a sport? While I am not against video games, I do not think that they should replace traditional ways of learning. As a future educator, I do want to prepare my students for the 21^st century but I do not think that getting them addicted to a virtual world is the answer.