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Cap the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Two recent reports, one from the ACLU and one from the Pew Center on the States, highlight and then double-underscore the problem of what experts have dubbed the "school-to-prison" or "cradle-to-prison" pipeline.

Teen Summit Tuesday Deals with Teen Pregnancy

[Verbatim statement] Jackson, MS- Centers for Disease Control recently released a report that puts Mississippi as the nation's leader in teen births. Many parents are intimidated to talk with their child about sex and other social issues that most students face everyday. The Jackson Medical Mall Foundation (JMMF) is taking the anxiety out of that discussion. The Mississippi State Health Department and others will join the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation for a news conference on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at Center Stage of the Jackson Medical Mall Thad Cochran Center to announce plans and activities for "Empowering Minds, Saving Lives" Teen Summit 2009. Partners will unveil the agenda that helps high school students develop prevention and intervention skills to deal with issues they face on a daily basis

Schools Short on Pay Roll?

The latest round of state budget cuts has many Mississippi school districts facing difficult budgetary decisions. Gov. Haley Barbour announced $85 million in cuts to K-12 education last Wednesday, $76 million of which will come out of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the state's supplementary funding mechanism for low-revenue school districts.

MPB Announces Rainbow Contest for Young Writers and Artists

[Verbatim from MPB] Kids, get ready to write and draw! Mississippi Public Broadcasting (MPB) invites kindergarten through third graders to participate in the 15th Annual Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest. Children are encouraged to write and illustrate their original stories and submit them, along with an official entry form, to MPB during the entry period of January 1 through March 31, 2009. Each child who enters receives a special Certificate of Achievement signed by LeVar Burton, host of the "Reading Rainbow" series.

Picayune Sees Improvement in Dropout Prevention

[Verbatim From Mississippi Department of Education] When the number of dropouts reached the double digits this school year, administrators and teachers at Picayune Memorial High School decided it was time to do something drastic.

[Bounds] Children First Act of 2009 Contains Accountability Measures

State Superintendent of Education

In education, asking even a very simple question leads to a complex answer. For example, if a parent wants to know, "How is my child's school doing?," the principal can pull out reams of data, talk about disaggregation, and describe achievement models until the parent is completely confused and left without any useful information. Parents want to be sure that their children will be prepared for college and the workplace. The typical way to measure school performance is to examine student performance on standardized tests. The theory is that if students can perform well on these tests, the school must have the processes, programs and personnel in place to accelerate student achievement. In other words, the school must be doing something right if they are getting good results.

Youth Project: Oakley Making Little Progress

The Mississippi Youth Justice Project released these findings today, which bolster its case that Mississippi's youth training schools should be closed. Verbatim:

Celebrating Black Students Called N-Word at Ole Miss

The Daily Mississippian at Ole Miss reported a disturbing response to the Barack Obama presidential victory on Tuesday night:

Byram Middle School Honors Military Veterans

[Verbatim] There will be a Veterans' Day Program on November 11, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. at Byram Middle School. Veterans, currently serving military personnel and the public are all invited to share in remembering and honoring our veterans. Please come join us for this special recognition of our men and women serving in our uniformed services.

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Youth Vote More Prominent in Future Elections?

Young voters believe that government has a role in American lives—to fix problems and ensure economic equality. That's why the "redistribution" argument fell flat with them.

Obama, Wicker Win Mississippi ‘Early Voting'

Sen. Barack Obama is the presidential choice of a majority—53 percent—of Mississippi public and private school students who voted in the 2008 Mock Election. "This year, 514 schools are signed up to participate in our Promote the Vote program," said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann in a statement. "Of those 514 schools, 328 submitted their results for the Mock Election portion of Promote the Vote. This is a tremendous turnout for our students and a great way to get them started in the democratic process." Vote program.

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The Millennials' First Recession

The financial crisis is blowing toward Jackson, and the Millennial generation—people ages 18 through 29—is taking notice.

Sr. Thea Bowmen School welcomes Bowmen's oldest living relative

It looks like the students at Thea Bowman Catholic School recently got a very special visit. Here's the press release from the school:

Millsaps Scholar-Athletes Have Highest 5-Year Graduation Rate

[Verbatim] JACKSON, Miss.—Millsaps scholar-athletes have once again proved they have what it takes to win both on the field and in the classroom. Millsaps College recently won the David M. Halbrook Award for having the highest percentage of graduating athletes for the five-year period, 2003-04 to 2007-08, with a 98 percent graduation rate in the Independent College Division. The award was presented during the 75th Annual Mississippi Association of Colleges and Universities Conference.

Barack the Vote on Facebook

FACEBOOK MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED RIGHT NOW:

This week we launched our innovative Get Out The Vote campaign which focuses on each of us getting the people we know to vote for Obama by Election Day. Today, we're making it even easier to reach out to friends using the nation's most popular social networking site: Facebook.

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