“Over the past two years, people have taken note of the academic transformation of in the District of Columbia public schools,” says D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. “[Schools are] not all the way there,” he says, but “if you had to pick three school districts in the entire country that are headed in the right direction, according to any of the top critics, we would make everybody’s top three list.” (0:26)

 

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By Mariko Lamb-Talk Radio News Service

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty unveiled the Walker Jones Education Campus Tuesday, a new $50 million K-8 public school that is part of an eight year, $2 billion campaign to rebuild and modernize all schools in the sixth congressional district.

The 100,000 sq. ft. campus includes a 20,000 sq. ft. recreation center and a 5,000 sq. ft. library that will be open to the public during non-school hours. This campus is the first in D.C. to combine a school with a public library, recreation center, and athletic amenities.

“[Projects are being completed] on-time, on budget, and we get more out of these public projects than you’d see in any private sector buildings,” Fenty said during the opening ceremony.

The campus is part of what Fenty described as a “grander vision” to improve the Northwest #1 neighborhood near Capitol Hill, noting that the project created more than 150 jobs during its construction. The mayor ensured that he will “keep working to make sure those jobs keep going to neighbors around the projects.”

“So many great schools in our area are finally seeing the upgrade that they deserve,” he said. Although D.C. schools are “not all the way there,” Fenty said, “if you had to pick three school districts in the entire country that are headed in the right direction, according to any of the top critics, we would make everybody’s top three list.”

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Photo by Michael Ruhl

In the next 5 years, the Pakistani infrastructure will be fortified by almost $10 billion American dollars, if Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) have anything to say about it. The aptly titled Kerry-Lugar Bill will provided money for rebuilding the lives of civilians in war torn Pakistan.

Both Kerry and Lugar said that most of the money that has been funneled into Pakistan in the past few years has gone towards security. The aim of this bill is to shift the balance, to place more of an emphasis on infrastructure.

The Senators want to use the money for building schools, improving health care, building bridges, water projects, and other elements of infrastructure. Kerry said that the target projects are “things that would improve life and give people a sense of progress” to civilians.

The money would also be used for ensuring an independent media, expanding human rights and the rule of law, expanding transparency in government, rooting out political corruption and countering the drug trade.

Additionally military funding would be conditioned upon several things, including Pakistani security forces preventing al Qaeda and Taliban forces from operating in Pakistan. The military forces would not be able to interfere in politics or in the judicial process, according to the provisions of the bill.

The legislation bill would give $1.5 billion each year from FY 2009-2013, and would recommend similar amounts of money over the subsequent five years. There would be required benchmarks to measuring how effective the funding is, and the President will have to submit semi-annual reports to Congress about progress made.

Sen. Menendez (D-N.J.) says institution-building is the most important part of foreign aid even though it does not bring immediate dividends. (0:43)

 

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Reg Weaver, President of the National Education Association (NEA) says that it is shameful to have 9 million children without health care insurance. He states that providing health care for children improves performance in schools, which better prepares them for the working world later in life. (:41)

 

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