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...Koreans may have reason to fret. A key plank of President Ma's economic platform is to capitalize on an expanding China to propel Taiwan's own growth. Though Taiwan firms have already shifted much low-end manufacturing to China, they have been operating under severe restrictions, such as a ban on direct travel between China and Taiwan, and limitations on investment, which put Taiwan at a disadvantage versus other economies in Asia that enjoyed greater access to the mainland. The regulations were a result of the tense political relationship between Taipei and China's leaders in Beijing, who consider...
...nation's most closely watched experiments along these lines is Massachusetts' Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative. Launched in 2006, the program involves 26 low-performing schools that have each added approximately 1½ to 2 hours per day to their school calendar. "We're in the early innings of proving how to extend school hours responsibly and effectively," says Chris Gabrieli, chairman of Massachusetts 2020, which helped originate the ELT idea. "But clearly, focusing on the students that are furthest behind is where it makes the most sense. Middle-class kids, they get a lot more learning time outside...
...that stuff so important? Because without those camps and other stimulating activities, something called summer learning loss occurs. Researchers estimate that low-income students can lose two months of math and reading achievement owing to a lack of reinforcement during the summer break...
Critics of extended school time point to the fact that it's expensive to keep schools open longer. In Massachusetts, for instance, ELT schools receive an additional $1,300 per student, on top of the basic state allotment. And, some ask, if a school is low-performing, if the teachers or curriculums or parental involvement isn't up to snuff, how much good will more class time really do? "You can't just extend time in these schools by 30%," says Elena Silva, an analyst with Education Sector, an independent think tank. "That in and of itself is not going...
...make $100,000 or more. Plus, during 2007 and through the first eight months of 2008, Booker signed some 160 executive orders either giving an employee a pay raise or starting a new hire at a salary above the minimum set by civil-service guidelines. Some orders gave low-level workers a more livable wage. Others were a bit gratuitous. For example, one aide went from making $107,225 to $118,607. Isn't 107 grand enough to live on? The fiscal impact of these orders totaled about $1.5 million...