Civil Rights News: $ Matters in Education, Immigration at Net Zero, 8.5% Unemployment

Shanker Education Report: Money Matters, Affects Student Performance, Outcomes
Huffington post

Despite political allegations that money doesn’t impact education, new reports show evidence that more financial resources are a fundamental condition to improve the learning system. In this regard, Bruce Baker, author of “Revisiting The Age-Old Question: Does Money Matter In Education?” confirms that evidence shows schools with larger budgets in fact do improve student outcomes.
Nonetheless, the question relies on why in practice this isn’t always reflected. A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities survey found that 90 percent of the country’s schools have cut down educational funding after adjusting for inflation, with now at least 30 states at levels lower than in 2008.
Yet, based on empirical evidence Baker argues that an adequate and systematical distribution of money spent in education will definitely make a positive influence on school quality and enhance the overall academic performance.

Princeton Study Finds Immigration Has Reached Net Zero
Huffington post

Although the issue about the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants in the United States remains, according to Doug Massey, head of the Princeton’s Mexican Migration Project, it appears that for the first time in 60 years Latino migration has reached a “net zero”. Experts contribute the fast decline to factors such as increased economic prosperity in Mexico, higher criminal activities on the border, and rougher security strategies and deportation rates.

Unemployment rate falls to 8.5%
By Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY

Although 13.1 million Americans are currently jobless, the Labor Department reports that this is the lowest rate of unemployment in the last three years, with a consistent decrease for four straight months. Focusing on the steps the president proposed in the American Jobs Act, it appears that today’s unemployment rate verifies the continuous recovery of the economy from the worst decline since the Great Depression.

Compiled by Isabella Acosta-Rubio, a Spring 2012 intern