Education economy – Xing Wu

Governor Khan to inaugurate conference on economics and development – The New Indian Express

Mark A. Tomlin — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 20:48:00 +0000

By Express press service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Business leaders, senior management professionals and policymakers will share their views on current economic and development topics at TRIMA 2022, an annual management convention hosted by the Trivandrum Management Association (TMA). The event will take place at ‘O by Tamara’ on Friday.

Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will inaugurate the two-day event which will include four technical sessions. The thematic sessions will feature experts, who will share their experiences and offer ideas that can be adopted for the sustainable development of the state, with a particular focus on the capital. Presentations and panel discussions will also take place under the theme “Vision Trivandrum 2025”.

Minister of Transport Antony Raju, Minister of Food and Civil Supplies GR Anil and Minister of General Education V Sivankutty will share their views during the closing session of the meeting. CK Ranganathan, President, All India Management Association (AIMA), will be the guest of honour.

ISRO President S Somanath will receive the 2022 Management Leadership Award instituted by TMA for his contributions to the Indian space program at the inaugural event. The keynote address of the opening session will be delivered by S Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. This will be followed by the first technical session on “Sustainable Development”, where KR Jyothilal, Principal Secretary for Transport, will deliver the keynote address.

Other panelists include Dr. Anil Balakrishnan, Head of CSR, Adani Vizhinjam Port Pvt Ltd, Vineeta Hariharan, Head of Externally Supported Missions, Ministry of MSMEs, New Delhi; and Ranjith Ramakrishnan, Vice President and Regional Head, AG&P Pratham. G Vijayaraghavan, former member of Kerala State Planning Board, will be the moderator.

Employees of government and private institutions, students and the public can register as delegates to the event.

To register, contact: +91 7907933518 / 9447714672 or email: [email protected].

The high and rising cost of living in Florida

Mark A. Tomlin — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 12:18:00 +0000

Gasoline. Races. Lease. Insurance.

It has become more expensive to live in Florida – much more expensive.

Overall, prices for all kinds of things are up nearly 9% from a year ago. Paychecks do not follow price increases.

The inflation is here, and it’s squeezing Floridians, especially the elderly – a huge population in this state. This particularly hurts low-income Floridians and retirees who depend on Social Security checks. And that will likely play a role in the election later this year.

In April, prices rose 8.8% in the Southeastern United States, a slight improvement from the regional inflation rate of 9.1% in March. This includes gasoline and food.

“I think, unfortunately, (inflation) is going to be there for probably another 6 to 12 months,” said University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Forecasting director Sean Snaith. “What’s happening in Florida is no different than what we see across the country. You know, maybe with the exception of the housing market.”

Home prices jumped 20.6% in March from a year earlier, according to the US National S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. But the price jumps were even bigger in Florida – up 32% in Miami, up 34% in Tampa. And Florida is also home to some of the highest annual rent increases.

This spring, more than a third of Florida households reported having difficulty paying their usual expenses. That was slightly higher than a year earlier according to the US Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.

The Federal Reserve began raising its target short-term interest rate earlier this spring to fight inflation, and Snaith fears the central bank will have to keep raising borrowing costs to drive the rate of hike down. prices.

“I think the Fed, in its actions to try to get inflation down and back towards its target level of 2%, is likely to push the economy into a recession over the next 12 months,” he said. he declared.

Rapidly rising prices are hitting low-income and fixed-income Floridians faster and longer. Fueled by higher inflation, the annual increase in the cost of living for Social Security at the end of last year was 5.9% – the highest annual increase since 1982. The advocacy group Senior Citizen League think the increase at the end of this year could be 8.6%.

The average Social Security recipient receives a monthly check for $1,657. Such a boost, which the Senior Citizen League expects, would add $142 to that amount.

Florida has long been a retirement paradise with its warm climate and zero income tax. Still, former director of FSU’s Claude Pepper Center, Larry Polivka, said there are significant differences between these new Florida retirees and more experienced Floridians.

“The ‘native’ population is significantly poorer with fewer assets and savings than the people who settle here,” he said. “One of the reasons associated with this is the fact that it is disproportionately single and minority women (who already live in Florida) compared to people moving into the state.”

This week, President Biden met with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday at the White House to talk about higher prices. Biden reiterated his respect for central bank independence and his efforts to bring down inflation.

Governor Ron DeSantis has frequently criticized the president’s handling of the economy. “You see interest rates going up. You’re probably going to continue to see that. It’s going to put downward pressure on the growth of the economy. And you could very well end up seeing this country plunged into a recession,” , he said on May 20. “I hope it doesn’t happen.

In February, the economy was cited as the most important issue by Florida voters, with GOP voters mentioning it slightly more often than Democrats. A more recent Florida Chamber of Commerce poll from March found inflation and gas prices to be the third most important issue after the economy and education.

“The economy always plays a big role in midterm elections and presidential elections. And no doubt this fall, it will do the same. That usually means bad news for the party in power in the White House.” said Mike Binder, head of the public opinion research lab at UNF in Jacksonville.

Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi expects Florida Republicans to pull off “a trick.” Amandi described it as the GOP focusing on inflation toward Pres. Biden and the Democrats.

“Republicans have totally controlled the state of Florida for over 20 years,” he said. “I think Democrats can shine a light on who is responsible here in Florida for discussing this as a Republican issue that they haven’t resolved to the satisfaction of voters.”

The Florida Roundup invited three Florida Republican strategists to join the program. They refused.

OnPoint Community Credit Union Celebrates Largest Branch Expansion Anniversary With Special Member Promotions

Mark A. Tomlin — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 18:30:00 +0000

“Despite all the challenges facing our communities, we are proud to open 20 new locations and provide essential financial services,” said Robert Stuart, President and CEO, OnPoint Community Credit Union. “Access to financial services and in-person education is more important than ever as our communities continue to navigate an increasingly complex economy. Working with a community pillar like Fred Meyer allows us to meet members there where they are and to connect with them on a deeper level, so that we can fully understand their challenges and create a roadmap to help them achieve their goals.”

Special promotions and branch details

To celebrate its vast growth and the new connections it has forged with its members and community over the past year, OnPoint is offering special promotions from today until July 30 in the 20 in-store Fred Meyer branches. Specific promotions include:

$100 when you open a membership with a current account¹
$50 for opening a new credit card²
$800 on the closing costs of a first mortgage³
Until $175 on a home equity line of credit⁴
0.25% off standard consumer loan rates⁵
0.25% APY increase on any published CD fare⁶

In addition to special promotions, each in-store branch will hold weekly giveaways for $100 OnPoint Visa Gift Cards. Branch staff will also be holding raffles for OnPoint-branded gift baskets and merchandise.

Access to financial services strengthens communities

OnPoint’s historic growth over the past year has helped ensure that communities that were previously underbanked or unbanked now have convenient access to financial services. Over the past three decades, the number of banking institutions decreased by 66%the nearly 18,000 branches in operation in 1984 dropping to less than 5,000 in 2021. As financial institutions continue to close, “branch deserts” have emerged in low-income and minority communities, forcing residents to travel long distances to access in-person financial services. services, according to National Coalition for Community Reinvestment (NRC).

“Working so closely with our communities, we hear time and time again how important access to in-person financial services is for individuals, families and businesses,” said Cory Freeman, vice president and regional manager, OnPoint Community Credit Union. “When a community loses access to financial services, residents may turn to more expensive and sometimes unscrupulous alternatives, such as check-cashing stores or payday lenders. Branch closures are also creating barriers for small businesses, many of which are located in communities of color. When local entrepreneurs lose access to in-person banking, it can be harder to get the loans they need to grow their business. We are pleased to fill this gap and look forward to supporting more residents and small business owners in our second year of operation within Fred Meyer stores.”

Charitable giving grows alongside branch network

As OnPoint has expanded its geographic footprint, it has also increased its support for the communities it serves, donating $2.2 million in 2021 to 304 non-profit organizations across Oregon and Southwest Washington. A new record for the credit union’s annual giving program, OnPoint’s donations focused on education, climate change, services for vulnerable groups of people, and diversity, equity and inclusion. As part of their giving efforts this year, OnPoint will donate $1,000 to 20 different non-profit organizations that serve OnPoint’s in-store branch communities. Click here to learn more about the many ways OnPoint invests in its communities.

Below is the full list of OnPoint’s 20 new in-store locations. Visit onpointcu.com/locations-atms/ to view a full list of OnPoint’s 55 branches, as well as 60,000 no-surcharge ATMs nationwide.

Sandy, 16625 SE 362nd Drive, Sandy, OR 97055
East of Gresham, 2497 SE Burnside Road, Gresham, OR 97080
Cornelius, 2200 Baseline Street, Cornelius, OR 97113
South Hillsboro, 6495 SE Tualatin Valley Highway, Hillsboro, OR 97123
158th Walker Road, 15995 SW Walker Road, Beaverton, OR 97006
Beaverton Town Square, 11425 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Beaverton, OR 97005
Hollywood, 3030 NE Weidler St., Portland, OR 97232
67th & Glisan, 6615 NE Glisan St., Portland, OR 97213
Scappoose, 51501 Columbia River Road, Scappoose, OR 97056
Burlingame, 7555 SW Barbur Boulevard, Portland, OR 97219
Tigard, 11565 SW Pacific Highway, Tigard, OR 97223
Tualatin, 19200 SW Martinazzi Avenue, Tualatin, OR 97062
Johnson’s Creek, 8955 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
South Salem, 3450 Commercial Street SE, Salem, OR 97302
Albany, 2500 Santiam Highway. SE, Albany, OR 97322
Santa Clara, 60 Division Avenue, Eugene, OR 97404
Springfield, 650 Q Street, Springfield, OR 97477
Salmon Stream, 800 NE Tenney Rd., Salmon Creek, WA 98685
orchards, 7411 NE 117th Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98662
hazel dell, 7700 NE Highway 99, Vancouver, WA 98665

ABOUT ONPOINT COMMUNITY CREDIT UNION

Founded in 1932, OnPoint Community Credit Union is the largest credit union in Oregonserving more than 480,000 members and with assets of $9.4 billion. OnPoint membership is available to anyone who lives or works in one of the 28 Oregon counties (bent over, Clackamas, clatsop, Colombia, Cooing, Crook, Curry, Falls, Douglas, Giliam, Hood River, jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Klamath, way, lincoln, Linn, marion, tomorrow, Multnomah, Polk, Sherman, tillamook, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler and yam hill) And two Washington counties (Skamania and clark) and their immediate family members. More information is available at www.onpointcu.com or 800-527-3932.

1: Consumer Bonus: To be eligible, individuals must open a new membership with a personal checking account and receive a direct deposit of at least $500 to this account within 60 days of the opening date. A premium of $100 will be credited to their current account approximately 60 days after opening a new account. Accounts must be open and in good standing at the time of payment to receive the bonus. As of 5/1/22, the APY (Annual Percentage Yield) for interest verification is 0.05%. APY is subject to change. $500 minimum balance for interest verification; no minimum balance for OnPoint Checking. When the average monthly interest checking balance falls below $500a $7 monthly service charges apply. Fees can reduce revenue. The bonus will be included on a 1099-INT for tax purposes. Not combinable with other offers for opening a new subscription, such as OnPoint Savers or Refer a Friend. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change. The Fred Meyer Consumer Bonus is not available to existing members. Corporate Bonus: To be eligible, a new membership must be opened with a corporate checking account and receive $500 in deposits into this account within 60 days of the opening date. A premium of $100 will be credited to their current account approximately 60 days after opening the new account. Accounts must be open and in good standing at the time of payment to receive the bonus. The bonus will be included on a 1099-INT for tax purposes. Not combinable with other offers for opening a new subscription, such as OnPoint Savers or Refer a Friend. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change. The Fred Meyer Trade Bonus is not available to existing members.

2. To be eligible, individuals must apply for a credit card by 7/30/22. To win the $50 bonus this must be a new Visa relationship. The bonus does not apply to existing Visa loans that are transferred or converted to a new card. Candidates who are approved by 8/15 will be credited with a bonus of $50 into their savings account on or about 8/30/22. To be eligible for this bonus offer, the credit card account must be open and not in default at the time of execution. The bonus will be included on a 1099-INT for tax purposes. Offer is only available at Fred Meyer OnPoint Community Credit Union stores and is subject to change.

3: OnPoint will waive until $800 on the closing costs of any new purchase or refinancing of a first mortgage. This offer applies to all standard OnPoint Mortgage products and cannot be combined with any other OnPoint Mortgage promotional offer. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change.

4: OnPoint Community Credit Union will waive up to $175 on the closing costs of any new EquityFlex Line of Credit product. This offer applies to EquityFlex standard rate line of credit products and cannot be combined with any other promotional EquityFlex line of credit offer. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change.

5: OnPoint will charge 0.25% on standard fixed APR (annual percentage rate) consumer loans. This offer excludes line of credit products, mortgage products and refinancing of existing OnPoint loans. Automatic payment from an OnPoint checking or savings account is required. This offer applies to standard consumer loan rates and cannot be combined with any other promotional consumer loan offer. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change.

6: APY = annual percentage return. OnPoint Community Credit Union will add 0.25% to Certificate of Deposit (CD) rates. This offer applies to all OnPoint CD products and cannot be used in combination with other CD promotional offers. Offer only available at Fred Meyer locations of OnPoint Community Credit Union. Offer valid until 07/30/22 and subject to change.

Promotion period ends July 30, 2022.

Click here for the Official 2022 OnPoint Fred Meyer Branch Anniversary Prize Raffle Terms and Conditions.

SOURCE OnPoint Community Credit Union

A wake-up call for public education

Mark A. Tomlin — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 13:43:02 +0000

A recent national analysis contained a deeply troubling finding that has sparked little public debate when it should cause outcry: nearly 1.3 million students have left public schools since the start of the pandemic. Most states have seen declining enrollment for two consecutive years. In New York, K-12 enrollment fell 9%.

Since state education funding formulas are based on student numbers, a sharp reduction in student numbers will lead to a corresponding reduction in school budgets. It is the law of supply and demand. Otherwise, at this rate, the public will soon be paying teachers to lead half-empty classrooms.

The message to educators and elected officials could hardly be clearer: too many public schools are failing, parents are voting with their feet, and urgent, bold action is needed. So far, however, the only government response has been to spend more money – too much of which has gone to everyone but our children.

Since 2020, Congress has sent an additional $190 billion to schools, in part to help them reopen safely and avoid layoffs. But in many districts, union leaders resisted a return to classroom teaching long after it became clear that classrooms were safe. And overall, distance learning was a disaster. According to an analysis, the first year of the pandemic left students an average of five months behind in math and four months in reading, with much larger gaps for low-income schools.

It is abundantly clear that money was far from the biggest challenge facing public schools. The United States spends more per student on public education than virtually any other country, and many districts are struggling to spend all the federal funds they have received. Others splurged on sports.

Now, after students flee public schools in record numbers, states are paying more to educate fewer children. This might have been acceptable if the students showed great improvement. Instead, we pay more for failure.

Meanwhile, public charter school enrollment is moving in the opposite direction, thanks to their success, even though their federal funding hasn’t increased in the past four years. From 2020 to 2021, nearly 240,000 new students enrolled in charter schools, a 7% year-over-year increase. Many charter schools across the country have long waiting lists, and it’s no wonder. In states and cities with strong accountability laws, charters have been proven to outperform district schools in school. A recent national analysis found that districts with a higher share of charters had higher reading and math scores as well as higher graduation rates on average. Other research has shown that the benefits are especially pronounced for black, Latino, and low-income students.

Charter schools educate 7% of all public school students, yet they receive less than 1% of total federal spending on K-12 education. As more parents withdraw from traditional district schools, this imbalance should be corrected as charters struggle to afford the teachers they need to serve their growing student populations, often in low-income communities. revenue.

The idea that we would allow public charter school students from disadvantaged backgrounds to be deprived of great teachers so that we can staff shrinking schools as if they were full makes no sense – until policy is taken into account. And then it makes perfect sense, because so many elected officials are beholden to union leaders who oppose charters.

Recently, union influence over the federal Department of Education led to an outrageous proposal to erect new barriers to charter school funding. Instead of making it easier for educators to open more charters to meet parent demand, the DOE proposed doing the opposite.

After a bipartisan backlash, there are signs the ministry may reconsider the proposal. The White House should insist on that — and go further, treating public charter school students as equals in terms of funding and insisting that traditional district schools adopt the accountability standards that made charters so popular with parents. It could cause some parents who have opted for homeschooling or parochial schools to reconsider their options – and help avoid deep cuts in schools with declining populations.

Otherwise, the shameful failures of the public school system will continue, hurting another generation of the most vulnerable children. For the United States to remain the strongest economy in the world and make substantial progress on racial justice is not an outcome that Americans can afford to accept. The new registration data sends a strong signal. Schools will have to adapt to declining enrollment, either by decreasing or improving. You can’t lose the students and keep the teachers.

Michael R. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, and the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions.

More stories like this are available at bloomberg.com/opinion

Shanghai set to end 2-month COVID-19 lockdown

Mark A. Tomlin — Tue, 31 May 2022 05:18:37 +0000

BEIJING (AP) — Authorities in Shanghai announced on Wednesday they would take major steps to reopen China’s largest city after a two-month COVID-19 lockdown that strangled the national economy and largely locked down people. million people in their homes.

Full bus and subway service will be restored, as will basic rail connections to the rest of China, Vice Mayor Zong Ming said at a daily press briefing on the city’s outbreak on Tuesday.

Schools will partially reopen on a voluntary basis for students and malls, supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies will continue to reopen gradually with no more than 75% of full capacity. Cinemas and sports halls will remain closed.

Officials, who set June 1 as a target date for a reopening earlier in May, seem set to accelerate what has been a gradual easing in recent days. A few malls and markets have reopened and some residents have been given passes allowing them to go out for a few hours at a time. In at least some focus groups, cynicism about the slow and intermittent nature of the opening gave way on Tuesday to enthusiasm about being able to move freely. in the city for the first time since the end of March.

Shanghai recorded 29 new cases on Monday, continuing a steady decline from more than 20,000 a day in April. Li Qiang, senior official of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai, at a meeting on Monday, reportedly said the city has made major progress in fighting the epidemic through continuous struggle.

Success had a price. Authorities have imposed a suffocating citywide lockdown as part of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to snuff out any outbreak with mass testing and isolation in centralized facilities of anyone infected.

Schools will reopen for the last two years of high school and the third year of middle school, but students can decide to attend in person. The other classes and kindergarten remain closed.

Beijing, the national capital, further eased restrictions in some districts on Tuesday. The city has imposed limited lockdowns, but nothing near a citywide level, in a much smaller outbreak that appears to be on the decline. Beijing recorded 18 new cases on Monday.

Jim Beam column: Payday loan bill must be vetoed – American Press

Mark A. Tomlin — Sun, 29 May 2022 12:00:26 +0000

: Louisiana lawmakers have passed a payday loan bill that will only cause more debt problems for citizens who need the financial boost they can get elsewhere.metrocreativeconnection.com

From time to time, Louisiana lawmakers have come to the aid of those who make so-called payday loans. Sen. Rick Ward, R-Port Allen, is this year’s champion with Senate Bill 381.

Legislation that was narrowly passed by both houses would cap finance charges at 100% of the original loan amount. That means lenders could charge up to $1,500 in fees on a $1,500 loan, for a total repayment of $3,000, according to The Advocate.

The senator said his “Louisiana Access to Credit Loans Act” would help state residents living on a paycheck make ends meet when faced with surprisingly large expenses.

Under current law, lenders can offer a loan of up to $350, due on the borrower’s next payday. The maximum the lender can make per loan is $55. Ward’s bill does not change that.

Ward sponsored another payday loan bill in 2018. It stated that the loan term could not be less than three months and could not exceed 12 months. The amount of the loan could not be less than $500 and could not exceed $875. The bill passed the Senate 20-17 but died in the House Commerce Committee.

I wrote in a June 3, 1999 column about a Bossier City woman who got one of these loans. She needed $200 for an emergency out-of-town trip and took out a two-week loan. The maximum they lent at that time was $201 and it had to be paid back in 14 days.

When a customer borrowed that $201, they had to leave a check for $246 to cover the principal and $15 in interest. The other $30 was for documentation and set-up costs. That’s an annual interest rate of over 580 percent.

“It was a little high,” the borrower said, “but when you need it, you need it.”

The Associated Press reported that there were about 30 payday loan companies in the state in 1992. This number grew to 455 in 1998 and 489 by the end of 1999.

Foster Campbell, a current member of the Louisiana Civil Service Commission, was a state senator in 1999. He said, “We’ve had 500 of these companies open since 1992 and none of them have failed. . I have never heard of such statistics. But the reason why they didn’t is because they deceive people by charging outrageous interest rates.

OK, back to Ward’s bill which passed the House 54-35, one vote more than the 53 needed. The Senate vote was 20 to 14, the exact majority he needed.

Republican senses Mark Abraham of Lake Charles and Mike Reese of Leesville voted for Ward’s bill. Sen. Jeremy Stine, R-Lake Charles, voted against. Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, was recorded as absent.

GOP Representatives Ryan Bourriaque of Grand Lake, Dewith Carrier of Oakdale, Troy Romero of Jennings and Phillip Tarver of Lake Charles voted for the bill. Representatives Wilford Carter, D-Lake Charles; Charles Owen, R-Rosepine, and Rodney Schamerhorn, R-Hornbeck, voted against. Representative Brett Geymann, R-Moss Bluff, was recorded as an absentee.

The bill now awaits action by Governor John Bel Edwards. Lenders would make most of their money through monthly maintenance fees of up to 13% of the original loan amount.

Alex Horowitz, consumer credit researcher at The Pew Charitable Trusts, told The Advocate he had never seen such high fees. He said the bill would expose Louisiana consumers to financial harm, rather than creating an affordable loan market. Horowitz said seven of the nation’s 12 largest banks have launched or announced programs to provide small dollar loans to customers.

Kenneth Pickering twice served as Louisiana’s chief banking regulator. He said he had no idea what the maintenance fee even covers. “Once a loan is on the books, there’s nothing left to maintain,” he said. Pickering calls it more interest.

Stanley Dameron, Commissioner of the Office of Financial Institutions, said: “Some of the people applying for these loans might not qualify from your bank, but they certainly would from a credit union or finance company. “

Pelican State Credit Union’s Jessica Sharon told lawmakers that credit unions were explicitly created to help people of modest means.

Even an official from a state association that represents payday lenders said Ward’s new product was unnecessary. He said the loans are already available in Louisiana at a fraction of the cost. “It’s greed and arrogance at the highest level,” he said.

Ward’s bill is certainly a strong candidate for a gubernatorial veto.

Education experts worry about Queensland high school students dropping out of arts subjects over ATAR result

Mark A. Tomlin — Sat, 28 May 2022 21:24:22 +0000

Eden Gray entered college this year with an impressive ATAR, earned in part with arts subjects in high school, but her path is shrinking as students turn to science subjects in the belief that they will graduate. ranking.

The 18-year-old earned an ATAR of 95.35 after studying Music, Music Popularization, Drama, Literature, Specialist Mathematics and Mathematical Methods at Stretton State College in Brisbane last year.

She plays saxophone and percussion and participated in six musical ensembles during her studies.

“I personally didn’t like science…it would have caused a lot of stress,” she said.

“They brought joy to my 12th year.”

But educators and creative industry leaders are worried about the future of some arts and humanities subjects in Queensland high schools, as students are dropping them en masse in the belief that they will achieve a higher ATAR with science subjects.

44% drop in arts enrollment

In 2012, data from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) revealed that 23,035 Year 12 students were enrolled in one of five arts subjects, which include music, visual arts, drama, dance and cinema, television and new media.

Last year, there was only a total of 12,772 registrations, a drop of more than 44%.

Humanities subjects also experienced a reduction in class size over the same period.

While there had been slight increases in enrollment in philosophy and economics, there were significantly fewer enrollments in geography, ancient and modern history, and legal studies in 2021 compared to 2012.

In the six social studies subjects, the number of 12th graders over the same period fell by around 6,000 or 20%.

Meanwhile, QCAA data also revealed that year 12 engineering enrollment had more than doubled from 630 students in 2012 to 1,359 students in 2021, while enrollment in physics, chemistry and biology fell 7%.

Drama Queensland chair Stephanie Tudor said one of the biggest drops in arts enrollment has coincided with the introduction of the ATAR system.

“In drama alone, we went from 6,500 students in 2012 to around 3,000 students in year 12 last year, and the biggest drop was between 2017 and 2019 when the new QCE (Queensland Certificate of Education) and ATAR has been introduced,” says Ms. Tudor.

Lower scaling of art subjects

ATAR is a mechanism used across Australia for university admissions.

It is a number between 0 and 99.95, measured on a student’s best academic performance, which indicates their position in relation to other students in their age group.

The higher the ATAR, the higher the ranking. As part of the process of calculating an ATAR, subjects are scaled.

The decline in arts and humanities enrollment has been attributed to the introduction of ATAR.(ABC News: Nicole Chettle)

For example, a student who scores 80% on an assessment may find that their score is actually worth less (or more) than 80%, depending on the subject scale.

This scaling can change from year to year, depending on a cohort’s grades and subject choices, but in two years of ATAR in Queensland, arts subjects have generally declined, while scientists have generally increased.

“What we’re seeing is that arts subjects are at an all-time low as an area of learning,” said Rachael Dwyer, senior lecturer in curriculum and pedagogy at the University of the Sunshine Coast. and Co-Chair of Queensland Advocates for Arts Education.

A self-fulfilling prophecy

Drama Queensland president Stephanie Tudor said some students who excel in the arts do not choose to study arts for the sake of subject scaling.(Provided: Stephanie Tudor)

Dr Dwyer and Ms Tudor said the message that comes from ‘scaling up subject areas’ drives high-achieving students away from the arts, even if students excel in those areas.

“I think as parents and students try to understand the system, they drift away from topics that are perceived as ill-suited,” Ms Tudor said.

Brisbane Girls Grammar School principal Jacinda Euler said there was too much emphasis on the impact of subject scaling.

“It leads to bad choices,” she said.

“The reality is that any subject you pursue in high school, if you do very well at the top of that subject, scaling will have minimal impact.”

Jacinda Euler, director of Brisbane Girls Grammar, says the focus on scaling subjects can lead to “poor choices”.(ABC News: Sally Eeles)

Queensland Advocates for Arts Education and Drama Queensland are working with education stakeholders QCAA and QTAC to see if they are “doing all they can to ensure the scale measurement is valid and that it is adequate comparison between subjects”.

“We need to…ensure that the arts are valued in schools and that students who take arts subjects in schools are rewarded for their efforts,” said Dr Dwyer.

Moving forward in life after school

The QCAA, which is responsible for curriculum development and testing in schools, said the drop in arts and humanities enrollment over the past decade has also coincided with more students turning to applied and professional subjects.

Ms Euler agree that vocational education and training has become more sought after.

Ms Tudor said the hardship caused by the pandemic has played a role in deterring students from pursuing careers in the creative industries, with artists, crew and venue staff out of work.

Rachael Dwyer says arts subjects teach you creativity, collaboration, and thinking for yourself.(Provided: Rachael Dwyer)

Arts education experts also believe that the declining popularity of the arts is a consequence of a broader societal trend to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“Over the past decade we have seen a very strong push for STEM education,” Dr. Dwyer said.

While she said these subjects are important for a strong economy and workforce, they “miss out” on the creativity and collaboration that arts subjects foster.

In June 2020, then Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan announced plans to offer cheaper college degrees for jobs in engineering, science, health, computing and education, while degrees in the humanities, social sciences, communications and law would become more expensive.

The newly sworn in Albanian government has yet to indicate any change in the cost of university degrees.

Different pathways to university

Ms Gray, who plans to become a teacher, is now a freshman at QUT, studying a dual degree in education and fine arts, with a major in music.

Despite her high ATAR, Ms. Gray’s acceptance into the fine arts was based on an audition.

Eden Gray did not use her ATAR result to enter university where she is majoring in music.(ABC News: Lucas Hill )

Dr Dwyer said that of the 241,000 students who applied to college last year, 61% of them did not use their ATAR as their means of college entry.

They were granted “early entry” on the basis of their academic results or other qualifications, or were accepted on the basis of a portfolio of work or an audition.

We cut our bills by £2,376

Mark A. Tomlin — Sat, 28 May 2022 00:19:00 +0000

JUST welcoming twin babies into the world, paramedic Samuel Crowe and his partner Clare Holmes were finding it harder than ever to keep up with the bills.

But after The Sun intervened – with the help of the comparison site MoneySuperMarket.com – the couple have been told they can cut more than £1,600 from spending.

Sam and Clare with Evie-Mae and Esme-Rose1 credit

Hannah and Michael with Dax1 credit

The news couldn’t have come at a better time for Samuel, 31, and receptionist Clare, 29, who live with eight-month-old twin daughters Evie-Mae and Esme-Rose near Woodbridge, Suffolk .

The new parents together earn £50,000 a year and their daughters are due to start daycare in October, which will cost up to £1,200 a month in fees.

And despite being careful with their money, the family is still struggling.

They have a smart meter to monitor their energy expenditure and shop at Aldi to keep their food bills as low as possible.

Samuel opts for shifts that pay extra and even noticed that their house was in the wrong council tax bracket when he moved in, resulting in a lower bill.

But there are also great pressures. They have a fixed rate energy deal with Octopus until August when that will increase.

They have £10,000 in credit card debt – split between one card at zero per cent and another at 20% interest – and are paying £270 a month on a car loan.

“The card balances just went up,” says Samuel, the family turning more to credit since Clare is on maternity leave.

“It’s really difficult trying to manage the different demands. With the National Insurance increase, I feel like I’ve taken a pay cut this year.

Having twins is also expensive.

Samuel says: “Buying a double pushchair alone costs £1,200. We prepare their meals from scratch because it is cheaper to do so than to buy sachets. But the cost of formula has gone up, which adds up when you feed two.

“All this causes a good deal of anxiety. We know there must be savings to be made.

Fortunately, it is possible to reduce a good part of their expenses by going to MoneySuperMarket.com website.

They currently pay £972 a year for a combined TV, broadband and landline package with Sky.

But they could save £642 with a £330 TalkTalk TV and broadband package.

Samuel also has leeway on his bank card repayments.

Although half of the £10,000 balance is on a zero per cent card, he is charged 20 per cent interest on the remainder.

He tries to pay £500 off every month.

Jo Thornhill, money expert at MoneySuperMarket, says, “You can have more than one low interest credit card, as long as you get approved. If Samuel paid a small fee to transfer that balance to another zero-rate card and continued to pay £500 a month for 24 months, he could save £513, or around £207 a year.

“With a very good credit score of over 900, he is in a good position to be able to get another low or no interest card.

‘It’s incredible’

“To reduce his monthly payments by £500, he could take out a card with a longer interest-free term, although he might have to pay a higher fee up front. He just has to remember to pay it before the end of the term.

While the couple searches for the best deals, they don’t base their choice solely on price.

“We also look at the benefits that could come from a package,” says Samuel. “With our Vitality car insurance, which costs us around £34 a month for my Mitsubishi Outlander, they monitor our driving with sensors and then we get cash back for safe driving.

“Things like that make us want to stick with them.”

Just looking at price, however, Samuel could save £190 a year by switching to AA insurance.

Clare, who paid £300 upfront for her Nissan Qashqai cover, could save £45 if she too made the same change.

With their cellphones, Clare pays £14 a month on SIM-only, while Samuel pays £38 for an unlimited plan, both with EE. Together they could cut their annual bill by £230, with Clare moving to O2 and Samuel to Three.

The couple pay £70 a year for contents insurance with More Than but could save £18 if they swap to cover with Swift Made.

Overall, Samuel is amazed at the amount he could save.

He says, “It’s amazing. We will certainly rethink some of these big bills when they come up for renewal.

Another couple who need to save are Hannah Galliers, 30, a self-employed accountant, and her fiancé Michael Williamson, 31, a funeral director.

They live with their 18-month-old son Dax near Cheltenham, Gloucs, and earn around £70,000 a year.

“Fight to Save”

They want to set aside £6,000 for their wedding in May next year, but rising bills mean they’re struggling to save anything – and Hannah is worried.

She says, “Sometimes when I go to get gas, I feel like I’m freaking out.”

They used to pay £75 a month for their energy bill but locked themselves in on a flat rate of £100 a month last summer.

Hannah is already dreading that it will end next year.

She says, “If things don’t get better by then, I have no idea how we’re going to afford it. When I was a student, I got caught up in payday loans and it all came together.

“I buried my head in the sand, then I received debt collection letters. I even had my cell phone cut off. I never want to be in this situation again. »

When it comes to trying to get the best deals, Hannah’s attitude is typical of many. She says, “The first time we release something, I look around using online comparison sites to get a good deal.

“After that, however, I tend to let things automatically renew themselves. Life is busy and finding the best insurance deal falls at the bottom of the pile.

But after The Sun showed how they could save £738 a year on insurance, broadband and mobile bills alone, the couple will take longer to compare in the future.

Hannah pays £248 to insure her Toyota Aygo, while Michael pays £416 for his Citroen C4, both with Direct Line.

But Hannah could save £95 if she prepaid a policy with Lancaster, while Michael can cut £200 using Swiftcover.

Jo says, “That’s good savings already, and they might be able to cut it even further by looking at their excess amount or any add-ons they have on their policy. But they obviously have to weigh whether they can take that extra risk.

“The savings really add up”

There are also savings to be made on broadband.

Currently paying £540 a year with Virgin, they could bring that down to £360 a year with Cuckoo fast broadband, pumping an extra £180 into their wedding fund.

The couple must wait until next year to change their mobile phone contracts. But based on current figures, Michael could save £83 a year by switching from an unlimited data contract with Three to 100GB with iD Mobile, and Hannah could pocket £123 by switching her contract to O2.

Jo says, “Everyone should check they’re using their data quota, and if they’re not, they can save money by reducing it.”

The couple have already transferred their £4,000 credit card balance to a zero per cent card. They could transfer their checking accounts to HSBC and get £170 each as an incentive.

They could also cut £35 off their home insurance by switching to Right Choice and paying in advance.

And they could buy a travel insurance policy for £32.35, up from the £55 they spent last year.

Hannah says of comparing utility bills: “I was guilty of thinking it wasn’t really worth saving a few pounds a month.

“But now I can see it can really add up over a year.”

The comparisons are based on basic information and show the estimated savings that could be made on the offers available on MoneySuperMarket.com at time of going to press.

Samuel could save a bundle by switching to a policy with AA1 credit

Michael could drop to 100GB of phone data1 credit

Should you turn to credit cards if you can’t pay the bills?

Mark A. Tomlin — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:00:38 +0000

Image source: Getty Images

Credit cards can cover bills, but you’ll need to decide if using them to pay for expenses is a good idea.

Key points

Sometimes it is difficult to cover bills for living expenses.
If you have available credit on your credit cards, it may be tempting to use them to pay ongoing charges.
You’ll want to explore other options and consider the downsides before using your cards to pay bills.

If you’re struggling to cover your living expenses, it may be tempting to charge your purchases to your credit cards if you have credit available. But while charging things to your cards might fix affordability in the short term, it might make it harder to stick to your budget in the long run.

So, is it always a good idea to turn to your cards in times of financial difficulty? Here’s what you need to know.

Why you should try to avoid turning to credit cards to pay bills

In general, it’s a good idea to avoid charging a credit card anything that you can’t pay off in full before you start incurring interest charges. Credit cards can be a very expensive way to borrow, with some cards charging interest of up to 17%. This means that you will make everything you load onto your card much more expensive.

When you charge daily expenses to a credit card, you also incur future income to cover today’s expenses. So in the future, it will be even more difficult to live within your means because you will have less money available because part of it will be used to pay for past purchases.

What are your other options?

While you wouldn’t charge daily expenses to a credit card in an ideal world, sometimes people find themselves in less than ideal situations. If you don’t have the money to pay for the things you need, you need to find a solution.

Before turning to cards, however, you should consider other options. If you can sell items you no longer need or take on extra work to cover your costs, that’s a better option. Likewise, researching discounts you can take to avoid borrowing would also be a better option than charging expenses to credit cards. You can also check out government programs that might help cover costs, such as Medicaid for medical care you can’t afford.

But if none of these options are available, credit cards might be a better solution than even more expensive payday loans. You might also be better off charging things to credit cards rather than skipping house or car payments and dealing with foreclosure or repossession — especially if you’re dealing with a debt crisis. short term cash.

In other words, if you don’t have a better solution, using credit cards to help pay for critical expenses may be your best option as long as you recognize that it’s not a long-term solution. term and you will need more money later.

When should you use your cards as a fallback?

If you must use credit cards to bill daily expenses during tough times, you should aim to find a 0% APR credit card when possible. A 0% APR card charges no interest on purchases for a limited time so you can avoid owing more money to a card issuer.

You should also develop a plan to pay off what you owe as soon as possible and ensure that you don’t find yourself in a similar situation in the future.

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The Economy of Tolerable Massacres: The Uvalde Shootout

Mark A. Tomlin — Thu, 26 May 2022 05:11:27 +0000

Societies tend to generate their own economies of tolerable cruelty and injustice. Poverty, for example, will be permitted as long as a sufficient number of individuals benefit from it. To some extent, crime and violence can thrive. In the United States, the economy of tolerable slaughter, carried out by military-grade weaponry, is substantial and seemingly resilient. Its participants all participate in its administration, playing their dark roles under the hallowed banner of constitutional freedom and psychobabble.

Just as prison reform tends to keep pace with bloated system expansion, the gun argument in the United States barely keeps pace with each massacre. With each series of killings, a scenario is activated: initial horror, hot tears of indignation for never again, and then, the impasse on reform until the next series of murders can be duly accommodated. “It is not enough to reiterate the plain truth that the assault weapons used in mass shootings should be prohibited and confiscated,” observed Benjamin Kunkel. “Instead, each new atrocity must be recruited from everyone’s favorite single-factor sociological narrative.”

In Uvalde, Texas, an armed teenager (they’re getting younger) broke into an elementary school and delivered an unforgettable lesson. When he finished at Robb Elementary School, 19 children and 2 adults had perished. But even that effort, in the premier league rankings of school murders, failed to top the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012. On that occasion, 26 lost their lives.

The horror and tears of indignation were duly reported. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage? Why do we keep letting this happen? President Biden rhetorically intoned at a press conference. “For every parent, for every citizen of this country, we must make it clear to every elected official in this country: it is time to act. This would involve passing “common sense gun laws” and cracking down on the gun lobby.

The following day, Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated the formula. “We must work together to create an America where everyone feels safe in their community, where children feel safe in their schools.”

Politicians are duly accompanied by talking heads, like Ron Avi Astor, described by NPR as “an expert in mass shooting.” With that unsavory appellation, we’re told this UCLA professor is puzzled as to why negligible changes to gun laws have taken place since Sandy Hook. Faced with such perplexity, he suggests an old academic trick: reframe the problem to lessen its gravity.

With some enthusiasm, Astor starts to say that schools in the United States are fabulously successful in dealing with violence – as long as you take a long-term view. “If you look over the last 20 years, really since Columbine, there’s been a massive, massive, massive decrease… in victimization and violence in schools.” Diving into the silver lining in his massive way, he finds “reductions” in violence on the order of 50-70%.

It never takes long for the economics of tolerable slaughter to generate the next round of rambling arguments, with barely cold corpses. The most common is that of firing frequency. Was it a good year compared to the previous one? This year, the United States has suffered 27.

Since 2018, Education Week, showing how school deaths should feature prominently in curriculum planning, has taken a grim look at the whole issue. Read his compiled figures – “heartbreaking, but important work”, the newspaper complaints – is equivalent to tapping into stock market returns with the required sensitivity. In 2021, there were 34 school shootings, a truly exceptional year. In 2020, it was mediocre on this front: a modest 10. 2019 and 2018 saw higher returns: 24 each.

If you want to be entertained by the macabre nature of it all, Education Week also gives us a bit of infotainment with a graphic on “Where the shootings happened.” The points are shown on a map of the country. “The size of the dots corresponds to the number of people killed or injured. Click on each point for more information. Where would we be without these valuable services?

Guns are prohibited at the NRA convention in Texas this weekend when Trump speaks. Let it sink in.

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) May 25, 2022

To lend credence to the seemingly immutable nature of this on-set economy, platoons of commentators, with varying skills, argue over the answers, most showing that common sense in this area is a lofty dream. The Conservative National Review takes the view that “stricter background checks” would hardly have worked for the Uvalde shooter. There was no paper trail marking him as a threat, nothing to suggest he should have been barred as a “legal adult from buying a gun.” The implicit suggestion here: only crackpots kill.

The firearms affair is the affair of a particular American sensibility. While the school shooting is still fresh, various GOP members and Donald Trump have expressed interest in participating in a Memorial Day weekend event hosted by the National Rifle Association. In a statement On the shooting, the NRA expressed its “sincere sympathies” for the families and victims of “this horrific and evil crime”, but preferred to describe the killings as the responsibility of “a lone and deranged criminal”. Leave gun regulations alone; instead, focus on school safety.

Once this brief formality has been completed, the NRA expressed his joy at its upcoming Annual Meetings and Expositions event to be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, May 27-29. the most popular companies in the industry. It promises to be fun for the whole family.

Then comes the thorny question of definitions, a sure way to kill any sensible action. From boffin to reactionary, no one can quite accept what a “school shooting” is. Nonprofits such as New York-based Everytown for Gun Safety include any school firearm discharge in the definition. “In 2022”, the organization complaints“There were at least 77 incidents of shootings on school grounds, resulting in 14 deaths and 45 injuries nationwide.”

Everytown for Gun Safety is want to paint a picture annual murderous rampage: 3,500 children and adolescents shot and killed; 15,000 wounded by gunshot. Some 3 million children in the United States are exposed to shootings each year.

The tone underlying such a message is completely at odds with the quiet approach taken by Astor – what Australians would call the “she’ll be right, mate” spirit caste. It is certainly Panglossian in nature, aligning itself with the views of cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, an extraordinary optimist about the human condition. Taken globally, he keeps insisting, we live in a much better and less violent time than our ancestors. Massacres like those at Sandy Hook should not be taken to mean that schools have become less safe. “People still think violence has increased because they reason from memorable examples rather than global data.” For Pinker, the 2013 joint survey by the Departments of Justice and Education of statistics such as victimization rates from 1992 to non-fatal victimizations was enough rebuke to the pessimists and complainers.

The Uvalde massacre will, over time, be absorbed by this tolerable economy of violence. Anger will dissipate; collective amnesia, if not mere indifference, will exert its dull sleep. The dead, except those personally affected, will follow the path of others, buried in confetti and scrapings of statistics.

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