Paige One.

Paige makes case for Left Behind law

Nationwide, he said, more than $500 billion a year in public money is being spent on education.

This is true and the article mistates how much money the federal government contributes. It is 17 percent not 7 percent.

In addition, every school district in the nation is top heavy with people in the central administration. There is one public school district in North America that has cut its central administration to about 540. That public school system is the Edmonton public school system. Highly efficient.

Moreover, you will hear school officials talk about un-funded federal mandates. But they will not cite to specific ones. Why? Here is why.

Title I: This is extra funding that supports students who live in poverty. Title I also includes the Reading First, Early Reading First, Even Start, and Comprehensive School Reform programs.

Title II: This is funding that is available to train, recruit high quality teachers and principals. This federal funding also consolidates the federal Eisenhower professional development grants and class size reduction programs.

Title III: This is funding that is available for limited English proficient (LEP) and immigrant students.

Title IV: 21st Century Schools. This title provides grants for out-of-school programs aimed at keeping students safe and supporting academic achievement. Title IV consolidates the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs.

Title V: This is funding for Innovative Programs (Part A) and Public Charter Schools (Part B) It also adds a new incentive program to help charter schools meet their facility needs.

Title VI: Flexibility and accountability. Part A of Title VI provides funds for states to improve the quality, validity, and reliability of their testing systems. Title VI also includes a demonstration project that provides an opportunity to experiment with and evaluate additional flexibility. Part B provides extra grant funds and flexibility to school districts that are located in rural areas and serve fewer than 600 students.

Other funding available is Title VII, this covers Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native Education; Title VIII, Impact Aid, Title IX, General provisions, and Title X, Repeals, Re-designations, and Amendments to other statutes.

After looking at all of the available funding, one would like to know exactly what federal mandates are un-funded.

On the education front, voucher support continues to roll on.

Black clergy group backs voucher plan for schools

The ministers' endorsement of school vouchers is a marked split from the New Jersey Democratic Party, and in line with Bret Schundler, the conservative Republican who lost to Gov. James E. McGrevey in 2001 and is expected to challenge him again next year.

The defining issue.

Back from a long hiatus. First up.

UK student takes Osama bin Laden to New York!

Daphi Dotan, a British art student, has displayed a picture of Osama Bin Laden made from photographs of people who died in the September 11 attacks, on the streets of New York.

Not sure what to make of this. First impression is, why and what purpose does it serve? The student who made the art work, was "inspired by the picture of the murderer Myra Hindley made from children's handprints by the artist Marcus Harvey."