Private schools win legal fight over charity status

Private schools on Friday won a long-running legal battle with the Charity Commission over what schools must do to justify their charitable status, the AFP reports. The Independent Schools Council (ISC), an umbrella body representing more than 1,000 schools, had challenged tighter rules affecting how private schools qualify for the status, which comes with tax breaks. The changes, introduced in 2006, meant private schools in England and Wales had to prove they benefit children who cannot afford their fees in order to keep their charitable status…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Are schools teaching the wrong lessons about 9-11?

What should teachers be discussing with their students to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks? Asks the Washington Post. It may seem like a simple question, but a report just issued by the nonprofit Thomas B. Fordham Institute explains why it has become a complicated issue—and why some of the lessons being given by teachers across the country are missing the point. Chester E. Finn Jr., the author of the introduction to the report, which is entitled “Teaching about 9/11 in 2011: What Our Children Need to Know,” writes that too many teachers are giving lessons that give short shrift to the history of the event and the way American society has changed as a result…

Click here for the full story

…Read More