The shift could have lasting effects on both public schools and the home-schooling movement.

The Chester Upland district has faced financial hardship for decades, and for the second time in four years, teachers will be working without pay.

As an attempt to mitigate a persistent school supply problem, New Mexico plans to give some 23,000 teachers prepaid gift cards for use on classroom materials. One local union calls it a distraction from larger funding issues.

OM Japan Tsunami April Update

Since it was announced publicly that OM Japan were ready to receive volunteers, many people wrote to express interest and requested for more information. This past week (23 - 27 May), OM Japan took their first volunteer group, consisting of 3 foreigners and 4 Japanese to Miyagi prefecture to help with clearing up rubble and bringing encouragement.

OM Japan and an outreach team encourage and help people who suffered from the tsunami in Ishinomaki and the area around Minami Sanriku.

A woman whose home was damaged by the tsunami accepts Christ after witnessing the lives and attitudes of the volunteers working in her house.

OM Japan feels honoured to have played a small part in helping bring hope and relief to tsunami survivors.

Seeing an opportunity to talk about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, the staff at SonRise Café in Tokyo sells Easter eggs before Easter.

Through contemporary worship, the OM team seeks to create an atmosphere of worship in which the younger generation in Japan can experience God.

At a recent event to build relationships, OMer Chris guides participants through the process of making juggling balls before teaching them how to juggle.

"Are all my elves ready? OK, off we go!" A group of Santa and his elves head out into Karuizawa, Japan, to share God’s love.

Despite freezing temperatures and snow, ministry with Café Hope has been both challenging and exciting for Michelle from Singapore.

Over 50 people attended OM Japan’s first Worship Here service held in Kanazawa, Japan, on 4 March.

A pastor and OM couple start a new church in Tonami, Japan, a rural town of 50,000.

A Japanese girl once weighed down by the guilt of sin accepts Jesus’ complete forgiveness and is baptised. She now exudes “radiant joy”.

Leung Wai, from Hong Kong, is burned to pray for Japan after dressing as Santa Claus and being warmly greeted by passers-by last December.

OMer Chris Griffioen was asked to perform a juggling show at an elderly care facility, and has since been invited to visit regularly.

In Japan, the birth and life of Jesus Christ is hardly known. For this reason, Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to point people to Him.

Responding to God’s call to reach out to survivors of the 2011 tsunami in the Tohoko region, OM Japan starts a ministry called 4 Friends Network.

Two OMers were asked to help a church network deliver relief supplies to churches in Kumamoto after two large earthquakes had struck the area.

In schools that use corporal punishment, students with disabilities and black students are disproportionately more likely to be hit than their peers, finds a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

No studies sufficiently answer the question, finds the GAO, which means debates over whether newer restorative-justice approaches help or harm safety are likely to continue.

At present we reward quantity, not quality. The door could be opening for that to change, argues Johan Fourie.

It's unrealistic to expect anyone to invest totally dispassionately. But there are ways to transform risk, writes Hannes Viljoen.

The miner says Transnet knows full well where its own inefficiencies lie and it needs to start addressing these.

In South Africa, an astounding 81% of Grade 4 pupils can't read for meaning. It's time we looked at approaches in other markets that have clearly delivered results, says Nick Hedley.

The combined efforts of trade unions, activists and other heroes over decades paved the way for the glory of the latest Bok win, writes Terry Bell.

The ANC is fully and entirely responsible for the crisis of electricity in South Africa for the past 17 years, and electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa knows it, says Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

Concerningly for South Africa, the question of whether our laws and regulations provide sanctions and penalties that are commensurate to the harm caused by white-collar criminals remains a matter of contested viewpoints, writes Khaya Sithole.

Our freedom, and fortunes as a nation, lie with the likes of the independent and professional men and women as those at the head of the SA Reserve Bank, and very much unlike those at the NPA.

SARS continues to deny amaBhungane and the Financial Mail's requests for access to former president Jacob Zuma's tax records despite the seminal judgment of the Constitutional Court handed down in May 2023.

Another budget and a bigger debt mountain to climb than ever before. Can Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana change the trajectory? writes Carol Paton.

Despite criticism of electioneering, the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) has defended its R7 million social-reality television show.

SAA now remains firmly in state hands - a state that it insists it can no longer provide the type of capital support it desperately needs. Who should feel vindicated? asks Khaya Sithole.

Most time management strategies are dropped as quickly as they are picked up for one key reason: insight is so much more important than theory, says Ian Mann. And this author's insight is invaluable.

Scholars have identified several reasons why cities want to host the Games, and there's little evidence to support some of the claims. But that doesn't mean it's not worth doing, says Johan Fourie.

In the latest Auditor-General report, what stands out is persistent underperformance and the level of desperation in local governments. Reliance on consultants who don't solve the underlying problem is no longer sustainable, says Khaya Sithole.

Like many in Angola, Tchipangu did not have the financial means for an education. But this changed when a company decided to invest in her.

OM Angola helps a war-ravaged society heal itself.

OM Angola sets out to change the future of the country’s youth.

A weeklong outreach gives missions training students in Angola practical experience.

One OMer’s obedience to God’s plan results in a multiplying and tireless ministry.

For OMers working in Angola, the key to successful ministry has been time investing in relationships.

Three national educational funders explain a new program that is highlighting innovative practices in schools around the country.

Innovations that schools developed during their rapid transition to online instruction could inspire them to "rethink education," U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said at a web conference with reporters.

Guest blogger Aimée Eubanks Davis says, "We need to address the resource and social-capital network disparities that often exist between elite private and flagship public institutions and their large public counterparts.

Julie Gunlock closes out her week of guest blogging by lamenting how, despite the creative ideas out there, her school district, for example, doesn't seem to be deploying any of the innovative solutions we hear so much about.

In response to one school district's commitment to professional development, research explores teacher PD best practices and reviews the district's offerings.