Schools Desperately Turn To Longer Days, Year To Compete In Academic Global Front

(MintPress) – Starting this fall, about 20,000 students in five states will spend at least 300 more hours in school as part of a three-year pilot program, adding hours to the school day and days to the school year to see if increased classroom time positively affects students academic achievement. A 2012 report published by Harvard University’s […]

Katie Rucke
By Katie Rucke
In this photo taken Sept. 28, 2011, Tresa Dunbar, principal of the Nash Elementary School, one of 13 schools where teachers voted to make the school day 90 minutes longer in exchange for extra pay, speaks to fourth-grader Daniyah Sanders in the school library in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

(MintPress) - Starting this fall, about 20,000 students in five states will spend at least 300 more hours in school as part of a three-year pilot program, adding hours to the school day and days to the school year to see if increased classroom time positively affects students academic achievement. A 2012 report published by Harvard University’s

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40 Years After Roe V. Wade: What Is The State Of Abortion Rights Today?

(MintPress) – In June 1969, Norma McCorvey discovered she was pregnant with her third child. A single mother, she felt that the burden of raising three kids was too much, so she sought an abortion. A resident of Texas, however, she was prohibited from having an abortion, as the procedure — at that time — […]

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese
In this Wednesday, April 26, 1989 file photo, Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe in the 1973 court case, left, and her attorney Gloria Allred hold hands as they leave the Supreme Court building in Washington after sitting in while the court listened to arguments in a Missouri abortion case. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(MintPress) - In June 1969, Norma McCorvey discovered she was pregnant with her third child. A single mother, she felt that the burden of raising three kids was too much, so she sought an abortion. A resident of Texas, however, she was prohibited from having an abortion, as the procedure — at that time — was reserved solely for cases of incest or

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Obama And The Black Community: Are We Closer To Realizing Dr. King’s Dream?

(MintPress) — Once every 24 years, a president is inaugurated on Dr. King’s Birthday. This logistical curiosity happens due to the fact that the federal government traditionally does not consider business on Sundays. As Inauguration Day (Jan. 20) fell on a Sunday this year, it was observed the following Monday, Dr. King’s Birthday (the third […]

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese
In this Sept. 16, 1963 file photo, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives a news conference in Birmingham, Ala. announcing he and other African American leaders have called for federal Army occupation of Birmingham in the wake of the previous day's church bombing and shootings which left six blacks dead. (AP Photo)

(MintPress) — Once every 24 years, a president is inaugurated on Dr. King’s Birthday. This logistical curiosity happens due to the fact that the federal government traditionally does not consider business on Sundays. As Inauguration Day (Jan. 20) fell on a Sunday this year, it was observed the following Monday, Dr. King’s Birthday (the third Monday

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Moving Away From Popular Vote: A Symbol Of Fairness Or Rigging Elections?

(MintPress) – When George W. Bush won the presidential election over Al Gore in 2000, despite losing the popular vote, a natural discussion about the effectiveness of the Electoral College system sprung. Yet it wasn’t Republicans leading the discussion — it was Democrats. Now, the tables have turned. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus endorsed […]

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak
June O'Neill of St. Lawrence County places her vote for president in the ballot box on Monday, Dec. 13, 2004, in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., as the Electoral College for the State of New York voted for president and vice president. (AP Photo/Jim McKnight)

(MintPress) – When George W. Bush won the presidential election over Al Gore in 2000, despite losing the popular vote, a natural discussion about the effectiveness of the Electoral College system sprung. Yet it wasn’t Republicans leading the discussion — it was Democrats. Now, the tables have turned. Republican National Committee Chairman

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Amish In Midst Of Oil World They Seek To Escape

(MintPress) – As oil companies move into Amish communities to extract oil through hydraulic processing, residents are speaking up, calling out oil companies for carrying out a long-term plan of deceit and manipulation. But not all Amish are in the same boat, with some benefiting from larger leasing payouts than their neighbors who signed onto […]

Trisha Marczak
By Trisha Marczak
In this July 27, 2011 file photo, the sun shines over a Range Resources well site in Washington, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

(MintPress) – As oil companies move into Amish communities to extract oil through hydraulic processing, residents are speaking up, calling out oil companies for carrying out a long-term plan of deceit and manipulation. But not all Amish are in the same boat, with some benefiting from larger leasing payouts than their neighbors who signed onto

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Nearly Three Months Later, Sandy Victims Still Struggling, Looking For Answers

(NEW YORK) MintPress – Sixty-five-year-old Gus Martuscelli sits on a wooden stool in the remains of what used to be the most popular pizza joint in Sheepshead Bay, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for its large population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. On Oct. 29, 2012, Delmar Pizzeria, a small family-owned business that has […]

Lisa Barron
By Lisa Barron
In this Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 file photo, Frank Hlavaty rubs his hands together for warmth as snow starts to fall near his house in Little Ferry, N.J., flooded by Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

(NEW YORK) MintPress – Sixty-five-year-old Gus Martuscelli sits on a wooden stool in the remains of what used to be the most popular pizza joint in Sheepshead Bay, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for its large population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. On Oct. 29, 2012, Delmar Pizzeria, a small family-owned business that has maintained

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