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An academic exercise over school days

Longer and more school days could boost achievement, as the president suggests. But who would pay the bill?

Pay attention, public school students, the president has plans for your day. No, he's not giving another pep talk encouraging you to do your best in school like the one that got some of your parents all bent out of shape.

This time the president wants to seriously cut into your free time. His education secretary (Arne Duncan, for those of you who wish to scribble down his name in case it appears on a pop quiz) is pushing for longer school days and for more days in the school year.

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President Obama just won't stay out of the nation's classrooms. Now he says kids need to stay in school longer each day and go to school more days each year. He's obviously not trying to win class president.

For later this week, we'll write that it is worth looking at changing the school day. But that the federal government -- not known for its generosity with education -- would need to step up with the substantial funds needed to do this.

Radford still must cut

Administrators reverse course on two firings, but the hard work remains ahead.

Radford University last week offered to rehire two administrators it had fired just a few weeks before. That reversal comes from an administration that seems to be reeling in the face of massive state funding reductions.

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Enough with the late buses

If you want children to learn, get them to school on time.

Perhaps this week all Roanoke schoolchildren will be delivered to school before first bell and returned home at the expected hour. One can but hope.

It is tempting to finger Mountain Valley Transportation -- and the decision by the school board to turn to a private hauler -- as the culprit in such a colossal mess. But it wouldn't be fair.

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We're writing an editorial for Tuesday about Radford University's decision to reinstate two administrators who were laid off a few weeks ago.  This came after considerable campus uproar over the cuts.

In our editorial, we will wonder what the heck is going on with the school's administration. This sort of flip-flopping and allegations that the firings were the result of a rogue administrator sounds like President Penelope Kyle is not leading her team well.

We'll also remind everyone that just because these jobs are saved for now does not mean they should be saved for good.  The school still must cut $6.4 million, and no cut at this point will be painless.  Maybe these two jobs are among the ones that should go.  Yes, they've been jerked around, but that should not give them immunity from budget consideration while the school comes up with a plan.

Take banks out of student loans

The federal government can manage student loans more efficiently.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed legislation to overhaul the federal student loan program. Students would borrow money from the federal government instead of banks, saving taxpayers billions of dollars a year.

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We're writing an editorial for Monday about federal student loan programs. For year, banks have issued the loans subsidized and guaranteed by the federal government. In other words, the banks raked in cash off of students who need help paying for their education and off of taxpayers all without any risk.

The House this week passed a bill to overhaul the system and bring the loans under direct federal control. Students would borrow from the federal government.  How the bill will fare in the Senate remains uncertain. Several prominent senators oppose the reforms and would prefer to continue funneling money to banks. In our editorial, we will urge the Senate to pass the bill.

We're writing an editorial for Wednesday about Radford University's firing two long-time administrators.  We understand that the school needs to make cuts given the woeful support from the commonwealth, but officials could handle it better than this.  They fired both of them yesterday and just told them to clear their desks out. Some warning and a little human compassion might have been nice. This can only further harm the reputation of President Penny Kyle.

More cuts are no doubt coming at Radford and at other state schools including Virginia Tech. We hope in the future they go better.

We're writing an editorial that will run next week about Creigh Deeds' college scholarship proposal. In the words of his campaign press release:

Deeds’ plan would create a new “Virginia Forward” college scholarship program for all Virginia high school students who maintain a ‘B’ average or better and commit to public service. Under the program, students would receive a financial scholarship of up to 50 percent of full tuition to attend a public Virginia college or university. In exchange, Virginia Forward scholars would commit to two years of post-college public service as teachers, nurses, police officers or in other needed fields.

That's sounds like a good idea for flush times, but as Gov. Tim Kaine again slashes higher education funding, it's hard to imagine funding this new program. Deeds says he can find the money -- he estimates $40 million annually once it is up and running -- but we aren't so sure. The sources he has identified are dicey at best. In our editorial we will urge him to shelve this idea.

Let the indoctrination begin.

Oh, wait. It was totally benign.  The most offensive bit was the "God bless you" in a public school, and no one had sneezed.

Read the transcript.