SHOCK TREATMENT FOR PRANK CALL
(December 18, 2007) WCBV TV, Boston, MA, reported State officials are investigating complaints that staff at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center gave three people, including two teens, unnecessary electric shock treatments after receiving a prank phone call from someone pretending to be from the office of the school's founder.

UK FORCING GENDER NEUTRALITY
(December 27, 2007) The Telegraph, a UK publication, reported British schools must enforce gender neutrality through teaching boys traditionally female subjects such as netball, drama and dance, while encouraging more girls to study traditional male subjects like math and science. This is a part of a government campaign against "gender stereotyping."

BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES IN TAX POLICY
(December 25, 2007) The New York Times Business section reported professor Susan Pace Hamill of the University of Alabama Law School researched into the moral basis of tax and spend policies and how the taxing policies of the various states conform to biblical principles.

COLLEGE PROFESSORS INTIMIDATED
(January 5, 2008) The Washington Times reported there is an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education in which professors report they are being "physically intimidated by their students."

BRITISH OVER-PRESCRIBING DRUGS?
(January 5, 2008) ABC News reported the British Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, says there are indications ADHD drugs are being over prescribed so there need to be clearer rules governing the use and prescription of drugs that treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.

HELICOPTER PARENTS LAND IN ENGLAND
(January 3, 2008) Education Guardian.co.uk reported "helicopter parents," so-called because they hover over their children, interfering and directing their lives, a phenomenon already established in the US, has struck British universities, particularly at career fairs.

ORGANIZATION TUTORS INCREASING
(January 1, 2008) The New York Times reported high priced tutors and college counselors have jumped into the ring by charging as much as $100 an hour and up to assist boys with their organizational skills since boys generally seem to have more difficulty getting organized and multitasking than girls do.

BRITISH PRIVATIZING SPECIAL NEEDS
(January 6, 2008) Education Guardian.co.uk reported parents of special educational children have to fund costly private education since the government has begun closing special schools. A report by the Bow Group, the centre-right think tank says children with special needs account for 83 percent of the growth in the independent sector since 1997.

TEEN OFFENDERS DIVERTED
(December 30, 2007) The Herald Tribune in Missouri reported teen offenders are rehabilitated in small homelike settings that stress group therapy and personal development as a way out of America's juvenile justice crisis.

PUBLIC SCHOOL SEX CASES RISING
(January 8, 2008) The New York Post reported sexual misconduct by public school staff more than doubled between 2002 and 2007, mirroring a dramatic jump in overall wrongdoing uncovered by New York City school investigators.

TEXAS COLLECTS KINDERGARTEN SSN'S
(January 12, 2008) The Dallas News reported Texas school districts are handing over Social Security Numbers, dates of birth and other sensitive information about the state's kindergarten students to OZ Systems, a private software company working on contract with the federal government, without obtaining permission from the children's parents.

BRITISH CALL FOR PARENT-RUN SCHOOLS
(January 12, 2008) BBC News reported Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, will suggest creating "Free Schools" under local government oversight, but not council controlled, allowing charities, parents and private groups to run them.

AUTHOR CLAIMS ILLITERACY INCREASING
(January 11, 2008) John Corcoran, a columnist for Education News, observed that one would be wrong to assume there is a corresponding increase in the literacy rate among the general public based on increasing universal public education.