Mexican university presidents met at a conference this week to ask Mexican President Felipe Calderon to adopt stricter security measures to protect students and professors from the violence of Mexico's ongoing drug war, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported Wednesday. In response to increased violence, university presidents have dramatically increased their spending on private security for campuses and prohibited students and professors from participating in certain travel programs, according to The Chronicle. Despite Calderon's deployment of over 30,000 troops to combat drug violence, Mexico's drug war has led to the deaths of over a dozen university students and professors over the past two years. Other students have fallen victim to kidnappings and armed robberies. The violence in Mexico has also led several American universities to suspend their exchange programs to certain parts of the country until further security measures are adopted.
Republicans in the House of Representatives rejected, for the second time this week, legislation to renew the America COMPETES Act, a 2007 law designed to strengthen federal support for academic research, according to a congressional press release. The act, which seeks to double federal funding for the National Science Foundation and other physical sciences agencies, did not receive the necessary number of votes, according to the release. Democrats had revised the bill prior to the vote in an attempt to gain bipartisan support and expressed frustration that the bill was rejected again. "The path is simple: research leads to innovation; innovation leads to economic development and good paying jobs," Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., said in the release. "Creating good jobs is the goal of this bill, and it is what our country needs right now."
Teachers across the nation are facing the worst job market since the Great Depression, The New York Times reported. Officials and union leaders predict that districts will lay off over 150,000 teachers next year, according to The Times. Faced with state and local budget cuts, districts in both urban and suburban areas have rejected thousands of candidates this spring. The Port Washington District in New York, for example, had 3,620 applications for eight positions, the largest pool of candidates the district superintendent has seen in his 41-year career, according to The Times. Teach for America, which places college graduates in poor districts throughout the country, also saw a dramatic increase in applicants, as over 46,000 individuals applied for 4,500 spots, according to The Times. While hiring freezes are in place in some public school districts, publicly-financed and independent charter schools have been able to continue hiring, largely because of increased enrollment and growing national support for school choice, The Times reported.
