School Funding CenterCentral source of expertise on school improvement issues

What should America do about college sports?

In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving the football program at Penn State University, many pundits wonder if theres something wrong with college athletic departments. There is, but the solutions people offer seem way off.

Its hard not to wonder: Is college football really good for college? Taylor Branch delivered a tour de force take for The Atlantic this year on the injustices suffered by big time collegiate athletes. But what about the rest of the university? What does football culture do for the students who dont play every Saturday? What does football do for schools finances? Their academics? Their reputations?

As Weissmann points out, winning teams might lead more students to apply to the school but they also seem to be bad for student grades. Furthermore, big sports seem to often lose money.

Meanwhile, however, the New York Times Magazine published an article by Joe Nocera arguing that colleges should just pay college athletes because the existing system, one of free labor, is so unfair.

Both of these positions seem a little extreme. Actually wouldnt everyone just be rather better off with normal, reasonable, athletic programs? Less money and less prestige would surely be a better way to keep athletic scandals away.

The problem is not that college students playing football or basketball is, in and of itself, actually a problem. Problems, indeed, seem to occur in places where schools just place too much emphasis on college athletics.

In 1937 the Heisman Trophy, the award to Americas outstanding college football player, went to Clint Frank of Yale. Frank later established a successful Chicago advertising agency and died in 1992. The runner up that year was Byron White of the University of Colorado, who briefly played for the Detroit Lions and served as United States Supreme Court justice from 1962 to 1993.

Its almost unimaginable to think of two similar people vying for the Heisman Trophy today. Thats probably indicative of quite how far college sports have become removed from actual college.

Eliminating college sports is just a nonstarter; fans are too devoted. But paying student athletes? That, if anything, would indicate that college athletes are much more important than the other students. Is this really where we want to go with college sports?

The government wants all schools to be academies

Dozens of faith schools in England are preparing to switch to become academies in the next six months.

The Catholic Church had at first been cautious about their schools becoming academies, which are semi-independent but state-funded.

But in the past few months, nearly 40 have converted and many are expected to follow in the next six months.

Secularists say the changes will “unleash an evangelistic approach to education”.

Nearly 800 Church of England and Catholic schools have registered an interest with the Department for Education about becoming an academy.

And nearly 140 had converted by early November – 100 Church of England schools and 39 Catholic.

Another 34 applications from C of E and Catholic schools have been approved, as have 19 from other Christian denominations, meaning they could convert in the near future.

A total of 14 Jewish faith schools have become academies and applications from seven more have been approved.

Significant number

Vicki Hair, a solicitor at law firm Browne Jacobson, has been advising Catholic schools and dioceses.

She told BBC News that in “the first months after the Academies Bill became an act, we saw a wave of schools who had been waiting for the legislation. Now that the precedent Church documents have been put in place, you will see a significant number of schools that are looking to convert”.

She added: “But, as with non-faith schools, there will always be some who, having looked at the facts and their circumstances, will decide not convert.”

She said the sticking points for the Catholic Church had been that it wanted to ensure that schools would retain their Catholic ethos and characteristics – and that land would not be lost.

Under Labour, academies were mainly seen as a way of turning around failing schools and improving schools in poor areas.

But the coalition government wants all schools to become academies, saying the status gives them more freedom and less bureaucracy.

Since it came to power 1,200 schools have converted, bringing the total number of academies to 1,400.

Becoming an academy means schools are no longer under the wing of the local authority, do not have to follow the national curriculum, can set their own pay and conditions for staff, and are exempt from some regulations covering other state-funded schools.

Academies also receive money that would previously have been spent on their behalf by local authorities to provide services.

Bishops’ decision

Faith schools make up about a third of the 20,000 state-funded schools in England so a significant shift will help the government achieve its aim.

Teaching unions have opposed the switch to academies, saying it is an untested idea which will lead to divided schools and a fragmented system.

In the Catholic Church, decisions on whether schools should be able to convert if they want to are taken by bishops in the dioceses across England.

Maeve McCormack, of the Catholic Education Service, said: “Over the last few months a number of Catholic schools have converted to become academies from across six of the 20 Catholic dioceses in England.

“We expect that there will be more conversions in 2012 and a number of schools and dioceses are already exploring possibilities and holding consultations with parents about this. However, in some parts of the country there are Catholic schools which are happy to remain voluntary-aided and intend to continue as such, at least for the time being.”

Schools in the dioceses of Southwark and Westminster are among those consulting.

In Liverpool, a decision has been taken not to go down the academy route.

In the diocese of Nottingham, which covers five counties, four schools became academies in a trust in September, and seven more groups could potentially make the change by the summer.

‘Evangelical approach’

The National Secular Society says the change is worrying.

The groups president, Terry Sanderson, said: “We worry that the programme is unleashing an evangelical approach to education. It is giving faith schools a free hand to conduct themselves as they wish.

“The Catholic Church is making it clear that their schools are about creating new Catholics.”

Rob Gwynne, head of school strategy for the Church of England, said the main aim of its schools was to serve the community.

And he said although the Church had earlier predicted a big movement towards academy status, it was no longer sure that rate of change would happen.

“There has been some evidence of a slowdown, but its a volatile situation,” he said.

He said many C of E schools were quite small and were daunted by “the complicated process” of becoming an academy.

The importance of playing is definite. Consider that both mental and physical development is affected by lack of play. So, outdoor toys are very important for your child growth.

The material used for children’s outside toys is made of wood or plastic. There is minimal use of metal and even if the metal is necessary, it is covered and adequately padded to prevent physical damage. Using trampolines, you can also buy safety 8ft trampoline enclosure with poles, so that you do not have to supervise the child while he or she plays. Returning to the benefits of playing outside, here are a lot of them.

These outdoor games are physically and mentally challenging and these difficulties can be very stimulating. They help to improve logical thinking and physical abilities of your child. It works like stimulus, such as your child is interested in results.

Children’s toys in the open air help in self-confidence building and stamina increasing. They improve the level of endurance of your child and use the energy. Physical activity is the best way to improve the work of cardiovascular systems in the body.

Musical toys for older children are necessary for developing small motor skills to be able to play with them. Some toys, such as xylophones can be used by little as they dong merrily away without having to know how to play a melody, then they can be used by an older child who can read the book to learn to play a well-known melody.

Playing outdoor games is an exercise for your child, even if he or she doesn’t like traditional sport games. It will keep him or her fit and active. Indolence and apathy are the main problems usually when the child does not play outdoor games and is only interested in indoor games. Whether toys like slides and swings, trampolines, John Deere Go Karts sale for children, physical movement is very important.