South Carolina Expands Charter School Options, Allows Single-Sex Charter Schools

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law Monday a bill expanding charter schools, calling it a big first step in improving education by expanding options for parents who don't want to send their children to traditional public schools.

The new law allows boys-only and girls-only charter schools and requires traditional schools to open their doors for students who want to do extracurricular activities not offered by their charter school. It also allows universities to sponsor their own schools.

State Education Superintendent Mick Zais called it his chief legislative priority.

"Charter schools are not a magic bullet, but they are a tremendous step in the way to providing a personalized and customized education for every student — not a standardized and uniform education for every student," Zais said at the ceremony at Greenville Technical Charter High School.

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Mother Assumpta Long Addresses the Graduates of Thomas Aquinas College

The Joy Filled Heart of a Thomist: Proclaiming the Gospel with Love, Life, and Learning

By Mother M. Assumpta Long, O.P.
Prioress General
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

Thomas Aquinas College
May 12, 2012
 

President Michael McLean, Dr. Brian Kelly and members of the faculty; Mr. Jim Wensley and members of the Board of Governors; Fr. Cornelius Buckley and priests; President Emeritus, Dr. Ronald McArthur; Founders, Dr. Jack Neumayr and Mr. Peter DeLuca; distinguished graduates, family and friends:

It is an extreme honor for me to have been invited to give the Commencement Address in such an important year for Thomas Aquinas College because, in some sense, the history of the College has been my history. I have visited and kept up with its wonderful growth from a few small trailers to your beautiful sprawling campus today. This is all due to the faith, vision, and hard work of those who love the Church and believe her mission would best be carried out by those equipped with the finest education a young Catholic could receive today.

Archdiocese Rebukes Georgetown University Invitation to Secretary Sebelius

Her face proclaims her - wicked.

The Archdiocese of Washington has weighed in on Georgetown University’s invitation of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as a commencement speaker in clear terms, saying that the school has unmoored itself from Catholic identity and chosen a stance against the country’s Catholic bishops.

Secretary Sebelius is the primary figure behind the HHS mandate forcing religious groups to provide free sterilizations, abortifacient drugs, and other forms of birth control to employees under the new health care law. She is also known for her extreme pro-abortion record, most notably her close ties with late-term abortionist George Tiller during her time as governor of Kansas. She is listed as a commencement speaker at Georgetown’s Public Policy Institute.

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Australians Mourn Don Ritchie - the Angel of The Gap

Australians are mourning the death of the man known as the "Angel of The Gap", who stopped hundreds of people from leaping to their deaths at Sydney's most notorious suicide spot.

 

The Gap at Watson's Bay and Sydney Harbour  Photo: Alamy

From The Telegraph
By Jonathan Pearlman, in Sydney

Don Ritchie, 85, who lived across the road from The Gap – a treacherous coastal cliff in Sydney's east - would stop people in distress and say: "Is there something I could do to help you?" Hundreds of strangers subsequently stopped for his "kind word and a smile" and then changed their minds about jumping to the rocks below. Some had laid their shoes, wallets and a note on the coastal rocks and were poised to leap before being gently coaxed back from the edge. Officially, Mr Ritchie saved 160 people over the past 50-odd years, though his family believe the number is closer to 500.

Constitution Party Presidential Nominee Virgil Goode on Washington Journal

Former Congressman Virgil Goode talked about his recent election as the Constitution Party's Presidential Nominee on Washington Journal today.

Virgil Goode is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who represented south central Virginia from 1997-2009. He was first elected to Congress as a Democrat  in 1996. He later changed his party affiliation to Independent in 2000 & then to Republican in 2002.

Record Crowd Attends Canada’s March for Life

From Catholic World News

A record crowd of 19,500 gathered in Ottawa on May 10 to attend Canada’s annual March for Life. Most attendees were under 30 years of age.

“Who is our neighbor?” preached Archbishop Terence Prendergast of Ottawa at a Mass at Ottawa’s cathedral. “The poor, the marginalized, the suffering, the defenseless, and yes, even those invisible in the womb.”

“We understand that we need to challenge the false idea that abortion is merely a private and personal decision,” he added. “The truth is that abortion hurts everyone, the developing child in the womb, the mother, the father, the extended family, and even our culture here in Canada.”

Because Canada’s population is less than 11% of that of the United States, a crowd of 19,500 in Canada is comparable to a crowd of almost 180,000 in the US. 

 

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Canadian March for Life smashes previous attendance records: 19,500 (LifeSiteNews.com)
• Archbishop Prendergast dissects ‘my body, my choice’ slogan at March for Life Mass (LifeSiteNews.com)
• March for Life draws nearly 20,000 people to Canada's Parliament Hill (CNS)

The 13th Day - The Miracle of Fatima

Faith's answer to the DaVinci Code, a true story of a miracle in Fatima. In a world torn apart by persecution, war and oppression, three children were chosen to carry a message of hope to the world.