Why the Next Education President Will Be Like Bush
My unassailable election prediction: The guy who wins Tuesday will be an education president. There is no way to avoid it. They all grab that title, whether they deserve it or not.


Interracial Roommates Can Reduce Prejudice
Several recent studies have found that having a roommate of a different race can reduce prejudice, but such relationships are more stressful.



Obama Student Loan Plan Wins Support in House
The plan, which would end the role of banks in federal student loans, faces strong industry opposition.



Raising Minority Graduation Rates in College
The Catholic University and Trinity Washington University are well-regarded institutions located next to each other in a verdant section of northeast Washington. Yet there is a huge gap between them in the relative graduation rates of their black and white students.

Is AP Good for Everyone?
I am no match for Chester E. Finn Jr. in a debate. The president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and author of "Troublemaker: A Personal History of School Reform Since Sputnik" (Princeton University Press) is feared by many ideological adversaries for his sharp wit and inexhaustible erudition. But I am taking him on anyway in this column because he suggested recently in his own weekly Gadfly column that I was promoting Advanced Placement courses for all students, even those unable or unwilling to handle their difficulties. I thought this would also be a good way to explore the limits of the movement to make high schools more challenging, a very lively issue in our highest-performing schools. Here we go:

Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes
As the stimulus plan directs large sums to retraining programs, there are questions about whether they work.