Kids for Cash

The blurring of the line that separates profit from state, especially since the Reagan era, has had a far more devastating effect on American values - indeed, on the very notion that anything besides a good financial buzz even has value - than the blurring of that more famously wobbly line that separates church from state.

Why Gay Students Don't Feel Safe

Imagine being a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender teen who loves singing in the school chorus.

Now imagine that experience being spoiled by a thoughtless, homophobic adult -- the music teacher who ought to be striving for harmony.

"My choir teacher constantly makes gay jokes," a 12th-grade Latino student reported in a new national study. "And he doesn't realize that he makes it so uncomfortable for us because it's choir. There's a large LGBT community in choir, and he sits there and cracks gay jokes all the time."

No Lunch Left Behind

This new era of government bailouts and widespread concern over wasteful spending offers an opportunity to take a hard look at the National School Lunch Program. Launched in 1946 as a public safety net, it has turned out to be a poor investment. It should be redesigned to make our children healthier.

Education Still The Pathway to Freedom

In recognition of Black History Month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has presented a flattering economic sketch of black people in the United States. In this drawing by the numbers, we are seen as a relatively young and hearty work force -- 17 million black people strong -- poised to weather the difficult economic times ahead.

Nearly two-thirds of us are 45 and younger, according to the bureau. And more than one in four are employed in education and health service fields, where some of the fastest growing occupations are expected to be found through 2016.