http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-q6U-OQo_g&feature=channel_page

Press Pass TV looks at the importance of student rights and legal education.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynk29_HDzHU&feature=channel_page

It seems like each four minutes there's a new event happening in Boston proper or across the river where I sit typing right now.

These events range from knitting circles to test drive tweetups, and the thing these events have in common is that they're increasingly organized via social media tools.

So imagine my surprise when I found out this morning in one of the first sessions at the Social Technology and Education Conference at Harvard University, that this very conference was completely organized without any traditional marketing.

Massachusetts schools are physically restraining students, and there is controversy over when that is appropriate, the Globe reports.

During the 2007-2008 year, Mass. schools reported 114 incidents of restraining a student resulting in an injury or lasting for "an extended period of time."

The article mentions a "surge in the number of students with behavioral issues," but does not say anything about why the surge.

The Archdiocese of Boston is closing St. Anne's School in Readville at the end of this school year. Declining enrollment, they say.

The state Board of Education is closing the Uphams Corner Charter School at the end of this school year. The school is failing its students, they say. The school has 15 days to appeal the decision.

Sunday, September 21, 2008, 6:00-8:00 pm
Location: Club Café, 209 Columbus Avenue, South End, Boston 02116

The Globe reports:

Thousands of Massachusetts public high school graduates arrive at college unprepared for even the most basic math and English classes, forcing them to take remedial courses that discourage many from staying in school, according to a statewide study released yesterday.

Read the report yourself.

Only in Boston makes the argument.

Carpundit, no fan of Deval Patrick, applauds his decision to not apply for a federal abstinence-only education grant:

... It's patent that teens will be having sex, theocrats' fantasies notwithstanding. They should be taught about the implications.

The Outraged Liberal reads to the very end of a Globe story to learn that some lobbyist is getting paid $50,000 a year to get the Legislature to fund abstinence-only education in Massachusetts:

... There's no harm in teaching abstinence -- in conjunction with a curriculum that also covers the facts of life. The decision by the Patrick administration and other states that refuse to buckle to yet another absurd federal mandate (in an area where states traditionally have greatest leeway) is appropriate.

So is a House amendment to contest the policy. But only if that amendment is offered in the clear light of day -- which this one was not. Or if the pros and cons are debated on the floor, which has not happened.

Robert Aguilera, manager and cheese buyer for the Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge has teamed up with Julie Cappellano, the wine buyer at the South End Formaggio to bring Boston, the Bueno Queso Social Club. These are monthly wine and cheese pairing classes.

The next class is titled, "From the Stiletto Heel to the Thigh Highs of Italy." and will take place on March 25th at the Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge.