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☆ A ChatGPT bot passed a Wharton business school exam, but a professor says he would've only graded the effort a B or B-minus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wharton professor Christian Terwiesch tested ChatGPT with questions from his final exam. Terwiesch found that ChatGPT could answer basic questions well but sometimes made "surprising mistakes" in simple calculations. Terwiesch concluded that ChatGPT might earn a B or B- on his final exam. Based on an analysis of similar retailers, the founders expect to turn their inventory 1.5 times per year. To achieve an annual revenue of $3,000,000, how much inventory expressed in $'s should the founders expect their operation to require?

☆ France hit by nationwide strike as unions fight Macron’s plan to raise retirement age
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

French workers would have to work longer before receiving a pension under the new rules — with the nominal retirement age rising from 62 to 64. Many French workers expressed mixed feeling about the government’s plan and pointed to the complexity of the pension system. For those who do not fulfil that condition, like many women who interrupted their career to raise their children or those who studied for a long time and started working late, the retirement age would remain unchanged at 67. Those who started to work early, under the age of 20, and workers with major health issues would be allowed early retirement. Protracted strikes met Macron’s last effort to raise the retirement age in 2019.

☆ Venezuelan teachers march for better pay amid sky-high inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 16 (Reuters) - Teachers, retirees and workers' unions marched in at least six Venezuelan cities on Monday to demand better salaries, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro faces renewed challenges in its attempt to fight inflation. The minimum monthly salary for a public school teacher is about $10, while university professors earn between $60 and $80. I earn 460 bolivars a month (about $23)," said Odalis Aguilar, a 50-year-old teacher who marched in the city of Maracay. In the central state of Carabobo, teachers and public employees also held demonstrations, saying salaries do not cover the cost of food and medicine. Over the weekend the government paid public employees a bonus equivalent to $29.80.

LISBON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - In a fresh blow to Portugal's government, tens of thousands of Portuguese teachers and school staff poured into the streets of the capital Lisbon to demand higher wages and better working conditions in one of the biggest protests of recent years. During the peaceful demonstration, organised by the Union of All Education Professionals (STOP), protesters held banners and shouted slogans as they urged Education Minister Joao Costa to step down. Teachers on the lowest pay scale make around 1,100 euros ($1,191.08) per month and even teachers in the top band typically earn less than 2,000 euros monthly. Protesters say current wages are too low, particularly given the cost of living crisis. The education minister said on Friday he might force some teachers back to work by decreeing minimum services.

☆ These teachers think ChatGPT can help them spend less time on writing reports – and more time with their students
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tools such as ChatGPT could help teachers reduce the workload of grading and writing reports. They're still dealing with the educational fallout after the pandemic shuttered many schools and they say they're working long hours to help students catch up. He thinks ChatGPT could help teachers spend less time on tasks including grading papers, writing reports, and responding to emails, and spend more time actually teaching students. He also thinks ChatGPT could help answer students' questions and let help teachers "avoid getting bogged down in the infinite loop of late-night email exchanges." Ultimately, Cohen told Insider, "ChatGPT has the potential to support teachers' sanity and protect the sanctity of their time."

Three sources briefed on OpenAI's recent pitch to investors said the organization expects $200 million in revenue next year and $1 billion by 2024. OpenAI was most recently valued at $20 billion in a secondary share sale, one of the sources said. The startup has already inspired rivals and companies building applications atop its generative AI software, which includes the image maker DALL-E 2. OpenAI has also attracted attention as an AI provider and potential Google search competitor, with ChatGPT answering queries for more than 1 million users so far. OpenAI warns users, ChatGPT "may occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content."

☆ Tipping Point: New tip guidelines for holiday giving
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

“I talk on etiquette issues all year long, and tipping is the one that always gets thousands of comments. The findings are a mixed bag for service providers, with some good news and some bad news about what is coming their way. But when it comes to holiday tipping, people just do not know what to do. That is called tipflation or tip creep, Farley says, and you should feel under no moral obligation to do so. But it's better to focus on the ongoing service providers in your life, who should be recognized with a healthy year-end tip.

Therefore, experts say, hiring Black teachers is necessary to address the racial disparities that lead to poor educational outcomes and criminalization for Black children. Furthermore, advocates say that Black students who don’t have Black teachers are less likely to become teachers themselves, so commitments to diversifying the industry must start early on in the classroom. The Black Teacher Project in Oakland, California, works with Black teachers to “reimagine schools as communities of liberated learning,” the Project’s website reads. It also teaches educators how to implement restorative practices in their classrooms and invites them to retreats to foster community among Black teachers. “Therefore, the Black Teacher Project’s motto is ‘Every child deserves a Black teacher.’”

☆ UK could use military to ease strikes, Conservative chairman says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Britain's government is looking at bringing in the military to help keep public services running if key workers, including in the state-run National Health Service, take strike action, the chairman of the governing Conservative Party said on Sunday. "We're looking at the military, we're looking at a specialist response force... a surge capacity," he said, adding that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances. Workers at post and parcel company Royal Mail have held several rounds of strikes this year in a dispute over pay and working conditions and more strikes are planned this month. Zahawi again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for fuelling energy price rises and double-digit inflation, calling on public sector workers to "come together". "There is a minimum safety level of delivery in place already, but the NHS will look at all contingency planning," he said.

☆ Students rally in Budapest protesting against teachers' dismissals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Marton MonusBUDAPEST, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Thousands of teachers, students and parents protested in the Hungarian capital on Saturday in solidarity with teachers fired from top Budapest secondary schools for taking strike action that the government deemed unlawful. After a nationwide teachers' strike in January 2022, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban restricted strike action. Several teachers from three leading Budapest secondary schools were dismissed by an order from the Interior Ministry on Wednesday for joining demonstrations and not holding classes. Students held up banners "Hands off our teachers," and "Shame on Orban" at the rally in Budapest while some students organised a week-long 24-hour vigil at the Interior Ministry, which has responsibility for education. The government has said it would raise teachers' wages once the European Commission disburses EU recovery funding, with pay hikes coming over a period of 3 years.

A Florida sheriff stunned many of his constituents this week by appearing to endorse spanking students, his comments coming during a press conference in which county officials announced plans to tighten discipline in Brevard County schools. Sheriff Wayne Ivey spins the "Wheel of Fugitive" board at the Brevard County Sheriffs Office in 2017. And he is a Brevard County political powerbroker who helped get two Republicans, Megan Wright and Gene Trent, elected to the county school board. Shortly after they were sworn in Nov. 22, Wright and Trent teamed up with school board chair Matt Susin to oust longtime superintendent Mark Mullins. There was agreement among the Brevard County school officials interviewed that disruptive students are a problem in the system.

☆ The fear of loss can cost investors big-time. Here’s how
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Westend61The fear of loss is a powerful emotion for investors — and, if left unchecked, can cost them big bucks in the long term due to years of forfeiture of investment gains. watch nowFor investors, that evolutionary impulse plays out as "loss aversion bias." Investors have a bias toward avoiding financial loss. Prioritizing the avoidance of loss over earning a gain "is a major reason why so many investors underperform the market," Aguilar said. Meanwhile, 401(k) investors pulled money out of stock mutual funds during the same time period.

☆ Why Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan is legal and should be reinstated by the Supreme Court, according to 44 economists, legal experts, and advocates
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Biden's administration recently asked the Supreme Court to revive its student-debt relief plan. Biden's Justice Department quickly appealed the 8th Circuit's decision and took the issue to the Supreme Court, asking it on November 18 to revive the student-loan forgiveness plan. It's unclear when, or what, the highest court will ultimately decide, but 44 advocates, economists, legal experts, and scholars joined the Biden administration's fight by filing amicus curiae briefs before Thanksgiving supporting the revival of debt relief. As you know, it's up to the Supreme Court, and we're going to continue to fight. Here are the main arguments the experts and advocates used as to why the Supreme Court should reinstate Biden's student-debt cancellation plan.

☆ After the Colorado Springs attack, LGBTQ people are furious at the rhetoric targeting them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

And she’s angry with people who have spread anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online — some for years — leading up to the shooting. Courtesy Elizabeth Pixie / Snapchat“They can call it religion, they can call it politics, they can call it saving people,” Pixie, who lives in Colorado Springs, said. The suspect was apprehended by police after being injured in the attack and is in the hospital. James Davis said the attack at Club Q was a result of "cause and effect." Parker Grey used to be a regular at Club Q but stopped going out of safety concerns.

☆ 'It killed my spirit': How 3 teachers are navigating the burnout crisis in education
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

After two years of weathering pandemic disruptions, safety concerns and tense public scrutiny, burned-out teachers have quit the profession in droves. At least 300,000 public-school teachers and other staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some teachers quit because of the challenges of teaching during a global pandemic, while others, taking note of the Great Resignation, found higher-paid opportunities in other industries. "He began the conversation about how education is full of inequity, and how teachers can help resolve some of the inequity that exists." When her school re-opened for the 2021-2022 school year, Paulino felt even more lost.

☆ Millions of student-loan borrowers risk a 'financial catastrophe' if Biden doesn't 'immediately' extend the debt payment pause, 225 advocacy groups say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Over 200 advocacy groups urged Biden to extend the student-loan payment pause on Monday. After two federal courts blocked the relief, they said borrowers should not have to face payments. Two conservative lawsuits have blocked indefinitely the president's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans for federal borrowers. The advocacy groups argued that until borrowers receive the relief they were promised, they cannot be forced back into repayment. The administration also appealed to a lower court the federal judge in Texas' decision to block the relief two weeks ago.

☆ The White House is reportedly considering extending the student-loan payment pause again as Biden's debt relief sits in federal courts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The White House is considering extending the student-loan payment pause again, per The Washington Post. This comes as Biden's debt relief is on pause after federal courts blocked its implementation. Given that these legal proceedings could take months, extending into the new year, calls to extend the student-loan payment pause beyond December 31 have been amplifying. The Washington Post reported on Monday that White House officials are considering another extension, according to two people familiar with the matter who stressed that no final decisions have been made. Advocates have also been calling on Biden to extend the student-loan payment pause.

☆ Student-loan borrowers should not resume payments in January after federal courts have blocked the relief, advocates say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Two federal courts have blocked Biden's student-loan forgiveness plan so far. Advocates say student-loan payments should not resume in January without relief. These legal challenges could delay the implementation of Biden's debt relief for months — potentially extending into next year, when student-loan payments are scheduled to resume. Alongside the August announcement of broad student-loan forgiveness, the department announced the "final" extension of the student-loan payment pause through December 31. Still, given that the department told borrowers the goal was to have their relief processed before payments resume, advocates are hoping borrowers won't be thrown into repayment too soon.

☆ Illinois Amendment 1: right to collective bargaining measure
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Amendment 1 would alter the state's constitution to add a right to collective bargaining. Ballot measure detailsAmendment 1 would add language to the state's constitution that gives employees the fundamental right to organize and collectively bargain at their workplaces to negotiate "wages, hours, and working conditions." Supporters argue that this will enshrine the right to unionize and protect employees from anti-union initiatives and laws that would make collective bargaining more difficult. Opposition to this measure includes the Illinois Policy Institute and the Illinois Republican Party, which argues that the amendment will give union organizations too much power and make it more difficult for business owners to operate in the state. The money raceAccording to Illinois State Board of Elections filings, $13.6 million has been raised in support of Amendment 1.

☆ Now They Want a Pandemic ‘Amnesty’
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Believe it or not, American Federation of Teachers chief Randi Weingarten on Monday tacitly acknowledged that keeping schools closed during the pandemic was a mistake. Miracles happen, apparently. But she also now wants parents—especially if they’re voters next week—to forgive her and her political allies without seeking an apology or holding them accountable. Sorry, that lets them off way too easy. “I agree,” Ms. Weingarten tweeted a link to a piece in The Atlantic by Emily Oster , “Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty.” The article argues that Americans should forgive experts and government leaders for their mistakes during the pandemic.

☆ Why Randi Weingarten Supports Harvard’s Discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Allysia Finley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

You almost have to admire the chutzpah of the teachers unions. Even as they fight to keep poor minority kids trapped in failing public schools, they plead that racial preferences in college admissions are necessary to compensate for these students’ inferior K-12 education. High-achieving Asian-American and white students must be discriminated against to make up for the educational “privileges” that unions deny minorities. That’s the argument advanced by the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers in their friend-of-the-court briefs supporting Harvard and the University of North Carolina in cases the Supreme Court will hear on Monday concerning the legality of racial preferences. “Our schools, from K-12 to higher education, still struggle to provide equitable opportunities for students of color,” the NEA laments.

☆ 5 lessons for success and happiness on Wall Street — from a Bank of America rising star turned doula and Reiki master
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Emmalyse Brownstein | Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Laura Hayward started her Wall Street career at Morgan Stanley during the financial crisis. Hayward, who rose ranks at Bank of America, shares what she learned to be both successful and happy on Wall Street. "I'd always been a finance person at work and a spiritual person and hippie outside of work," Hayward told Insider. After seven years at BofA, and more than a decade on Wall Street, she left this summer. Wall Street work life is stereotypically perceived as draconian — leaving little room for individuality.

Rep. Mayra Flores speaks at the University Draft House in McAllen, Texas, on Oct. 10. “I still believe at the end of the day this is still a solid, moderate Democratic region,” González said. A fighting chanceOf the three Latina Republicans running, Mónica De La Cruz, endorsed by former President Donald Trump and running in an adjacent congressional district, Texas' 15th, is considered the party's best chance to win. Soon after being sworn in to Congress, Flores voted against the landmark gun safety bill pushed through Congress by Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican. Francisco Medrano Jr., of Harlingen, says he’s likely to support Republican Mayra Flores.

☆ Lin-Manuel Miranda's first songbook is out, from 'In the Heights' to 'Hamilton' and 'Encanto'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

So even for Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Pulitzer winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, his first songbook, containing 27 songs from “Hamilton,” “Encanto,” “In the Heights” and more, was a big deal. At the event, his nephew Alejandro performed “Dos Oruguitas” (from “Encanto”) on the piano, and was joined by his own teacher for “You’ll Be Back” (from “Hamilton”). You grew up with musical theater and piano lessons — how does it feel to have your own songbook? And it really was a teacher who brought me out of just writing songs about girls in the back of the classroom. That’s a really fun thing about the whole process: When you’re there early enough, your songs can really be a part of a give-and-take.

☆ A student-loan company involved in a major lawsuit against Biden's debt relief just got hit with a cease and desist over accusations of 'interfering with student loan borrowers' right to loan cancella
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Advocacy groups AFT and SBPC sent a cease and desist letter to student-loan company MOHELA. "Student loan giant MOHELA has grown fat on federal contracts and back-room deals with big banks. The groups also noted that MOHELA's actions could be a "potential liability" under the California Student Borrower Bill of Rights and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. The cease and desist letter noted that seeking to block debt relief and understaffing call centers could constitute such behavior. "People with student debt in California and across the country have a right to life-changing debt relief and we will not let a rogue student loan company stand in the way."

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