Foreign policy as if the people were consulted

Public Agenda notes in a recent email that

Americans balk at being the world’s policeman, but they wouldn’t mind being the world's firefighter, moving in with humanitarian aid in a crisis. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) say helping out in natural disasters should be a "very important" priority, according to our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index. That puts disaster relief on a par with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons for the public. While few foreign policy experts would frame disaster relief in these terms, the public has been quite consistent on this. ...

whether or not disasters were in the news.

New teachers

There are two kinds of new teachers, according to Public Agenda: those who come to the profession through traditional schools of education, and those who come to it via alternative pathways such as Teach for America, Troops to Teachers, and The New Teacher Project. A recent study conducted by PA and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality found that the two groups see their work rather differently.

Short version: the alternative-route new teachers are much more likely than their traditionally-trained colleagues to report administrative interference and to report that they were assigned hard-to-teach classes, and less likely to report helpful feedback from colleagues. The report doesn't answer the followup question,

whether the contrast comes out of differences in the
reception, training and support these alternate-route
teachers receive on the job or whether they stem from
different standards these new teachers (many
of whom come out of selective colleges and universities
or have served in the military) may bring to the job.

IOW, do they have higher standards, or are they soreheads?