Free Republic

After my last two columns on Donald Trump, several people have written to ask what I think about some of the other Republican presidential candidates. So I thought I’d address that question this week. Hey, I’m nothing if not responsive to my readers. Please excuse me if I don’t mention everyone. I’ve only got 500 words. Ben Carson. No question, Dr. Carson is manifestly the smartest person in the race, on either side. His slogan should be, “It’s just politics, folks. Not brain surgery.” I don’t necessarily agree with him on every issue, but I believe he’s a man of...

Val Kittington is a Military Veteran of the U.S. Navy. She claims to be Pro-God, Pro-Gun, Pro-Life, Pro-Military, Pro-Israel, Pro-Constitution, Anti-Obamacare and Anti-Common Core.

Jeb Bush is qualifying some recent criticism of fellow Floridian and GOP rival Marco Rubio. Last week the former Florida governor said that the young senator does not have the “skills to fix things” as president. What’s with the change of emphasis? As CNN’s Sara Murray reported Sunday, some donors to Bush’s campaign are not pleased with prospect the super PAC supporting Bush, Right to Rise, will aim its fire at Rubio. “They actually like Rubio,” Murray said of the Bush donors. “They think he could be a good second choice if Bush can’t get his poll numbers up, they...

So far, there are two Republicans I will NOT vote for under any circumstances if they are the nominee in 2016. One is Jeb Bush. The other is this jackass John Kasich. While pandering to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, John Kasich said: Ohio RINO John Kasich compares enemies of ObamaCARE to ISIS I mean, look at Medicaid expansion. You know how many people are yelling at me? I’ve gone to events where people yell at me. You know what? You know what I tell ‘em? I mean, God bless ‘em, I’m telling them a little bit better at...

Too often, our children are prohibited from learning the Christian principles America is founded upon. This is thanks to liberal teachers and political correctness. But schools seem to have no problem teaching Islam–and one student’s mother in Bakersfield, California is furious about it! Her son is in the 7th grade, and was given a hand out entitled “Islamic Beliefs and Practices” where students were taught to memorize the 5 Pillars of Islam and view a YouTube video. The mother made it clear that her son will NOT be participating. She first shared details of the assignment on KGET-TV 17 Facebook’s...

On Friday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced he would be stepping down after nearly seven years on the job. This makes it a good moment to assess Duncan’s legacy, especially since his tenure has been shrouded by more than its fair share of puffery and overheated PR. This was predictable when it came to the usual Obama cheerleaders (Tom Friedman wanted Duncan to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state). But it also showed up at times as generous, even fawning, laurels tossed by the likes of David Brooks, Jeb Bush, Newt Gingrich, and Lamar Alexander. ... Duncan —...

John King Jr. was a miserable failure as Commissioner of Education in New York. He waylaid his failure in New York into the assistant’s job in the US Department of Education. He will be the new Secretary of Education. King came to New York as an extremely well-educated egghead with little educational experience and none in public schools. He implemented Common Core in a bizarre manner and blamed the horrendous results on New York’s “ignorant” children. Even though New York’s standards were the highest in the nation, he claimed the students were not used to high standards. He tied...

When you think of places one might call “ground zero” for Islamic extremism in the United States, several places spring to mind. Perhaps New York City or Michigan — where one major city has earned the moniker “Dearbornistan” — would be your choice. However, according to an expert on Islam in America, the answer is a surprising one — the state of Tennessee, where she says Islamist indoctrination is happening on a massive scale in the school system. “Tennessee is ground zero for Muslim activism in the United States,” Cathy Hinners said at a panel at the Values Voters Summit...

Education Secretary Arne Duncan—an advocate for reform and, at times, a target for criticism from the left and the right—will be stepping down from his post in December. Duncan is one of just two remaining Cabinet secretaries who have served in the administration since the beginning of President Barack Obama’s first term. The other is Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Obama lauded Duncan’s efforts at education reform saying “America’s going to be better off for what he has done.” During his tenure, Duncan occasionally drew the ire of liberals and conservatives for such as initiatives the Race to the Top competitive...

 There’s nothing necessarily wrong with children learning about Islam. But learning about Islam to the exclusion of Christianity, and that Allah is the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians, has a lot of parents angry. Several Walton County parents say their children are being forced to learn about Islam, and want the option to exclude their children from these lessons. The teaching of Islam has banded together a group of upset parents. “My daughter had to learn the Shiad, and the five pillars of Islam, which is what you learn to convert, but they never once learned anything...

Well, it may not work terribly well but Common Core sure is expensive. “The treatment of textbooks as mountains of words is one of the signature elements of Common Core,” Peter Wood of the National Association of Scholars (NAS) pointed out at the National Press Club Monday. In the past half-decade, the 26 states aligned with the Common Core has dropped to 7 but the price tag keeps increasing. “The Pioneer Institute estimates that the 7-year cost of Common Core is $16 billion,” Silicon Valley engineer Ze’ev Wurman said at the same Press Club event Wood spoke at. “The pro-Common...

Tennessee School Districts Say Revealing Islam Lessons May Cost ‘Millions,’ Take Too Darn Long Dozens and dozens of taxpayer-funded Tennessee school districts are refusing to comply with an open records request from a conservative legal nonprofit seeking materials and documents relevant to the way public schools are teaching Islam — primarily to middle schoolers. The American Center for Law & Justice, a law firm that generally promotes conservative and Christian principles, sent its open records requests to all 146 taxpayer-funded school districts in Tennessee earlier this month, reports The Tennessean, Nashville’s main newspaper. A Nashville attorney, Chuck Cagle of the...

The traditional view is simply stated: the purpose of public education is to take each child as far as each child can be taken. Who can disagree with that? If a school is aiming for less, that school would seem to me to be guilty of malpractice or false advertising. Doesn’t the word “education” imply a striving for excellence? At the end of each school year, children are presumed to know more than at the start. Isn’t that a reasonable presumption? Somewhat bizarrely, given what’s going on in our public schools, the Education Establishment might claim they agree. Oh yes,...

Chicago Public Schools ... The district said it would freeze funds for schools where students appear to be enrolled, but have not attended any days of classes or received class schedules. ... The district said 10th day enrollment totaled 367,499. In 2002, the district's enrollment was 438,589.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan grew up in Chicago and attended the private, prestigious University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. The pre-K-12 Lab Schools are progressive institutions ... resident Obama’s two daughters attended the school before moving to Washington in 2009, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s children are enrolled there now. And in the fall, Duncan’s children will be attending Lab, too, while his wife works there. .... his children will attend a progressive private school in Chicago, a school that does not follow key school reform policies that his Education Department has set for public schools. It does not, for example,...

The bad reviews of Common Core keep pouring in, and not just from the right of center. “Among bilingual educators there has been much debate about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS),” Jeff Bale writes in the Fall 2015 issue of Rethinking Schools. “Some of the most respected scholars of bilingual education have endorsed the Common Core and are working hard to make it relevant for English learners.” “Others have been more suspicious. Not only do the standards focus on English-only, critics note, but they were bankrolled by the Gates Foundation, pushed on states in a way that amounts to...

An Ohio dad wanted to let his son’s elementary school know how frustrated his family is about Common Core math. Douglas Hermann from Painesville posted a picture on his Facebook page of a check made out to Melridge Elementary School with place value chart in place of the dollar amounts: If you’re unfamiliar with this method of teaching math, check out this video of a little girl demonstrating how to add three-digit numbers using both the traditional method and the Common Core method: Little Girl Destroys Common Core Math in Under 2 MinutesHermann also wrote on his Facebook page, “It’s sad...

Earlier this week, someone who had read my piece about Donald Trump’s less-than-A+ record in business asked me if I’d write something about Carly Fiorina’s business record and why I think despite Democratic and Trumpette knocks on it, it actually indicates that she would do a good job as President (full disclosure: I have worked with and consulted for Carly Fiorina in the past). With that in mind, here goes nothing.First, let’s start broad brush, with the basic recognition that Carly Fiorina is a self-made woman. Unlike Trump, she comes from a family of academic types, not business people—let alone...

[SNIP] Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush triggered boos when he defended his early support for the Common Core education standards, a policy developed by state leaders in both parties that has become a target of tea party ire. "I'm for higher standards, and Common Core standards are higher than the standards that exist," Bush said before being interrupted by boos. "If South Carolina wants to be without Common Core standards, great, just make sure the standards that you apply are higher than the ones before you had Common Core. Standards matter. Accountability matters." [SNIP]

A new report claims the United States’ education system is seeing minority teachers quitting at an alarming rate. Experts cited by the Washington Post claim it is possible a history of racism and income disparity might explain why some black teachers are quitting their jobs, but others believe the new standardized curriculum like Common Core and the inability to apply child discipline may have frustrated these teachers.