Free Republic

DALLAS, Texas--Nerves are starting to fray. Texans want answers about the tsunami of undocumented and unaccompanied minors that may well hit public school classrooms this Fall. Breitbart Texas reported that the Clear Lake Tea Party (CLTP) voiced strong concerns about how these minors will be absorbed into classrooms across the state. Locally, it stands to tax Texans in more ways than one and how schools prepare comes with a surprising answer. Breitbart Texas asked Texas Education Agency (TEA) Director of Media Relations Debbie Ratcliffe who said, "We are monitoring the situation but, at this point, we have no districts report...

Health Reform: After years of singing the praises of universal health care, college professors are now shocked at how badly it has turned out — for them. Adjunct professors are steamed at the way their employers are interpreting the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate, which forces them to cover full-time but not part-time workers. Typical of liberals, they blame their employers instead of the job-killing law they supported. Starting Jan. 1, ObamaCare makes employers offer all full-time workers health insurance or pay a fine. In response, hundreds of colleges have simply cut instructors' course loads to dodge coverage. Others are...

Liverpool fan Harvey Eaglen apparently got in trouble in Lowestoft, Suffolk, after seeing the Uruguay striker try to take a chunk out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini A child of seven faces being expelled from primary school for copying Luis Suarez’s World Cup bite attack, it was reported last night (FRIDAY). Liverpool fan Harvey Eaglen apparently got in trouble in Lowestoft, Suffolk, after seeing the Uruguay striker try to take a chunk out of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini. The bite-sized youngster is said to have sunk his teeth into a classmate’s wrist as they played football in the playground. Harvey...

the state’s ability-to-function-in-a-modern-economy rate among graduates hovers at a dismal 37 percent. That is, according to the state Department of Education, only 37 of every 100 students who entered high school in 2009, and stayed long enough to graduate, learned enough by last June to do college-level academic work — or to enter the workforce in any meaningful way. And in New York City, the ratio was one in four. So let’s cut to the chase: If 75 percent of New York high-school seniors get diplomas, but only 37 percent are academically or economically functional ... Per-student spending — just...

I know a lot of people on this site are against public schools, and rightly so. I just wanted to share a Charter School that does deserve credit for what they are doing. Basis Charter Schools, http://basisschools.org/ is leading a revolution in the education industry. One of my children will be attending there this year for 5th grade. He just tested into Algebra 1, for 5th grade!! There is no way that a typical public school would allow him to do that. My other child just finished 6th grade. She took Algebra 1, Latin, separate courses in Chemistry, Biology, and...

An Australian atheist campaigning to keep religion out of the education system won his second victory Thursday when the nation's highest court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to fund a program that provides chaplains to schools. Ron Williams began his legal battle against the multimillion-dollar program after his 6-year-old son came home from Darling Heights State School in Toowoomba city in Queensland state singing gospel songs in 2010. Williams won in 2012 when the High Court ruled that the government had exceeded its constitutional powers by funding the program, which began in around 2,700 schools five...

(CNS photo) The Elmbrook School District operates two public high schools in suburban Wisconsin. Finding that its own gymnasiums were cramped, hot, and uncomfortable, and at the request of students, it decided to move joint graduation ceremonies to a local Protestant church which offered air conditioning, more space, and greater comfort for attendees. Not surprisingly, the rented sanctuary contained a prominently displayed cross, religious banners, hymnals, and Bibles. Neither the church’s staff nor members of the church’s congregation participated in the graduation. However, some students and parents complained that exposure to the religious symbols and materials was itself offensive...

In Mississippi on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran defeated state Sen. Chris McDaniel in a runoff election to determine who would be the state Republican PartyÂ’s nominee for Senate in the extremely conservative state. Despite the fact that the two men were more or less indistinguishable on issue positions, the race was remarkably contentious and largely defined by dueling allegations of impropriety and fraud. Indeed, while non-conservatives may consider the differences between the so-called establishment and Tea Party wings of the GOP to be slight, the primary battle that reached its culmination last night is clear evidence that Republicans themselves...

Many view America's education as a failure, but in at least one important way, it's been a success -- a success in dumbing down the nation so that we fall easy prey to charlatans, hustlers and quacks. You say, "Williams, that's insulting! Explain yourself." OK, let's start with a question or two. Are you for or against global warming, later renamed climate change and more recently renamed climate disruption? Environmentalists have renamed it because they don't want to look silly in the face of cooling temperatures. About 650 million years ago, the Earth was frozen from pole to pole,...

A new law passed in the state of Tennessee has led Gov. Bill Haslam (R) and the state’s chief education officials to quietly quit the PARCC Common Core test consortium, leaving the multi-state test group with only 15 members. As Education Week reports, while H.B. 1549, which was signed into law last month, does not actually direct Tennessee to quit PARCC, it does require the state to use its current assessment, the TCAP, in the coming 2014-2015 school year and to issue a request for proposals for a new test to be administered in 2015-2016. In a letter to Laura...

Arizona schools superintendent John Huppenthal admitted earlier this week that he has been posting anonymously on a number of political blogs using a handful of pseudonyms. Some of the postings attributed to Huppenthal, a Republican, are inflammatory and impolitic. He called food stamp recipients “lazy pigs,” for example, and equated Margaret Sanger’s promotion of abortion for poor black people to the extermination of Jewish people by the Nazis, reports The Arizona Republic. He also blamed Franklin Roosevelt’s policies during the Great Depression for the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany and suggested that Obama’s policies are similar to Roosevelt’s.

The “zero-tolerance” policy has become pretty insane in recent years, with school officials drastically over-reacting to kids being, well, normal kids. In one incident last year, a little boy in Maryland chewed his Pop-tart into the shape of a gun, and the adults in his school went ballistic. Legislators in Florida are pushing back against the madness by passing a “Pop-tart bill.”

I thought this was interesting and Freepers might get a kick/laugh out of it. Look at number 1 major requiring the least amount of study and number 5.

Last week’s California superior court decision, which struck down teacher tenure law in California public schools, is good news for everyone worried about America’s future. The decision, finding these provisions unconstitutional and discriminatory against low-income and minority students, was even applauded by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. With the success of this lawsuit, similar suits can be anticipated around the country. Everyone, except the teachers unions, seems to grasp that public education in America, particularly in low-income communities, suffers because of lack of competition. The lawsuit, filed by 9 California public school students, was backed by a non-profit organization, Students...

When Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill repealing Common Core national standards from her state’s schools, it was perhaps the most ironic moment in the fight over the initiative. Fallin is chairwoman of the National Governors Association, one of the private groups that hold the copyright of Common Core. (Yes, this marks the first time in history a private group has owned school standards.) While Fallin wasn’t governor at the time the standards were created and adopted, she nonetheless rejected her own organization’s initiative. In the same week, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a bill to repeal Common...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal may have got the ball rolling with Republican governors. According to The Clarion Ledger, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant is expressing dissatisfaction with the Common Core State Standards in his state. Watch their interview with Governor Bryant below. ... Full Article:http://www.fightthecore.com/mississippi-gov-phil-bryant-hints-at-common-core-repeal-failed-program/

The more we insist everyone must attend college, the less colleges will offer what students need. About a month ago, I came across a pair of letters online. The first, simply signed “Alumnus,” is an angry retort to his alma mater’s request for a donation. He is irritated that his degrees and the time and money spent on them have left him $40,000 in debt and unemployed for two years-plus after graduation. The second, signed “A Dedicated Professor,” is an attempt to take Alumnus to task for his lack of understanding about the significance of a true education—something he accuses...

O told Jimmy Fallon that Sasha and Malia never bring their friends to the WH. I wonder why. twitter.com/markknoller/st…— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) June 20, 2014 Does this have something to do with it? Mrs Obama cites research that if you goof off all summer, "you can actually lose up to 3 months’ worth of knowledge from the previous year."— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 20, 2014 There’s no party like a FLOTUS party! @markknoller @HarrietBaldwin what is she pushing now under the guise of "social justice"? First a nutritionist, now an educator? PLEASE-STFU— PoliticallyIncorrect (@McCarthyKnew) June 20, 2014 Michelle "No...

TheBlackHomeSchool.com is a project created by Dr. Boyce Watkins and Nomalanga Mhlauli-Moses, two college professors who are deeply committed to helping parents occupy the education of African American children. For far too long, black children have been mis-educated and undereducated by failing public schools, leading to a crisis of opportunity within the African American community. So, working with leading scholars such as Dr. Christopher Emdin, Dr. Steve Perry, Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Tyra Seldon, Mhlauli-Moses and Watkins are seeking to bring educators to the black community to provide resources and information for parents seeking to ensure that their children...

Students all over the country are in a state of excitement. It is the end of the school year, and for many, the end of high school. Graduations are being celebrated in every state. Proud parents are posting photos of their children in caps and gowns, shopping for their prom outfits, and doing senior activities. Yearbooks are floating through classrooms, filled with heartfelt goodbyes and “keep in touch” messages. All of their hard work has paid off and many have their parents to thank for their good grades. Parents in African and Caribbean cultures are doing something new to make...