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Wesleyan’s student newspaper faces a defunding threat for (sort of) criticizing the movement. Colleges keep finding new ways to define “hate crime” down. This week, more than 140 students and faculty at Wesleyan University in Connecticut have signed a petition to defund the school’s newspaper for running a student op-ed that (sort of) criticized the Black Lives Matter movement. The petition will be the subject of a university town-hall meeting next Sunday. The column had the temerity to suggest that the drumbeat of vitriol that Black Lives Matter has unleashed on police may be sparking violence against police officers. Eager...

The Jersey City Board of Education voted last week not to close schools for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, one of the most important holidays for Muslims. School board members in New Jersey made their decision Thursday despite appeals from Muslim attendees who showed up to advocate that the board change the school schedule. At one point, things became so heated that an official urged security to “take charge” of the situation. At least one person was seen on video being escorted from the meeting. “We feel alienated from the Board of Education, we feel alienated from this system,”...

The Association of American Universities on Monday released the overall results of a survey that asked students at 27 universities about their experiences with sexual assault and sexual misconduct, drawing responses from more than 150,000 students. [Snip] Here are key data and reactions from universities that participated in the AAU’s joint study of sexual assault this year. ... The survey found that 23 percent of undergraduate women and 5 percent of undergraduate men said they were victims of non-consensual sexual contact – ranging from penetration to sexual touching — due to force or incapacitation. Eleven percent of undergraduate women said...

What's a teacher to do if he sees a wired briefcase that looks like a homemade bomb in the classroom? Obviously not apply the Obama administration's "If you see something, say something" rule. Nor should they follow the school's zero tolerance policy to keep students safe, like school administrators in Irving, Texas did after 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed brought to class what he said was a homemade clock. What happened after may or may not have been overreach by school officials, but considering what's happening in the world today, who's to judge? Rather than saying "Good Job" to MacArthur High School...

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...

A University of Missouri professor is filing a lawsuit against the school for prohibiting guns on campus, in what is aimed to be one of the first tests of the state’s newly amended constitution that provides for “strict scrutiny” of gun restrictions. Royce de R. Barondes, who is an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri, is challenging the campus’ policy that “the possession of firearms on university property is prohibited except in regularly approved programs or by university agents or employees in the line of duty.”

A Jersey City school board meeting Thursday to vote on whether to close for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Sept. 24 turned contentious before the board ultimately decided not to close schools next week. The Jersey City Board of Education had originally proposed to close schools next Thursday so that Muslim students could observe the holiday, and the City Council unanimously supported it a week ago. The academic year would have extended one day to June 23, 2016 as a result. School Principal Does the Nae Nae at Morning Drop-Off But during the nearly four hours of debate...

Powell's project -- created for her Installation: Urban Spaces class -- is reportedly called "Our Compliance" and aims "to expose white privilege." "Our society still actively maintains racist structures that benefit one group of people, and oppress another," the Chicago-born artist explained. "Forty to fifty years ago, these structures were visibly apparent and physically graspable through the existence of signs that looked exactly like the signs I put up. Today these signs may no longer exist, but the system that they once reinforced still does."

A Texas high school student was punished with in-school suspension last Monday after a teacher discovered he was wearing an American flag T-shirt, FOX 4 reported. The student, a junior whose name is Jaegur, was wearing the shirt -- which featured an American flag design with an eagle in the foreground -- at Seagoville High School in Dallas when an administrator determined the shirt violated the school dress code. Jaegur’s mom, Shelly Goode, fears the suspension will show up as a permanent mark on his record, ruining any chance her son can earn a scholarship through the ROTC program. “He...

Virginia school board chairperson has caused an uproar after posting an anti-Muslim cartoon on Facebook, questioning why Muslims wanted to come to America. The post read, “Muslims hate pork, beer, dogs, bikinis, Jesus, and freedom of speech. My question is, what the hell do they come to America for?!” The controversial meme, which was shared from the Facebook group, The Conservative Hammer, has since been taken down.

Earlier this month, a 13-year-old boy in Maryland faced an assault charge after authorities say he kissed a 14-year-old classmate on a dare at school. He's being charged with second-degree assault as a juvenile. He has not, as yet, been invited to the White House. In December 2013, a 6-year-old boy in Colorado was suspended from school for kissing a girl on the hand. "It was during class," Hunter Yelton explained. "We were doing reading group, and I leaned over and kissed her on the hand. That's what happened." No White House invitation..... "He just wants to invent good things...

Schools in Tennessee are attempting to force students to declare Allah to be the supreme god. Maury County parents are expressing their outrage against a textbook's recounting of Muhammad being a prophet inspired by Allah. Brandee Porterfield has expressed her anger toward aspect of the textbook, saying: "I have big problem with that. From a historical point of view, that's a lot of history these kids are missing. … Also, for them to spend three weeks on Islam after having skipped Christianity, it seems to be that they are making a choice about which religion to discuss." A Christian pastor...

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...

I remember the good old days when liberals who wanted to tear down the symbols of the Confederacy were assuring us that it was only an issue when it flew on taxpayer owned, public property over the seat of government. Other than that it was a question of free speech. (Or racism or oppression or whatever you like.) Remember that line? Ah, good times, my friends. But that’s long since ceased to be the case. As many of us predicted, this trend was going to spread like pubic lice at an Occupy Wall Street camp, and it has been...

It’s a complaint at least as old as “Sex and the City”: Where are all the good, dateable men? Why are there so many amazing women and so few acceptable mates for them? For a long time, the conclusions drawn were that women were doing something wrong. Too aggressive, not aggressive enough, not putting themselves out there, putting themselves out there a little too often. A new book “Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game” by Jon Birger sets out to show that women aren’t doing anything wrong: There just aren’t enough Mr. Rights to go around. Birger explains...

[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]

UPDATE: In his own words Ahmed Mohamed, 14, an Irving MacArthur High student essentially states he knew taking the device to school was controversial. Listen at 1:26 video: “I closed it with a cable, so… because, I didn’t want to lock it to make it seem like a threat so I just used simple cable…. so it won’t look that much suspicious”. Update#2 – We are not the only people to pick up on the admitted “intent”. Follow THIS LINK – To see exactly how it was engineered and the kids’ story gets even more sketchy.

DALLAS - A Texas high school football coach directed two players to strike a referee during a game because of missed calls that had hurt the team, the players claimed Friday during a national broadcast. During an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning, America,” Michael Moreno and Victor Rojas also repeated earlier claims that the ref had used racial slurs. Moreno said he regrets hitting Robert Watts and wants to apologize. Rojas said he was just doing what he was told. The two were suspended from the Jay High School football team in San Antonio in the aftermath of the game...

An Obama administration representative took a shot at a well-known conservative college Thursday, saying the school wasn’t included on its much-heralded new “College Scorecard” because it isn’t a real two-to-four year college. Hillsdale College, a 1,500-student liberal arts college in Michigan, is ranked by U.S. News and World Reports as the 67th-best national liberal arts college in the country. The college is well-known for the conservative identity of its student body and its focus on a core curriculum that emphasizes Judeo-Christian tradition and the U.S. Constitution. It’s also known for its refusal to accept any federal funding (including federal student...

Australia’s “Christian heritage’’ will be taught in schools in a slimmed-down national curriculum that focuses on phonics to ­improve children’s reading. ..... Indigenous issues have been cut from parts of the curriculum, and students will no longer be taught about Harmony Week, ­National Reconciliation Week, or NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) week. Students will continue to learn about Australia Day, Anzac Day and National Sorry Day. The Year 6 study of the contribution of “individua­ls and groups” to Australian society will no longer ­include a reference to indigenous people or migrants, and will be confined to the...