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Link between NEA and SPLC?

SEATTLE -- A KIRO Team 7 Investigation exposes Washington teachers who buy illegitimate college degrees. They can profit. You pay! Worse yet, Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovers a loophole that technically makes this legal. The state Superintendent's office gladly approves automatic pay increases for teachers who complete their masters or doctorate. I've discovered, however, the state does not routinely check to see if the degrees are from real or certified universities. We tracked down some educators who are either getting more money, or more respect, than they deserve. Dr. Kevin Evoy is principal at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Olympia....

TERESA: TEACHING ISN'T A 'REAL JOB' [10/20 12:19 PM] From USA Today interview with Teresa Heinz Kerry: Q: You'd be different from Laura Bush? A: Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don't know that she's ever had a real job — I mean, since she's been grown up. What arrogance. Stunning, unmitigated arrogance! From the White House: Inspired by her second grade teacher, she earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Southern Methodist University in 1968. She...

Poll Shows At Least 5 Percent of U.S. High School Students Identify as Gay or Lesbian; Poll Also Finds Anti-Gay Language is Rampant; 66 percent Report Using Homophobic Language Contact: Riley Snorton of GLSEN, 212-727-0135 ext. 138, 646-526-1076 (cell) or rsnorton@glsen.org NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, today announced results from a new national poll on students' attitudes on sexual orientation. Based on results from the poll, approximately 5 percent of America's high school students identify as lesbian or gay, 16 percent of America's students have a gay or lesbian...

A New Hampshire teen is taking a ``Live Free or Die'' lesson to his own teachers, threatening to sue his school if it won't allow him to appear in a yearbook photo with a shotgun on his shoulder. ``I don't see anything wrong with the picture,'' Londonderry High School Senior Blake Douglass said yesterday. ``I enjoy shooting trap and skeet, and I believe you should stand up for what you believe in.'' School administrators have rejected a photo submission from Douglass that shows the smiling senior on one knee with a trapshooting shotgun over his shoulder. Trapshooting, a sport offered...

Continued immigration and a stubborn high school dropout rate have stymied efforts to improve literacy in Los Angeles County, where more than half the working-age population can't read a simple form, a report released Wednesday found. Alarmingly, only one in every 10 workers deemed functionally illiterate is enrolled in literacy classes and half of them drop out within three weeks, said the study by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

Eco-Logic PowerHouse From From EdWatch... FACT: "School-to-Work" is alive and well! By Michael J. Chapman For several years, EdWatch (formerly, The Maple River Education Coalition) has been warning of a coming state-planned-and-managed economy by means of the federal "School-to-Work (STW) System." We've explained how the federal agenda was driven into all 50 states by three federal bills passed piecemeal under the Clinton administration (Goals 2000, STW, and the Workforce Investment Act). On July 19, 2004, the federal House Education & the Workforce Committee posted a "fact sheet" denying that School- to -Work was involved in the pending Vocational Education funding...

Court kills N. Haledon's bid to leave Manchester Regional Thursday, August 12, 2004 North Haledon must remain in the Manchester Regional School District, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, but the district's funding formula must be retooled.The ruling ends the borough's attempt to withdraw from the district, but it portends lower school taxes for its residents.The court's decision, written by Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, found that while North Haledon's attempt to withdraw was not racially motivated, students from all three sending districts would suffer from the reduced diversity that would result from North Haledon's departure."This decision's going to have a...

A California school district is considering adopting a new policy that could cause students to be expelled for "rejecting" each other, for sharing "unpleasant stories" about each other – even if true – or for associating with like-minded peers in groups if others feel "left out." According to a statement from the Pro-Family Law Center, the Murrieta Valley Unified School District in Riverside County, Calif., is taking up the issue in response to race-related incidents that have taken place within the district in the last year. The center says national race-based organizations came to the district to propose language for...

We're hearing quite a bit from politicians who decry what they call "the two Americas," by which they mean the rich and the poor. Notwithstanding the fact that "poor" Americans are wealthier than most of the other people of the world, this political ploy seems to me to be divisive and rooted in the politics of envy. Be that as it may, I believe that there really are two Americas — the educated and the uneducated. And education is the basis of wealth in the United States. Aside from the occasional pop star who makes a fortune in show business...

To no one's surprise, the annual National Education Association convention voted six-to-one (7,390 to 1,153), to endorse John Kerry for President. The head of the NEA, Reg Weaver, opened the annual convention in July in Washington, DC with a call for public school teachers and employees to mobilize to defeat President Bush this fall. He said the union's political activism "takes center stage," and he predicted that "our 2.7 million members can be the X-factor in this election." For the 2004 political campaign, the NEA will "partner" with the leftwing organizations MoveOn.org, ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now),...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

Socialism's march across America Americans were appalled when Castro nationalized private property in Cuba, and led the nation into socialism. Many but not all Americans were appalled when the governments of Zimbabwe and Namibia confiscated private property for redistribution. But a new generation of Americans has emerged who never learned what socialism is, or why their fathers and grandfathers fought so hard to prevent it in America. For the benefit of those who didn't learn it in school, < a href = http://www.merriam-webster.com/>Socialism is: 1). : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration...

Why Morality Matters by Steven C. Bonta, Ph.D. It is my conviction that the greatest threat to our free republic is moral decline. It is becoming fashionable nowadays to discount or ignore completely the relationship between morality and political liberty. Perhaps this is because the deteriorating moral culture in the modern United States of America seeks to be its own justification. Freedom, some believe, can flourish independently of moral standards, as long as we allow every man uninhibited license in his so-called “personal lifestyle choices.” This badly flawed notion is going to be the death of our republic, unless...

GENEVA — DeSales High School’s director of recruitment was fired yesterday because of her letter to the editor that ran in the Times May 6. “I feel like I was stabbed in the back by the administration,” said Kathy Peters, former director of recruitment, retention and public relations. “I just knew [I was in trouble], but I didn’t think they were going to fire me. I thought I was going to get a reprimand.” Peters, of 17 Huff St., Waterloo, had held the position for two years. Previously, she served as principal of St. Michael School in Newark for nine...

<p>State affiliates of the National Education Association, a sponsor of last weekend's pro-choice March for Women's Lives, are fighting members who have invoked federal antidiscrimination laws against the union's use of their dues to support abortion, contraception and homosexuality.</p> <p>Shawn Austin, a part-time school-transportation secretary in Saranac Community Schools District near Lansing, Mich., was ordered to appear before a four-member local union committee yesterday to convince fellow NEA members of her "bona fide religious-objector status."</p>

Thousands of pro-life teachers and school staff required to belong to the National Education Association across the country are offended by the union's co-sponsorship of a pro-choice march in Washington this Sunday. The NEA headquarters on 16th Street NW near the White House will act as a hospitality center for the March for Freedom of Choice while the union's nearby state affiliates in New Jersey and elsewhere are organizing buses to bring demonstrators for the event. The march is being organized by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America...

WASHINGTON (April 6) - Americans may say they know a lot about sexually transmitted diseases but they do not practice what they preach when it comes to defending against them, according to a survey published Tuesday. While one in four Americans will be infected with an STD -- and up to half of younger adults will be -- most of those surveyed believed they were not personally at risk. This is precisely why STDs spread so easily and so pervasively in society, said the American Social Health Association, which published the survey. ''The findings in our survey are quite disturbing....

Most charter schools currently operate without a union, and a study last July by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research showed that charter schools slightly outperformed public schools serving similar student populations. The nations largest teachers union has announced an aggressive campaign to organize charter-school teachers, beginning in California, one of the first states to allow charter schools.

Tax-Funded Attacks Against White House Employees?! [Call for Action!] Imagine you take a temporary job with your local school board, and that you are trying to encourage better educational standards. Let's say some school employees don't appreciate your changes to the curriculum. So, one Sunday afternoon, they grab the keys to a few school buses, fill them with a couple of hundred activists and impressionable kids from their classes, and truck on over to your house. These activists unload the adult instigators and the kids, and they surround your house and pound on your windows and scream at you all...

TRUTH WITHOUT INTERRUPTION DAY ( www.choice4truth.com/twid.htm ) On April 21, homosexual activists and their supporters will hold "Day of Silence" events on high school and college campuses throughout the country, sponsored by GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. (For more details, see www.dayofsilence.org.) It will be a silent vigil and the usual victimhood and "gay" rights claims. Participants will hand out material promoting homosexuality, bisexuality and cross-dressing. How would you like to hold a counter-event the same day? We are calling it the Truth Without Interruption Day! Finally - a chance to get a word in edgewise! If...

It's called "soft dictatorship" – government's attempt to control every aspect of American life for your own good or for the good of the children. The ultimate issue is power. This week's example: government's assault (at all levels) on the homeschool movement, which now includes threats to send homeschool parents to jail. Government's great fear in this matter is not that the kids are being short-changed or abused – it's that they might be getting a better education than the government-educrat de facto monopoly can provide and that the word might get out. Yes, government has an obligation to ensure...

Cost-adjusted school district revenues for elementary and secondary education totaled $319.7 billion in 1997–98, or about $7,028 per pupil. State governments provided nearly half the total (49 percent)—about $155 billion, or about $3,413 per pupil. Local governments provided the second-largest share (45 percent)—about $144 billion, or about $3,167 per pupil. The federal government provided the remaining 6 percent of revenues—more than $20 billion, or about $447 per pupil. School District Revenues for Elementary and Secondary Education: 1997–98 Joel D. Sherman, Barbara Gregory, and Jeffrey M. Poirier This article was originally published as the Executive Summary of the Statistical Analysis...

Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) -- Mary Kreiss-Papalski was shocked to open her New Jersey Education Association newsletter and find an announcement that the teacher's union was inviting members to join the union in supporting and attending the pro-abortion March for Freedom of Choice Rally in Washington D.C. this April. Not only was the invitation published in the March 2004 NJEA review, the announcement also stated that the Association's Women in Education Committee, "with approval form the NJEA Executive Committee, will charter two buses for members." "When I read this I was quite upset," said Kreiss-Papalski, an NJEA member and guidance secretary...

What passes for educational enlightenment these days boggles the mind. Matt Gouras, of The Associated Press, writing in the Jan. 5 Seattle Times tells a story about Tennessee schools. The success of some students has made other students feel badly about themselves. What're the schools' responses? Public schools in Nashville have stopped posting honor rolls. Some are considering a ban on posting exemplary schoolwork on bulletin boards. Others have canceled academic pep rallies, while others might eliminate spelling bees. Nashville's Julia Green Elementary School principal, Steven Baum, agrees, thinking that spelling bees and publicly graded events are leftovers from the...

Home schooling has often been dismissed as a fringe activity, its practitioners caricatured as head-in-the-sand reactionaries and off-the-grid hippies. The most vocal and organized home schoolers have tended to be religiously motivated, most often conservative Christians. But a newer breed of home schooler is emerging, motivated not by religious belief or countercultural philosophy. Uppermost for such parents are concerns about violence, peer pressure, and poor academic quality in their schools. Back in 1980, home schooling was illegal in 30 states. It was not until 1993 that all 50 states made the practice lawful. But in recent years, the practice of...

Labor Department Investigating National Education Association Reports WASHINGTON (AP) - A teachers union that spends heavily to support political candidates is acknowledging for the first time that the government is investigating whether all its expenditures have been reported. National Education Association general counsel Bob Chanin confirmed the Labor Department investigation began in April 2002, the same month a conservative law firm complained to the Bush administration that millions of dollars in political spending went unreported. "We believe we reported all political expenditures properly," Chanin told The Associated Press. "We concealed nothing. I am confident we'll get a clean bill...

Is NEA a 'terrorist organization'? Posted: February 27, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern By Brannon Howse© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com On Feb. 23, 2004, at the National Governor's Association meeting in D.C., United States Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the National Education Association "a terrorist organization." The firestorm has started and Paige will be asked to apologize – but should he? Before the NEA gets up on their soap box about being called a terrorist organization, they should remember that they and many of their liberal members have spent years hurling insults at moms, dads, taxpayers and teachers that have been fighting for traditional academics...

SYRACUSE, NY--Can Queen Latifah help high school students understand the writings of Karl Marx? Can Sean "P. Diddy" Combs help them appreciate the work of towering historical figures like Galileo, Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci? The Syracuse school district thinks they can. The district has sent a 12-page packet to each teacher at its four high schools that suggests ways to incorporate hip-hop performers and their work into their teaching. The packet, put together by two teachers and the district's coordinators of fine arts and social studies, is intended to harness the energy the March 10 Hip-Hop Summit is generating and...

ORLANDO - Education Secretary Rod Paige again apologized Friday for calling a teachers union a "terrorist organization," yet repeated his criticism that the National Education Association obstructs federal education policies. "In this post 9/11 world, the word I used obviously has a grave and sad meaning," Paige said at a convention of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "I wish I had used different words to express my point, and for the insensitive choice of words, I express my deepest regrets." Paige touched off the controversy Monday, when he made the "terrorist" remark at a gathering of governors. The...

State News February 26, 2004Darwinism to Face Scrutinyby Sonja Swiatkiewicz, state issues analyst Ohio and Minnesota have the opportunity to make a difference in how Darwinism is taught to schoolchildren.Ohio made history in December 2002 when its state Board of Education approved changes to public school science standards requiring students to be tested on their understanding of evidence for and against Darwinism.Just over a year later, Ohio again stands at a crossroads of sorts, while its school board seeks to establish a model curriculum to implement 2002's changes. Minnesota, likewise, has come to a place of decision — whether...

For Conversational Purposes... The Hispanic Club, the Chess Club and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance are just some of the clubs that have displays in the hallways of Portland schools. But after the Bible Club at Marshall High School (search) put a Bible and some other Christian books in a display case, some teachers complained to the principal. After a call to the district's lawyer, the display was taken down. District officials said they felt the display gave the impression that the school was endorsing Christianity

"[Calling the NEA a 'terrorist organization' is] the most vile and disgusting form of hate speech, comparing those who teach America's children to terrorists." — Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe. Of course Rod Paige was wrong when he called America's most powerful teacher's union a "terrorist organization." Al Qaeda isn't nearly as bad at terrorism as the NEA is at educating our children. Everyone agrees, including Secretary of Education Paige himself, that his flippant comment went too far. He apologized, the White House is pleased that he apologized, and the Democrats are thrilled to have yet another opportunity to...

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Rod Paige says he chose poor words in calling the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization," but he stands by his claim that the group uses "obstructionist scare tactics" in its fight over the nation's education law. Paige used the terrorist reference Monday in a private White House meeting with governors while answering a question about the National Education Association, which has 2.7 million members. His words startled members of his audience, triggered outrage from prominent Democrats and deepened the divide between the country's top education official and its largest union. Paige told The Associated...

Rod Paige Criticizes Teachers Union Education Secretary Paige Calls Teachers Union 'Terrorist Organization' The Associated Press WASHINGTON Feb. 23 — Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday. Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige's remarks about the National Education Association. "These were the words, 'The NEA is a terrorist organization,'" said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. "He was making a joke, probably not a very good one," said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. "Of course he immediately divorced the NEA from ordinary teachers,...

Check your local listings for airtimes. (Current show is updated every weekday at 5pm EST.) HEALTH Health Experts Warn of Antidepressant Dangers for Children, Teens By Darla SittonCBN News Producer In America, Prozac is the only drug the FDA has "approved" for pediatric depression. CBN.com – (CBN News) - As many as one in eight adolescents suffers from clinical depression. And these kids are often treated with anti-depressant drugs that have been tested and approved for adult use. But the drugs may not be safe for children. Corey Baadsgaard doesn't remember storming into his honors English class with a...

<p>A federal judgeon Wednesday backed the city's Department of Education, ruling that the display of the nativity scene, unlike Christmas trees and menorahs, was not secular and has no place in classrooms.</p> <p>Judge Charles Sifton in Brooklyn dismissed the lawsuit brought forth by Andrea Skoros, 34, of College Point, saying the city's holiday displays policy banning non-secular symbols from schools did not violate her right to free exercise of religion.</p>

Eco Logic / Powerhouse Trackside commentary... Arkansas takes over the state's schools By John D'Aloia Jr. On the heels of Judge Bullock's preliminary decision finding that the method used by Kansas to fund education was unconstitutional, the Associated Press article out of Arkansas must be bouncing around the halls of the capitol like a hot potato. The Arkansas courts, after giving the legislature over a year to resolve constitutional funding issues, took over the school system. A special master will be appointed to determine a course of action which will, no doubt, include opening up the wallets of Arkansas taxpayers...

WBAL AM-RADIO Baltimore Ron Smith's "Something to Say" Commentary School Budgets, Teaching and TeachersFriday, February 13, 2004 “I could see the fury in their eyes,” said Baltimore Teacher’s Union President Marietta English upon her arrival at the polling place where city school teachers voted “no” to accepting a pay cut to reduce the budget deficit faced by the reeling school system.            It’s clear that teachers feel they shouldn’t have to suffer for the financial ineptitude of their bosses.  One can sympathize with their emotions; especially since many of them regularly dip into their own pockets to pay for classroom supplies...

There is a reason why Democrats want the government to keep control of the education of our children. If you do not understand that reason, then you probably went to government schools. Is there a parent out there who hasn't lived through this scenario? You have a soon-to-be brand new first grader in the house. Yes, after over five years of careful nurturing your little rug rat is ready for that great adventure called education. It's time for school. Sadly, for most parents, it's time for government school. You're about to take the most precious thing in your life and...

Ever since Sixties radicals decided to avoid the draft by staying in school and becoming professors and teachers, a cancer has been spreading through the American educational system. Until this generation came along education was understood in this country as a means of opening young minds. Since then, however, all too many unscrupulous teachers have found the prospect of a captive audience of vulnerable youngsters too tempting to resist. Liberals, we have noticed, are natural born bullies. Unable to muster reasonable arguments to defend their prejudices, they resort to shouting down their opponents and slandering them instead. If they can find young...

WorldNetDaily / Commentary Henry Lamb U.N. influence in U.S. schools Posted: January 24, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Since its beginning, the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization has been trying to impose an international curriculum to prepare students for world government. More than 500 U.S. schools are now using the International Baccalaureate program, and the Department of Education has just awarded a $1.2 million grant to expand the program in middle schools in Arizona, Massachusetts and New York. In one of its first efforts in 1949, the UNESCO textbook, titled "Toward World Understanding," used to teach teachers what...

I need help, quickly. My husband has almost agreed that my children can be homeschooled. My six year old's bestfriend is starting homeschooling as of tomorrow. However, my husband thinks that sending her to school for a week following this Christmas vacation, will get her back into the swing of working (eventhough we did lessons through the break too). Does anyone have any references to help me with the concept of starting her after break rather than doing a week then pulling her? I have the curriculm and we are ready....

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - Gearing up for a possible election year fight on his education initiative, President Bush defended his ``No Child Left Behind'' law against critics who say it's been shortchanged and assumes all students learn at the same rates. ``The time for excuses has passed,'' Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address. Bush plans to mark the second anniversary of the initiative, the cornerstone of his domestic agenda, during speeches at an elementary school in St. Louis on Monday and one in Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday. Bush and other Republicans say the law, which the president signed...

The Year's Ten Worst Moments in EducationBy Rick ParsonsYoung Americans for Freedom | December 25, 2003 Our nation’s education system continues to be weighted down with incidences of bias and political correctness. Young America’s Foundation compiled a list of the top ten most shameful campus events in America’s education system in 2003: 10. Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA) administration officials censored a conservative student group’s flyer advertising a Young America’s Foundation organized lecture because the word “hate” was used on the flyer. The flyer in question featured the topic of guest speaker Dan Flynn’s speech, “Why the Left Hates America,” which...

A parent of an elementary school student is upset with a teacher who replaced "Christmas" with "winter" in a carol to be performed during an upcoming concert. Mark Denison, music teacher at Clover Creek Elementary in Tacoma, Wash., revised the lyrics of Dale Wood's "Carol from an Irish Cabin" to read: "The harsh wind blows down from the mountains, and blows a white winter to me," the Tacoma News Tribune reported. Darla Dowell, the parent of a 7-year-old student, thinks the move is "absurd," especially since the children will sing a Hanukkah song referring to the "mighty miracle" of Israel's...

Charley ReeseMonday, December 22, 2003 Public Education Fails {SUCCEEDS, IMH?O} We cannot correct what's wrong with public education using mandatory tests. The main problem with public education is that it is a political institution controlled by politicians. They have screwed it up, but as usual, they will not admit their own failings and instead blame teachers, students and parents. I got a pretty good education in public schools, but that was before the era of political correctness and before crackbrain theories began to flow out of colleges of education like odors out of an outhouse. We did not take standardized...

District Won't Release Videos Of School Raid Berkeley County school officials are refusing to release surveillance camera recordings from the Stratford High School drug sweep, footage that Solicitor Ralph Hoisington said Friday shows police pointing guns directly at students and handcuffing them in a stairwell for no apparent reason. The district's refusal to release the information to the public is a reversal of its position immediately after the raid. At that time, it allowed WCSC-Channel 5 to record images from several of the roughly 70 cameras throughout the school. The district also allowed The Post and Courier to view some...

Howard Dean's experiments on children Posted: December 12, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By Cliff Kincaid© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com While Howard Dean is a Northeastern liberal, he's no Michael Dukakis. So says William Kristol of the Weekly Standard, writing in the Washington Post about Dean's chances to win in 2004. In 1988, the former Massachusetts governor lost to George H.W. Bush after being branded a dreaded "Massachusetts liberal." By contrast, the media have labeled Dean a "conservative" or "centrist" on some issues. But the truth about Dean's embrace of the radical homosexual agenda could put the former Vermont governor on the far, far left side...

In Michigan, there has been a major First Amendment victory for Christian students, as well as a defeat for advocates of the homosexual agenda in public schools. Detroit Federal Judge Gerald Rosen has ruled that Pioneer High School violated the constitutional rights of student Betsy Hansen by censoring her Christian views against homosexuality. Last year, during a so-called "Diversity Week" forum at the Ann Arbor school, officials only permitted pro-homosexual viewpoints to be expressed. Hansen, a Roman Catholic, had been asked to give a speech on the topic "What Diversity Means to Me" and to present it during a "Homosexuality...