Free Republic

Just released: Children's book of patriotic stories: The spirit of '76 by Dickinson and Dickinson is a book that should be helpful for those of you working in the field of homeschooling. textNote: I was not involved in any aspect of the nomination nor creation of this audiobook. I just know who benefits most from it's creation.

Jessica Tapia went into teaching because of how 'amazing it would be to be a light to [kids] coming from very rough homes like I did when I was a child' ... A California teacher, who lost her job after refusing to comply with a California district's gender policies, citing Christian beliefs, is blowing the whistle on the expectations she felt as a teacher to not only hide students' gender transitions from parents, but also to keep them in the dark through lying. ... In a notice under Superintendent Trenton Hansen's letterhead, reviewed by Fox News Digital, the district said...

LEXINGTON, Michigan—Long-standing Michigan laws have become a new weapon for a group of aspiring education reformers seeking to guard school children in the state against what they call “illegal hyper-sexualization” and other “woke” teachings. Activists concerned about what they were seeing in the state’s public schools recently formed a non-profit, non-partisan organization they call the Great Schools Initiative (GSI). They aim to help parents keep children from being exposed to teachings about gender change, sexual practices, and other concepts that they believe are harmful.

Today marks the start of week four of the 2023 legislative session. Perhaps it is just because I am paying closer attention this year, but it really seems like the system is moving at a snail’s pace. Perhaps it is also because other states are leaving us in the dust when it comes to education reform. Governors Kim Reynolds of Iowa and Spencer Cox of Utah signed legislation last week to make money follow students instead of systems. Meanwhile, our conservative legislators are struggling to get our own school choice bill heard before a committee. What’s the holdup? Why is...

The nation’s largest teachers union recommends that educators begin teaching the concepts of preferred personal pronouns and gender identity starting in pre-kindergarten. "When you look at elementary school students, many people think they are too young to talk about pronouns,” said panelist Matthew Powell, a member of the National Education Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Committee, during a webinar last summer. “However, by asking students their [preferred] pronouns at a young age,” Powell added, so-called education support professionals “can make room for students who may be exploring gender identity and show everyone [that] gender identity should not just be...

As students recover from a ‘hangover from virtual high school,’ some Pittsburgh-area universities are responding with shorter tests and looser policies around attendance and deadlines. Some instructors lower expectations for students’ mental health and as a response to generational differences, but others say that continuing remote learning habits does a disservice to students. ... Recent interviews with students and instructors in the Pittsburgh area reveal that some colleges and universities responded to the pandemic by lowering expectations. A PublicS ource article described a “hangover from virtual high school” at Point Park University, the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and other Pittsburgh...

Paula Bonhoeffer saw the risks of educating her small, impressionable children in the state’s schools. ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), the German theologian who was hanged in April 1945 by the Nazis for spying on and opposing Hitler’s regime. .... Eric Metaxas’ biography of the Christian martyr—Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Spy—... time to learn more about the man who defied Hitler and paid with his life. ... Metaxas’ work offers a penetrating look into Bonhoeffer’s life, mind, faith, and family. Bonhoeffer was not the only remarkable person in his family. Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer—Bonhoeffer’s parents—brought eight children into the world in the...

*snip* In the midst of a terrible economy and a crime wave, Democrats were boosted by a demographic least likely to share adult concerns about the economy, schools and public safety, and most likely to be animated by phantom ideological narratives about social justice, abortion and global warming. Democrats enjoyed the highest turnout for younger voters in a generation with a 31% turnout. Especially in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan. That doesn’t just happen. Rock the Vote, which claims to be nonpartisan and can only operate only on the condition of not expressing a party preference, published an officially branded table,...

A California district superintendent recently announced that a high school football team was no longer allowed to display the Thin Blue Line at its games, but that didn’t stop Saugus High School players. When most of the team ran onto the field Friday night, the tradition of the Thin Blue Line Flag was absent. Two players then came onto the field carrying an American flag and a Thin Blue Line flag, even after Superintendent Mike Kuhlman announced they weren’t allowed to show the flag supporting law enforcement .. Kuhlman announced the decision to ban the team from displaying the flag...

Soros-supported prosecutor Buta Biberaj has been booted by a Virginia judge from an appeal case for the father of a student who was raped by a boy wearing a skirt at a school in Loudoun County in 2021. “All that Scott Smith and his family have ever asked for is that the Loudoun County school system protect their daughter and treat them fairly; it has not,” Bill Stanley, who is the attorney for the father, Scott Smith, stated ... “The Court’s Order today has corrected, in some measure, the injustice created by Ms. Biberaj’s bias against Mr. Smith, and the...

A California mom arranged for her estranged son to be abducted after he applied for emancipation, with the youngster then driven 27 hours to a boarding school. Shana Gaviola, 35, is said to have embarked on the scheme in August 2021 on learning the unnamed 17 year-old boy wanted to legally break away from her. Gaviola, of Fresno, has been charged with violating a protective over the incident by a federal court, and remains in custody. The boy, who had successfully applied for a restraining order against Gaviola, was approached by a 'transfer team' from the Agapé Boarding School for...

A group of far-left progressives has launched a legal challenge against four school districts in Florida for their adherence to the Parental Rights in Education legislation recently signed into law by Governor Ron Desantis. Orange County Public Schools, Duval County Public Schools, Indian River County Public Schools, and Palm Beach Public Schools are named in the lawsuit. The legislation prohibits educators from having conversations with students K-3 involving sexual orientation or gender identity, without express parental permission. This seems like a completely normal idea to the majority of the general public. Naturally, the far-left progressives who control the Democrat party...

Finally—my 6th book, Educational Elephant’s Guide, Study School : Easy Brain Tools for Every Subject just launched, and you can download the digital version for free—this weekend only (through Sunday)! Regular price is $3.99. Study School focuses on life-time learning. For this purpose, the Educational Elephant organized content by subjects rather than grade levels. As we build study skills, however, our grades in school can also improve. Each Study School level reveals fun ideas to overcome challenges, study smart, build on your strengths, and pursue interest-led studies. Students can gain higher test scores in reading, writing, math, science, social studies,...

Michigan public school employee who mocked anti-groomer parents during a school board meeting last year, has been arrested for allegedly trying to meet with minors for sex. Eric Rohman, 41, and two other men were arrested last Thursday and Friday as part of a sting operation targeting pedophiles that was orchestrated by the Isabella County Sheriff’s Office. According to police, the three communicated with potential victims on social media, while posing as children. “All three were arrested for using a computer to commit a crime and accosting a minor for immoral purposes. Police allege that the three communicated over various...

I write education news for a living. My job, every day, is to report on what’s happening in education. I have great respect for teachers in all settings but have been a homeschooling mother for more than 10 years now, and what I’ve researched and written on recently is horrifying. The public school system is a mess. Hardly anyone wants to be a teacher anymore, and with good reason. Too many educators in the system have little to no respect for parental rights and believe they are above the law. Most recently I reported on a gym teacher who allegedly...

The Attorney General made the comments while speaking at a civil rights conferenec in Lansing, according to Craig Mauger of The Detroit News. Mauger tweeted, “‘Drag queens make everything better. Drag queens are fun,’ Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says at a civil rights conference in Lansing while speaking out against what she describes as efforts to divide people. ‘A drag queen for every school,’ she adds.”

U.S.—Education experts are warning about the detrimental effects of homeschooling, as it may cause children to miss out on their opportunity to be gay communists. "The two essential roles of public education are to turn kids into communists, and then make them gay," said AFL-CIO President Randi Weingarten. "If education fails to accomplish both of those things in the life of a child, it has failed miserably." Studies show that while homeschooled kids may excel in advanced mathematics, literature, history, Latin, debate, civics, religion, music, art, theoretical physics, and physical fitness, most kids educated by their parents fall woefully short...

TUCKER, Ga. (AP) — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams is proposing a big teacher pay raise in her run for governor, saying Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s much-touted $5,000 across-the-board increase is not enough to recruit new teachers and retain current teachers. “We are losing the fight for our children’s future,” Abrams said Sunday as she accepted the endorsement of the Georgia Association of Educators. Georgia has long had the highest average teacher pay in the South, but Abrams is proposing a $1.65 billion bump over four years. Abrams said that would boost Georgia, which currently ranks 21st in pay nationwide into...

Families from across Florida and other states gathered at the Florida Parent-Educators Association (FPEA) 34th convention this past Memorial Day weekend to share knowledge, inspiration, and support for home education. From infants to grandparents, generations of families attended the conference, which offered lectures, an extensive list of exhibitors, and activities including a prom and graduation ceremony. Homeschooling across the state is on the rise, with data from the Florida Department of Education showing a 9.10% increase from the 2018/2019 school year to the 2019/2020 school year. This number tripled with a 35.17% increase in home education students across Florida for...