Free Republic

A Pleasant View, Utah high school teacher is now on paid leave after she asked her students to come up with a bunch of slang terms for their genitalia as part of a course called “Adult Roles and Financial Literacy.” The genitalia brainstorm session occurred on Friday at Weber High School. The teacher is Ashley Williams, reports The Salt Lake Tribune. “We had some students who reported to administration that a teacher was having an exercise where they were put into groups, male and female, to come up with names for genitalia,” Weber School District spokesman Nate Taggart told the...

An Arkansas mom was disturbed to learn her sixth grade daughter's homework was to "prioritize, revise, prune two and add two" amendments in the Bill of Rights. The homework, part of the controversial Common Core curriculum, said that the Bill of Rights is "outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer."

More details are emerging about what was presented at the "White Privilege Conference" held in Madison, Wisconsin, where tax money was spent to train teachers how to annihilate "white privilege" and "white supremacy" in American schools. One session insisted that whites can never be cured of their permanent racist attitudes. On March 30, Breitbart reported on the conference, now in its fifteenth year. Over these years, teachers have been told that whites have been pushing "white supremacy" on kids since the country was created, and that whites are so infused with racism that they aren't even cognizant of their crimes....

A mother in Arkansas has expressed concern over her daughter’s recent Common Core school assignment that asked her to remove and replace two of the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The team assignment stated that the Bill of Rights is “outdated and may not remain in its current form any longer.” Here is a copy of the assignment:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE PHOTO The mother who spoke up said she was particularly troubled by the fact that her daughter’s Sixth Grade History class had received no prior training in civics or how to amend the Constitution, which may...

As parents in Germany have protested a new pro-homosexual “sexual diversity” curriculum in their schools, homosexual activists have attacked them by hurling feces and destroying their property, according to the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, which documents anti-Christian incidents in Europe. "Protesters were physically attacked and it was felt that the police failed to protect the parents’ basic right of assembly," said a statement from the Observatory describing incidents at recent rallies in Baden-Württemberg and Cologne. According to eyewitnesses, says the Observatory, "Christian parents were shouted at with obscenities.” "They were spit at, eggs were thrown, and little...

Grant Middle School workbook’s gun-rights description has some up in arms A workbook used by Grant Middle School that has generated controversy among gun-rights supporters won't be removed from the classroom. Jason Nevel Updated Mar 24, 2014 at 10:23 PM A workbook used by students at Grant Middle School that has generated controversy among gun-rights supporters has no political agenda and won't be removed from the classroom, Springfield interim Superintendent Bob Hill said Monday. Since the controversy surfaced online last week, Hill said, he's received a handful of calls and more than a dozen emails. Gun-rights supporters claim students at...

Indiana is the first state among the 45 who adopted Common Core standards since 2010, to drop out. Governor Mike Pence (R) said: I believe when we reach the end of this process there are going to be many other states around the country that will take a hard look at the way Indiana has taken a step back, designed our own standards and done it in a way where we drew on educators, we drew on citizens, we drew on parents and developed standards that meet the needs of our people. As a parent, with two small boys...

Today's lesson, from Common (Commie) Core Let's start out with English and Language Arts Reading Time! Church Ladies Typewriters. They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services: -------------------------- The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals. -------------------------- The sermon this morning: Jesus Walks on the Water. The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus. -------------------------- Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands. --------------------------...

There is a blogsite called “Discover the Networks: A Guide to the Political Left,” which is a treasure trove of well-written, well-thought out, and thoroughly documented essays on various topics which anyone concerned with contemporary political and cultural trends should read. One of the latest entries is an excellent précis on the life of Yassir Arafat as the godfather of modern Islamic terrorism. Another eye-opening column is The Islamist Infiltration of the Obama Administration, which exposes a roll call of activist Muslims hand-picked by Barack Obama and his cronies. Throughout each article are links to the writer’s “backup documentation” and...

Islamic fundamentalists are allegedly plotting to convert Birmingham schools so that children are taught according to strict Islamic codes by ousting teachers through a dirty tricks campaign and replacing them with radicals. The city council and the Birmingham Mail have received documents which purport to show that jihadists – or those fighting against non-Muslims - are targeting schools and orchestrating false allegations against staff, including non-Muslims, in an operation dubbed Trojan Horse. Meanwhile, West Midlands Police have reopened a fraud investigation at one school named in the supposed leaked letter - and Ofsted is currently conducting a snap inspection at...

Muslim fundamentalists are plotting to take over state schools, according to leaked documents. Activists have launched a campaign to oust headteachers using dirty tricks such as spreading false allegations and packing governing bodies with their supporters. The plot, which ringleaders have named Operation Trojan Horse, has emerged in documents drawn up by the group and leaked to a local newspaper. The dossier names several schools in the Birmingham area as targets of alleged plots. The authors of the documents discuss extending the ‘jihad’ operation to Bradford and Manchester – cities with rapidly growing Muslim populations.

School students should be given a “European Union education” in the classroom to tackle “ignorance” and growing public Euro-skepticism, according to an election manifesto signed by Angela Merkel and eight other of Europe's leaders. The European People’s Party (EPP), the EU’s biggest political grouping, is convinced such a program would improve the public image of Brussels, which has never been lower. Its manifesto for May’s European elections calls for the introduction of “EU education in schools across Europe in order to prepare the next generation for future challenges and to nurture a European approach”. […] Rather than scaling back the...

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama pushed for at least $750 million in targeted funds in his $3.9 trillion 2015 budget to lay the foundation for universal preschool programs. Obama spoke at a D.C. elementary school that participates in a pre-kindergarten program. "Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education," Obama wrote in his introductory budget message about his desire to expand preschool to all four-year olds. "I am again calling on the Congress to make high-quality preschool available to every four-year-old child." Questions have been raised, though, about how...

Yet the liberal obsession with “academic freedom” seems a bit misplaced to me. After all, no one ever has “full freedom” in research and publication. Which research proposals receive funding and what papers are accepted for publication are always contingent on political priorities. The words used to articulate a research question can have implications for its outcome. No academic question is ever “free” from political realities. If our university community opposes racism, sexism, and heterosexism, why should we put up with research that counters our goals simply in the name of “academic freedom”? Instead, I would like to propose a...

A school hosted a congratulatory event for its straight-A students, which would not normally be a controversial event… but the America we live in has changed. No longer do we push our children for excellence… now we make excuses for mediocrity.

Today, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case of Wagner v. Jones. Our friend Peter Berkowitz discussed the case in a Wall Street Journal op-ed (it’s behind a pay wall). Teresa Wagner accuses the University of Iowa College of Law of violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by refusing to hire her for its legal analysis, writing, and research program due to her strong pro-life views and activism. Her accusation is strongly supported by a comparison of her qualifications for the position and those of the two individuals selected by the law school. Wagner...

Coming just a week after Coke made waves when it aired the first Super Bowl ad to showcase a set of same-sex parents, the car-maker's new campaign is called "The New Us" and portrays a series of wide-ranging families. "And while what it means to be a family hasn't changed," intones the Chevrolet narration over clips that include nuclear families, mixed race couples, adoptive parents, gay and lesbian parents, combinations of the above, and others, "what a family looks like, has. This is the new us." The games have been criticized for taking place in Russia, which has made "gay...

A tubby panda bear becomes a kung fu master. A snail races in the Indy 500. A forgotten garbage-robot saves humanity. Our cultural products for children these days often reflect the fact that we live in the age of empowerment. It’s become something of a cliché, frankly — the outcast or nobody who wins the big race and/or saves the world. And at first glance, The LEGO Movie, as brilliant as it is, appears to be no different. The film’s hero, an average construction worker named Emmet, is told that by finding a sacred object, called “the Piece of Resistance,”...

Co-authored with John Jalsevac February 5, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Soon millions of Americans will be buying Thin Mints from Girl Scouts at churches, street corners, and at neighbors' homes. But according to Human Life Alliance, American Life League, My Girl Scouts Council, and Live Action, those concerned about the sanctity of human life should consider boycotting the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) over the organization's links to pro-abortion organizations and individuals. The groups are organizing a Tweetfest on Thursday, urging Americans to use the hashtag #Cookiecott on Twitter to draw attention to GSUSA's associations with Planned Parenthood and other...

An 11-year-old autistic Middleboro boy’s claim that he was sexually assaulted by another youth inside his foster home was dismissed as “consensual” sex by child welfare officials charged with protecting him, in a stunning case the boy’s family and school officials charge was plagued by missteps by the embattled Department of Children and Families. According to DCF investigative reports, police reports and letters, the boy — then 11 but with the cognitive ability of a 5- or 6-year-old, his father told police — was allegedly sexually assaulted by another youth in the foster home while the parents slept during the...