Free Republic

Whether sex education for teenagers should focus on abstinence from sexual activity or fully address the use of contraceptives has emerged as a topic in the debate in Congress over a health-care overhaul. Advocates of differing approaches to sex education are watching whether Congress will come down on the side of paying for what are widely called “abstinence-only programs,” which President Barack Obama proposed eliminating in his fiscal 2010 budget, or of financing only what are known as “comprehensive” programs. [snip] The health-care bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed this month doesn’t authorize any funding for abstinence-only programs. Rather,...

Condoms may make for safe sex, but a city teacher says they made for unsafe conditions at a Manhattan high school. Karen Hollander is suing the Department of Education over injuries she says she suffered following a nasty spill on garbage and "slippery foreign substances" that included condoms discarded by students at the High School of Art & Design.

LEWISTON — A national Muslim civil rights organization has filed a formal request with the Lewiston School Department to allow a middle school student to pray on school property. The group also wants Lewiston to modify existing policy and provide "constitutionally protected religious accommodation," such as a designated prayer room. The group has also requested the school department institute diversity training for school staff, and to ensure the middle-schooler won't face retaliation because of her request to pray at the Lewiston Middle School. According to the Washington, D.C.,-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, seventh-grader Nasra Aden had been routinely "praying discreetly...

Three years ago, the Washington state association that regulates fair play in high school athletics faced an unusual query from administrators: what should they do about four boys who wanted to participate on girls' teams. One had his eye on volleyball, two wanted to be cheerleaders and a fourth did not specify his area of interest. After consultation, it developed a novel policy that says all students should be able to participate in sports "in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student's records." Upon a student's request, the idea is...

High school student Chad Farnan, 17, speaks at a campaign fundraiser for Shawn Black, a GOP candidate for the 70th Assembly District, earlier this month. The legal group that represents Farnan, Advocates for Faith & Freedom, has been ordered to pay $19,688 in legal fees. SANTA ANA – In a legal twist that challenges the notion of what a prevailing party is, a federal court clerk on Friday awarded $19,688 in court-related fees to the attorneys who represented high school teacher James Corbett, sued two years ago for making anti-Christian comments in class. Milli Borgarding, the deputy in charge of...

The Obama administration’s safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings, has accused the Baptists, the Boy Scouts and sports fans of anti-gay bias, and he has advocated a special high school for gay teens as well as gay-straight alliance clubs for every high school in America. Jennings, who was a prominent homosexual activist before being named director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education, also has called for kindergarteners to be taught to respect all sexual orientations, while insisting that “ex-gay messages” and “Christian values” are ‘misused to isolate or denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual...

Fifty-three Republican congressmen yesterday demanded that President Obama fire his embattled "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings' bizarre sexual agenda for American grade schools is one reason the president should dump this dangerous radical. Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword to a 1998 book titled, "Queering Elementary Education." The book he endorsed was a collection of essays by different authors who supported teaching young children about homosexuality. Mr. Jennings' foreword explains why he thinks it is important to start educating children about homosexuality as early as activist-educators can get away with doing so. "Ask any elementary-school teachers you know and...

Administrative Overload by: Allie Winegar Duzett, October 01, 2009 William Ouchi, Eric Nadelstern, and Chester E. Finn, Jr. were the panelists at an American Enterprise Institute event on September 23, 2009. The event, entitled Total Student Load: The Secret to Boosting School Performance?, and William Ouchi’s recent book, The Secret of TSL, both pose solutions to the challenges currently faced by the nation’s public school systems. To William Ouchi, the first speaker, the answer lies in what he terms “TSL,” or “Total Student Load.” This term refers to the number of students each teacher must know and interact with. Ouchi...

Despite the odds, I've been selected for the local middle school's "school improvement council." What approach to take?

Did Ed post this one already? I’m honestly starting to lose count of how many of these there are. No “mmm mmm mmm” in this one or creepy substitutions of The One for Jesus, but kudos to the teacher who came up with the “change has come” drone. Reminds me of “one of us, one of us.” I already said everything I had to say on this subject in this post, so check that out if you missed it the first time. Fun fact: According to the YouTube description, this was taped at a PTA meeting. Presumably the parents were...

It began last year in earnest. But, like a virus far worse than H1N1, it is beginning to spread like wildfire amongst the public school indoctrinators formerly known as "teachers." The Obama power grab — supported by his adoring adherents — has just about reached the most monumental proportion of all time. And Dictator-in-Chief Obama may have finally reached the apex of his desires; that of replacing God with himself. Recently, at New Jersey's B. Bernice Youngs Elementary School, not only were second grade students forced to sing a song of praise to Obama (the parents were not notified that...

First published in 1930 in the second and third editions of V. I. Lenin’s Collected Works, Vol. XVI. Published according to the manuscript. Our Ministry of Public (forgive the expression) “Education” boasts inordinately of the particularly rapid growth of its expenditure. In the explanatory note to the 1913 budget by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance we find a summary of the estimates of the Ministry of Public (so-called) Education for the post-revolutionary years. These estimates have increased from 46,000,000 rubles in 1907 to 137,000,000 in 1913. A tremendous growth—almost trebled in something like six years! But our...

Elusive PreK Successes by: Bethany Stotts, September 16, 2009 Some have offered up universal pre-kindgergarten as a solution for America’s educational woes, but CATO scholar Adam Schaeffer argues that the educational “benefits” of government-sponsored pre-k would be transitory at best. “The evidence suggests that the benefits of preschool are limited primarily to low-income children and are likely transitory,” argued Schaeffer in an August CATO Policy Analysis entitled, “The Poverty of Preschool Promises.” In the analysis, Schaeffer examined the three main studies which pre-k supporters cite as evidence that pre-kindergarten provides long-term academic benefits: “the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project, the Carolina...

A federal education grant will soon be used to introduce Arabic language and culture into Missoula high schools. The five-year, $764,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education comes to Missoula schools with the help of University of Montana.

The friendship between teacher and student blossomed into an infatuation on a European high school trip in March 2006. But Leslie Merlino, then 36, knew she was headed for career-ending danger. Later, she stroked the girl's hair and began sending emails. That would lead to an assault charge and a court order to stay away from the student. From January to September 2007, they exchanged sexually explicit emails and talked frequently on the phone and in person. They held hands during strolls and met secretly in coffee shops. They kissed and fondled each other in their more private moments. By...

Muslims groups here are pressing city officials to close public schools on two of the faith's holiest days, just as schools do for major Jewish and Christian holidays. But the groups have yet to persuade the man in charge of New York City schools, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Muslim groups have asked the city to cancel classes on Eid Ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid Ul-Adha, which marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. New York is one of many public-school systems now struggling with appropriate ways to recognize religious holidays for a diverse population. An...

President Obama's choice to monitor school safety once boasted that he introduced homosexual advocacy into the school system in Massachusetts by manipulating the message presented to lawmakers. The revelations about Kevin Jennings, who was named assistant deputy secretary for the office of Safe & Drug Free Schools in the U.S. Department of Education, come just as several of Obama's "czars" have come under scrutiny for their actions, opinions and affiliations. Environmental adviser Van Jones resigned last weekend after revelations of his links to communism and his advocacy for the movement that contends the U.S. government conspired to allow or cause...

Three-quarters of teachers in Britain's schools believe they should warn pupils about the dangers of patriotism - which some regard as a form of 'brainwashing', researchers have found. A nationwide study found the majority of teachers felt they should not be promoting the subject at all in the classroom, with some preferring to instruct their pupils in the benefits of 'universal brotherhood'. And even those who felt positively about patriotism felt the need to qualify and tone down their support, stressing that they disliked 'jingoistic flag-waving'. The findings are a blow for the Government after Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke...

A new school year is under way, but we already can grade the condition of American education. Let's just say no ``honor student'' bumper stickers will be necessary. The typical child entering first grade this year can expect taxpayers to spend more than $100,000 on his or her education through high school. (The Department of Education reports the average annual per-pupil expenditure in U.S. public schools is now more than $10,000.) But the data show that, all too often, our six-figure investment in every child's future doesn't guarantee a quality education. A recent national test of eighth-grade students found that...

Bluegrass Blues by: Sarah Carlsruh, September 10, 2009 It turns out that not many parents in the Bluegrass state want their children to attend public school. Paul DiPerna, author of School Choice Survey in the State: Kentucky’s Opinion on K-12 Education and School Choice, found that people are not happy with the current public school system. This August 2009 study is of Kentucky voters’ opinions on their state’s school system. Strategic Vision, a public relations agency, conducted this survey by making live phone calls to a random sample of 1,200 likely Kentucky voters. Its screening questions were such as to...

Holly Hackett (name changed to protect her privacy), a member of HSLDA in northern West Virginia, homeschooled her daughter several years ago. Although her daughter made enough progress to satisfy state law, a local official pressured her into putting her daughter back into public school. After several years in public school, and with middle school looming, Holly decided to homeschool her daughter again. She filed a proper notice of intent. But she received a letter from the local superintendent saying: “As you will recall, I denied your homeschooling request for the 2005–2006 school year due to the fact that your...

Prior to his nationally broadcast speech to students on Tuesday, President Barack Obama made a pitch for health care reform in a discussion with 40 freshmen at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. Although the president avoided controversial topics in his speech, he did promote health care reform in a face-to-face discussion at Wakefield High School. Asked by a student how he stays motivated to do his job, Obama replied that his staff gives him 10 letters every day from “ordinary folks.” “Some of the stories are really depressing,” Obama told the 40 freshman, who were chosen to meet with...

With states across the country facing huge budget deficits and potential devastating cuts to services, the time has come to start charging parents tuition for their children’s public school education. If parents of the 47 million students in the United States who attend kindergarten through 12th grade were billed $360 per child per year — that’s $2 a day for each of the 180 days of instruction — nearly $17 billion would be generated. Can half of America’s parents afford $360 per year for each of their children? For the price of a cup of coffee, a child can get...

Note: Videos included. THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2009 AT 3:37 PM "My Education, My Future" Posted by Jesse Lee At noon on Tuesday, September 8th the President will be welcoming America’s students back to school – after all, sometimes they need a little extra motivation after a glorious summer. The President has spoken often about the responsibility parents have for their children and their education, but in this message he’ll urge students to take personal responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of...

Mother upset after 8-year-old daughter is left at wrong bus stop LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- What would you do if your child was forced to get off a school bus at the wrong stop? That is the situation one Las Cruces mother had to grapple with Wednesday, when her 8-year-old daughter was let off on a busy street nearly half a mile from her usual stop. Eight-year-old Destiny Maciel got off the bus at Valley and Tashiro, a busy intersection where there is no place to stop and ask for directions. Destiny's mother Amanda said that didn't stop a bus...

In a move suggestive of the Pyongyang public school system, the U.S. Department of Education recommended that before the speech students collectively brainstorm questions like, "Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?" Classrooms are to be festooned with "notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama's speeches about education," presumably alongside benevolent-looking images of the dear leader.

A groundswell of parent opposition to President Barack Obama's speech next week to students on the importance of education has forced many North Texas school districts to question whether to air it live in classrooms. Obama announced the speech weeks ago, but opposition and concerns spread rapidly Wednesday morning through conservative social networking Web sites and radio talk shows. By midday, local school districts say, they were inundated with hundreds of phone calls from parents urging them to not show Obama's speech at school. Some parents threatened to keep their children home from school if the video was aired. "We...

What more can be said

The White House has announced that on September 8, President Obama is going to address the nation’s schoolchildren on the importance of education. As explained in an open letter by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.”Presumably, the president is going to advocate for self-discipline and reject excuses, a message that Mr. Obama, as the nation’s first black president, can deliver powerfully and well—especially to black youths—as he has demonstrated repeatedly in the past few years.So far, so good. Things get a bit dicier if we contemplate the president addressing what will be a...

Compared with other students, homeschoolers scored higher than the national average on this year’s ACT, a national standardized test used to gauge educational development and college readiness. Like the SAT, ACT scores are used in the college admissions process to evaluate applicants. Virtually all colleges accept either test, Ed Colby, spokesman for the ACT, told CNSNews.com. Scores are based on the 1.48 million students who graduated in 2009, Colby said. Among those students were 11,535 homeschoolers, he said. Homeschoolers are further prepared for college because they must take initiative to accomplish projects, Slatter said.

"ABC" stands for All Barack's Children. On Sept. 8, young students across the country will be watching television. Yes, they'll be parked in front of boob tubes and computer screens watching President Obama's address on education. Instead of practicing cursive, reviewing multiplication tables, diagramming sentences or learning something concrete, America's kids will be lectured about the importance of learning. And then the schoolchildren, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, will be exhorted to Do Something -- other than sit in their seats and receive academic instruction, that is. Education Secretary Arne Duncan dispatched letters to principals nationwide, boasting, "This is the...

A school principal has apologized for showing a video at an assembly that a politically conservative group leader is calling "radical, leftist propaganda." Children at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington were shown a short video called "I pledge" on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of President Barack Obama and part of a speech in which he says, "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." The video then features celebrities making pledges about how...

Parents across the country are rebelling against plans by President Barack Obama to speak directly to their children through the classrooms of the nation's public schools without their presence, participation and approval. The plans announced by Obama also have been cited as raising the specter of the Civilian National Security Force, to which he's referred several times since his election campaign began, but never fully explained. "He's recruiting his civilian army. His 'Hitler' youth brigade," wrote one participant in a forum at Free Republic.

During this year's legislative session, lawmakers decided to change the state's "Recommended" high-school graduation plan, under which the majority of students fall. "They said they no longer have to take health or technology applications, which is a computer class, and they reduced the amount of PE credits from one-and-a-half down to one year," said Debbie Ratcliffe, Director of Communications with the Texas Education Agency. AISD, along with several other school districts across the state, will not be implementing the new requirements.

Amanda Kurowski is a 10-year-old homeschooled girl who performs well academically and is socially well-adjusted. But her strong Christian beliefs were reason enough for a New Hampshire court to order her out of homeschooling and into a public school. The daughter of divorced parents, Amanda has been homeschooled by her mother, Brenda Voydatch since first grade. Her father, Martin Kurowski, is opposed to homeschooling, arguing that it prevents "adequate socialization" for Amanda with other children. He requested that she be placed in a government school. In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the...

Heather Lawrence didn't know the name of the girl with the Muslim head covering, or where she was from. But as Lawrence walked by a classroom at Springstead High School on Wednesday, the 16-year-old junior did know one thing: The girl wasn't standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Lawrence, an JROTC member who plans to enlist in the Army next summer, says she was aghast. "That's one of the most disrespectful things you can do," Lawrence recalled Friday. "Even the kids who are anarchists, who hate our government, still have respect to stand." A few bells later, Lawrence was on...

LACONIA, N.H. — An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney filed motions with a New Hampshire court Monday asking it to reconsider and stay its decision to order a 10-year-old home-schooled girl into a government-run school in Meredith. Although the marital master making recommendations to the court agreed the child is “well liked, social and interactive with her peers, academically promising, and intellectually at or superior to grade level” and that “it is clear that the home schooling...has more than kept up with the academic requirements of the...public school system,” he nonetheless proposed that the Christian girl be ordered into a...

At least two Lee County public schools have violated state law by not having their students recite the Pledge of Allegiance, possibly because officials misinterpreted information they received before the school year began. When District Superintendent Dr. Cleo Richardson became aware Tuesday that the schools were violating state law, he notified principals of all Lee schools that they must set aside time every day for students to recite the pledge. Sherry Kerr, a Bishopville resident, said she was "very pleased" to learn that the school board did not direct principals to stop saying the pledge. Rumors had circulated this week...

Should we just be turning out workers or good citizens, too? With the start of a new school year, there are plenty of tough issues for our schools to address. We should not get so caught up in the minutia of the pros and cons that we lose sight of the big-picture debate: What, exactly, is the purpose of an education? Some issues seem comfortable and familiar. How can schools and teachers be held accountable for student performance? How can schools be effective given real and growing budget restraints? What is the proper role of public and private education? Some...

DETROIT, MI - A coach who's in the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame has filed a federal lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools and the principal of Fordson High School. Gerald Marszalek claims he was fired after 35 years because of his Christian beliefs. Marszalek says his troubles began in 2005 when a minister lost his job as a volunteer assistant coach after introducing Muslim students to Christianity during a private off-campus wrestling camp. Marszalek, who also is Christian, said his contract wasn't renewed in 2008 because of his religious beliefs and his association with the minister. Dearborn has a...

Link only - Keep the faith: Should Muslim children receive sex education?

A mother has been banned from a primary school after confronting a bully who used her five-year- old son as a 'human punch bag'. Christine Hart, 38, calmly asked the pupil to 'please stop hitting' her son Arthur after he endured months of bullying despite several complaints to teachers. But a teaching assistant saw and hauled her off to the headmistress, who told her not to cross the school gates and to attend a hearing with the governors to discuss her conduct.

Judge says no special measure needed to ensure teacher follows law. SANTA ANA – A federal judge today denied a request by a Mission Viejo high school student to legally prohibit the student's former history teacher from disparaging religion during classroom lectures. Chad Farnan, a 17-year-old senior at Capistrano Valley High School, had sought a court injunction against Advanced Placement European history teacher James Corbett, to bar the 20-year educator from "expressing any disapproval of religion while acting in his official capacity as a public school employee." Corbett, 62, was found to have violated the First Amendment in May...

In public school classrooms across the country, religious liberty is under assault. Last month in Florida, two Christian student leaders at Pace High School were barred from speaking at their graduation ceremony due to fears they might mention their faith in violation of a court order stemming from an anti-religious lawsuit filed by the ACLU. Across the country in California, UCLA administrators grudgingly allowed senior Christina Popa to thank Jesus in her graduation testimony after a widespread public backlash against their initial decision to sanitize any mention of Jesus from her statements (in Colorado, former high school valedictorian Erica...

The 111th Congress is currently in session in Washington D.C. A joint resolution has been submitted to Congress that would make prayer in public school constitutional again. House Joint Resolution 6 (H.J. Res. 6) is titled “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to voluntary school prayer.” This joint resolution is sponsored by Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R) of Missouri. It proposes an amendment that would allow prayer back into our public schools and public institutions. The resolution proposes the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed...

The 111th Congress is currently in session in Washington D.C. A joint resolution has been submitted to Congress that would make prayer in public school constitutional again. House Joint Resolution 6 (H.J. Res. 6) is titled “Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to voluntary school prayer.” This joint resolution is sponsored by Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R) of Missouri. It proposes an amendment that would allow prayer back into our public schools and public institutions. The resolution proposes the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed...

Symbols of communism and marijuana and a prediction that "capitalism will fail" aren't exactly the sort of end-of-year messages you'd expect from an eighth grader. But that's precisely what some students at the Black Pine Circle School, a private school in Berkeley, Calif., chose to include in their "Class of 2007" mosaic. The symbols, which are prominently displayed outside the school, have prompted questions about the appropriateness of images like a hammer and sickle and a marijuana leaf on school grounds — and have led critics to say they are blatant proof of political indoctrination of young children. Black Pine...

In a move to preserve our Christian culture and religious freedoms in America, an Ohio teacher has filed a lawsuit against the Mount Vernon City School District in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The District continues to be the center of controversy over issues of religious freedom. John Freshwater, a 24-year veteran teacher, filed suit June 9 in U.S. District Court against the district, district administrators, and other parties for violations of free speech and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

Diplomas Count by: Emily Kanyi, June 18, 2009 A report released by Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center shows that despite a marked improvement in the national high school graduation rate, three out of ten U.S. public schools students still fail to get a high school diploma. The U.S. national graduation rate rose from sixty-six percent in 1996 to sixty-nine percent in 2006. From 1997 to 1999 the statistics recorded a yearly sixty-six percent graduation rate and between 2000 and 2003 there was an improved annual graduation rate of sixty-eight percent. In 2003 to 2005...