Free Republic

Parents are finding fewer and fewer ways to protect their children from being used as guinea pigs inside an experiment constructed by unelected bureaucrats. If you had argued pre-Obergefell that de-sexing marriage would lead to drag queens leading preschool storytime in public libraries and public schools hounded into hiding their mandatory sex ed curriculum from parents after a settlement requiring trans-friendly “education” starting in kindergarten, you would have been called an unhinged bigot. How could what two consenting adults do privately have any effect on whether five-year-olds are told they should consider cutting off their penises? Preposterous. Fear-mongering. Wild-eyed insanity....

One of the more amusing aspects of life as a conservative Christian is reading liberals writing about conservative Christians — especially writing about conservative Christian political causes. There’s a formula. First, you’re told there are “dog whistle” or “hidden” reasons for the use of common terms. Second, these hidden reasons trace back to racists and Christian dominionists. Third, and finally, if you use this common language and advance mainstream conservative Christian ideas, you’re actually advancing racism and theocracy. The plot is revealed. The true agenda is laid bare.

EDEN, N.C. – “White privilege” training in the Rockingham County school system is causing a lot of headaches. Superintendent Rodney Shotwell told Rockingham Now the state threatened to withhold federal funding when a disproportionate number of minority students were suspended in a special exceptional children’s program in 2012 and 2013, so district leaders implemented mandatory “equity training” for school staff. Now, some teachers are complaining that the training materials focused on white privilege and transgender issues violate their principles, while parents are speaking out about other teachers who are taking what they learned and imposing it on students. At a...

Despite spending more per pupil than all but two large school districts in America, at least half a dozen government schools in Baltimore were unable to produce one single student who was proficient in either English or math last year. The shocking results, uncovered by Project Baltimore, show a monumental tragedy unfolding in the city that represents a microcosm of the damage being inflicted on children across America. The proficiency tests put students in five categories, with four and five considered proficient, and one through three considered not proficient.

The Chicago Public Schools will pay 6.39 percent — an extraordinary interest rate by short-term lending standards — to borrow $275 million it needs to make a mandatory payment for retiree pensions before a June 30 deadline. That’s more than four times the interest rate a typical government would pay on the same borrowing deal ... It’s yet another sign of the dire financial condition of the nation’s third-largest public school system, which for months has had a “junk” credit rating from Wall Street financial institutions. CPS officials secured the $275 million on Monday from J.P. Morgan. It’s the final...

Zero proficiency in math, English in probe of 6 inner-city schools. In an astonishing outcome, an investigation of six Baltimore schools found not a single student passed the state’s proficiency test in the subjects of math and English. ... In February, columnist Thomas Sowell, noting “most public schools in most low-income, inner-city neighborhoods produce educational outcomes that are far below the outcomes in other neighborhoods,” observed that many teachers who use unorthodox methods to reverse that trend encounter opposition from the education establishment. He said that in his 40 years of observing successful minority schools, he was struck “by how...

A Michigan teacher claims she was fired after school administrators ignored her reports that she was being sexually harassed by special education students — including one teen whose lewd behavior “creeped [her] out.” Melissa Sawicki, 36, filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Bay City in September, alleging sexual discrimination and retaliation for protected activity on behalf of Bay City Public Schools and the district’s Board of Education, MLive.com reported on Tuesday.

For those questioning the claim that the public expression of faith is under attack, actions by public school administrators in Augusta, Maine should school them well on the issue. School officials have assumed the authority to decide that teachers are not allowed to let their colleagues know they are praying for them -- even in private conversations. It makes you wonder if they are still allowed to pray for them at all. Perhaps the school's next steps will be to investigate their thoughts! Teacher Tony Richardson informed a colleague who was facing some difficulty (and who also attended the same...

From coast to coast, parents are rebelling against what they describe as Islamic indoctrination of their children in public schools. In Florida, for example, parents are protesting a newly approved textbook they say whitewashes Islam’s violent history of conquest and subjugation, while in San Diego, an angry father confronted the city’s school board about its partnership with the controversial Council on American-Islamic Relations in an “anti-bullying” program. The Brevard County School Board in Florida has revised a history textbook that had been condemned by some parents for its selective treatment of Islam, but the new edition still has its critics,...

This is just too much ignorance to deal with at one time. Do the lawmakers in this Country really believe that America should disown its’ own youth in order accept those who are in this Country illegally? I do not understand this mentality of creating “sanctuary” cities for those who do not respect the American peoples or their laws. Are the American youth being sacrificed to these Liberals, who seek to destroy the foundation of America? President Trump’s recent travel ban had people doing desperate things without much thought beyond just wanting to defy our bold leader. A number of...

The name of the teacher involved in the incident has not been released, however the teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the school district that will commence on Monday, May 8. Superintendent Dr. Martin Foster said “This was an incredibly disrespectful act that does not reflect the values of Roosevelt High Schoolor the school district.”

Are we "doing" high school right these days? Is it enough to say we have improved our schools by offering more electives, more AP courses, IB classes, and STEM programs? Is that impactful enough, or at all? These are inputs, not outputs, and they are no guarantee to students that they will get a job or get into the college they want to attend when they graduate. So, again, are we doing high schools right, today? As the issue of school choice heats up, this is a question that needs an answer. If the choice is between two schools that...

If you watch TV, you are seeing ads for a new Alien movie (i.e., Alien Covenant). All hail Ridley Scott. This will be the sixth in the franchise. One thing all of the entries have in common is that a ghastly alien emerges, often with pointy teeth and covered in drool, from an egg or an astronaut's chest. This signature sudden, unforgettable moment is the essence of the cinematic covenant. An entirely hostile organism will burst out somewhere when you least expect it and kill you. That has to remind us of the year 1931, when the Education Establishment sprang...

A Boone County school teacher says she let students Thursday see and one student photograph her at school wearing a jacket saying “Tuck Frump,” with letters composing the f-word highlighted in white. Cheryl Judy, who’s now receiving backlash online, said she only briefly revealed the anti-President Trump statement at school to about six to eight high school students. . . . She said she’s been a West Virginia public school teacher for about 23 years, 13 or 14 of those in Boone. She said she’s also the secretary for the Boone branch of the American Federation of Teachers, one of...

Students in a math class at Riverview High School in Florida are being persecuted for their faith. They are punished for not removing their cross jewelry. They are harassed for not embracing the LGBT agenda pushed on them by their lesbian teacher. But one ninth-grade student is pushing back. Her attorneys filed a demand letter requiring the teacher to cease and desist by close of business Thursday.Cross.jpg - 500 Parents told Liberty Counsel that at least three students were not allowed to wear their cross necklaces. Math teacher Lora Jane Riedas claimed they were “gang symbols.” When one student asked...

A new report finds that, under the guise of “personalized learning,” school-issued computer devices — now distributed to one-third of K-12 students in schools across the United States — are serving to collect and store an unprecedented amount of personal data on children without their parents’ notice or consent. A newly released investigation by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveals student use of technology in school has grown at a profound rate, especially with free or low-fee devices issued by schools.

A Calgary mom says her autistic son was “snack shamed” for taking banana bread to school, forced to eat in the hallway while his Grade 1 classmates ate fresh fruits and vegetables. The mom, whom Postmedia has agreed not to identify over concerns her six-year-old son could be punished, said she recently learned he had been removed from class for the offending snack. “They told me they only allow fresh fruits and vegetables for snack time,” she said, noting there are limited foods he will actually eat. “He was told to sit outside of the class to eat his snack....

WISN 12 News ✔ @WISN12News Janesville council approves $75K settlement for former teacher who was drunk on school trip http://bit.ly/2dGqoPf 7:01 PM - 25 Oct 2016 1 1 Retweet 1 1 like It didn’t take long for the other teachers to realize that Maria Caya, one of the chaperons on a school field trip to a bowling alley, was seriously drunk. As elementary-school students bowled in June 2013 in Janesville, Wis., Caya tried to order more drinks from the bar, city officials said. At one point, Caya disappeared, worrying school officials. They found her in the bathroom, passed out. Alarmed,...

A high school in California has replaced all the mirrors in its girls' bathroom with positive signs that say messages like "You're strong enough" and "You are beautiful." Laguna Hills High School student Sabrina Astle, 17, a member of the Kindess Club, came up with the idea to have students read happy thoughts rather than look at their own reflections.

Connor Balthazor, 17, was in the middle of study hall when he was called into a meeting with his high school newspaper adviser. A group of reporters and editors from the student newspaper, the Booster Redux at Pittsburg High School in southeastern Kansas, had gathered to talk about Amy Robertson, who was hired as the high school’s head principal on March 6. The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials.