Free Republic

As charter public school authorizers await details of sanctions State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Flanagan has threatened for poorly performing charter schools, choice advocates are asking why the state doesn't subject conventional public schools to the same accountability. Flanagan has threatened to suspend charter school authorizers’ ability to create more schools if their current ones don't meet performance standards. The Michigan Association of Public School Academies and Great Lakes Education Project claim that no conventional school has ever been shut down for poor academic performance, an allegation that may be hard to verify. On the other side, top state...

In a letter addressed to parents which was leaked to the media today, it was suggested children would have junk food, including lollies, chocolates and potato chips, confiscated if they were brought to school. “These foods will not be returned to the student until the end of the school day. If your child has chosen to make inappropriate food choices for their lunch they will not be provided with an alternative,” the letter read. The letter was followed by claims made to 6PR radio that students had already been told their bags could be searched for junk food. But, acting...

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The Los Angeles public school district will pay more than $139.2 million to the families of 81 children allegedly abused by an elementary teacher now serving a prison sentence for lewd conduct, officials said Friday. John Manly, one of the plaintiffs' attorney, called the amount "the largest settlement in the history of the United States against a public entity involving child abuse." The settlement comes after the district earlier paid $30 million to settle 63 other students' claims alleging they were victims of sexually lewd acts by Mark Berndt of Miramonte Elementary. A teacher for 30...

A well-circulated school handout is teaching children that rights are given to citizens not by their Creator, but by their government. The author of the handout, Phyllis Naegeli, writes educational (used loosely) materials for elementary school-aged children. Her lesson Being a Good Citizen, found on EdHelper.com, states the following: When you are a citizen you have rights. Rights are special privileges the government gives you. In our country, you have free speech. You are also given the right to choose a religion. Because the government gives us rights, we have the duty to be good citizens. The writing, which dates...

The right to keep and bear arms is clear.  The right to free speech is clear, as is the right to equal protection under the law.  But in Ohio, Franklin School Superintendent Michael D. Sander does not seem to approve of any of these rights.  A gun shop opened up 200 yards from the school, and Mike Sander wanted it shut down.  From daytondailynews.com: But Franklin Schools Superintendent Mike Sander was not too pleased with the district’s new neighbor. “Unfortunately, it’s there across the street,” Sander said of the gun store. “We don’t like it and expressed our displeasure...

Oakland school officials, under pressure from supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal, have agreed to reinstate a controversial curriculum that includes a lesson comparing the convicted cop killer to the Rev. Martin Luther King J

Apparently according to a homework sheet being given to our 2nd graders in this country about how to be good citizens, the government *gives* us our rights. Did you know that?

BROOKLINE (CBS) — Some parents of fifth-graders at Brookline Public Schools are outraged over a page in their children’s US social studies textbook that suggests some slave owners living during the 17th-century America were compassionate toward their slaves.

It has long been obvious that the banning of guns from schools has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with the indoctrination of children.   The purpose is to delegitimize the ownership and use of guns.   From weau.com: EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) -- For the first year, a local veterans group will not be holding a Veterans Day program at the Eau Claire area school district, the decision was because of a disagreement over firearms. While it is stated that there are more reasons involved, the primary one is that school officials do not want any firearms,...

A teacher in Southington, Connecticut was pulled out of class after arriving drunk, wetting himself, then attacking a student. The police, however, were never called and no incident report has been filed. The teacher has not been fired, and at the moment, the school only confirms that he will be “investigated.” The school, Southington High School, sent out a letter to parents sugarcoating what happened. The document explained that the teacher, who has not been named, “Behaved in an unprofessional manner… and was removed immediately from the classroom.” Someone with knowledge of the incident in the school, however, says that...

Many parents prefer to send their children off to school with a packed lunch, believing that the food they have given them is far healthier than school lunches. But a new study, published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, claims this may not be the case. The research team, led by Alisha R. Farris of the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Exercise at Virginia Tech, found that school lunches had better average nutritional quality than packed lunches. "We found that both packed and school lunches almost entirely met nutrition standards, except school lunches were below energy and...

FBI Director James Comey says an agent impersonated an Associated Press reporter during a 2007 criminal investigation, a ruse the news organization says could undermine its credibility. In a letter to the Justice Department last week, the AP requested Holder's word that the DOJ would never again misrepresent itself as the AP and asked for policies to ensure the DOJ does not further impersonate news organizations. In a letter Thursday to Comey and Holder, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asked the agency for full disclosure about the incident. "The utilization of news media as a cover for...

Our children are our world as parents. They are the future of our nation. Most of us would gladly sacrifice all we have and our lives for our little ones. So, why do we so readily hand their learning and their care over to those that would abuse them and trick them into being part of the greatest evil the world has ever known? It figures that the young, innocent ones would be a prime target for Islam and are what they term, ‘fertile ground’ for their broken philosophy. Between such programs as Common Core, Connect All Schools and CSCOPE,...

It was just a week ago when an Oklahoma teen’s picture of her school lunch went viral on social media. It turns out that student is not alone in grumbling about school lunches, an investigation by the Washington Bureau discovered. Since new federal nutrition standards began rolling out in 2012, fewer students are buying school lunches, even though enrollment is going up. The Cox Washington Bureau reviewed U.S. Department of Agriculture documents and found thousands fewer students bought meals when stricter standards kicked in. The rules, championed by first lady Michelle Obama and approved by congress, require more fruits, vegetables,...

Students at a Mapleton Junior High School in Utah County were asked to take inventory of the things inside their family medicine cabinet and then turn that list into their health teacher. A parent, Onika Nugent, was not pleased with the assignment, so she posted the assignment on Facebook and sent a note to the teacher and the principal. She shared a portion of the letter she sent school officials: “I said, ‘Although it may be a good idea for parents to do an inventory of their medicine cabinet, I believe it is inappropriate for students to counsel their parents,...

At least three people are dead and several are injured in a school shooting that has taken place at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington. News reports state that the gunman was a student. The school is currently in a lockdown. All after school activities have been cancelled. Unconfirmed reports from local news sources say at least three people are dead and six are injured. The shooter reported that the gunman walked into the cafeteria and opened fire.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has written four lesson plans aimed at teaching students how to eat, and is encouraging schools around the country to teach these plans to kids in high school. The lesson plans are being paired with a new online tool called “SuperTracker,” which lets students input all the food they eat all day to better track their weight and their eating habits. The tool also tracks their physical activities each day. The lesson plans, which USDA presented as a 67-page online textbook for teachers, includes certificates that can be given to students who use the SuperTracker...

A New York school taxed by the arrival of Central American unaccompanied minors now finds itself at the center of a state investigation on its enrollment practices. The issue brought renewed negative attention to the long troubled school district of Hempstead, which has yet to accept its rapidly growing Latino population. As of last week, advocates say, at least 35 of these students who had successfully enrolled in Hempstead High School had not received instruction one single day. Other sources say as many as 70 kids are waiting to be accommodated. “There is a tough relationship between the community and...

Who would have thought that it would be illegal to defend children from a poisonous snake?  This is where the insanity of extreme gun restrictions have brought us.   In Florida, a mother was at a school event during a football practice session.  A water moccasin was discovered on the practice field, but attempts to kill it with sticks were not successful.  From newsherald.com: April Dawn DeMarco, 30, was arrested for discharging a .380-caliber handgun on the practice football field of Bay High School, 300 E. 15th St., during practice last week for the local Pop Warner football team. Demarco...

In an intentional attempt to study and potentially confuse children, children were asked "There are 25 sheep and 5 dogs in a flock. How old is the shepherd?" Why might you ask this supposedly common-core aligned question? According to the teachers who created this problem, it is to teach students that they must: 1. Explain the meaning of a problem. 2. Plan a solution pathway rather than simply jumping into a solution attempt. 3. Continually ask themselves, "Does this make sense?" This question has actually been researched for years, and is still being asked to children. Today, however, it is...