Free Republic

The headline atop a press release from the Michigan League for Public Policy is clear enough: “Michigan still lags significantly behind nation in per pupil funding.” But easily accessible data proves the headline wrong. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, Michigan’s ranking among the 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) for per pupil spending is 23rd. There are 28 states that spend less per pupil than Michigan and, when adjusted for per capita income, Michigan ranks in the top ten for per pupil spending. Claiming that funding of K-12 education in Michigan is somehow singularly deficient has...

Michigan’s public school establishment is nothing if not persistent when it comes to devising new ways to extract more tax dollars. Two hearty perennials in this area are school “sinking fund” taxes and using local “recreational authority” taxes for school amenities. Both have been advanced in previous legislatures, only to be halted by happenstance or when Republican leaders on either side of the Capitol realized they were on the verge of authorizing property tax hikes for more things. But both proposals are back and on the move, and this time, Republicans are leading the charge. In 2001, a House GOP...

On January 1, California residents will have to accustom themselves to a number of new laws that will be implemented in the state. These are some the laws that will likely have the most profound effect: SB 172: High school seniors will receive their diploma whether or not they pass or even take an exit exam; the law also applies retroactively to students who have graduated since 2004; ... SB 707: Bans concealed firearms from college campuses and K-12 school grounds

On Tuesday, the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that all schools would be shut down today due to an unspecified terror threat. According to ABC News, that threat also carries “unknown credibility.” Bus drivers say they have been returned to their bus depots. LAUSD is the nation’s second-largest school district, with 640,000 students and 900 schools; children range from kindergarten to 12th grade.

All schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District were shut down today following an unspecified threat, the Los Angeles Police Department said. The closings are out of “an abundance of caution," the LAPD said. An electronic threat was received this morning mentioning the safety of the schools, officials said at a news conference today. The threat is still being analyzed, officials said.

Fifty people have died in an attack at a market bazaar and a school near Kandahar airport that began late Tuesday, Afghan officials said.... .....The Taliban took responsibility for the attack. The assault occurred hours after a "Message to Obama" was posted to a video site, purportedly of Taliban suicide attackers warning that U.S. troops would not be safe in Afghanistan.

The mother of a Foxborough High School student says a photo of her daughter with an American flag was rejected by the school for being "offensive." In a widely shared Facebook post, Lisa Truax wrote that the Red Wing Diner, which employs her daughter, purchased a page in the school yearbook to congratulate her. The photo shows her daughter posing in front of a draped American flag. "Does anyone find this photo offensive? Apparently Foxboro High School finds it offensive," Truax wrote. "They won't allow the picture in the yearbook because it's the American flag. We are American! We live...

HOUSTON, Texas — Opponents of a Texas Arabic Immersion Magnet School (AIM) call the pre-K and kindergarten program “civilizational jihad.” The program was imposed by the largest school district in the state, and the seventh largest school district in the United States. Opponents say that Americans simply do not know what is happening in this school, and in America.

The Bodyguard Blanket, made by a company called ProTecht, is a "bulletproof 5/16-inch pad made from the same materials used by our military." Sounds like a useful tool for civilians in a war zone, right? Except that's not who it was created for. Its being marketed to American "children of all ages," or rather, their concerned -- and not entirely crazy -- parents.

A Texas girl spoke out after her teacher alleged made her say "God is a myth," has experienced fallout for standing up for herself and her beliefs. Twelve-year-old Jordan Wooley says she has been bullied and told to kill herself following media coverage of her story. It started when Wooley's teacher assigned a quiz at Katy, Texas's West Memorial Junior High School asking students to label statements as "fact, assertion, or opinion." Statements included "America is the most free country on Earth," and "there is a God." Jordan labeled the latter as "fact,' and her teacher told her to mark...

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- A local high school cheerleading captain was disciplined after she sent out a tweet about illegal immigrants. She says it was a political statement, not a racial one! FOX25 spoke with the teen who says she was taking a page from Donald Trump. Caley Godino is a senior at Revere High School and she says part of their homework is to watch these presidential debates and her tweet was simply about a hot button issue in the headlines. "When only 10 percent of Revere votes for mayor cause the other 90 percent isn't legal," Godino said in the...

A Nevada girl who fought a long legal battle with her school over a pro-life club didn’t just get her club approved, she got her school to pay for it. The Thomas More Society, the religious liberty legal group representing junior Angelique Clark, announced Friday they would drop their lawsuit against Clark County School District in Las Vegas and that the school has agreed to pay $30,000 in attorney fees. The school agreed in September to allow the pro-life club after legal pressure. “We’re pleased that District officials worked so diligently with us to protect the First Amendment rights of...

A number of homeschool parents in Florida have been ordered by a public school district to register their children in classes within three days or face “criminal prosecution” under state law. A meeting within the next week likely will determine whether school officials will face a lawsuit in response to the threat. The issue is being addressed by the Home School Legal Defense Association, which said its members in the Santa Rosa County School District received letters demanding information that parents are not required to provide under state law. The information included Social Security number, race and grade level. The...

Ohio boy, 6, suspended from school for shooting friend with imaginary bow and arrow BY LAURIE HANNA A 6-year-old Ohio boy was suspended from school for three days after being spotted shooting an imaginary bow and arrow. The boy was sent to the principal’s office for engaging in make-believe marksmanship during recess at Our Lady Of Lourdes Catholic in Westwood, Cincinnati. Now, his dad Matthew Miele has slammed the school, who insist they have a zero-tolerance policy to any threatening gestures. "I don’t see anything wrong with the way he was playing, " Miele told WCPO News. He notes that...

The confusion induced in these youngsters is producing one effect – the demolition of social mores and, eventually, society itself. All of it based on a fantasy of language, animal allusions and contrived sexes Efforts to infiltrate fifth and sixth grade health courses with additional classifications of sex are popping up in public schools. With the help of unfettered political correctness, the Genderbread Person and the Gender Unicorn corrupt not only the English language but the basic biology of mankind. (I suppose using the Biblical reference of “mankind” will raise hackles among the super-sensitive “gender” police.) But let’s get one...

A Detroit businessman’s idea to attract talent to the city’s public schools by paying teachers between $125,000 to $150,000 could cost close to half a billion dollars every year. If superimposed on the school district’s current salaries and the state’s pension system, it would add up to $462 million to the Detroit school district’s $642 million annual operating budget, a 72 percent increase. Peter Karmanos, who founded Compuware and is the owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, offered the idea on Charlie Langton’s radio show. According to the most recent state records, there were 3,677 teachers in the Detroit Public...

Four police officers were injured, including a female officer who was taken to the ground, after responding to a 200-person brawl outside a Pennsylvania high school Thursday. According to reports, the officers were injured as they responded to a fight around 3 p.m. near Allen High School in Allentown. Violent video of the brawl and the attack on the officers was posted to Facebook. Authorities say three students have been arrested so far, the Morning Call reported. When police responded to the fight, which had spilled out to the streets, the students began targeting the officers, the video shows. The...

BREMERTON -- When the Bremerton Knights take the field against Sequim on Thursday, a group of Satanists dressed in ceremonial robes will be watching from the stands. The members of The Satanic Temple of Seattle say they are coming to the game to advocate for religious equality, in light of the controversy sparked by Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy, who has threatened to sue the school district if he is not allowed to pray on the field after games. Bremerton School District spokeswoman Patty Glaser confirmed Wednesday the district has received a request from the Satanic Temple...

It turns out that you don’t have to get good grades or even show up to class often to graduate from high school in New York. Several students from New York City have spoken out about passing classes they know they should have failed and receiving high school diplomas they feel they didn’t earn. Melissa Mejia, a senior at William Cullen Bryant High School, was surprised to find out she was due to receive her diploma in June when she was fully aware she hadn’t completed all of the credits to earn it, she admitted in a letter to the...

A high school in Arizona has banned pro-Donald Trump clothing at a Friday football game because it would be “racist” or “offensive.” Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona – with a student body known as “The Tribe” – is set to face off against Marcos de Niza High School Friday in an anticipated rivalry game. The game was supposed to have a “USA” theme. But that theme was considered problematic and thrown out.