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WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2009 – Police in Iraq’s Babil province soon will distribute 2,000 backpacks filled with notebooks, coloring books, pencils and pens to the children in their province. Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Byers shows a police officer from Iraq’s Babil province a backpack filled with school supplies at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, Dec. 6, 2009. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team donated 2,000 backpacks to the police department. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The provincial police received the school supplies here Dec. 6 from their partners in the 3rd Infantry Division’s...

Could you imagine being jailed simply because you decided to opt your children out of sex education? Well, this is exactly what is happening to a number of fathers in Germany. And, if certain forces in the United States have their way, such a policy could one day find its way to our shores as well. This story is unfolding in the German state of Salzkotten, where the government has decided that all children must be indoctrinated with a state-designed curriculum — including explicit sex education that most parents would agree is inappropriate for children. Bob Unruh reports on the...

Indiana's financial shortfall has hit the education sector. Gov. Daniels has sent the message to the state's education leader, that K-12 must cut $300 million from the state's funding because of a $1.8 billion dollar shortfall in revenue. He has asked for school corporations through out the state to find ways to reduce their financial output with out laying off teachers or increasing class sizes. His suggestions are things such as freezing wages and diminishing benefits.

Criminal justice instructor Michael Minto was leaving the Kaplan Career Institute in Swatara Township on Monday night when he spotted a man being stabbed, police said. Minto pulled his gun and ordered the attacker to drop his knife, police said. The attacker fled, and authorities said Minto’s actions likely saved the life of Dillon Mitchell, 30, of Harrisburg. If Minto had not intervened, “We might be talking about someone who died,” said Deputy Swatara Township Police Chief Jason D. Umberger. “There are not many citizens out there that would have the courage to take that action.” Kevn Forde.jpgKevin FordePolice were...

Arabic classes coming to three more Chicago schools Mayor Daley announces grant, says he doesn't see Fort Hood shooting stoking anti-Muslim sentiment November 9, 2009 By FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter The Chicago public schools will expand its Arabic-language program to three more high schools, thanks to a three-year, $888,000 federal grant announced this morning. Mayor Daley accepted the grant at Durkin Park Elementary School, 8445 S. Kolin, as he rejected suggestions that the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre could lead to an outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment. “I don’t think so,” Daley said. “Every day, in society, someone’s being killed ....

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he...

President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar," already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic. The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008. GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in...

A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re violating his religion,” the incredulous...

SNIPPET: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Taliban militants blew up a girls' school in Pakistan's Khyber district Monday, officials said, as two soldiers and seven insurgents were killed in clashes in the northwest tribal belt. The pre-dawn school attack took place in Saddokhel town in northwest Khyber tribal district, where militants detonated explosives planted around the building, destroying all five school rooms but causing no injuries. "They are Taliban. They are the same people who do not want children to get an education," senior administration official Rahim Gul Khattak told AFP. Islamist militants opposed to co-education have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly...

Second Teen Arrested in Alleged NJ High School AttackBY STEPHANIE BARISH wpix.com 7:14 PM EST, December 12, 2009 SOUTH RIVER, N.J (WPIX) - A second teenager has been arrested in connection with an investigation into a planned "Columbine-style" attack at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest said the second teen is a friend of the 16-year-old who was arrested on Thursday. The suspect has only been identified as a 17-year-old boy who lives in Bridgewater and is a senior at Immaculate High School in Somerville. Last night, police searched the 17-year-old's home and reportedly found a wide...

WHEELING - Ohio County Board of Education members will decide Monday whether to join 49 of West Virginia's 55 school districts in a lawsuit over health care benefits for retirees. Since 2006, school boards have had to record in their accounting books the amount of "other post-employment benefits" (OPEB) owed to their retirees. The figure primarily pertains to retirement health care and life insurance benefits.

The Saudi Arabian government will open an Islamic secondary school for hundreds of Muslim students and Christian converts in Dublin. These plans were revealed in Arabic on the website for the new Saudi embassy in Dublin. The Saudis intend to use the embassy to "further develop our political, trade and cultural relations with Ireland." The Saudi ambassador to Ireland, Abdulaziz Aldriss, said, "Many Saudi students have found Ireland as a friendly destination to improve their English language skills and pursue their second and third-level education." Ireland has a Muslim population of more than 40,000 people, but there are only about...

MANILA, Philippines - Bandits have seized about 75 hostages, including elementary school students and teachers, from a village in the southern Philippines, an official said. Vice Gov. Santiago Cane Jr. of Agusan del Sur province said 19 gunmen entered the isolated hamlet of San Martin on Thursday, a day after authorities chased them away from a nearby village. He said police were pursuing the gunmen, who appeared to be using the hostages as human shields to escape.

The media is trying to keep this story in the closet, but it's important not to wink at all the serious problems surrounding President Obama's controversial "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings is the moral malefactor who gave a speech about how he merely advised a 15-year-old high-school sophomore who was having sex with an older man that, "I hope you knew to use a condom." He knew the boy had met the adult in a bus-station restroom. Mr. Jennings also expressed admiration for Harry Hay, a notorious and extremely prominent supporter of the North American Man Boy Love...

A male student at Service High School was taken into custody shortly before 1 p.m. today after a female student was found stabbed several times at around noon. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.

The Chemsford, Massachusetts schools have been in the news lately, especially on O'Reilly because of the "holiday" festival controversy. As you recall, the Chelmsford school system went out of their way to remove anything vaguely reminiscent of Christmas so as not to "offend" anyone. Well back in 1992 the Chelmsford school system was not so sensitive to people's feelings when they put on a lewd, pornographic sex ed production during school hours at the high school auditorium. Some parents ended up sueing the schools. Here are some court documents pertaining to the lawsuit. http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=95-1275.01A

Earlier this week I attended a Winter Choral Concert at my daughter's public middle school. Some of the songs they performed: - I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - Cantante Domino (Psalm 95) in Latin - Ose Shalom (The one who makes the peace) in Hebrew - Comin' up Christmas time - O Arbol De Navidad (Oh Christmas tree) in Spanish & English I won't post the name of the school or the city I live in just in case someone associated with the ACLU stumbles on this thread.

Milwaukee Public Schools' health officials want to make condoms freely available to students in many of the district's high schools, as part of an effort to combat the health risks that sexually transmitted infections and other communicable diseases pose to young people. If the proposal wins the support of the School Board, the new policy could take effect as early as next school year, making MPS one of a few districts in the nation that provide contraception to students. Kathleen Murphy, the district's health coordinator, said that data continues to show that middle and high school students are engaging in...

In the 1972 movie, “The Candidate”, Robert Redford plays the part of Bill McKay, a Senate Candidate who wins a crucial election in a huge upset. McKay has never served in public office before. Towards the end of the election, in his first quiet moment, McKay asks his campaign manager, “What do I do now?” On December 1, 2009 a number of Douglas County School Board Members are asking themselves the same thing. After a bruising off-year election in which the Douglas County voters turned their school board topsy-turvy, the December Board Meeting saw the swearing in of four board...

I was recently scanning some of my mom's old slides into digital format. She was a teacher at a public school in the 1960's. I couldn't believe some of the religious symbols in her classroom. This is my first time posting a picture, so I hope it works:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced in November that it will investigate whether colleges illegally discriminate against women by admitting less qualified men. This is only the latest in a decades-long campaign by the feminist lobby to sell the false propaganda that girls are cheated all through the education system, K through 12. Colleges used to have a male-female ratio of about 60-40, and suddenly, we've discovered that it's close to 40-60. (snip) Even the Wall Street Journal calls this the "boy mystery" that "nobody has solved." We should respond with the famous line attributed to Sherlock Holmes: It's...

On November the 9th, Huntington North junior, Jill Krueger, was involved in a 2 car accident. She was airlifted to Parkview Hospital in critical condition. Her life since has been one of recovery. She was released from ICU to a normal room on the 23rd. It is being told, that she will be transferred to either St. Vincent Hospital or the Hook Center for rehabilitation.

Vatican City, Nov 26, 2009 / 02:05 pm (CNA).- This Sunday, an Association called "Piccola Chiesa" a Movement for Family Love, is planning a march on St. Peter's square in Rome in protest of the recent European legislation barring the crucifix from being displayed in Italian public schools.  The event is being organized as a way to reaffirm the crucifix as "a sign of faith and universal fraternity and a symbol of Italian, and European, art and culture."The Roman diocesan newspaper, Roma Sette, has announced that the initiative is being carried out to show support for "the love of...

The federal appeals court in Philadelphia has upheld a New Jersey school district's ban on religious songs during the Christman holiday season. In their ruling, three judges of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals noted that such songs were once common in public schools, but that times have changed. Michael Stratechuk sued the Maplewood-South Orange School District in 2004, saying the ban violated his two children's First Amendment's freedom of worship rights.

Ashley Kizer saw the call for entries in a teaching magazine. Make a winning video about how technol ogy is used in the class room and win $30,000 in technology. Kizer, a fifth-grade teacher at Adamsville El ementary School, had ev erything to gain. This was his chance to outfit his class with a Smart board that can be used by two stu dents at a time, Internet notebooks, and hand-held devices that would allow ev ery child to answer his ques tions electronically.

Children from a small school near Forward Operating Base Scania line up to receive school supplies and gifts, Oct. 27, during a Civil Military Operation conducted by the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team and the Iraqi Army. Photo by Spc. Cory Grogan, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. FOB SCANIA — U.S. Soldiers here are working with the citizens surrounding this Forward Operating Base to ensure local children have the tools needed for a proper education. Oregon National Guard members with Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 162 Infantry Regiment, based out of Springfield, Ore., from the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were...

Visits by two men, claiming to be Homeland Security employees, have Middletown officials raising a lot of questions. Police say one man, who was armed and wearing a Homeland Security badge, entered Mayfield Elementary School yesterday morning, before the start of class. Officials say he and another man, also wearing a similar badge, had been to an apartment complex earlier looking for a suspect. At the school, the man claiming to be an agent, asked the principal whether a particular street was within the school's attendance area.

Iraqi firefighters from the 29th Center for Defense are blindfolded with taped bags before trying to enter a mock building to save a mock fire victim as Lisbon, Maine native, Cpl. John Curtis, a combat medic and former firefighter, watches closely during a joint-firefighting class on Joint Security Station Ur in northern Baghdad, Nov. 8. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell, MND-B. BAGHDAD – An Iraqi firefighter feigns death and lies on the ground inside of a mock building to simulate a smoke-inhalation victim. His teammates, their vision obscured to simulate smoke-blindness, crawl along the ground with oxygen tanks strapped...

Col. Maria Zumwalt, commander, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, chats with students at the Shab Female School in Baghdad, Nov. 5. Photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD — The Shab, Yassamin and Monte Tenaybo Schools were officially re-opened here, Nov. 5, thanks to the efforts of Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers. The schools were in shambles before they came to the attention of Army Civil Affairs (CA) Soldiers, according to Staff Sgt. Frank Halstead, from Brooklyn, N.Y."All three schools had to be completely redone because they were a mess," he...

Note: The following text is a quote: Philippines: Jihad against school principals This just in from our "This Is Why You're Poor" Department. Allah promised paradise to those who "slay and are slain" in the cause of jihad (Qur'an 9:111), but shooting your own society in the foot is also quite popular as a consequence. "Islamic rebels behead Philippine teacher: police," from Agence France-Presse, November 8: ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- The severed head of a school principal who was abducted by Islamic militants in the troubled southern Philippines was dumped in a petrol station on Monday, authorities said. The head of...

MOSUL — U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces delivered 400 new desks and chairs to the Qosh High School in northern Ninewah province, Oct. 31. The furniture delivery was the culmination of the school's opening and the final project for Battery B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division "The ministry of education built them a new high school, but was unable to furnish it with desks and chairs so we were able to fill in that gap," said Capt. Joseph Himpelmann, the commander of Btry. B and a native of Waukegan, Ill. After...

An Iraqi school teacher helps distribute school supplies to Iraqi children at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah in the Kirkuk province of Iraq, Oct. 28. The supplies were provided by families of Soldiers from 1/8th Cav., 2BCT, 1st Cav. Div. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Douglas, 1st Cavalry Division. KIRKUK — The 46th Iraqi Army Brigade delivered U.S.-donated school supplies to the children here at the Jadeeda Primary School near Hawijah, Oct. 28. The supplies were donated by families of Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.According to 1st Lt. Sean...

Ogden police say an Ogden High School teacher has had 'inappropriate relationships' with at least six female students over the years, but none of them rise to criminal conduct. Lt. Scott Conley said Thursday that while the teacher's behavior is questionable under the school district's policy for professional conduct, his relationship with students is not criminal. He said investigators found the teacher had "inappropriate relationships" with at least six students dating back to 2000. He said the teacher used his influence to develop relationships with girls shortly before they turned 18. Police investigated allegations the teacher had been dating his...

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) sits next to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as they visit the Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, November 4, 2009. A student with an "Obama" haircut at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, listens to U.S. President Barack Obama speak as he visits the area, November 4, 2009.

Other than taking time for the Lord on a daily basis and learning to abide in Him, what else is important? As promised, here’s my list: 1. Time for my family: Yes, I homeschool, and yes, my kids are with me 24/7. So how much more time do I want with them?

11/3/2009 - QALAT, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Airmen and Soldiers from the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team delivered school supplies to an Afghanistan National Army compound here Oct. 27. The delivery of supplies is part of an ongoing project to help educate the young soldiers, many of whom have nothing more than an elementary school level education. The program grew from a request from senior ANA officials to help raise the literacy levels of the soldiers, said Major J.D. Loftis, the PRT's information operations officer. "This program is basically just like your average elementary school program," he said. But, unlike that average...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2009 – Soldiers here visited students in a unique learning environment last month to drop off school supplies, treats and even guitars. Children attending St. Efram Elementary School welcome soldiers to their classroom before being surprised with care packages Oct. 22, 2009, in Basra, Iraq. These children receive a culturally diverse education by attending one of the only two schools in Iraq to combine children of different religious denominations into one learning environment. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The students of St. Efram Elementary School,...

School nurses mistakenly gave the swine flu vaccine to two students who didn't sign up for it - including a Brooklyn girl with epilepsy who wound up in the hospital. "I was outraged," Naomi Troy, 26, told the Daily News after her 6-year-old daughter, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, had a possible allergic reaction to the shot. Officials at Public School 335 in Crown Heights called an ambulance to take Nikiyah to SUNY Downstate Medical Center when she fell ill following the arm jab. "My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," Nikiyah said after she was released from the hospital. The snafu...

SNIPPET: "PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Islamist militants blew up a girls school in Pakistan's lawless Khyber tribal district Sunday, destroying the building and wounding four people in neighbouring homes, officials said. Two explosions ripped through the 18-room government high school for girls at Kari Gar village and a boy who watched the premises is missing..." SNIPPET: "Islamist militants, who have carved out a strong presence in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border, have destroyed hundreds of schools, mostly for girls, in the northwest of the country in recent years. Nearly 200 schools were destroyed in the Swat valley alone...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. "We went to South Dakota and went to the Circle B Ranch," said Chenoa Martin, Jazmine's mother. "There's a show of the old West -- a stampede. Had a gun shoot-out and stuff like that. When they fire their rifles, they do it into the crowd. It...

OREGON, Ohio — A furious Ohio mother says her 7-year-old son, who has had problems with medications, was vaccinated for swine flu at school against her wishes. Kim Lutheran works as a nurse and says her son, Matthew, has had bad reactions to medicine. So, she says she signed for "no consent" on a vaccination form and then circled her intentions with a black marker to make things clear to the boy's public school in the Toledo suburb of Oregon. SNIP Deputy Health Commissioner Larry Vasko says his agency has responded by changing the consent forms, telling parents not to...

RICHMOND, California — Four teens were charged Wednesday in the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance in Northern California, in an attack that has generated widespread outrage. All four — ages 15, 16, 17 and 19 — were charged with rape and enhancements that they acted in concert, which could make them eligible for life in prison.

WEST JORDAN — A former teacher's assistant accused of having sexual intercourse with two 15-year-old students was arrested this week. Andrea Billingsley, 31, was picked up at her home Tuesday and arrested on suspicion of forcible sexual abuse, forcible sodomy and distributing pornographic materials to minors, said West Jordan police officer Dan Roberts. The former aide at West Jordan Middle School, 7550 S. Redwood, met the two boys while overseeing an in-school suspension class, Roberts said. Police believe the sexual encounters occurred between May and July. The alleged sexual activity would happen on school grounds, including an undisclosed location inside...

A Des Moines girl was suspended after school officials said she violated their weapons policy. Jazmine Martin, 12, brought an empty shotgun shell to school on Monday, a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. The shell was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front.

Jones County teacher sentenced for sexual offensesRajput gets probation, fine and 45-day jail term in DOC Jon Dawson Staff Writer October 28, 2009 12:00 AM On Tuesday, a Jones County physical science teacher who pled no contest to nine felonies was sentenced to 45 days in prison in Lenoir County Superior Court. On June 10, Shebana Rajput, 36, of Aaron Johnson Lane in Kinston, was charged with eight counts of sexual activity with a student and one count of sex offense with a student. She pled no contest to the charges last month. Jones County authorities contacted the Lenoir County...

Kevin Chavous is an African American and former Democratic city council member from Washington, D.C. He says he’s an Obama supporter, but he is distinctly unhappy with the president. Elections may have consequences, but no one expected that the White House would be so brazenly petty as to allow poor minority children in the nation’s worst school district to become the victims of political score-settling. That’s exactly what happened when the Obama administration killed off the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program several months ago. Of course, if the White House thought that it could pay off the powerful teachers’ unions, and...

Army Sgt. 1st Class Donna Sendelbech receives a hug from a student at the Shalaw Elementary School after receiving a backpack during a recent delivery of gifts donated by service groups back in the U.S. (GRD Photo by Mike Scheck). SULAYAMANIAH — U.S. Soldiers and Army Corps of Engineers employees recently delivered supplies to elementary students of the Shalaw School here. However, the students are in for a bigger surprise after the first of the year when they move into their new school thanks to the efforts of the USACE Gulf Region District.The school supply giveaway was orchestrated by Army...

10/26/2009 - SHAJOY, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Members of the Air Force-led Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team along with senior Afghan government officials and community leaders, celebrated the ground-breaking of a new high school for girls during a ceremony here Oct. 22. The school will be the first of its kind in the town of Shajoy, which has a population of nearly 40,000 people. "We (the Zabul PRT) have a unique capability when it comes to projects such as this one. This 90-person team has engineers, civil affairs and security personnel all working together with the local population to help determine what...

BLACK MALE DROPOUTS LEAD NATION IN INCARCERATION, ACCORDING TO NEW REPORT, WEEK OF OCTOBER 22-28, 2009The Wilmington Journal Originally posted 10/22/2009 SPECIAL TO THE NNPA FROM THE LOUISIANA WEEKLY (NNPA)--On any given day, nearly 23 percent of all young Black men ages 16 to 24 who have dropped out of high school are in jail, prison, or a juvenile justice institution in America, according to a disturbing new national report on the dire economic and social consequences of not graduating from high school. Dropouts become incarcerated at a shocking rate: 23 of every 100 young Black male dropouts were in...

Her senior year was just a month old at Newfield High School in Selden when Tiana Rapp, 17, opened her gym locker and discovered someone had pilfered a whopping $150 from it. Police have arrested a hall monitor, Linda Cubano, and charged her with three counts of petty larceny in connection with the thefts. Rapp said she had reported the missing money to school officials, who suspected a student was responsible. But something didn't add up, she said, because the girls' lockers were patrolled by an adult hall monitor. The criminal struck again a couple of weeks later: That time,...