Free Republic

State law requires prospective teachers to understand the U.S. and Nevada constitutions. If the Clark County School District gets its way, new teachers won’t have to.

Call it the Trump effect, or call it something else. But it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — again. Where some years ago “War on Christmas” headlines were prominent, now we’re being treated to the following story courtesy of Killeen, Texas. Not long ago, the Killeen Independent School District Board of Trustees changed the name of “winter break” back to “Christmas break,” entirely proper since the break was instituted because it’s, well, Christmastime. (Maybe liberal districts angry about recognizing Christmas should keep their schools in session and their personnel working — “Busy hands are happy hands,” as they...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Sports fans may have to leave their Blackhawks, Indians or Redskins gear at home if they plan on entering a Madison public school next year. Starting this fall, public school students in Wisconsin's capital city cannot wear shirts, hats or other items that display the name, logo or mascot of any team that portrays a "negative stereotype" of American Indians. Those who do must change or face suspension or expulsion.

SD Unified gets armored vehicle City schools police have obtained their own military-grade Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle through a federal grant. Known as an MRAP, the armored mobile will be converted into a victim rescue vehicle that will be stocked with thousands of dollars in advanced medical supplies and be able to take heavy fire in case of an attack on campus, the San Diego Unified School District Police Department said Tuesday. The MRAP, valued at more than $700,000, was acquired at no cost to the district. The vehicle is expected to be operational in October. “We recognize the public...

LYNNWOOD, Wash. – Michelle Obama’s national school lunch overhaul is getting a little ridiculous. The First Lady worked with federal bureaucrats to strictly limit what types of foods can be served in school cafeterias across the country in an effort to fight childhood obesity. The federal regulations on meat, vegetables, salt, and other aspects of the school lunch has been met with staunch indignation from students who have either trashed their mandatory fruit and vegetables or opted not to eat lunch at all. Now, the Edmonds School District in Washington state and others are cracking down on birthday cupcakes and...

The city’s school district has been accused in a federal lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice of discriminating against an employee who said he couldn't trim his beard for religious reasons. The complaint, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleges the School District of Philadelphia in October 2010 instituted a grooming policy preventing school police and security officers from having beards more than a quarter of an inch long and discriminated against Siddiq Abu-Bakr and other people by failing to accommodate their religious beliefs. …

A North Carolina school refused to hang posters depicting an American Flag and the national motto “In God We Trust” because their legal counsel feared the signs would be seen as promoting religion. The American Legion offered the free posters to the Watauga County School District, but found the 130 framed images unwanted. As reported by Fox News: “We got an email from the school saying thank you but on advice of their legal counsel they could not accept the posters because of separation of church and state,” American Legion member Rick Cornejo told me in a telephone interview....

An Arizona school district has pulled from its reading list a sexually explicit novel that is recommended as an "exemplar text" in the Common Core Standards. Parents and community members at Buena High School in Sierra Vista, Arizona expressed concern about the novel Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia.According to the Sierra Vista Herald, school district curriculum director Terri Romo informed the school board Tuesday that she contacted the Arizona Department of Education to find out how the book came to be placed on the list of Common Core recommendations. Romo said she was told the "exemplar texts" are intended...

In a groundbreaking resolution, the Los Angeles Unified District school board voted Tuesday to ban suspensions for “willful defiance,” making it the first district in the state to do so. This decision will stop suspensions for a variety of misbehaviors—anything from mouthing off to teachers, eating food in the classroom, or violating the school dress code—which critics have maintained are too broad and arbitrarily enforced. Instead, starting next year, principals will install alternative disciplinary measures while students remain in school. The ban in LAUSD, the second largest school district in the country, marks a major shift from a zero-tolerance policy...

In an effort to comply with state laws about gender discrimination, a Rhode Island school district has banned father-daughter dances and mother-son baseball games after a single mom complained that her daughter wasn't able to attend a dance.

You need closure. Following individual meetings this week with school and district administrators, each family waived their right to a hearing and agreed to one-year suspensions from school and regular bus transportation. The Greece Central School District is legally required to provide all students ages 5 to 16 with an education, therefore, during the 2012-13 school year, the students who have been suspended will be transferred to the district Reengagement Center, located in a non-school facility. This alternative education program keeps middle school students on track academically while providing a structured opportunity for students to take responsibility for their actions...

It's truly amazing how often we can read news reports or see stories on the televised news and not be stunned by the apparent inability of the media to recognize irony when it walks up and calmly smacks them in the face.As a case in point, the Wall Street Journal, in an article titled "The Latest Crime Wave: Sending Your Child to a Better School," explores the growing effort of parents whose children are relegated to inferior schools and who therefore do what bureaucrats find criminal -- they attempt to slip their kids into a superior school even if...

PRINCETON, MN – Freezing rain coated already slick roads on the 21st of January, making travel inconvenient, even by Minnesota standards. Despite the weather, as proceedings commenced in the Princeton library, late-comers to a Milaca Tea Party event continued to trickle in. Additional folding chairs were placed along the edge of the room to accommodate. The folk were plain, mostly older, orderly and attentive. The meeting opened with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Sue Bican took the floor and emceed a series of announcements and appeals for involvement. On February 4th, the start of the legislative session in...

All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed today after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday. Rick Kaufman, the district's spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren't able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said. "We had students at bus stops longer than we think is acceptable, and that's too dangerous in...

Perry says school districts should decide own gun rules By JANET ELLIOTT Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Aug. 18, 2008, 11:35PM AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that local school districts should be able to decide whether to allow concealed weapons on their campuses. "I'm pretty much a fan that if you've been trained, if you are registered, then you ought to be able to carry a weapon," Perry said.

HOUSTON (Reuters) – A Texas school district will let teachers bring guns to class this fall, the district's superintendent said on Friday, in what experts said appeared to be a first in the United States. The board of the small rural Harrold Independent School District unanimously approved the plan and parents have not objected, said the district's superintendent, David Thweatt. School experts backed Thweatt's claim that Harrold, a system of about 110 students 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth, may be the first to let teachers bring guns to the classroom. Thweatt said it is a matter of safety. "We...

Trust But Verify by: Don Irvine, January 18, 2008 As the legislative session began in Maryland, Montgomery County officials were surprised to discover that the school construction funds that they were expecting from the state fell far short of expectations, about $35 million short to be exact. What happened? Well, apparently Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett brokered a deal with Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley to get some of his county’s lawmakers to support O’Malley’s special November session agenda which included the largest tax increase in Maryland history in return for increased school construction funding. Leggett was so sure of this...

The patience of the Arizona taxpayer is not infinite. Voters sent a clear message last week in school bond and budget override elections, defeating 22 such measures while passing only 11. Some of those passed were by very narrow margins. Some of the budget overrides that were defeated had been in place for decades. There has already been a steady stream of news stories about districts struggling to deal with a new fiscal reality. This situation reminds me that the Chinese use the same symbol for crisis and opportunity. School districts overflowing with students but whose voters rejected new debt...

Burlington Township, New Jersey was trying to prevent a tragedy like Columbine when it held its hostage drill on March 22. The goal was to test lock down procedures, but some Christians in New Jersey and across the country are objecting to the school's portrayal of the suspects.

This week in Federal Way schools, it got a lot more inconvenient to show one of the top-grossing documentaries in U.S. history, the global-warming alert "An Inconvenient Truth." After a parent who supports the teaching of creationism and opposes sex education complained about the film, the Federal Way School Board on Tuesday placed what it labeled a moratorium on showing the film. The movie consists largely of a computer presentation by former Vice President Al Gore recounting scientists' findings.