Free Republic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There will be no public school next Thursday or Friday anywhere in West Virginia. Whether classes resume on Monday remained up in the air. The West Virginia teachers unions and service personnel organizations all agreed to authorize the first ever walkout in all 55 counties of teachers and service personnel. “We’re done. We’re done waiting. We waited and have given them chances and they didn’t want to take it seriously,” said Teacher Christiana Frye of Cabell Midland High School. “Honestly I’m praying two days is enough because some people can’t afford to be out longer than that,...

Guns in the hands of trained teachers would’ve saved lives Wednesday in Broward County, Florida. Sadly Florida’s own state legislature preferred children and school personnel die instead. In a minimum of back to back legislative terms, then state House of Representative Greg Steube introduced legislation in 2014 and 2015 to allow teachers to be armed on school campuses in the State of Florida. The successful measures in the state House then died in the state Senate where both the teachers’ unions and the PTA brought political pressure to bear to kill the bills. So blame—at least in part—the carnage this...

I’m approaching my 82nd birthday, and my daughter will occasionally suggest that modernity is perplexing to me because I’m from prehistoric times. As such, it points to one of the unavoidable problems of youth—namely, the temptation to think that today’s behavioral standards have always been. Let’s look at a few of the differences between yesteryear and today. One of those differences is the treatment of women. There are awesome physical strength differences between men and women. To create and maintain civil relationships between the sexes is to drum into boys, starting from very young ages, that they are not to...

Hundreds of New York City teachers who'd lost their full-time positions but stayed on the payroll will be headed back to classrooms within the next few weeks. About a third of those teachers, it turns out, have faced legal or disciplinary charges. The city's education department announced this summer that schools that hadn't filled all their teaching positions by Oct. 15 would be assigned educators from the "absent teacher reserve" pool. According to a spokesman at the New York City Department of Education, the "matches" between teachers and schools are being made now, and those teachers will go into schools...

In 2012, the State of New Hampshire passed a measure that eased the state’s intervention into the operations of homeschooling families by reducing the number of filings parents would have to submit in order to get state approval for their efforts to educate their children. This move, according to Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), reduced the amount of notices homeschooling parents would have to submit from 3 to just 1 and has produced no negative problems since becoming law. Now, about five years after the 2012 measure was passed, state lawmakers are eyeing up a plan to roll back...

Crestview Elementary physical education teacher Mark Haeslyhas spent his entire adult life serving his country. Haesly served his fellow countrymen in the Navy from 1974-1980. Upon return from service, Haesly picked up teaching physical education to elementary school kids. By all accounts, Haesly served honorably and as a role model to countless boys and girls for nearly 37 years in teaching. The past 21 of these years have been at Crestview Elementary, in Cottage Grove, MN. However, the 2017-2018 school year will be his last year teaching. The Navy veteran is retiring at the end of this academic year.To show their...

Some 80 years ago, the American government produced a pamphlet encouraging people into work. It explained that being idle was just about the worst thing imaginable because it meant the loss of self-respect, pride and hope. By contrast, it went on: 'Let's look at what work does for us. Work keeps us from going nuts.' I sometimes wonder what would happen if our Government distributed such a pamphlet today. How long would it take for people to demand an apology? How long before the first online petition passed 10,000 signatures? For one thing, there is that incendiary world 'nuts', which...

In an otherwise predictable New Jersey election season, the state’s largest public sector union has come out behind a Trump-supporting Republican facing an incumbent Democrat. The New Jersey Education Association, which is New Jersey’s top political spender, is backing Republican Fran Grenier against Steve Sweeney, the Democratic state Senate president and New Jersey’s second most-powerful elected official. The controversial endorsement has angered liberal allies, but the union remains unapologetic in its message: Democrats cannot take teachers for granted. It’s a contentious move, but one that is unlikely to change the ultimate outcome of the election. Democrats are expected to control...

Parents are upset about politics’ pervasiveness in the classroom. One of the answers a Jackson Hole High School English teacher gave her students on a multiple choice quiz Thursday was “A) He was shooting at Trump.” Teton County School District No. 1 confirmed the answer was on a quiz administered online by their secure learning management system. The quiz has since been taken down. Jim McCollum was surprised when his son Rylee McCollum, a junior, came home and showed him a screenshot of the online test. "I had to read it two times," McCollum said. "I was like, 'Are you...

Federal officials are investigating flutes, possibly contaminated by bodily fluids, that were given to students from school districts all across Southern California as part of an investigation of an individual accused of inappropriate sexual conduct. Several school districts alerted parents on Friday the California Department of Justice and the U.S. Postal Service launched an investigation and to turn in the flutes to authorities. The flutes are colorfully decorated and painted by students all over Southern California through a program called "Flutes Across the World."

Is it permissible to desecrate the American flag for educational purposes? That question is at the center of a raging firestorm in suburban Chicago after York High School allowed teachers to desecrate an American flag – in the school’s library. Staff members from the English and social sciences departments placed an American flag on the floor in the school’s library on Sept. 26 as part of a project on First Amendment rights. Students were not permitted to walk-on or deface the flag. The school gave the defiled flag to the American Legion so it could be properly retired. A spokesperson...

Virtually all of the teachers only spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. One reason for that is that Maryland has a law prohibiting anyone (including staff) from bringing a firearm onto school property. At least one teacher admitted that she already does it anyway, keeping a 9 mm. with her at her desk. From the sound of the support that this training program is drawing, she’s not alone.

It’s not just crazy places like the University of California at Berkeley where surprisingly large numbers of U.S. college students believe that violence and shouting are acceptable methods to prevent people from saying things. Fifty-one percent of all U.S. college students believe shouting is an acceptable response to free speech, and one in five (19 percent) believe violence is an acceptable response, according to results from a national survey of 1,500 students in 49 states and DC. Fifty-three percent of survey respondents said colleges should “create a positive learning environment for all students by prohibiting certain speech or expression of...

A oup of teachers and Florida's teacher union are going to court to stop the state's "Best and Brightest" teacher bonus program. The Florida Education Association and seven teachers filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday against the Florida Department of Education and the state's school districts. The lawsuit alleges that the bonus program discriminates against older teachers, as well as black and Hispanic teachers.

#DefendDACA : Educators Urge Congress to pass the Dream Act of 2017 NOW.

The Superintendent of Cherokee Schools District in Georgia has apologized after a teacher told students they were banned from wearing Trump T-shirts. A math teacher at River Ridge High School, who has not been named, incorrectly told two students their Make America Great Again (MAGA) shirts violated the school’s dress code and said they were not permitted to wear them to class. As well as telling the students they were not allowed to wear their preferred clothing, the teacher also shared a personal opinion about the MAGA slogan, in footage that was filmed on Thursday by students and then released...

Anonymous has posted a listing on 8chan claiming it is an extensive list of nationwide members of the anti-free speech group ANTIFA and it includes many teachers! The list is very long and includes Facebook links as well. There are many professors, school teachers, and other education staff. Many writers, political activists and programmers as well. We did some research and cannot seem to find anywhere that states this list is not accurate. Proceed with caution. Here is the list: https://8ch.net/pol/res/10404804.html#10405484 Many are connected to radical Communist groups, like the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) Antifa and BLM showed up at...

The ongoing chilling reports on Antifa took another worrisome turn recently when it was discovered that many of the members of the leftist terrorist group are in fact public school teachers. This new information came to light when it was revealed that the group BAMN, or “BAMN – Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary”, has among its members violent demonstrators like Yvette Felarca. One of BAMN’s most prominent organizers is Yvette Felarca, a Berkeley middle school teacher and pro-violence militant. Felarca currently faces charges of inciting a riot for...

I have to say I was really shocked to see a lot of leftists come out against antifa (though of course not all-- Elizabeth Edwards). I'm shocked because the left always embraces and protects its extremists, no matter what they do (for example black lives matter thugs). This is the only time I have seen them do this, so what's the deal?

Public school teachers are behind a leading far-left militant group that is part of the Antifa network that federal officials say is committing “domestic terrorist violence.” By Any Means Necessary, which has played a key role in riots in Berkeley, Sacramento and elsewhere, has dozens of public school teachers among its members, including among its most prominent leaders. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security began paying closer attention to Antifa groups in general after BAMN and other extremists started a riot and attacked marchers at a white nationalist rally in Sacramento last July, Politico reported on Friday. The Sacramento...