Academic Bill of Rights Sweeps Georgia Senate, 41-5

Atlanta, GA – The Academic Bill of Rights Resolution, introduced by Senator Eric Johnson, sailed through the Georgia Senate today with a sweeping 41-5 vote. The resolution calls for colleges and universities to voluntarily end discrimination in hiring practices based on political or religious beliefs and to promote intellectual diversity and academic freedom on campus.

Prior to the vote by the full senate, the bill was considered by the Senate Education Committee which approved the resolution on March 9 with a unanimous vote after hearings on the problem of partisan teaching and indoctrination in the classroom revealed extensive abuses of academic freedom by professors and administrators. Among those who testified at these hearings were United States Congressman Jack Kingston, Academic Bill of Rights author David Horowitz, Emory Law Professor Mark Bauerlein and students from Georgia State and Georgia Tech Universities.

“This is a monumental victory for academic freedom in Georgia,” said David Horowitz, the founder of Students for Academic Freedom. “I thank the Georgia Senate for recognizing the importance of this legislation, and urge the state’s universities to carry out the mandate for academic freedom and intellectual diversity set forth by the Senate in this historic vote.”

The Academic Bill of Rights was also introduced by Congressman Kingston in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 318 last October. The bill has garnered 33 co-sponsors as was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. In Colorado, a statute based on the Academic Bill of Rights was passed by the state’s House Education Committee on February 25th.

David Horowitz is the founder of Students for Academic Freedom, a new national initiative dedicated to restoring academic diversity and educational values to America’s institutions of higher learning. The organization recommends that colleges and universities adopt an Academic Bill of Rights to ensure that these principles are respected. The Academic Bill of Rights is available on the organization’s website at http://studentsforacademicfreedom.org.

Brown vs Board of Edu. is in my opinion one of the worst things to happen to education in my 61 yrs. Along with theacher tenure and nogood frigging unions.

There is a U.S. News and World Report (current issue, Mar. 22-29, 2004) article on Brown v. Board of Education, for its 50th anniversary (something like "50 years after Brown")...

See

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040322/home.htm

and

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040322/usnews/22opener.htm

Cover Story 3/22/04
50 Years After Brown

From the vantage point of 2004 it is obvious: Why educate children separately based on the color of their skin? And yet when the Supreme Court handed down its decision on May 17, 1954, what it had to say was shocking. In Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, the justices ruled that the principle of "separate but equal" schools would not stand. Suddenly, it seemed, the nation was facing an issue that had not been settled even by the Civil War. Was every American equal before the law?

...

[Needless to say, I think US News and World Report would disagree with that assessment...]

Now let's see the State of Georgia try to enforce it.

I suspect the notion is that this is just the first salvo. Possibly one intent is to permit citizens, students, and media a spotlight on violations of the spirit of the resolution. Another possibility is that such blatant violations of the spirit of the resolution may lead to a groundswell of public support for reform of higher institutions of education in some manner or another (visualize lit torches held by angry swirling mobs under ivory towers ;-) ;-) ;-).

visualize lit torches held by angry swirling mobs under ivory towers

Ain't gonna happen. The only way to beat these creeps is through competition. That means home education. We have to be so good that the system will tolerate us. The mere existence of a market in home education will drive creation of the virtual university. The success of its graduates will create a groundswell to get in. Bricks and mortar institutions will then be an anachronism. The public will see them as the fiscal black hole that they are and cut off the money.

The entire educational system in this country must collapse. It's the only way.

As with the ABOR and the Georgia Senate Resolution, I was referring to higher education, not pre-school, primary, or secondary education. (Note: this is not to detract from your contention above in any way... ;-)

The entire educational system in this country must collapse. It's the only way.

Why, you educational anarchist, you... ;-)

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