Free Republic

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of a new admissions policy at an elite public high school in Virginia that critics say discriminates against highly qualified Asian Americans. The 2-1 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturns a ruling last year from a federal judge who found that the Fairfax County School Board engaged in impermissible “racial balancing” when it overhauled the admissions policy at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The school frequently is cited among the best in the nation, and parents jockey and prepare for...

America is transforming. And if you’re looking for an undeniable example, consider the creation of a specialized school.As relayed by WBHM, an academy’s been created specifically for gay youth and their LGBTQ peers.What’s perhaps most profound is the place of learning’s location: It’s nestled in the heart of Alabama.The Magic City Acceptance Academy (MCAA) is a public charter school that — though open for any and all who wish to apply — “has built affirmation for LGBTQ students into its very foundation.” It opened last fall with over 270 students.Some might assert that all schools are embedded with a rainbow...

Tennessee GOP Gov. Bill Lee has invited the private conservative Hillsdale college to open 50 charter schools in his state that will teach so-called "anti-woke" curriculums. The offer for Hillsdale, a liberal arts college with about 1,500 students in Michigan, to use public funds includes $32 million for charter facilities. Hillsdale developed the "1776 Curriculum," a direct response to the New York Times' "1619 Project" about so-called Critical Race Theory, which in suggests American is inherently racist. Hillsdale's version teaches students that America is "an exceptionally good country." Critics of the 1776 Curriculum say it has an overly positive take...

With only 1,500 students on a small-town campus in southern Michigan, Hillsdale College is far from the power corridors of government and top-ranked universities. But it has outsize influence in the conservative world, with strong ties to the Washington elite. Republican leaders frequently visit, and Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the 2016 commencement address, calling Hillsdale a “shining city on a hill” for its devotion to “liberty as an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.” Now the college is making new efforts to reach beyond its campus, this time with an even younger audience. The college is fighting what...

Writing in the Charleston Gazette, a retired teacher and former mentor of West Virginia’s only PBS News Hour Student Reporting Lab slammed charter and private schools, comparing them to Islamic schools from whence the terrorists who attacked America on 9/11 came. In a piece titled, “Charter schools, vouchers will erode what unites us,” Susan Johnson lauds public schools, writing, “The American public school is where we learn to be Americans.” In May 2020, Education Next reported that some public schools across the nation were adopting the 1619 project into their curriculum, noting, “Schools or school districts in Chicago; Newark, N.J.;...

People who follow politics, even casually, learn not to expect high moral standards from politicians. But there are some outrages that show a new low, even for politicians. Among the consequences of Democrats' recent election victories, especially at the state and local levels, is the election of officials who have publicly announced their opposition to charter schools, and their determination to restrict or roll back the growth of those schools. What have the charter schools done to provoke such opposition? Often located in low-income, minority neighborhoods, these schools have in many cases produced educational outcomes far better than the traditional...

Those who wish to aid Native Americans may want to think "outside the box," or at least outside the public school system. "Charter schools have played a growing role in Native peoples' efforts to gain control over their children's education," Tiffany Lee of the University of New Mexico and Teresa L. McCarty of UCLA wrote in a paper which appeared in the book, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies. They looked at one in particular--the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albequerque. "At NACA, students take the state-required courses in math, English reading and writing, science and social studies," Lee and McCarty report....

Chris WellerJanuary 23,2017 Jessica Epting, a homeschool mother of four, with her kids in their home in the Bronx, New York During Betsy DeVos' recent three-hour confirmation hearing to become President Donald Trump's education secretary, charter schools came up no fewer than 60 times. Homeschooling was mentioned once. Charter schools have become a significant part of the US public-education system and now educate 2.5 million kids. But homeschooling has quietly experienced a surge in recent years too. Brian Ray, a homeschooling researcher at the National Home Education Research Institute, estimates the number of kids taught at home is growing by...

The liberal media continues to lie on behalf of lazy bum teachers in the Massachusetts schools. The schools that have let down our children for decades and have made them into brainwashed zombies, underachieving socialists and have destroyed their desire to make any accomplishment, destroyed their self esteem and have made them into automatrons who believe what the media, pop culture and government says without question The biggest lie fed to the public is that question 2 would take money out of public schools and make them fail more. This is a lie... FACT: The funding of schools in...

On Thursday, September 08, 2016 at 2pm in Cleveland, Ohio You are cordially invited to attend a private Donald J. Trump for President Event at The Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy Cafeteria Attire: Business Lunch will be served @ 12 noonPlease RSVP *Please note that this event is not open to the general public FREE FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN CASSA sets the academic and social foundation for life-long learning K-8 Public Charter School CASSA is a top-rated, tuition-free community charter school serving K-8 Grade students throughout Cleveland PARAGON™ CURRICULUM A World of Ideas that Makes a World of Difference

In supporting a $617 million bailout of the insolvent Detroit school district last week, Michigan House Republicans defied fierce political opposition by refusing to create a mayoral commission that could have restricted new charter schools in the city. Before the vote, there were allegations that Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan tried a power play to pressure charter school operators within the city to sign on to the Detroit Education Commission or become irrelevant. After House Bill 5384 was passed by a 55-53 vote, Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor Stephen Henderson accused House Republicans of taking money for their vote. Henderson...

Fell Charter teachers to work without pay SARAH SCINTO, STAFF WRITER Published: October 27, 2015 SIMPSON — Teachers at Fell Charter Elementary School will work without pay to keep the school open as the state budget impasse continues to take a toll on public education. The Fell Charter Board of Education voted Monday night to move forward with a plan that closes the school on Fridays, dismisses students early on Monday through Thursday and delays paychecks to teachers until a state budget passes. The plan will take effect Nov. 2 “if the budget funds are not released” to Fell Charter...

Charter schools in Washington state could be on the way out before ever really getting started. The Washington Supreme Court ruled Friday the schools couldn’t exist for several reasons, including the fact the charter schools aren’t governed by elected officials. The Olympian has a roundup of the Supreme Court’s decision. In the lead opinion, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen said the case wasn’t about the merits of charter schools, simply whether they were eligible for public funds. Citing state Supreme Court precedent from 1909, she said they are not eligible because they are not under the control of local voters. Washington...

In Washington, Mr. Jeffries, a second-term congressman, is best known as a collegial, next-generation Democrat with a keen interest in criminal justice reform. In New York, however, he has positioned himself at a nexus of powerful interests that have grown frustrated during Mr. de Blasio’s tenure.... Where Mr. de Blasio has opposed charter schools, Mr. Jeffries has firmly defended them; in April, he addressed a fund-raising gala for the Success Academy organization, a fast-growing charter network heavily backed by wealthy critics of the mayor. When Mr. de Blasio sought to limit expansion of the ride-hailing company Uber, Mr. Jeffries spoke...

Animal rights activists are blasting a top-ranked Oklahoma charter school after its students were seen on video using dead cats to act out dance moves, set to the jingle used in commercials for Meow Mix cat food.

FITCHBURG -- A former Fitchburg charter school sex-education teacher pleaded guilty Friday in Worcester Superior Court to a charge she raped a 14-year-old student, according to a report. Rachelle Gendron, 28, reached a plea agreement and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years of prison time and 10 years of probation, according to Tim Connolly, spokesman for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Big, fat, government types hate any public policy that devolves power away from centralized authority in Washington, D.C., but when states and cities are able to rip away some of that authority, case after case proves that localized policymaking is much more successful. Case in point: School choice, as in, actually providing parents with alternatives to federal government-run, federal government-mandated education curricula. A recent infographic published by Reason magazine online in honor of School Choice Week says it all in five fast facts...

There are 51 schools that have been in the bottom 5 percent of the Michigan Department of Education's Top-to-Bottom rankings three years in a row. Of those 51 schools, four were charter public schools and three of those four were closed. Meanwhile, the conventional public schools on the list remain open. "Charter schools have traditionally been the only public schools that have been held accountable for their performance," said Michigan Association of Public School Academies President Dan Quisenberry. "If they fail their students, they're closed down. That's never happened with a traditional public school, ever. What we need is this...

[SNIP]...With the start of the next school year, the Recovery School District will be the first in the country made up completely of public charter schools, a milestone for New Orleans and a grand experiment in urban education for the nation.

Mayor de Blasio brought down the hammer Thursday on three charter schools operated by his nemesis Eva Moskowitz, leaving hundreds of kids without classrooms this fall. “This has to be the saddest day for the Success Academy’s children, family, teachers, school leaders,” Moskowitz said after meeting with stunned charter parents in Harlem. “Right now, our kids are being evicted. Evicted out of their school. It’s wrong and we need an explanation. You’re going to have to ask Mayor de Blasio what the motivations are for a decision that will hurt so many children now and, frankly, forever.”