Free Republic

People who claimed “it doesn’t hurt you” or “why do you care?” were hoping that regular individuals would ignore the situation until it becomes too difficult to stop. The evidence of people being punished for not accepting the false idea is why regular people are concerned. High school girls’ basketball team deemed ineligible to play in future activities and tournaments after forfeiting game against team with transgender student-athlete A Vermont high school girls’ basketball team that withdrew from a tournament in February after refusing to play against a team that had a transgender player is no longer able to participate...

Students enrolled at the University of Maryland and at Rutgers in New Jersey demonstrated against their schools’ requirement that they must take the experimental COVID vaccination to attend classes in the Fall semester. One UM student called the requirement an “abuse of rights and abuse of power” and demanded it be “reeled back.” Another student asserted that “forced consent isn’t real consent.” Maryland House Delegate Lauren Arikan (R-Baltimore County) supported the protest, saying that “coercing students to take an experimental drug is not appropriate” and urged the University Administrators to rescind the mandate because “these vaccines are not like those...

Where did this all come from: the vitriol and vice, the anger and hatred, the looting, the riots, the destruction, the nihilistic confusion, the science-denying gender-bending sexuality, the suicidal infatuation with socialism, the adolescent whining for safety rather than freedom? Just look over your son’s or daughter’s shoulder, and you might find the answer. Mr. Kay, who teaches English at... a Philadelphia public school, expressed his concern about the “damage” that “parents” might cause if they overheard the lessons he had prepared for their children. Mr. Kay then described how “conservative parents” are his chief concern when he and his...

Students who are searching for objective truth should shy away from any course with the word “Studies” in its title. Centered on opinion, persuasion, and propaganda, these courses seldom include rigorous evaluation of provable facts. According to the Hoover Institution, California’s educationists1 have been handed a defeat in their attempt to impose a wildly liberalEthnic Studies curriculum on their students. When the curriculum was circulated for public comment, its authors probably thought that it would be largely ignored. Full of educational jargon, curriculum documents are not easy to read, and seldom attract much notice. This time, an avalanche of public...

The University of North Texas is suspending Brandon Masin, a 25-year-old law student, alleging that he poses a danger. The accusation that led to the suspension was anonymous. Masin presented evidence indicating that witnesses would testify that he could not have been involved in the incident claimed by the unidentified accuser. University of North Texas Chief of Police Ed Reynolds pointed out that "Masin is the founder of the law school's chapter of The Federalist Society, a notorious right-wing political organization. Thankfully, it is the only right-wing extremist element on campus. On top of this, Mr. Masin admits to owning...

A high school student in Jasper, Indiana attempted to post a dissenting perspective on the school's persistent indoctrination campaign regarding sexual identity. The unnamed student tacked up several "Straight Pride" posters around the school. The poster's message: "Nobody cares about what you think you are. If you want equality, stop shoving your ideas down our throats! We have nothing against your sexual orientation. We just don't care!" Greater Jasper School Superintendent Tracy Lorey explained that "we want to provide students opportunities to express themselves, but this doesn't mean that they can say whatever they want. For this one student to...

Betsy DeVos, Trump's nominee to head the US Depart6ment of Education, was assailed in Senate committee hearings for her past association with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). FIRE's positions in opposition to school suppression of freedom of speech and in support of transparent due process procedures for school disciplinary actions drew harsh opposition from Sen. Bob Casey (D-Penn). "FIRE has intruded on universities trying to police their own campuses to ferret out dangerous ideas and non-conforming attitudes," the Senator complained. "School administrators endeavoring to shield not-yet-mature young minds from confusing and confounding influences are being harassed by...

The Mercer Island School District in the State of Washington has barred students from playing the game of “tag” on school grounds or within eyesight of school personnel. Communications director Macy Grade described the ban as “an essential step to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.” In the game of “tag,” one child is designated as “it” until he or she can tag/touch another child and pass along the “it” status. Grade characterized the game as “potentially devastating to children’s self-esteem. First of all, the person who is ‘it’ is isolated and stigmatized. Second, all the other...

Patriotic teenagers in the birthplace of the American Revolution held their ground and fought back attempts by school administrators to cancel an “American Pride” dance on April 10 and replace it with a more inclusive event. (snip) Principal Laura Lasa told me the April 10th dance had never been canceled. They merely wanted to “dialogue” with students about inclusivity. “We were in a conversation with the kids about how the theme would be presented so that we could make sure that it was inclusive to all students,” Lasa said. “they took that as being told they could not.” (snip) Over...

Contending that "Mr., Mrs., and Ms" are hurtful and offensive to those with nontraditional gender identification, City University of New York wants its employees—professors and staff—to stop using these greetings. Dean of Students Peter Beaver explained that "for us to assume that because a person looks male we should address him as 'mister' overlooks the possibility that inwardly that person may identify as female. The situation for those who look female is even more complex, as 'miss' and 'missus' inject a marital status into the equation." "The appropriate form of salutation will be situational," Beaver said. "If a university employee...

Huntsville, Alabama’s W.F. Burns Middle School Principal Priscilla Holley sent a letter home with students asking the parents of each of them to equip their child with 8 ounces of canned goods that the student would use as a weapon against armed intruders. The idea is that the possibility of being hit by a can of beans would deter gunmen from harming the children. A key feature of this plan, according to Holley, is “the element of surprise. We believe that a barrage of cans thrown by our 12 and 13 year-old students would be a formidable response.” The Principal...

Parents of students attending Chicago’s Andrew Jackson Language Academy were shocked to discover that 5th graders are slated to study “the pleasures of anal sex.” Chicago Public Schools spokesman Bill McCaffrey characterized the parents’ reactions as “excessively dramatic” and “not well thought out. It’s our job to help prepare our students for life in the real world. Teaching them the skills needed for safe sex is at least as critical a part of our job as teaching them how to read.” “Sex is a topic of universal interest to students,” McCaffrey asserted. “What we teach them about this topic will...

A Milford parent is questioning the two-day suspension of his 10-year-old son from Stacy Middle School. Nickolas Taylor, a fifth-grader, was suspended after pointing an imaginary ray gun - his finger - and mouthing laser sounds in the school’s cafeteria last Friday, said Brian Taylor, Nickolas' father. “I think this is very slanderous toward Nickolas and his character,” said Taylor. “It was non-threatening. He’s just a typical boy with an imagination.” A conduct slip, written by Assistant Principal Noah Collins, lists the offense as a threat. Collins could not be reached for comment despite numerous phone calls and emails seeking...

The mother of an eight-year-old wants to know why a Tennessee school teacher gave her child a handout from the Nation of Islam that portrayed the presidents on Mount Rushmore as being racists. Sommer Bauer tells me her son was given The Nation of Islam handout at Harold McCormick Elementary School in Elizabethton. The handout asked “What does it take to be on Mount Rushmore?" The handout then explains that George Washington hailed from Virginia, a “prime breeder of black people.” Of Theodore Roosevelt, it was alleged he called Africans “ape-like.” There were also disparaging remarks made of Thomas Jefferson...

The Las Vegas School Board has drafted a new sex education curriculum that has some parents alarmed. Part of the new curriculum includes teaching kindergartners and pre-schoolers how to masturbate. Clark County School Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky called the plan “common sense. Rather than have these students learn about this in back alleys and lavatories we’re bringing it out into the open.” Skokowsky tried to reassure parents, telling them that “trained professionals from places like the Mustang Ranch will be brought in to conduct the demonstrations. Only the most tried and effective techniques will be displayed. Enabling our students to efficiently...

Weaverville Elementary School (Calif) eighth grader Kyle Bradford was sent to detention for sharing his burrito with another student. Tom Barnett, the Superintendent of the Trinity Alps Unified School District explained that “there is a district wide policy that prohibits students from exchanging the meals that the school provides. In this particular instance Mr. Bradford’s apparent act of kindness was undermining the school’s food allocation decisions.” The student Bradford gave half of his burrito to had been “allocated” a cheese sandwich that was not to his liking. Bradford was unimpressed by the school’s rationale and undeterred regarding potential future food...

Woodruff High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina confiscated American flags from the vehicles of four students this past week. The school’s principal, Aaron Fulmer, explained that “professions of patriotism do not write a ‘blank check’ for egregious behavior. Many of our undocumented students may feel intimidated by such flagrant demonstrations. And as President Obama has pointed out, the American flag, like the Confederate flag, is seen as a symbol of oppression in many parts of the world.” “Flaunting so-called American exceptionalism also contradicts the lesson of humility our school is trying to inculcate,” Fulmer said. “The United States is just...

St. Paul Public Schools workers are filing more injury reports and claims under the workers' compensation program. And district officials are not entirely sure why. Injury reports were up 50 percent in 2013 compared with four years ago, and the number of claims seeking payment for medical expenses or lost wages are up almost 30 percent, all while district employment stayed stable. Officials say they are watching how much the district is paying out more closely than the number of reports and claims. Those amounts have not risen in the past two years -- though they'll likely go up as...

Community College of Allegheny County will trim hours for about 400 of its part-time workers to avoid having to provide them with health insurance coverage, the school's president, Alex Johnson, said Thursday. Mr. Johnson told members of Allegheny County Council that complying with the requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, informally known as Obamacare, would have cost CCAC $6 million annually for part-timers who have been working at least 30 hours per week. Affected employees include both adjunct faculty and maintenance workers. CCAC has an annual operating budget of about $110 million and is facing reductions in county support...

JAY LENO: When you help your daughters with their homework, is there a subject you struggle with? PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, the math stuff I was fine with up until 7th grade. But Malia is now a freshman in High School and I'm pretty lost. It's tough. Fortunately, they are great students on their own. And if something doesn't work I'll call over to the Department of Energy to see if they have a physicist to come over!