Free Republic

Educators unions in Massachusetts are urging officials to change course on mask-wearing in schools after state officials on Friday said the prevention effort will be encouraged but not required. In guidance released Friday, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education strongly encouraged, but did not require, unvaccinated students in grades K-12 or school staff to wear masks when inside school buildings this fall. Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy called it a “reckless decision.” “The guidance issued today by Governor Charlie Baker’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is no guidance at all. Rather than adopt a plan in...

NEW YORK — Hundreds of workers rallied Monday outside the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan and the Massachusetts Statehouse to protest systemic racism and economic inequality — an effort that organizers hoped would grow into a nationwide strike in which tens of thousands of people walked off the job.... About 1,500 janitors in San Francisco walked off their jobs and planned to lead a march to City Hall later in the day, according to Fight for $15, a labor group that supports raising the U.S. minimum wage to $15 an hour. McDonald’s cooks and cashiers in Los Angeles and nursing...

President Trump said Monday he is “going to get involved” in settling a heated dispute between Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly and former USS Theodore Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier, who was fired last week after writing a letter about a worsening coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship that was later published by the San Francisco Chronicle.During a press conference at the White House, the president praised both men and said he doesn’t want Capt. Crozier’s career to be ruined because of a “bad day.”“I’ve heard very good things about the gentleman, both gentlemen,” Mr. Trump said. “I may just get involved … you have two good people and they’re arguing. And...

Thirty-nine elected prosecutors in a joint statement condemned Attorney General William P. Barr for recent his rhetoric that attacked progressive policies, arguing that his “dangerous and failed” approach to criminal justice disproportionately punished poor people and racial minorities while diverting resources away from more serious crimes “Sadly, we are perceived as a threat by some who are wedded to the status quo or, even worse, failed policies of past decades,” the 39 state, county and city prosecutors wrote. “Critics such as Attorney General William P. Barr seek to bring us back to a time when crime was high, success was...

WASHINGTON — Alexandria City Public Schools will be closed Wednesday after more than 300 staff members requested the day off. The “unusually high number” of call-outs may be connected with the “Day Without a Woman” nationwide protest and social media campaign, school superintendent Alvin Crawley said in a statement. Wednesday also marks International Women’s Day. March 8 will be a teacher workday, Crawley said. March 10 was already a regularly scheduled workday. “This is not a decision that was made lightly,” Crawley said, adding it was “based solely on our ability to provide sufficient staff to cover all our classrooms.”

A group called “Teach, Organize, Resist” has released a call to action asking for students and professors to use January 18th or “#J18” to protest against Trump. “January 18, 2017, is a day to Teach, Organize, Resist. Poised between Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the presidential inauguration, J18 is an opportunity to affirm the role of critical thinking and academic knowledge in challenging Trumpism.” The group claims that they want to use higher education to resist against Trump. Teach, Organize, Resist has a long list of partners mostly from UCLA.

Guest essay by Eric WorrallAccording to Scientific American, The US Department of Energy has refused a request from President-elect Trump’s Energy Department Transition Team for information about what their people do on their work time. Energy Department Refuses Trump’s Request for Names on Climate ChangeTrump’s transition team asked for the names of people who have worked on climate change and the professional society memberships of lab workers.By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday it will not comply with a request from President-elect Donald Trump’s Energy Department transition team for the names of people who have...

Assign groups for every federal agency, issue, executive order, policy, law, etc. put in place since Bill Clinton took office and make plans to remove all of them. For Example, eliminate the EPA, Dept. of Education, the Commerce Dept. and many others. In other words, as in Zero Based Budgeting, justify every person and dollar spent from the ground up...no justification...remove it!!!

A Texas school district has apologized to a high school valedictorian whose appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy was threatened after he delivered a speech that referenced God and the U.S. Constitution — in defiance of district policies. (snip) Fran Merek, the superintendent of the Joshua Independent School District, issued a carefully worded statement apologizing for the incident. “On behalf of the school district, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Todd Reimer and Remington Reimer for any interpretation of a threat by Mr. Cochran in expressing his displeasure at a meeting on Friday morning between...

Salary of the US President...$400,000. Salary of retired US Presidents...$180,000 Salary of House/Senate...$174,000. Salary of Speaker of House...$223,500. Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders...$193,400. Average US Salary...$33,000 to $77,000. Maybe our elected officials should make an average salary too... It's a time of sacrifice after all. Do a million of us have to march in protest in DC before they all get the message?

It seems like a nice gesture – an e-mail message from a loving wife, urging thousands of people to join her in wishing her husband a happy 49th birthday by signing an electronic birthday card. But in Washington, D.C., nothing is that simple. The wife, in this case, is First lLdy Michelle Obama, and the message is being sent by the Democratic Party to people on its list nationwide. And underlying the birthday wishes, the message is political: The electronic card to Barack Obama also is a Democratic Party fundraiser.“Every year, our family tries to come up with a fun...

On the yearlong course to getting their beloved healthcare reform passed, Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats didn’t always hear what they wanted to hear from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gatekeepers. But when they finally did on the days leading up to the historic March 21 vote, they dismissed an important CBO caveat in order to strike while the iron was hot. Now, hardly to the surprise of ObamaCare critics like political commentator and former Colorado Congressman, Bob Beauprez (R), the CBO says the cost is going to be much higher than originally projected. So, what was the caveat back...

For the second time Detroit Public Schools Financial Manager Robert Bobb has threatened to bankrupt the school system. Bobb wants school teachers to agree to a Termination Incentive Plan (TIP) which says each teacher must loan the district $10,000 a year from pre-tax earnings to help eliminate the schools’ deficit. DFT President Keith Johnson says if teachers do not agree to the union-generated plan, they face a 10 percent pay cut for five years widening the wage gap between city and suburban teachers. Additionally, teachers may face bankruptcy proceedings that could make a teachers’ contract void. Many teachers have said...

Apparently there are still some posters on FR who are fast asleep. Wake up! Dammit! We are in the middle of a conservative rebellion! While you were sleeping we, along with millions of other freedom loving grassroots Americans have participated in hundreds of tea parties all across this great land and fully intend to keep it up until all of America is awake. We are fed up and mad as hell! We grassroots Americans are delivering a message to the ruling class: NO MORE!! No more big government! No more high taxes! No more government bailouts! No more government takeovers!...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had had no alcohol before the accident. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. "I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake." Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed...