Free Republic

The three major summits of world leaders that took place across Asia in the past week have made one thing clear: Vladimir Putin is now sidelined on the world stage. Putin, whose attack on Ukraine over the past nine months has devastated the European country and roiled the global economy, declined to attend any of the diplomatic gatherings – and instead found himself subject to significant censure as international opposition to his war appeared to harden. A meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in Bangkok closed on Saturday with a declaration that references nations’ stances expressed in other...

An alarming discovery out of Baltimore City Schools. Project Baltimore has obtained student assessment data that North Avenue does not release publicly. That data shows some students who could soon graduate, are performing at an elementary school level, academically. Project Baltimore, over the years, has heard from many parents who say their children are being pushed through Baltimore City Schools without getting the education they need. Julie Gaskins told us back in 2018 that her seventh grader was doing math and reading at a second-grade level. Project Baltimore also spoke with Gregory Gray, a Baltimore City Schools father, back in...

Legislation to set up gun safety courses at Wisconsin public high schools is being blasted as “inappropriate” by state Democrats. Other opponents of the bill—including Madison psychotherapist Laurie Asplund—suggest that a gun safety course will only feed a “gun culture” at the schools. According to Fox 6, Rep. Ken Skowronski (R-Dist. 82) is one of the sponsors of the bill that would create the safety courses. Skowronski argues that opponents of gun safety courses have things backward. He says trap and target shooting teams are already popular, and increasingly so. In light of this, the gun safety courses are a...

Rashana Jackman isn’t old enough to vote in an election, but she could soon have a vote on a city-appointed board that takes influential stands on neighborhood issues. At 17, the Brooklyn high school junior is considering applying to serve on her community board, under a new state law that lets 16- and 17-year-olds join the panels that function as front lines of local government in the nation’s biggest city. The advisory but oft-heeded groups opine on zoning changes and liquor license applications, consult on city budgeting for local projects and serve as conduits for community concerns. “It’s a great...

First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to address the combined high school graduating class of the Topeka, KS school district next month and some of the students are upset about it. One student, 18 year old Taylor Gifford, began a petition to ask Mrs. Obama not to speak because there would be limited seating for family and friends. Gifford's petition has already gotten 1200 signatures.

Remedial classes await. Thousands of Colorado high schoolers are graduating this month with plans to go to college in the fall. Hundreds of them will be academically unprepared when they get there. Those students will take — and pay for — remedial classes that don’t count toward a degree. Educators say the need for remedial work is fueled largely by a lack of communication between high schools and colleges about what’s important to know. They also say high school students need to pay closer attention to class selection and grades, especially in the senior year when many coast toward graduation...

High School kids are lying, cheating and committing petty thievery, and are not ashamed of it, according to a study released today by the Josephson Institute of Ethics. The biennial study found that 74 percent of those polled admitted to cheating on an exam once in the past year. Nearly four out of 10 adolescents acknowledged stealing during that time, and 93 percent confessed they lied to their parents. Half the respondents actually approved of lying occasionally to save money, while 37 percent were willing to lie to land a good job. And virtually all of them - 95 percent...

AUGUSTA — Two lawmakers have asked the attorney general’s office to determine the state’s liability if it breaks a contract with Apple Computer for thousands of laptop computers. Reps. Phil Cressey, R-Baldwin, and Brian Duprey, R-Hampden, asked Attorney General Steven Rowe to determine if there’s an out in the $37.2 million contract. They said the money would be better spent to offset a looming $180 million budget shortfall than on computers. “This laptop program here in the state of Maine does not have the support of all the people of the state of Maine,” said Cressey. “When we’re trying to...