Free Republic

A fired Colorado school district official was found dead Wednesday amid allegations he was involved in possessing "child sexual assault material," authorities told Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) on Thursday. David Weiss was fired as chief of schools for Jeffco Public Schools last month. The Washington County Sheriff's Office in Maryland notified the Jefferson County, Colorado Sheriff's Office on Wednesday it was conducting a death investigation into Weiss, the Colorado office said. Weiss was in Maryland with family to celebrate the holidays at the time of his death, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The Washington County Sheriff's Office...

A Jeffco counselor said, 'Our teachers are concerned with parents not knowing' ... A Colorado school district has a methodical system in place to keep parents in the dark on their child's gender transition in schools ... Leslie Mecca, a counselor at Bear Creek – a K-8 school in the district .. asking clarification on its recommendations regarding flagging an in-school social transition of a child's gender. Jeffco defines "transition" as "the steps a transgender person takes in order to align aspects of their life to be consistent with their gender identity." In the email, Mecca said that teachers in...

The backers of the Jeffco recall effort (read: Teachers Union) campaigned on the lie that the Jeffco School Board was lacking in transparency. That is why yesterday's ruling that Jeffco United, the nonprofit engaged in the recall effort, violated campaign finance laws is so, so delicious. The organization made a $90,000 donation to the recall effort without disclosing its donors. According to an administrative law judge, that is verboten. Its punishment is not so simple. The organization must pay $1,000, register as a political committee, and (here is the delightful part) disclose its donors. While nonprofits are not typically required...

As a giant marketplace of ideas, Facebook is an astonishing barometer, for better or worse. Its force-multiplying “likes” and “shares” can direct masses toward aspirational “Arab Spring”-type movements or incite mobs with false grievances, such as the “Hands up, don’t shoot” mythology that plagued Ferguson. Whether people of goodwill are swept toward virtue or delusion and chaos depends on their willingness to Think Again about unexamined facts and “likes” — “to follow truth wherever it may lead,” as Thomas Jefferson urged.