Free Republic

Editor's note: Israel has been in an uproar this week over the Supreme Court ruling forcing Ashkenazi parents to send their daughters to (a private) school track where they will be in classes with Sephardic girls. The parents refuse to do so, and the court ruled that they must be jailed. The issue is being framed by the media as racism and antagonism is running high. Moshe Feiglin has a completely different view:The demonization campaign against the Haredim is pre-meditated - no doubt about it. Suddenly, everyone is very concerned over what subjects the Haredim are teaching their students. Suddenly...

BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP -- New Jersey's education commissioner ordered a review after a YouTube video shows school children learning a song celebrating President Barack Obama. The video shows more than a dozen youngsters at B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township. The district said the students were participating in Black History Month in February. Education Department spokeswoman Kathryn Forsyth said the commissioner has directed the school superintendent to review what happened. Forsyth said the commissioner wants to ensure that students can celebrate Black History Month without "inappropriate partisan politics in the classroom." Forsyth also said the teacher who directed the...

When parents tell me their oldest child is going to be in middle school, I sense they have mixed feelings. They’re proud but worried. They’re worried about their children’s loss of innocence. No parent can put that off forever, of course, but they shouldn’t have to worry about it when their kids are only 11 years old. When it’s parents against the culture, I hate to admit it but the culture is likely to win. Parents know this at some level and fear it.   Students are more sexual these days than I ever remember. I shouldn’t be surprised...

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCERhttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/296689_homeschool21.html Homeschool-public school bonds growingMore parents are supplementing lessons at home by embracing public school partnershipsThursday, December 21, 2006By JESSICA BLANCHARDP-I REPORTERStudents at the tiny, nondescript public school building in North Seattle have no playground, no formal cafeteria, no sports teams, no bells signaling the end of class. They come and go as they please, and the nearly 250 who pass through the halls don't even consider themselves public school students.They're among the more than 20,000 children statewide who are thought to opt out of public schools each year. They and their parents are drawn instead to the flexibility...

It is time for a new direction in the way our government handles our public schools. It is time for the government to relinquish constitutional control of our public schools. It is time for a separation of school and state. How insane is it that all American children cannot participate in a Bible club at school if they so desire? How wrong is it that Christian children are being persecuted by faculty and staff if they want to pray in school? How unacceptable is it that our valedictorians are not allowed to thank or praise the Lord their God as...