Free Republic

Ex-NY Times journalist warns of corporate wokeness in media industry: 'What happens is a kind of internal self-censorship' Former New York Times journalist Bari Weiss confronted CNN’s Brian Stelter about his network’s coverage of the COVID-19 lab leak theory when listing examples of why the world has gone mad "Where can I start? Well, when you have the chief reporter on the beat of COVID for The NY Times talking about how questioning or pursuing the question of the lab leak is racist, the world has gone mad. When you're not able to say out loud and in public there...

Glenn Youngkin, the first Republican to win the state of Virginia since 2009, was sworn in as the state’s 74th governor on Jan. 15. Within hours of his inauguration, he signed 11 executive actions including lifting the mask mandate in Virginia schools and “ending divisive concepts, including critical race theory, in public education.” He also signed an executive directive rescinding the vaccine mandate for all state employees. The 55-year-old former business executive, in his inauguration speech at Richmond, emphasized a “common path forward” with “our deep and abiding respect for individual freedom.” Youngkin vowed to strengthen and renew the “spirit...

A former White House adviser to former President Obama pled guilty to wire fraud on Friday in connection to an alleged scheme to steal $218,000 from a school network that he helped create. “Seth Andrew, a former White House advisor, admitted today to devising a scheme to steal from the very same schools he helped create," Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. "Andrew now faces time in federal prison for abusing his position and robbing those he promised to help.”

It’s a good rule of thumb to avoid looking like an idiot in front of children.I mention this because New York’s governor and government are about to do exactly that. They are currently muddling through the implementation of an absolutely idiotic move.Namely, a ban on extracurricular activities for students 12 and over who are vaccinated, but not boosted, and who are exposed to someone with covid.This has “dumbass” written all over it.And students know that.Students know that this new rule is illogical, punitive and ineffective, that it isn’t about public health, it is about submission to government authority. It’s not...

Florida lawmakers are debating a bill that would allow schools districts to put cameras in classrooms and microphones on teachers. The measure was proposed by state Representative Bob Rommel, a Republican from Naples. "I think if we can do it in a safe way to protect the privacy of students and teachers, I think we should do it," he told CBS Miami. "I haven't heard a response good or bad from any teachers, but … it's not their private space. It's our children's space, too." But Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco told the station a handful of Broward County...

In a quiet response to the Senate Judiciary Committee three days before Christmas, the Biden DOJ says it won’t withdraw a controversial memo used to activate the FBI Counterterrorism Division to investigate parents voicing their opposition to a variety of topics – primarily mask and vaccine mandates, and teaching critical race theory. This week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) revealed the pre-Christmas response – stating: “[I]n December we asked why the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division was getting involved in parents expressing their concerns at school board meetings. Now, just to be crystal clear, there’s no excuse for real threats or acts of...

The omicron variant and a heavy winter storm have temporarily reduced staffing in Philadelphia public schools, leading more than 40 to switch to remote learning starting Monday. At least 46 public schools in the Philadelphia School District will be "100%" remote from Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, the superintendent of Philadelphia's school district, William Hite, said in a statement released on Friday.

Just the other day, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during an interview with CNBC that her goal is to “never shut down again”, in reference to a lockdown that economically devastated small business owners. During this interview, Lightfoot insisted that schools weren’t a locus of the spread, which of course is in line with the CDC’s own guidance. “Our schools are not the source of significant spread. The issue is community spread. But we need to keep our kids in schools, which is what we’re going to do in Chicago,” she said, adding that: …she “will not allow” the union...

Migration to Florida is being fueled in part by a very interesting factor: school choice. An exodus is underway from New York City and its surrounding environs. Many Jews are leaving the Big Apple and moving to the Sunshine State. And their migration to Florida — America’s Promised Land — is being fueled in part by a very interesting factor: school choice. “Many young families up north are enticed by Florida’s robust menu of state-supported private-school scholarships,” writes Allan Jacob in The Wall Street Journal. “These programs make private school tuition far more affordable in Florida than in New York...

“Follow the science,” it said about handling COVID. But for Team Biden, it was follow the teachers unions when it came to reopening schools. Emails between the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — provided to the watchdog group Americans for Public Trust via a Freedom of Information Act request — reveal that the Biden administration not only consulted national teachers unions before releasing school reopening guidance to the public, it put a heavy thumb on the scales in favor of the unions’ agenda.

Conley stated, “The general concept is to eliminate some, or all, of the district’s property taxes used for operations of the district, and at the same time institute a new SDIT that would replace the revenue currently generated by the property taxes.” Conley’s presentation to the school board comes after board members and Superintendent Renee Willis earlier this month objected to City Council approving tax abatement for the Belle Oaks Marketplace project at the Richmond Town Square mall property. Included in the $260-million mixed-use Belle Oaks project will be residential and retail uses. Only the northern portion of the mall...

A majority of Americans say that male and female are the only two genders, and that schools shouldn’t be allowed to counsel children about gender or sexuality without parents’ consent, according to the results of a survey released Monday. The survey was conducted by Rasmussen Reports among 1,000 American adults from Dec. 21 to 22, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at and 95 percent confidence level. It comes amid a social media firestorm sparked by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who was accused of engaging in “hate speech” for insisting that there are...

In an exclusive leak given to Big League Politics by a current nursing student who chose to remain anonymous for fear of blowback, we were able to confirm that students who attend Florida’s Keiser University and practice at the Cleveland Clinic are being forced to take Covid-19 inoculations. What’s more, Florida’s Cleveland Clinic, which hosts various medical students, has explicitly stated that they refuse to grant any type of exemption – including ones for religious and even medical reasons.

"WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. Public Schools is responding to allegations that third-grade students at Watkins Elementary School were instructed to re-enact parts of the Holocaust as part of a lesson. The Washington Post spoke to parents who say their children were asked to do things like portray Hitler, pretend to shoot classmates, and pretend to die in a gas chamber. ..."

A California state judge struck down San Diego Unified School District’s student COVID-19 vaccine mandate Monday, ruling that it was “inconsistent with state law.” This means that all SDUSD students can continue in-person instruction regardless of COVID-19 vaccine status.Two lawsuits were filed challenging the mandate, one on behalf of a parent whose student was going to be forced to get the jab to continue in-person instruction, and one by the parent group “Let Them Breathe.” The lawsuits were joined for the purpose of hearing a petition for a writ of mandate, and oral arguments were held Monday morning. At 9...

On Friday’s “CNN Tonight,” New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams (D) said that “temporarily shutting down the schools” in areas of the city that have large coronavirus outbreaks is “smart, it’s a great way to go, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

The Biden administration is advocating for a "test-to-stay" policy in schools, aiming to reduce the number of absences and quarantines among students exposed to COVID-19. The strategy, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday, will permit close contacts of those with confirmed COVID-19 to stay in classrooms if they test negative at least twice in the week after interacting with an infected person. "If exposed children meet a certain criteria and continue to test negative, they can stay in school, instead of quarantining at home," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a briefing. The CDC...

President Joe Biden on Friday will reportedly announce biweekly coronavirus tests for school children amid school districts shutting down over omicron variant fears. Despite Biden’s promise in 2020 to shut down the virus, schools around the nation are closing early for Christmas break. Biden perhaps worries his unfulfilled promise will be further delayed by school districts not returning to order after the scheduled break.

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have reached a $9.25 million settlement in two long-running federal lawsuits stemming from the layoffs of hundreds of Black educators at underperforming schools. About $5.25 million of the settlement would be distributed among 413 current and former union members under the terms of the deal, which is subject to court approval and up for a vote at Wednesday’s Chicago Board of Education meeting. Attorneys for the teachers and paraprofessionals are seeking about $3.6 million in fees and $400,000 in court costs, according to the board. CPS and CTU representatives...

Administrators at a Chicago Public Schools high school have shot down an attempt by a right-wing group to form a chapter on the Northwest Side campus of “an organization promoting racial intolerance.” Meanwhile, Chicago police said they are investigating a social media post by a longtime CPD sergeant that praised supposed efforts by students to start the group, Turning Point USA. Taft High School Principal Mark Grishaber said in a letter to the school community earlier this month that he was “disturbed” by efforts to launch a Turning Point chapter at Taft. The right-wing organization has a presence at more...