Free Republic

Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.” Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s public schools superintendent, said Monday that any teacher coming from the two blue states will be required to pass an assessment exam administered by PragerU, an Oklahoma-based conservative nonprofit, before getting a state certification. “As long as I am superintendent, Oklahoma classrooms will be safeguarded from the radical leftist ideology fostered in places like California...

The furious wife of a philandering Staten Island principal blew the whistle on her husband’s affair with a younger teacher at his school, where he helped his lover win tenure... Principal Anthony Cosentino, 43, engaged in a “consensual sexual relationship” with the married staffer, Jacqueline Sinodinos, 28, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools found in a newly released report accusing him of possibly violating the city’s conflict-of-interest rules. The scandal broke up two marriages. Both Cosentino’s wife and Sinodinos’ husband filed for divorce. .... Cosentino, 43 .. remained on the DOE payroll making $187,632 despite what SCI Anastasia...

Overview: The Oklahoma State Department of Education is introducing a new initiative to assess educators in U.S. Civics, Constitutional Principles, American History, and the biological differences between boys and girls. The Oklahoma State Department of Education is introducing a new initiative to assess educators who are relocating to the state from other states with ” progressive education policies”. According to State Superintendent Ryan Walters, the assessment will evaluate teachers’ knowledge in areas such as U.S. Civics, Constitutional Principles, American History, and the biological differences between boys and girls.” The initiative is the latest in Walters’ push to implement education policies...

Oklahoma is taking a bold step to preserve educational integrity and curb the growing threat of left-wing indoctrination in schools. The state’s Superintendent, Ryan Walters, announced this week that Oklahoma will become the first state to require teachers relocating from liberal-leaning states to pass a new certification test that ensures they align with Oklahoma’s curriculum standards. In a statement, Walters emphasized that the state’s new approach is designed to weed out any “woke” influences and prevent leftist ideologies from infiltrating Oklahoma’s classrooms. He explained that the new test, developed in collaboration with conservative think tank PragerU, will focus on fundamental...

The NEA described the Holocaust as having '12 million victims' from 'different faiths' without mentioning the attempted extermination of the Jewish people The nation's largest teachers' union plans to promote a version of Holocaust remembrance that does not mention Jews, according to its 2025 handbook, which references "victims of the Holocaust from different faiths" and teaches that Israel was founded through "forced, violent displacement and dispossession," its most recent guide for members shows. The National Education Association, which represents nearly three million public school teachers and education workers, outlined the priorities in its 2025 handbook. The NEA publishes the document...

School choice and the plague of the public school indoctrination mills .. Media bias and school choice .. The leftist indoctrination of American school children ... is at the root of most of the ills that plague this country... Republican politicians paid lip-service to education reform and — in typical GOP fashion — left it at that. As part of his efforts to introduce a spine into Republican politics, President Trump has set his sights on the Death Star, aka the Department of Education (DoE). .. The teachers' unions are the root of all evil in this battle. ... Labor...

A mysterious fever gripped the nation in 2020. Some called it mass formation psychosis. Others called it hysteria. It was a result of three distinct events, as well as institutional responses designed to exploit existing societal tensions. Those three events were the Covid-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd, and the impending re-election of Donald Trump. So much of what we were told by the authorities and the experts at that time has now been debunked. But those who work in academia know that, as crazy as life was out in the “real world,” it was even crazier in the...

The nation’s largest teachers union faced ridicule this week for misspelling “fascism” in a resolution opposing President Trump. The National Education Association (NEA), which represents more than 3 million teachers nationwide, approved the mangled proposal – aimed at defending “the survival of civilization itself” – on Sunday at the group’s annual convention. “NEA pledges to defend democracy against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions,” read the adopted agenda item, obtained by conservative education expert Corey A. DeAngelis, who shared it on X. “The members and...

(The Lion) — A well-regarded education watchdog has published a raft of alarming resolutions adopted by the National Education Association at its latest national assembly. They include a measure that encourages resistance of federal immigration enforcement and another that mandates labeling President Donald Trump a fascist in all union materials. Senior Fellow at the American Culture Project Corey DeAngelis obtained a copy of the NEA’s recently passed resolutions and posted them to X. “I just received a copy of the National Education Association’s resolutions that they passed at their annual convention,” said DeAngelis. “They kept them private this year.” It’s...

Randi Weingarten, left-wing activist and president of the second-largest teachers’ union in the United States, is leaving the Democratic National Committee (DNC), citing disagreements with leadership and dismay at the direction of the committee. Weingarten, who heads the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and has been an influential member of the DNC for 23 years, wrote a letter to DNC Chair Ken Martin indicating that she is at odds with committee leadership, Politico first reported. “While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not...

NoKings.org activist organizing is planning nationwide anti-Amercan (anti-Trump) "protests" on June 14, the U.S. Army birthday national celebration. See their partners page. They have many far-left sponsors including teachers and labor unions, democrats, climate change believers, Bernie Sanders, LGBTXYZ groups, etc. Most likely many of these sponsor groups receive public funds.

A senior at Northeastern University filed a formal complaint and demanded a tuition refund after discovering her professor was secretly using AI tools to generate notes. The professor later admitted to using several AI platforms and acknowledged the need for transparency. The incident highlights growing student concerns over professors using AI, a reversal of earlier concerns from professors worried that students would use the technology to cheat. Some students are not happy about their professor’s use of AI. One college senior was so shocked to learn her teacher was using AI to help him create notes that she lodged a...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do” and slamming his hands on a desk, according to one person who was briefed on what occurred. As the meeting deteriorated, a staff member moved to end it and ushered the visitors into the hallway, where she broke down crying. The staffer was comforted by the teachers...

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation on Saturday to create a $1 billion fund for school voucher programs — the largest day-one school choice bill in the nation’s history. Abbott was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, the bill’s author State Sen. Brandon Creighton, and school choice advocates. The governor celebrated the bill’s passage by a vote of 85-63 in the Texas House two weeks ago. “Today is the culmination of a movement that has swept across our state and across our country,” Abbott said before signing the bill. “A movement driven by parents...

DOGE: While teachers scrape by, union "executives" like Randi Weingarten gorge themselves on salaries nearly eight times higher, raking in close to $600,000 a year. They neither teach a single child nor train a single teacher. They are not educators, they are parasites, draining a system they pretend to serve. ... She also flies in a private jet.

Chicago Teachers Union members have overwhelmingly voted to ratify their new contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools, making official a deal that notches improvements for educators and students but leaves political turmoil in its wake. After almost a year of negotiations, 97% of members who voted late last week approved the contract, according to the union. About 85% of the CTU’s 27,000 eligible voting members participated. Voting took place by paper ballot in schools and voting locations across the city on Thursday and Friday, and counting wrapped up over the weekend. The Board of Education will likely vote to approve...

The Illinois school district that faced national scrutiny for allegations of forcing middle school girls to change in the same locker room as a transgender student has been referred to the Department of Justice. The law firm America First Legal (AFL) made the criminal referral of the district Deerfield Public Schools 109 to the DOJ on Tuesday, urging the department to investigate the district and middle school where the allegations occurred for potential violations of federal and state law. AFL alleged the district violated Code § 241, also known as the "Conspiracy against rights" statute, which makes it a federal...

Radical socialists who back anti-Israel groups and alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione are steadily making inroads into one of the city’s most powerful labor unions, sources warn The Post. Candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America are polling strongly in elections to lead the United Federation of Teachers — who represent nearly 200,000 educators and manage a welfare fund with $1 billion in assets — which take place next month, according to a source. The progressive political movement, which backed Vermont governor Bernie Sanders during his presidential campaign in 2016 and was behind New York Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio...

Quite the statement, eh? Let me explain. I’m well into my 60s and for my entire adult life I’ve heard that public school teachers are underpaid. It has been repeated as a mantra for decades. Ignoring for a moment whether it is true or not -- and the answer to that is generally, it depends -- let’s accept the mantra and analyze why public-school teachers are still underpaid after all these years. It’s not spending. As most voters know, it seems that every stinking year there is some ballot initiative or measure or legislative move to increase spending for our...

Thousands of teachers in California are at risk of losing their jobs due to the state's budget cuts going into the 2025-26 school year, according to the California Teachers Association (CTA), which represents 300,000 school employees. Why It Matters Schools are experiencing layoffs due to limited budgets, overstaffing and declining enrollment. Many federal coronavirus relief funds were also used to increase school budgets, but those funds are now drying up five years later. What To Know The majority of the 2,300 school employees being let go are credentialed school staff, which include teachers, school nurses and librarians, according to the...