We need to rebuild public ed from the ground up. First step is firing administrators like these: Pearce was stunned when his first-grade [special needs] son was accused of distributing pornography to his class last week. By the time he was notified, his son had already undergone extensive questioning, and the Assistant Principal had already filed a sexual harassment complaint with the district...
Pre-K program advocates try to prevent research from being published
I had the opportunity to study under Lipsey when he was one of the instructors at the IES CRT Summer Institute. That he of all people had to deal with this is really depressing. Do not question the narrative that all educational spending and programs are double-plus good! We must think of the children! We believe that most people will agree that society has an obligation to prevent or ameliorate...
Everyone makes school’s cheer squad after parent complains
A New Jersey mom went to her daughter’s school and complained about her not making the cheerleading squad – so now everyone gets to make the team. “All my hard work has been thrown out the window,” seethed cheerleader Stephanie Krueger about the ruling during a Board of Education meeting last week in East Hanover. “I tried my hardest. Now everything is going away because of one child who...
Lake Wobegon and valedictorians
The top student in a high school’s graduating class used to earn the honor of being the valedictorian, and traditionally that one student delivered a commencement speech that helped send his or her classmates out into the adult world. But at Arlington’s Washington-Lee High School this year, there were 117 valedictorians out of a class of 457. […] Jim Bock, vice president and dean of...
Can a school board ban Washington Redskins clothing?
The board just enacted this rule, effective in the fall: Students may not wear clothing with words, pictures or caricatures based on negative stereotypes of a specific gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or disability. Students may not wear shirts, hats or other attire with Native American team names, logos or mascots that depict negative stereotypes. A list of team...
Public schools explicitly teach creationism!
Hard to believe this is occurring in the 21st century: Through a public records request, I obtained dozens of emails from the Bossier Parish school district that specifically discuss teaching creationism. Shawna Creamer, a science teacher at Airline High School, sent an email to the principal, Jason Rowland, informing him of which class periods she would use to teach creationism. “We will read in...
School suspends student for taping her bullying teacher!
Hard to believe, but true – what’s extraordinary is the reason: An 11-year-old Florida girl was suspended from school after she recorded her fifth-grade teacher threatening and bullying other students. The evidence Brianna Cooper recorded was enough to get the teacher fired from Samuel Gaines Academy in Fort Pierce, about two hours north of Miami. But administrators say it was also...