Jan Resseger: Ohio State Board of Education Repeals Anti-Racism ResolutionThe Republican war on “critical race theory” began in the closing months of Trump’s term in office, when he denounced it and called for “patriotic education.” One Republican state after another began passing resolutions and laws banning the teaching of CRT, which was interpreted to mean teaching about racism or anything that might make “some” children feel uncomfortable or be “divisive. Teaching
Peter Greene: What Is the Christian Educators Association?Peter Greene notes that 2021 has been a year of attacks on public education, and he i ntroduces us to an organization t hat is a little-known but influential player behind the scenes. It has actively sought to destroy teachers unions and to bring Christian beliefs into the classroom. That is, their version of Christian beliefs. He writes: The Christian Educators Association is not a new player (y
Edukention: Good Teaching about Race Does Not Make White Children Feel Bad About ThemselvesThe Network for Public Education blog posted this excellent explanation of why the Republican laws banning teaching about racism are wrong. They assert that white children will feel bad about themselves if they learn the truth about the past, about whites’ oppression of Blacks, about lynching and massacres and white supremacy. From the blog Edukention, a response to the concern that teaching abou
Trump’s Legacy as the Mad President Lives OnTrump is a sore loser. Will we ever see the last of him? It seems he’ll be with us forever, his legacy revealed by the stories that his former aides tell about what they saw during his four madcap years. The latest is contained in a story in The New York Times. It seems that the famous xenophobe Stephen Miller cooked up a campaign season plan to close the border by stationing 250,000 troops there
Jeff Bryant: How For-Profit Charters Corrupt Education and Other Once-Public ServicesThe House of Representatives recently passed a budget that excluded for-profit charter schools from receiving federal funds. The federal Charter Schools Program has doled out many millions to for-profits over the years, despite the fact that their need for profit reduces their funding for instruction, small classes, and experienced teachers. The Senate has not yet taken action on the budget but t
Virginia: What’s At Stake in the Governor’s Election?In the race for governor of Virginia, Republicans have focused their campaign on hot-button issues like banning “critical race theory” from the schools, opposing mask mandates, and taking a stand against tiny numbers of transgender students. Republicans have also argued that parents should be able to determine what teachers are allowed to teach and to ban books that they don’t like. And of course
Jim Sleeper: How Yale Molded the Cold War Mentality and LeadershipJim Sleeper is a journalist and alumnus of Yale, as well as a lecturer there. He published an enlightening article about the role of Yale University in forging the Grand Strategy , a strategy of American imperial power to safeguard the world (and American interests). For those of us who came of age in the 1950s, it seemed like the American Colossus was invincible and profoundly moral. But since t
Anti-Vaxxers Who Died or Became Very Sick with COVIDWe have all read stories about anti-vaxxers who pleaded for the vaccine on their deathbed. it turns out that there is a website that keeps track of anti-vaxxers who were hospitalized and/or died of COVID. At first, I thought the site was an exercise in schadenfreude—enjoying the suffering of others—but after I read many sad stories, I concluded that its purpose was to persuade anti-vaxxers to tak
Texas: Insanity Erupts at School Board Meetings Over Critical Race TheoryUnder the combined influence of Donald Trump and Governor Gregg Abbott, a considerable number of Texas parents have become convinced that their public schools have become hotbeds of Marxism and malignant “critical race theory.” Any discussion of racism is interpreted to mean CRT. Opponents of CRT oppose any recognition of racism in the past or present. This story in The Texas Monthly documents th
Jan Resseger: A Thirty-Year Overview of Vouchers, Which Started in MilwaukeeJan Resseger provides a useful and disturbing overview of vouchers , which began in 1991 in Milwaukee. The funder that inspired the Milwaukee voucher program, paid its legal costs, and kept it going while it was challenged in court was the rightwing Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, led by Mike Joyce. When vouchers were launched thirty years ago, their promoters said they would “save” poor blac
Nancy Bailey: “The Truth About Reading” Isn’t TrueNancy Bailey is a retired teacher who battles misinformation and propaganda. In this post, she dissects a new film called “The Truth About Reading,” which is riddled with half-truths and omissions. It is yet another alarmist film that calls parents to the barricades to engage in another round of The Reading Wars. She begins: Americans are getting primed with a trailer for a new documentary called
NYC: Eric Adams, Reversing De Blasio, Will Not Scrap Gifted ProgramsEric Adams, the Democratic candidate for mayor, is sure to be elected mayor of New York City in November, succeeding Bill De Blasio. The current Mayor Bill De Blasio announced the end of testing four-year-olds for entry into gifted programs. Adams asserted his intention to keep gifted programs , but without details. Eric Adams said on Friday that he would keep New York City’s elementary school gi
Peter Greene to U.S. News: Ranking Schools by Test Scores is a Truly Stupid IdeaPeter Greene points out that U.S. News used to be a news magazine, but has turned itself into a ranking agency, mainly of colleges, then high schools, and now…wait for it…elementary and middle schools! Does it get any more ridiculous than that? Its rankings are based mainly on test scores, which are guaranteed to favor schools that are the whitest and most affluent. US News was once a magazine, b
Guess Who Slipped a Pro-Corporate Provision into the Infrastructure Bill?“In the Public Interest” is our best source for alerts about privatization. Here is their latest warning. Welcome back to our weekly newsletter for people who want government to work for all of us, not just the wealthy few. Not a subscriber? Sign up here. Your support makes our work possible. If you have spare change lying around, please donate . We’d deeply appreciate it. Odds are, the $1.2 tril
Texas: Teachers Told to Teach “Opposing Views” of Holocaust and SlaveryAs part of the Republican effort to eliminate teaching about slavery, racism, and other injustices, the state has banned “critical race theory” and requires teaching “both sides” of controversies. In the Carroll Independent School District, teachers w ere told that if they teach about the Holocaust i n Europe, they must teach “the other side.” Understandably, teachers were confused. Are they supp
Carol Burris: The Myth of “Charter School Enrollment Growth” During PandemicOn September 22, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools put out a press release boasting of unprecedented enrollment growth during the pandemic. The report asserted that charter school enrollment increased during the pandemic in at least 39 states, with a 7 percent overall increase. The charter lobby said that this growth “is likely” to be “the largest rate of increase in student enroll
