Randi Weingarten Out Foxes Fox - Turns Tables on Martha MacCallum, Presses Her About Election ‘Misinformation’ - DAILY BEAST,

Randi Weingarten Turns Tables on Martha MacCallum, Presses Her About Election ‘Misinformation

Fox Guest Turns Tables on Host, Presses Her About Election ‘Misinformation’

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten turned an already testy Fox News interview into an extremely heated affair on Monday when she pressed anchor Martha MacCallum about conservative “misinformation” on the last presidential election.

In recent months, there has been a sustained backlash among conservatives over the issue of racial equity in the classroom. GOP legislators across the country have proposed bills to ban the teaching of “critical race theory” in K-12 schools, all while demanding that students be taught that 1776 represents the true founding of America. (Much of this is in response to the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which has sparked criticism among some historians.)

With Fox lately being obsessed with the topic of critical race theory, MacCallum wanted to know whether Weingarten believes the 1619 Project is factual and whether she endorses it being part of American history lesson plans. After Weingarten said it’s a “point in history” that’s worth teaching because it represents the first slave ships arriving in America, MacCallum criticized her for having a “very simplistic take.”

Going back and forth over the merits of the project with Weingarten, MacCallum complained that it “is not factual” as it teaches students that the “country was founded on the basis of wanting to preserve slavery.” The union head, meanwhile, said she’s “not arrived at the same conclusion” about the project’s findings.

At that point, Weingarten decided to change the subject to something a bit more touchy for the Fox News anchor.

“I would hope that Fox would be just as focused on let’s get rid of the misinformation about what happened in this election. This election was free and fair,” Weingarten flatly stated, prompting an incensed MacCallum to interject.

“Oh, come on, Randi,” she exclaimed. “This is not the topic we’re here to talk about! I’m not going to talk about that. We’ve talked about that before… That’s a dodge, OK?!”

MacCallum then tried to swing the discussion back to critical race theory in the CONTINUE READING: Randi Weingarten Turns Tables on Martha MacCallum, Presses Her About Election ‘Misinformation

Teacher Tom: Where Community Begins

Teacher Tom: Where Community Begins

Where Community Begins

Several years ago, I was passing a table at which four boys were eating snack. They were discussing a classmate, a boy with sensory challenges that often manifested in ways that disturbed and even hurt his classmates. One of them said as I passed, "He's a bad guy." That stopped me in my tracks.

"Yeah," a friend replied, "He's a real bad guy."

And another, "He hurts me all the time."

The poor boy had one defender in the group who added, "He never hurts me," but his opinion was overwhelmed by the prevailing sentiment. As I stood there, they came to an agreement that they weren't going to play with him any longer.

As a teacher, it was upsetting to hear. Yes, he had hurt these boys and others. They had every right to be wary of him, even to shun him. That said, this was a preschooler with a diagnosed condition, one that caused him to behave impulsively. He wasn't a "bad guy," of course, but there was no doubt that he frequently did bad things: things that hurt and frightened other people.

I went home that day knowing that we adults needed to do something. There is always going to be a little hitting and CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: Where Community Begins

NEPC: Five Myths About Teaching | Diane Ravitch's blog

NEPC: Five Myths About Teaching | Diane Ravitch's blog

NEPC: Five Myths About Teaching

The National Education Policy Center is a think tank known for its incisive reviews, studies, and reports. In this post, it demolishes five myths about teaching.

Myth 1: Evaluating teachers based on student test results is fair, objective, and effective. Wrong.

Myth 2: We’d get better performance out of teachers CONTINUE READING: NEPC: Five Myths About Teaching | Diane Ravitch's blog

ANDRE PERRY: If you don’t want critical race theory to exist, stop being racist - The Hechinger Report

COLUMN: If you don’t want critical race theory to exist, stop being racist

COLUMN: If you don’t want critical race theory to exist, stop being racist

Conservatives campaigning against critical race theory are making it even more popular

Conservative legislators across the country are passing laws to ban books and courses that espouse critical race theory — scholarship born in the 1970s that examines the role that racism plays in our daily lives. For instance, the Idaho House of Representatives passed a higher ed bill based on some lawmakers’ beliefs that critical race theory and similar work “exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the state of Idaho and its citizens.”

You’d think that after the white supremacists defiled the halls of the Capitol on January 6, policymakers would be compelled to uproot clear and present sources of racial division. After four years of Trump falsely equating white supremacists with activists fighting for racial justice, you’d also think policymakers would see critical race theory as a way to make sense of systemic racism in the U.S. But, alas, racists find a way to use what should be teachable moments as a twisted opportunity to perpetuate their worldview.

A culture built upon a false racial hierarchy can only be maintained through lies, force and duplicity — all of which are on full display in the asinine attempts to ban critical race theory. Those who are threatened by any systemic analysis of racism and its underpinnings reveal exactly where they stand on white supremacy. 

The reasons this country is literally divided are clear to any reasonable person: slavery, Jim Crow segregation, housing and education discrimination, a biased criminal justice system and feckless conservative CONTINUE READING: COLUMN: If you don’t want critical race theory to exist, stop being racist

PROPOSED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – Dad Gone Wild

PROPOSED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – Dad Gone Wild

PROPOSED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

“Though [Abraham Lincoln] never would travel to Europe, he went with Shakespeare’s kings to Merry England; he went with Lord Byron poetry to Spain and Portugal. Literature allowed him to transcend his surroundings.”
― Doris Kearns Goodwin

 

When I first started bartending, it was drilled into my head that discussions around politics or religion were not welcome at a bar. It was advice I promptly ignored.

My happy hours were filled with spirited conversation around every conceivable subject, the one rule being that all must remain respectful. If someone couldn’t honor that, it would be they, and not the conversation that would be expelled.

I remember once observing a gentleman quietly sitting in the middle of the bar while talk raged all around him. He had a look of concentration on his face, but he wasn’t engaging with those in his space. Concerned, I asked him, “Everything ok?”

He broke out with a big smile, “Oh yea. I just love coming here, and sitting, and listening, to all the CONTINUE READING: PROPOSED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT – Dad Gone Wild

CURMUDGUCATION: Do Americans Overwhelmingly Hate "Woke" Policies?

CURMUDGUCATION: Do Americans Overwhelmingly Hate "Woke" Policies?

Do Americans Overwhelmingly Hate "Woke" Policies?

You may recall that Parents Defending Education recently burst on the scene as the latest education astroturf, this time tilted hard right. Their battle against "indoctrination" in schools now includes a new weapon--a poll, which they're touting under the headline "Americans Overwhelmingly Reject 'Woke' Race and Gender Policies in K-12 Education." (Have we reached the point yet where "woke" is used like "politically correct"-- only by people trying to denigrate a straw version of the ideas that it supposedly represents?)

There is, of course, a fine art to writing polls, particularly if you're looking for a particular result (and it's fair to both sides that art). "Would you rather lick a toad or kiss an attractive model" becomes "Americans overwhelming dream of making out with famous models--is American marriage in trouble?" And that's pretty much what's happening here. We'll dig a bit deeper into the results in a bit, but lets look at the marquee results that are being blasted across the interwebz.

The top finding is also the most obviously skewed. 

25% said it was somewhat or very important for schools to “teach students that their race is the most important thing about them” compared to 70% who said this is not important or not at all important.

This is presented on a list of things "that administrators... in your area could do." The poll indicates CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Do Americans Overwhelmingly Hate "Woke" Policies?

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Big Education Ape: THIS WEEK WITH NEWBLACKMAN (IN EXILE) -

http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2021/05/this-week-with-newblackman-in-exile-blm_8.html

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