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The Conservative College That’s Expanding to Charter Schools
The New York Times ^ | April 10, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET | Stephanie Saul

Posted on 04/10/2022 7:54:14 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

With only 1,500 students on a small-town campus in southern Michigan, Hillsdale College is far from the power corridors of government and top-ranked universities.

But it has outsize influence in the conservative world, with strong ties to the Washington elite. Republican leaders frequently visit, and Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the 2016 commencement address, calling Hillsdale a “shining city on a hill” for its devotion to “liberty as an antecedent of government, not a benefit from government.”

Now the college is making new efforts to reach beyond its campus, this time with an even younger audience. The college is fighting what it calls “progressive” and “leftist academics” by expanding its footprint in the charter school world, pushing the boundaries on the use of taxpayer money for politically tinged education.

Hillsdale has ambitious plans to add to its network of classical public charter schools, which focus on “the centrality of the Western tradition.” And Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee recently invited the college to start 50 schools using public funds, including $32 million set aside for charter facilities. Hillsdale’s network currently includes 24 schools in 13 states.

The college has also developed the “1776 Curriculum,” which sets out to portray America as “an exceptionally good country.” During a time when education has become inflamed by divisive cultural debates, Hillsdale has been criticized for its glossy spin on American history as well as its ideological tilt on topics like affirmative action. Educators and historians have also raised questions about other instruction at Hillsdale’s charter schools, citing their negative take on the New Deal and the Great Society and cursory presentation of global warming.

Mr. Lee, a Republican, sees his new charter school expansion as part of an effort to develop what he called “informed patriotism” in Tennessee students.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: charterschool; charterschools; education; hillsdale; hillsdalecollege; michigan

1 posted on 04/10/2022 7:54:14 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The Left is deathly afraid of people telling the real tale of the USA, as opposed to the lies they have pushed via the likes of Howard Zinn.


2 posted on 04/10/2022 8:00:54 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: FreedomPoster

Every Hillsdale graduate should be a part of this endeavor. Give them the education department in preparation for it’s elimination.


3 posted on 04/10/2022 8:03:57 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Pat Sajak is the chairman of the board, the last I looked.

Victor Davis Hanson is a regular lecturer. His video lecture series on The Second World Wars that is hosted at Hillsdale is worth the time. Lectures are based on the book, or vice-versa, and supplement it.


4 posted on 04/10/2022 8:12:26 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Their online classes are free, and excellent.


5 posted on 04/10/2022 8:13:07 AM PDT by Aeneas2112
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Politically tinged education?


6 posted on 04/10/2022 8:13:21 AM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I’m so thrilled that they’ve received a gift of 1,400 acres here in Placer County CA and will be building a college campus here (The announcement didn’t say, but I imagine they’ll sell some large part of the gift to fund construction.)


7 posted on 04/10/2022 8:23:41 AM PDT by j.havenfarm (21 years on Free Republic, 12/10/21! More than 5000 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: j.havenfarm

... from what I have read the local loony wokester progressive karens are in a tizzy....
Gotta take it back one step at a time...


8 posted on 04/10/2022 8:56:42 AM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Bill Lee of Tennessee recently invited the college to start 50 schools using public funds, including $32 million set aside for charter facilities. Hillsdale’s network currently includes 24 schools in 13 states.

Wow! This is fantastic news. I'm a HUGE fan of Hillsdale College. I had no idea that they were already sponsoring 24 schools in 13 states. Adding 50 new schools in a single state would be a major achievement and a healthy step toward repulsing the leftist onslaught.

I wish our Idaho would do the same. I'll write to some of our state legislators on this.

9 posted on 04/10/2022 10:06:27 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I identify as” is another way of saying “I pretend to be”)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

My friends who homeschool have taught me some valuable lessons about the structure and economics of our public education system.

Private, self-organized, parent-run High school level education can be, in fact, incredibly inexpensive, and easily organized anywhere. In the thinking of Nassim Taleb - its extremely “anti-fragile.”

Compare that with our extremely bloated, expensive, inefficient and highly political public school system. Highly fragile

The latter will collapse while the former will grow


10 posted on 04/10/2022 10:15:10 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

This reporterette is a woman who knows nothing at all, herself, about Hillsdale, and gets all her information from leftwing critics of the school. The only things that are accurate are put in scare quotes as if they are not true, really.


11 posted on 04/10/2022 10:23:04 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
I just wrote to my two state legislators and state senator in Idaho referring them to this article and asking them to follow Tennessee's lead in this area. I asked them why Idaho isn't the leader in this effort to have a pro-America curriculum.

The article has this:

“I’ve been following charter schools over the last 25 years, and I’ve never seen a governor attempting to use charters in such an overtly political way,” said Bruce Fuller, Professor of Education and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley
This is so laughable. For 60 years, we've had extreme leftist, overtly political, anti-American "education" all across the USA often pushed by state governors. And he's never seen this? Has he not seen the execrable anti-American "1619 Project" and the "Critical Race Theory" curricula adopted all over the country? What a buffoon.
12 posted on 04/10/2022 10:23:11 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I identify as” is another way of saying “I pretend to be”)
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To: hinckley buzzard

You can almost hear the sneering in the excerpt.


13 posted on 04/10/2022 10:50:30 AM PDT by jmcenanly ("The more corrupt the state, the more laws." Tacitus, Publius Cornelius)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Now the college is making new efforts to reach beyond its campus, this time with an even younger audience. The college is fighting what it calls “progressive” and “leftist academics” by expanding its footprint in the charter school world, pushing the boundaries ...

Twenty-five years ago little FOXNews took on the behemoths of news broadcasting... a true David and Goliath story.

Now it's Hillsdales turn to up-end the corrupt biased hateful inept public school system. Hillsdale can do this - another David and Goliath victory for goodness and decency.

Parents are waiting with open hearts... and children with open minds.

14 posted on 04/10/2022 11:03:09 AM PDT by GOPJ (We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignorinbg reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum; FreedomPoster; Liz; DIRTYSECRET; Aeneas2112; Ge0ffrey; j.havenfarm; PGR88; ...

Imagine of the joy of sending your child or grandchild to an elementary school that DOES NOT CELEBRATE:

Gay Pride Day

S&M Pride Day

Le’s talk about YOUR PARTS Day

Masturbation Pride Day

White People Shame Day

Critical Race Theory Pride Day

YOUR FIVE YEAR OLD CHILD CAN NOW GO TO A SCHOOL THAT TEACHES HOW TO COLOR WITH CRAYONS... HOW TO GET ALONG WITH OTHER CHILDREN AND HOW TO WRITE THEIR NAME.


15 posted on 04/10/2022 11:19:11 AM PDT by GOPJ (We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignorinbg reality. Ayn Rand)
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pushing the boundaries on the use of taxpayer money for politically tinged education.

You've got to be kidding me. That's the public school system at large at present. So using schools as indoctrination centers for the Left's social and political agenda is not "politically tinged" but an actual education based on facts, truth, and reality is "politically tinged."

16 posted on 04/10/2022 11:27:22 AM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: GOPJ
Perhaps even worse, celebrate the joy of sending your child or grandchild to an elementary school where you have NO FEAR they will "teach" that crap to the child.

Many schools are teaching this crap behind the scenes, lying to parents about it, and using subterfuge to keep it hidden away. They rename things all the time without changing the the underlying sewage. "CRT" is now hidden under many other names like "Social Emotional Learning" or "anti-racism." We need eternal vigilance to find this crap and root it out.

Meanwhile, support Hillsdale in their effort to launch their schools all over the country. I know that they will be absolutely SWAMPED with applicants.

This is one of the best bits of news I've heard in a long while.

Everybody write to your state reps and governor urging them to follow Tennessee's lead on this!

17 posted on 04/10/2022 11:31:31 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“I identify as” is another way of saying “I pretend to be”)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
This is one of the best bits of news I've heard in a long while.

Agree.

18 posted on 04/10/2022 12:01:01 PM PDT by GOPJ (We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignorinbg reality. Ayn Rand)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

ConservaTeen is doing some Hillsdale courses, so is his 16 year old sister. Rush was promoting them.


19 posted on 04/10/2022 2:01:07 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (I'm the ones trying to save American Democracy...Donald Trump 6/21 at the NCGOP convention! )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
I classify articles like this as "Search and Destroy".

Liberals are always searching for Conservative success stories. They do this so they can create a narrative that will undermine and destroy the success.

Hillsdale is a success. Hillsdale must be destroyed.

20 posted on 04/10/2022 2:39:20 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
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