Free Republic

In so many ways and to our great hurt, Obama really has kept his promise to 'fundamentally change America' In his recent commencement address at Howard University our president’s racism-laced message to graduates strategically included the words, “Have confidence in your blackness.” But what most got my attention was that his entire speech was presented in his own version of ‘homeboy’ with a clumsy Ebonic lilt/cadence. The down-home, laid-back talk that he couldn’t quite pull off was, in my view, an embarrassing insult to the noble scholars and their parents, many of whom just wanted to enjoy the moment and...

The Detroit News reported this week that the U.S. Department of Education allegedly gave Detroit Public Schools $30 million to help it pay required contributions to an employee pension fund, but the school district never sent the money into the state-run system. The $30 million was supposed to cover pension contributions for DPS employees whose pay came from federal grants. ForTheRecord says: For a clear example of how the rising cost of maintaining a defined benefit pension system is strangling school budgets, one need look no further than the Detroit school district. Employment has been cut in half, from 15,465...

In the debate about a state bailout for the Detroit school district, the greatest divide may be the future of charter schools in the city. Democratic lawmakers have often shown a bias against charter schools, and did so again this week. Rep. Sarah Roberts, D-St. Clair Shores, proposed an amendment to a bailout bill (House Bill 5384) that may effectively ban new or expanded charter schools in the city of Detroit. A charter authorizer would be required to overcome a new layer of red tape. Specifically, authorizers would have to get a determination by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction...

As Michigan legislators discuss a bailout of the Detroit Public Schools, some have argued that this makes obvious fiscal sense for the state since state taxpayers are ultimately responsible for DPS debt. Yet a look at the composition of the district’s debt shows very little taxpayer exposure. According to the Department of Treasury’s report, the district carries $3.4 billion in debt, most of which contains some state involvement. Yet this involvement rarely comes in the form of a direct obligation to cover the district’s debt. Consider what is listed as $1.3 billion in DPS’s share of the pension system’s unfunded...

As Michigan legislators discuss a bailout of the Detroit Public Schools, some have argued that this makes obvious fiscal sense for the state since state taxpayers are ultimately responsible for DPS debt. Yet a look at the composition of the district’s debt shows very little taxpayer exposure. According to the Department of Treasury’s report, the district carries $3.4 billion in debt, most of which contains some state involvement. Yet this involvement rarely comes in the form of a direct obligation to cover the district’s debt. Consider what is listed as $1.3 billion in DPS’s share of the pension system’s unfunded...

Detroit Public Schools has experienced massive student flight and its teachers have conducted illegal strikes. It also is considered by to be the worst urban school district in the country by the federal government and is immersed in a corruption scandal involving bribes and kickbacks to top administrators. It will run out of money at the end of this school year. That is not the picture of the district’s future painted six years ago by an organization that has played an active role in defining that future. Excellent Schools Detroit was formed in 2010 with the goal of transforming DPS...

No kidding. New MIT and Harvard research finds cheating is easy-peasy for students enrolled in edX online classes. In news that probably won’t surprise many people, researchers have found that it’s pretty easy to cheat in online classes and some online students are taking advantage of that fact. Researchers at MIT and Harvard this week published a paper finding that students taking online edX coursework were able to game the system by logging on as one person to check out online tests, scout out the right answers, and then log in again as themselves to take the test.

Pres. Obama doubled down on his infamous “You didn’t build that” claim when he declared “You can’t build” that and then told college graduates they gained their degrees by being “lucky.” In remarks about the economy on Friday, Obama chastised those who think they’re self-sufficient and don’t need government:“You can’t build your own metro system. You can’t build your own highway. You can’t build your own airport. And so we have a specific problem with under-investing in infrastructure.”Then, on Saturday, Pres. Obama told Howard University graduates that his “pet peeve” is people like them who don’t credit luck for their...

You hear a lot about leftist bullying toward Donald Trump supporters on college campuses (see #TheChalkening: Michigan Students Call for Arrests Over ‘Offensive’ Chalk Signs… and Bill Maher to Liberal, Emory Students: ‘I Want to Dropkick These Kids’…). Because, tolerance and what have you. But the bullying of Hillary Clinton supporters? If the ‘bullies’ in question are Bernie supporters, then yes! According to the latest story from The Guardian, it’s become an on-campus epidemic… and it is delightful. Walk around any college campus and Bernie Sanders’ popularity is immediately apparent. Depending on the climate, you’re likely to see Bernie T-shirts...

Ballot Text: "A 'yes' vote shall have the effect of increasing distributions from the State Land Trust Permanent Endowment Fund in fiscal years 2016-2015 from 2.5% to 6.9% of average monthly market values to benefit Arizona K-12 schools, colleges, and other beneficiary institutions, including a $259,266,200 distribution in fiscal year 2016; includes protections for state funds in the case of a severe economic downturn. "A 'no' vote shall have the effect of retaining the existing 2.5% distribution formula from the State Land Trust Permanent Endowment Fund and maintaining funding levels for Arizona K-12 schools, colleges, and other beneficiary institutions."

An Austrian middle school teacher is being investigated by prosecutors after telling her class the prophet Mohammad was a child molester. Mohammad’s third wife Aisha was nine years-old when the marriage was consummated. Apparently, telling the true story of Islam is forbidden in Austria today. Vol.at reported, via Vlad Tepes: A middle school teacher allegedly referred to Mohammed as child molester in front of her pupils. The prosecution was informed; the provincial education department now awaits the investigation. A Bregenzer teacher is said to have described the founder of Islam as a child molester in front of her students. “Yes,...

Students urged to feel good about hating white people White people are worthy of hatred and no one should feel bad for hating them, incoming freshmen are told at the all-female, ultra-politically correct Scripps College in southern California, making it probably the worst and most racist undergraduate school in the United States. “Anger is a legitimate response to oppression, as is sadness, fear, frustration, exhaustion, and a general distaste or hatred of white people,” write the student authors of the Unofficial Scripps College Survival Guide. The 217-page exercise in PC brainwashing is supposed to help new students adjust to Scripps...

Don’t they know that our colleges and universities are graduating zombies, and zombies always do as they’re programmed? When he thinks at all, Secretary of State John Kerry thinks exactly as latter-day terrorists do, that no wall is big enough to keep dangerous terrorists out of the United States. Public safety, peace and security are no longer the responsibility of elected governments. That’s the bleak and hopeless message John Kerry dropped on Northeastern University students on their graduation day. In student vernacular it can be translated to:“You can run but you can’t hide”.

The state Department of Education reports that the number of Michigan school districts expected to finish the current school year with a budget deficit may be the lowest in nine years. The state could have a few as 23 school districts in deficit when the books close on the current school year in June, according to the department's most recent list. A deficit means that the district spent more for operations than the amount of direct and indirect tax revenue it received to cover those costs. The signs of financial stability come at a time when Republicans and Democrats are...

With all of the smart technology in this technological age, maybe we should look at instituting smarter curriculum for our future leaders. That isn't rocket science. It's computer science We have to do everything we can to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, wherever we find it. We should be helping American companies compete and sell their products all over the world. We should be making it easier and faster to turn new ideas into new jobs and new businesses. And we should knock down any barriers that stand in the way. Because if we’re going to create jobs now and in...

(Professor and Bisbee students conduct archeology dig at Warren Ballpark) BISBEE — Warren Ballpark was the scene of a groundbreaking expedition Wednesday as students from Bisbee High School participated in an archeological dig in their own backyard. University of Arizona anthropology professor Rob Schon came to the idea to do a dig at the park through his love of baseball. “My family and I are into baseball and I was searching on the internet, and Warren Ballpark came up,” he said. “I found their website and found Mike Anderson’s book ‘Warren Ballpark’ and realized we know a lot about the...

What we are seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking "clerks" and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think... and 5) who to vote for. With psychology papers replicating less than 40%, dietary advice reversing after 30y of fatphobia, macroeconomic analysis working worse than astrology, microeconomic papers wrong 40% of the time, the appointment of...

For years, Ecorse Public Schools was a poster child for claims of ineffective oversight of school finances by the Michigan Department of Education. Despite laws that require school districts to balance their annual budget, and rules that require offenders to eliminate deficits within two years, Ecorse spent more on operations than it collected in revenue for 10 consecutive years. Only one other school district has managed to stay out of balance for as long (New Haven Community Schools in Macomb County). But by June 2015, the district had eliminated its $661,000 deficit and projected a positive balance — $343,000 —...

More than half of Detroit’s students have opted out of attending schools controlled by Detroit Public Schools and have enrolled instead in neighboring districts or nearby public charter schools. But thousands of students remain stuck in schools that are poorly run, fiscally mismanaged and, as nearly everyone agrees, in dire need of reform. DPS faces a fiscal breaking point. Lansing has provided additional state funds to keep the district open for the rest of the school year, but additional resources still are needed to pay off its debt. The Michigan Legislature may lend a hand with that debt, but if...

A friend and classmate of the student now known to the internet as “Trigglypuff” has filed complaints against the journalist who posted the original video of her friend misbehaving at Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos’ April 25 event at the University of Massachusetts. The student in the video, now revealed to be Hampshire College student Cora Segal, became the center of widespread criticism for her childlike behavior during an event at the University of Massachusetts last week that featured Yiannopoulos, former philosophy professor Christina Hoff Sommers, and comedian Steven Crowder.