Free Republic

LEWISTON — A national Muslim civil rights organization has filed a formal request with the Lewiston School Department to allow a middle school student to pray on school property. The group also wants Lewiston to modify existing policy and provide "constitutionally protected religious accommodation," such as a designated prayer room. The group has also requested the school department institute diversity training for school staff, and to ensure the middle-schooler won't face retaliation because of her request to pray at the Lewiston Middle School. According to the Washington, D.C.,-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, seventh-grader Nasra Aden had been routinely "praying discreetly...

Three years ago, the Washington state association that regulates fair play in high school athletics faced an unusual query from administrators: what should they do about four boys who wanted to participate on girls' teams. One had his eye on volleyball, two wanted to be cheerleaders and a fourth did not specify his area of interest. After consultation, it developed a novel policy that says all students should be able to participate in sports "in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student's records." Upon a student's request, the idea is...

Many of us parents just learned that ONE teacher complained that it offended her and they nixed the tradition. We are HOPPING mad and plan to do something about it. Any EFFECTIVE ideas????

As parents we have to make sure our children are aware of the choices we hope our kids will make, to balance the information they are getting from society about the choices that corporate military consumer culture hopes they make. (BOSTON) - When I spent a year teaching 6-8 grade students in Detroit, Michigan, I had hoped that with my high ideals, I could influence the children to become thinkers, perhaps even sway them towards a Godly life. But I found a tragic situation. American children of today are seriously brain damaged from computer games, TV, movies and pop music....

High school student Chad Farnan, 17, speaks at a campaign fundraiser for Shawn Black, a GOP candidate for the 70th Assembly District, earlier this month. The legal group that represents Farnan, Advocates for Faith & Freedom, has been ordered to pay $19,688 in legal fees. SANTA ANA – In a legal twist that challenges the notion of what a prevailing party is, a federal court clerk on Friday awarded $19,688 in court-related fees to the attorneys who represented high school teacher James Corbett, sued two years ago for making anti-Christian comments in class. Milli Borgarding, the deputy in charge of...

The Obama administration’s safe schools czar, Kevin Jennings, has accused the Baptists, the Boy Scouts and sports fans of anti-gay bias, and he has advocated a special high school for gay teens as well as gay-straight alliance clubs for every high school in America. Jennings, who was a prominent homosexual activist before being named director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools at the U.S. Department of Education, also has called for kindergarteners to be taught to respect all sexual orientations, while insisting that “ex-gay messages” and “Christian values” are ‘misused to isolate or denigrate lesbian, gay, bisexual...

Fifty-three Republican congressmen yesterday demanded that President Obama fire his embattled "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings. Mr. Jennings' bizarre sexual agenda for American grade schools is one reason the president should dump this dangerous radical. Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword to a 1998 book titled, "Queering Elementary Education." The book he endorsed was a collection of essays by different authors who supported teaching young children about homosexuality. Mr. Jennings' foreword explains why he thinks it is important to start educating children about homosexuality as early as activist-educators can get away with doing so. "Ask any elementary-school teachers you know and...

Did Ed post this one already? I’m honestly starting to lose count of how many of these there are. No “mmm mmm mmm” in this one or creepy substitutions of The One for Jesus, but kudos to the teacher who came up with the “change has come” drone. Reminds me of “one of us, one of us.” I already said everything I had to say on this subject in this post, so check that out if you missed it the first time. Fun fact: According to the YouTube description, this was taped at a PTA meeting. Presumably the parents were...

It began last year in earnest. But, like a virus far worse than H1N1, it is beginning to spread like wildfire amongst the public school indoctrinators formerly known as "teachers." The Obama power grab — supported by his adoring adherents — has just about reached the most monumental proportion of all time. And Dictator-in-Chief Obama may have finally reached the apex of his desires; that of replacing God with himself. Recently, at New Jersey's B. Bernice Youngs Elementary School, not only were second grade students forced to sing a song of praise to Obama (the parents were not notified that...

A federal education grant will soon be used to introduce Arabic language and culture into Missoula high schools. The five-year, $764,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education comes to Missoula schools with the help of University of Montana.

The friendship between teacher and student blossomed into an infatuation on a European high school trip in March 2006. But Leslie Merlino, then 36, knew she was headed for career-ending danger. Later, she stroked the girl's hair and began sending emails. That would lead to an assault charge and a court order to stay away from the student. From January to September 2007, they exchanged sexually explicit emails and talked frequently on the phone and in person. They held hands during strolls and met secretly in coffee shops. They kissed and fondled each other in their more private moments. By...

Muslims groups here are pressing city officials to close public schools on two of the faith's holiest days, just as schools do for major Jewish and Christian holidays. But the groups have yet to persuade the man in charge of New York City schools, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Muslim groups have asked the city to cancel classes on Eid Ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid Ul-Adha, which marks the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. New York is one of many public-school systems now struggling with appropriate ways to recognize religious holidays for a diverse population. An...

Three-quarters of teachers in Britain's schools believe they should warn pupils about the dangers of patriotism - which some regard as a form of 'brainwashing', researchers have found. A nationwide study found the majority of teachers felt they should not be promoting the subject at all in the classroom, with some preferring to instruct their pupils in the benefits of 'universal brotherhood'. And even those who felt positively about patriotism felt the need to qualify and tone down their support, stressing that they disliked 'jingoistic flag-waving'. The findings are a blow for the Government after Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke...

A new school year is under way, but we already can grade the condition of American education. Let's just say no ``honor student'' bumper stickers will be necessary. The typical child entering first grade this year can expect taxpayers to spend more than $100,000 on his or her education through high school. (The Department of Education reports the average annual per-pupil expenditure in U.S. public schools is now more than $10,000.) But the data show that, all too often, our six-figure investment in every child's future doesn't guarantee a quality education. A recent national test of eighth-grade students found that...

Prior to his nationally broadcast speech to students on Tuesday, President Barack Obama made a pitch for health care reform in a discussion with 40 freshmen at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. Although the president avoided controversial topics in his speech, he did promote health care reform in a face-to-face discussion at Wakefield High School. Asked by a student how he stays motivated to do his job, Obama replied that his staff gives him 10 letters every day from “ordinary folks.” “Some of the stories are really depressing,” Obama told the 40 freshman, who were chosen to meet with...

Note: Videos included. THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2009 AT 3:37 PM "My Education, My Future" Posted by Jesse Lee At noon on Tuesday, September 8th the President will be welcoming America’s students back to school – after all, sometimes they need a little extra motivation after a glorious summer. The President has spoken often about the responsibility parents have for their children and their education, but in this message he’ll urge students to take personal responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of...

Mother upset after 8-year-old daughter is left at wrong bus stop LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- What would you do if your child was forced to get off a school bus at the wrong stop? That is the situation one Las Cruces mother had to grapple with Wednesday, when her 8-year-old daughter was let off on a busy street nearly half a mile from her usual stop. Eight-year-old Destiny Maciel got off the bus at Valley and Tashiro, a busy intersection where there is no place to stop and ask for directions. Destiny's mother Amanda said that didn't stop a bus...

In a move suggestive of the Pyongyang public school system, the U.S. Department of Education recommended that before the speech students collectively brainstorm questions like, "Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?" Classrooms are to be festooned with "notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama's speeches about education," presumably alongside benevolent-looking images of the dear leader.

A groundswell of parent opposition to President Barack Obama's speech next week to students on the importance of education has forced many North Texas school districts to question whether to air it live in classrooms. Obama announced the speech weeks ago, but opposition and concerns spread rapidly Wednesday morning through conservative social networking Web sites and radio talk shows. By midday, local school districts say, they were inundated with hundreds of phone calls from parents urging them to not show Obama's speech at school. Some parents threatened to keep their children home from school if the video was aired. "We...

What more can be said

The White House has announced that on September 8, President Obama is going to address the nation’s schoolchildren on the importance of education. As explained in an open letter by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.”Presumably, the president is going to advocate for self-discipline and reject excuses, a message that Mr. Obama, as the nation’s first black president, can deliver powerfully and well—especially to black youths—as he has demonstrated repeatedly in the past few years.So far, so good. Things get a bit dicier if we contemplate the president addressing what will be a...

"ABC" stands for All Barack's Children. On Sept. 8, young students across the country will be watching television. Yes, they'll be parked in front of boob tubes and computer screens watching President Obama's address on education. Instead of practicing cursive, reviewing multiplication tables, diagramming sentences or learning something concrete, America's kids will be lectured about the importance of learning. And then the schoolchildren, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, will be exhorted to Do Something -- other than sit in their seats and receive academic instruction, that is. Education Secretary Arne Duncan dispatched letters to principals nationwide, boasting, "This is the...

A school principal has apologized for showing a video at an assembly that a politically conservative group leader is calling "radical, leftist propaganda." Children at Eagle Bay Elementary School in Farmington were shown a short video called "I pledge" on Aug. 28. The video opens with an image of President Barack Obama and part of a speech in which he says, "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." The video then features celebrities making pledges about how...

Parents across the country are rebelling against plans by President Barack Obama to speak directly to their children through the classrooms of the nation's public schools without their presence, participation and approval. The plans announced by Obama also have been cited as raising the specter of the Civilian National Security Force, to which he's referred several times since his election campaign began, but never fully explained. "He's recruiting his civilian army. His 'Hitler' youth brigade," wrote one participant in a forum at Free Republic.

Friday, August 28, 2009 BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS The insanity of the right Exclusive: David d'Escoto asks why conservatives continue to turn kids over to the left Posted: August 29, 2009 1:00 am Eastern Most likely you've heard Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Nowhere is this more obvious today than with political and religious conservatives, the so-called right. What do I mean? Next month the right will send millions of their own children to public schools that are literally controlled by the left – meaning that it is only the...

During this year's legislative session, lawmakers decided to change the state's "Recommended" high-school graduation plan, under which the majority of students fall. "They said they no longer have to take health or technology applications, which is a computer class, and they reduced the amount of PE credits from one-and-a-half down to one year," said Debbie Ratcliffe, Director of Communications with the Texas Education Agency. AISD, along with several other school districts across the state, will not be implementing the new requirements.

At least two Lee County public schools have violated state law by not having their students recite the Pledge of Allegiance, possibly because officials misinterpreted information they received before the school year began. When District Superintendent Dr. Cleo Richardson became aware Tuesday that the schools were violating state law, he notified principals of all Lee schools that they must set aside time every day for students to recite the pledge. Sherry Kerr, a Bishopville resident, said she was "very pleased" to learn that the school board did not direct principals to stop saying the pledge. Rumors had circulated this week...

Should we just be turning out workers or good citizens, too? With the start of a new school year, there are plenty of tough issues for our schools to address. We should not get so caught up in the minutia of the pros and cons that we lose sight of the big-picture debate: What, exactly, is the purpose of an education? Some issues seem comfortable and familiar. How can schools and teachers be held accountable for student performance? How can schools be effective given real and growing budget restraints? What is the proper role of public and private education? Some...

DETROIT, MI - A coach who's in the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame has filed a federal lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools and the principal of Fordson High School. Gerald Marszalek claims he was fired after 35 years because of his Christian beliefs. Marszalek says his troubles began in 2005 when a minister lost his job as a volunteer assistant coach after introducing Muslim students to Christianity during a private off-campus wrestling camp. Marszalek, who also is Christian, said his contract wasn't renewed in 2008 because of his religious beliefs and his association with the minister. Dearborn has a...

Link only - Keep the faith: Should Muslim children receive sex education?

It was supposed to inspire pupils to write more creatively. But the arrival of a UFO at Southway Junior School also inspired something rather different - terror. Some of the seven to 11-year-olds were left in tears after a spaceship apparently crash-landed and a teacher was abducted by aliens. To make it look realistic, the school obtained sirens and flashing lights from the police and littered the grounds with debris from the 'spaceship'.

Judge says no special measure needed to ensure teacher follows law. SANTA ANA – A federal judge today denied a request by a Mission Viejo high school student to legally prohibit the student's former history teacher from disparaging religion during classroom lectures. Chad Farnan, a 17-year-old senior at Capistrano Valley High School, had sought a court injunction against Advanced Placement European history teacher James Corbett, to bar the 20-year educator from "expressing any disapproval of religion while acting in his official capacity as a public school employee." Corbett, 62, was found to have violated the First Amendment in May...

Friends don't let friends send their children to public schools. So says Bruce Shortt, author of the compelling book "The Harsh Truth about Public Schools." Prominent Christian leaders are proclaiming that when it comes to education, the facts are in and public school is out, not only for the summer, but for the long term. The days of trying to reform government schools are over. (SNIP) Sadly, the outcry is far overdue as the spiritual carnage in the lives of public school children is strewn across America's landscape. Several studies show that up to 88 percent of these kids lose...

Just after President Obama's Cairo speech ended, I clicked on the White House Web site. The home page, and especially its compelling large image, appeared to visually suggest the America that Obama has been describing recently -- a country that is not a Christian nation, nor a Jewish nation, not even a pluralistic nation, but "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world." The large close-up photograph that dominated the home page was of a covered woman, Afeefa Syeed, Senior Advisor for Culture and Development with the Middle East and Asia Bureaus at USAID (United States Agency for International...

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Although President Barack Obama has advocated speaking "fair minded words" in debating differences on major ethical issues, his recent nominee to the Department of Education's Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools is a homosexual activist with a history of using foul and abusive language against those who have opposed his homosexualist agenda. Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), was recently appointed to the Obama Administration as Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools, which is under the Department of Education led by Education...

An openly-gay, teenage boy was just voted "Prom Queen" at Los Angeles' Fairfax High School in a campaign that began as a stunt -- but ended up spurring discussion on the campus about gender roles and teen popularity. Sergio Garcia, 18, was crowned queen Saturday night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. "I feel invincible," Garcia said in his tiara and charcoal-gray tuxedo. A few days earlier, he gave a speech that won over some cynics and led to an ovation and his unlikely victory. "At one time, prom may have been a big popularity contest where the best-looking guy or...

How corrupt has America become? I am the Middle School President at my school and the SCA was planning Color Games, an end-of-the-year parade like atmosphere, with kickball and basketball and capture the flag like games. I was put in charge of picking the inflatable, I went to this companys website and picked an inflatable that said "God Bless America" on it. It had a flag in the background. When I showed this to my sponsors (teachers) i was promptly yelled at and told that if we put God up on there then we have to put "Buddah bless America"...

Our county school system (Wake County, NC) will have schools open on Memorial Day (this coming Monday). I have informed my son that he is NOT going to school on Memorial Day, and that if asked, he's to tell whomever the truth that it's the day we remember our veterans, and that I don't give a flip what the school bureaucrats think about it. Is this happening anywhere else? If so, keep your child home. Do a family activity. Send a message.

A lesbian student's complaint that teachers harassed her over her sexual orientation has led to a Vallejo school district agreement to pay her $25,000 and revamp anti-discrimination policies, it was announced Monday. The agreement between the Vallejo City Unified School District and the American Civil Liberties Union was reached without litigation, said ACLU attorney Elizabeth Gill. In agreeing to the settlement, the district is not admitting liability, Gill and district Superintendent Mary Bull said. The student, Rochelle Hamilton, now 16, was a sophomore at Jesse Bethel High School in the fall of 2007, when teachers allegedly verbally harassed her and...

Surrounded by elementary students from the Green School in Baltimore and charming critters – including an armadillo, cheetah and an Asian Toddy Cat – Democrats declared that the introduction of the “No Child Left Inside Act of 2009” was “historic” legislation that would connect children with nature. Some critics, however, said it is a way to spread environmental propaganda in the public schools.

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― The California Senate has approved legislation that would designate a day each year to honor slain gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The bill by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would designate each May 22 -- Milk's birthday -- as a "day of special significance" to recognize the late San Francisco supervisor's contributions to the state. It would not be an official holiday so there would be no cost to state government. The bill encourages but doesn't require schools to teach about Milk's legacy. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office in California. He...

...But in celebrating accomplishments like these [the SBC's success in creating colleges and universities], I now wonder if our focus in the evangelical community should shift at least in part from training our children during the transition to adulthood to placing greater emphasis on training up a child in the way he should go. I'm not advocating the neglect of what we have already established in higher education, but simply a course correction in an area that seems to have suffered neglect -- the protection and nurturing of the spiritual health and growth of children and adolescents. In far too...

The California State Senate is poised to vote on a bill making an official "homosexual day" in every public school. It would be called "Harvey Milk Day" in honor of the openly homosexual San Francisco Board of Supervisors member who was shot and killed in 1978 along with the city's mayor, George Moscone. S.B. 572, which was approved 7-to-2 out of committee last week, says observances conducted on May 22 should recognize Milk's "accomplishments as well as the contributions he made to this state" -- and that "all public schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe...and...conduct suitable commemorative exercises."...

The Rutherford Institute is suing a Billings, Montana, school over a graduation decision. John Whitehead, founder of the Institute, says many people were scheduled to speak at the 2008 Butte High School graduation. Some chose serious subjects, others humor, he says. "Renee Griffith, who is a Christian, wanted to mention Christ once and mention God once in one of her very short remarks, and the school said she couldn't do it," he explains. "She [insisted she] wanted to do it, so then they actually removed her from the graduation ceremony and did not allow her to speak." According to a...

April 28, 2009 Pupils aged 11 to learn about gay sex Campaigners say the sex education review for children needs to go farther Alexandra Frean, Education Editor Compulsory sex and relationships lessons for 11-year-old children are to include classroom discussions on gay unions and civil partnerships. Secondary pupils will learn about contraception and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), while primary school children will learn about their bodies and friendships, a review of sex education has concluded. The review was ordered in October after ministers announced that sex and relationships education (SRE) lessons should be made compulsory to help primary and secondary...

SNIPPET: "White schoolboys from less well-off backgrounds in Birmingham are in danger of being recruited by far right groups as they grow increasingly disaffected, it has been claimed." SNIPPET: "The head teacher of Colmers School in Rednal, Peter Jones, called on Birmingham to take a lead in tackling the issue during a meeting of Birmingham City Council’s education scrutiny committee. And Nigel Baker, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers in Birmingham, warned: “Areas like yours are also breeding grounds for extremism for right wing parties.” Council officers at the meeting acknowledged that “extremist attitudes” existed in areas...

The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit on behalf of students and parents against the Wilson County School Board in Tennessee. Lakeview Elementary School students wanted to display posters that referenced God and prayer, but school officials said they had to cover up those references before the posters could be displayed. The posters were hand-drawn by students and announced voluntary activities such as the "See You at the Pole" prayer event. Nate Kellum is with the Alliance Defense Fund. "Well, Christian students shouldn't be censored just for expressing their beliefs. They do not check their constitutional rights upon stepping...

Under the stated intent of making schools "safer" for all students, the San Francisco Unified School District has launched a website – believed to be the first of its kind – that provides resources designed to "meet the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth" in its schools. "April is Gay Pride Celebration!" touts the website's home page. "Check out some of the event options in our 'Host an Activity' section." In addition to the "Host an Activity" section, loaded with suggestions on how teachers can celebrate Gay Pride Month in their classrooms, the website includes dozens of...

Although liberal groups and even courts protect HIV and AIDS victims from having to divulge their condition on any records, for fear they might be denied public activity and employment, innocent school kids are scrubbed, fumigated, and isolated lest they spread the deadly virus of Christianity. ....Wade was given a fourth grade assignment to choose a “hero,” write a description of his hero and portray the chosen hero as part of a “live wax museum.” He would then give an oral report in front of the class. When 9-year-old Wade chose Jesus as his hero, school officials immediately insisted that...