Free Republic

The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High's School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse.The full plan to close the racial achievement gap by altering the structure of the high school is known as the High School Redesign. It will come before the Berkeley School Board as an information item at...

A Rhinebeck (NY)High School sophomore is urging the school district to require alternative views be presented by teachers on controversial topics like climate change. Michelle Dewkett said the global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” was being shown in science and English classes without equal weight being given to other positions on the topic. “As of now, the teaching of controversial topics is out of control,” Dewkett told members of the Board of Education on Tuesday. She also said the district is not following its own policy of providing students with a wide range of materials. Dewkett cited a class on...

TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) - An 8-year-old boy was sent home from school and ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation after he was asked to make a Christmas drawing and came up with what appeared to be a stick figure of Jesus on a cross, the child's father said Tuesday. Chester Johnson told WBZ-TV that his son made the drawing on Dec. 2 after his second-grade teacher asked children to sketch something that reminded them of the holiday. Johnson said the teacher became upset when his son said he drew himself on the cross. Johnson, who is black, told WBZ he...

A Taunton father is furious his eight-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after he drew a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. The father, who wants his name withheld to protect his son, told the Taunton Gazette he got a call earlier this month from the Maxham Elementary School. They told him his son, a second-grader with special needs, had created a violent drawing. It started when his teacher asked the class to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas. The boy drew a crucified Jesus with X's covering his...

According to a university colleague, former president of Harvard and current White House economist Larry Summers once asked for help to "f--- up" one of the school's conservative professors.

Story here. The suspect is named Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani.Ironically, his victim, Professor Richard Antoun is described as "a caring and gentle man who spent his life trying to dispel stereotypes about different cultures, especially Middle Eastern cultures"

WATERBURY — In the weeks leading up to Walsh Elementary School's Dec. 21 "winter celebration," staff will carefully avoid religious and secular symbols of Christmas such as Santa Claus and Christmas trees. Walsh Principal Erik Brown has banned Christmas parties in classrooms and many decorations since arriving at the school five years ago. These, he said, can offend some students, who would be forced to leave while celebrations are ongoing. "It is a state law that a public school can't knowingly exclude children," Brown said. "This is not a church. It's a school and it's a public school. I have...

Those who believe that America is a special place where dreams can come true and everyone has the opportunity to succeed, had better keep their thoughts to themselves if they attend the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. A new report posted by the Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group of the University recommends those training to be Minnesota public school teachers must repudiate our cherished American dream. This “Task Group” even recommends teacher candidates adopt its party line that America is “an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic.” Teachers must harbor hatred and resentment for...

Of all the sins of the campus left, the worst is hypocrisy. Academic freedom is a spigot they turn on and off at their convenience. This evening, Ray Luc Levasseur, a convicted terrorist who served 18 years of a 45-year sentence, will participate in a "Colloquium on Social Change" at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, sponsored by a "progressive" faculty group called "Social Thought and Political Economy." Levasseur was the leader of the United Freedom Front, which worked for social change from 1976 to 1984 by bombing government buildings, robbing banks, murdering a New Jersey state trooper, and attempting...

AUGUSTA, Maine — A high school guidance counselor who appeared in a television ad opposing gay marriage is reportedly the target of an effort to rescind his state license, according to campaign officials. Don Mendell of Nokomis Regional High School in Newport was featured in an ad by Stand for Marriage Maine in support of Question 1, which seeks to overturn a new state law allowing same-sex couples to wed. Now, a guidance counselor from another school has filed a complaint with state regulators requesting that Mendell’s license to practice social work in Maine be revoked because of his statements...

Supporters of Darwin’s theory continue to distinguish themselves on America’s college campuses—not for their reason and logic, but for their incredible ill manners and an almost pathological inability to engage in civil discussion. Last week, a factually-challenged attack on intelligent design was published in The Nevada Sagebrush, the student newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno. Nothing new in that; I see ill-informed articles on intelligent design all the time. But after my colleague Rob Crowther posted a short comment suggesting that readers might actually want to hear from intelligent design proponents themselves (imagine that!), the Darwinist thought-police came out...

<p>EUGENE, ORE. – When I began examining the political affiliation of faculty at the University of Oregon, the lone conservative professor I spoke with cautioned that I would “make a lot of people unhappy.”</p> <p>Though I mostly brushed off his warning – assuming that academia would be interested in such discourse – I was careful to frame my research for a column for the school newspaper diplomatically.</p>

Yale Self-Censors New Book Examining Extreme Muslim Reaction to Danish Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad Thursday, October 01, 2009 By Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor (CNSNews.com) – Four years after a Danish newspaper published a dozen cartoons depicting Muhammad, and set off violent protests by Muslims, Yale University Press has touched off protests of its own by censoring the offending cartoons out of a scholarly book it has just released on the protests. “The Cartoons that Shook the World,” by Brandeis University professor Jytte Klausen, examines in detail what happened during those protests – violent incidents staged by Muslim extremists. But Yale...

Students at the College of William and Mary have elected a transgender homecoming queen. Jessee Vasold took the field Saturday at halftime of the Williamsburg school's football game against James Madison. The junior and other members of the homecoming court were introduced to the crowd and posed for pictures. Vasold identifies as "genderqueer," a term for those who don't adhere to either strictly male or strictly female gender roles.

WILLIAMSBURG History was made without fanfare on Saturday. Jessee Vasold, William and Mary's first transgender homecoming queen, took the field at halftime of the Tribe's game against James Madison wearing a red shirt, black pants and a small silver lip ring to applause and not much other notice. Vasold, a junior, and the other members of the homecoming court were introduced to the crowd, posed for pictures, and walked off the field. "I knew I was nominated, but I was just surprised, because there were a lot of other really good candidates on the ballot," Vasold said. "I know all...

Friday, September 25, 2009 Please Stand-Up and Make Your Voices Heard! On Wednesday, September 16, the Abington Heights School District voted 4-3 to eliminate funding for the Abington Heights High School Rifle Team. Unfortunately, the Abington Heights School District is choosing to balance the budget on the backs of tomorrow’s shooters. Rifle teams, such as these, help foster the future of our Second Amendment freedoms, shooting sports, and safe firearms training. The Abington Journal even reported that coaches, team members, and parents were not given advance notice that funding for the team was in jeopardy at the school district’s meeting...

Minuteman Project Founder Jim Gilchrist News Release     For Immediate Release October 15, 2009  Media contact: Tim Bueler (530) 401-3285   Anti-Free Speech Fanatics at Harvard Threaten Disruption and Violence       Cambridge , Ma.-Harvard University seems to be resigned to suffer the same embarrassing fate as Columbia University in 2006 as they scamper to rescind their previous invitation to Jim Gilchrist, founder and president of the Minuteman Project, to participate in its immigration symposium scheduled for this Saturday, October 17 in Cambridge , Ma.         Despite appearing at last February’s symposium at the Harvard Law School on immigration law...

British society cites 'legal issues' just days before event Just one week before Michael Savage was scheduled to debate via video link at the Cambridge Union in England, the co-presidents of the two-century-old society informed the top-rated radio host they have canceled the event. As WND reported, the invitation from the Cambridge Union Society for the Oct. 15 debate was issued in July after Savage was banned from entering the United Kingdom by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government along with Muslim extremists and leaders of hate groups. In an e-mail today to Savage producer Beowulf Rochlen, Cambridge Union leaders Julien...

High school teacher keeps job after handing out pornographic 'banned book' - A father of a high-school student is infuriated after he said a teacher provided "banned books" to her 11th-grade students, including at least one with explicit descriptions of homosexual sex acts, rape, masturbation, profane language and even bestiality. John Davis, father of an 11th-grade student at William Byrd High School in Vinton, Va., told WND that English teacher Kathleen Renard provided her personal copy of a book called "Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky to one of her English students, and it was passed to his...

Kevin Jennings, now the "safe schools" appointee in Barack Obama's US Department of Education, is a prominent homosexual activist who has devoted his career to pushing homosexuality in the nation's schools. Founder of the nationwide Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) •Framing the issue - How the homosexual movement got into the Massachusetts schools Landmark 1995 speech by Kevin Jennings, outlining how the homosexual movement uses "safety" as a phony strategy to pressure legislators and school officials to get homosexual programs into the public schools. •"Fistgate" tapes - reveals what homosexual activists do with children in schools. Caution: VERY disturbing....

Conservative activist David Horowitz will not be speaking at St. Louis University this month after school officials raised objections about the title and content of his speech, "Islamo-Fascism Awareness and Civil Rights." The SLU College Republicans, a student group, had invited Horowitz to speak on campus. The event would have been paid for out of student activity fees. SLU said in a statement that it did not "ban" Horowitz from campus. Rather, the school was concerned that the event could be viewed as "attacking another faith and seeking to cause derision on campus." Horowitz, reached by phone on Friday, called...

From the article: "...........the school was concerned that the event could be viewed as "attacking another faith and seeking to cause derision on campus."

My teenage nephew just got back to school this month with science teacher who is nicknamed "Mr. Evolution" because of his zeal for his beliefs. Mr. E started class saying by saying "In this class, I intend to completely dismiss and disprove many religious myths". I think this is going a little too far. Your opinions?

This from tonight's Geraldo, Ann Coulter blasts liberals doing their best to try to take over the public school system...No one was safe tonight...

Follow-up on the massive scandal building in New Jersey over second-graders being taught Obama praise song at a New Jersey elementary school. A review of the propaganda session has been ordered by the commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Education:

School children in New Jersey have been taught to both chant and sing praises to President Obama, with YouTube video revealing them singing, "Mr. President, We Honor You Today" to the tune of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The children also are seen being taught the chant: "Barack Hussein Obama." Columnist Michelle Malkin identified the children as students at B. Bernice Young Elementary School, Burlington Township, N.J. The children are lined up in front of a stage with the words: -------------------------------------------------------- Uhm, uhm, uhm, Barack Hussein Obama He said all should lend a hand to make the country strong...

I've been thinking a lot recently about the disparate gap in reasoning between the mainstream academic elites and the rest of America. Why is it that liberalism is so often an outgrowth of scholarly people? The most prominent colleges in America---the ivy league schools---are often the most liberal environments, and produce the writers, artists and politicians who are often the most liberal. Why is this so?

N.J. Principal Unapologetic for Videotape of Kids Praising Obama, Parents Say The principal of a New Jersey elementary school where young students were videotaped singing the praises of President Obama is making no apologies for the videotape and says she would allow the performance again if she could, according to parents who spoke with her Thursday night. Three parents told FOXNews.com that Dr. Denise King, principal of B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, N.J., defended the controversial performance, which was videotaped and posted on YouTube, when they approached her during a "Back to School" event. Parent Jim Angelillo said...

The principal of a New Jersey elementary school where young students were videotaped singing the praises of President Obama is making no apologies for the videotape and says she would allow the performance again if she could, according to parents who spoke with her Thursday night. Three parents told FOXNews.com that Dr. Denise King, principal of B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington, N.J., defended the controversial performance, which was videotaped and posted on YouTube, when they approached her during a "Back to School" event. Parent Jim Angelillo said King told him the lesson was merely part of Black History...

Here is video of Glenn Beck talking about an "educational cartoon" that is "being played in schools all across America." The cartoon says "it's the Government's job to watch out for us, to take care of us." (Watch Video)

The American university is the anti-Disneyland, the saddest place on Earth. Today's colleges can make MSNBC seem fair and balanced and give the term "clinical depression" a sunny and joyful flavor. It's no wonder so many prominent liberal intellectuals are angry, begrudging, and gloomy. They imbibe four to ten years of it during their college studies. And their brethren in the media give them a consistent platform for their gloom. A few years ago, the Washington Post discovered that over 72 percent of college professors classify themselves as liberal. The study showed that the most left-leaning departments are in the...

The National Education Association (NEA), which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage. This emphasis on advocacy for homosexuals was spelled out in a five-point New Business Item E. Point #1 tells its union affiliates to support state legislation that registers same-sex couples in a way that mimics marriage. This registration would cover taxes, inheritance, adoptions, medical decisions, and even immigration. Point #2 says that states can call this same-sex registration marriage or civil union or domestic partnership so long...

WOLFEBORO, N.H. -- An English teacher is being closely monitored at Kingswood Regional High School after administrators said she assigned an inappropriate essay topic to her students. Jack Robertson, superintendent of the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, said the teacher asked students to respond to the question: "If you knocked your brother down, would you urinate in his mouth?"

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Sept. 8) — A decision by the University of Wyoming to name a new center for international students for former Vice President Dick Cheney is drawing criticism from people who say Cheney's support for the Iraq war and harsh interrogation techniques should disqualify him from the distinction. The former vice president and wife Lynne are expected to attend Thursday's dedication of the new Cheney International Center on the Laramie campus. Protesters plan to be there, too. The center is funded in part with $3.2 million the Cheneys donated to the university in several installments while he was vice...

William Ayers will appear at Purdue University on September 24th as a panelist about urban schools as part of the first annual Cummings-Perrucci Annual Lecture on Race, Class, and Gender Equality. Ayers will hit the campus in West Lafayette, Indiana, according to a story in today’s Lafayette Journal & Courier under the curious headline “Ex-radical to attend forum at Purdue.” Ex-radical? According to the story, some groups are already organizing protests against Ayers and the university. Political Science professor Harry Targ – who was singled out in David Horowitz’s book as one of America’s most dangerous academics – takes his...

Alright, I know this is a strange issue for me to bring up especially since it's not really being discussed right now. However, as a college student, every now and then strange issues come up and I've got to be ready to call them out. Like 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. Today the professor brought up Don't Ask, Don't Tell in a discussion on public policy. The discussion quickly slipped to who agrees with it and who disagrees with it. Me, being one of maybe three conservatives in the class made it clear I disagree that it's an issue of public...

A New England-based pro-family organization is concerned about a situation in Vermont involving bathroom arrangements at schools. Brian Camenker of MassResistance says the homosexual movement in Vermont is using a transgender-rights law to force middle schools and high schools to provide unisex bathrooms. He notes that a 16-year-old transgendered teen has asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission to lend its support to the effort. According to an Associated Press report, the student claims that she and others like her need the unisex bathrooms in order to avoid bullying and ridicule. A homosexual activist with Outright Vermont is quoted in the...

Poor, poor Harvard. The prestigious institution has once again found itself in the embarrassing position of defending a push for campus censorship. This round’s sad irony: student leaders are now the ones trying to throw the First Amendment out the school bus window. The Harvard Law Review, a student-edited publication claiming President Barack Obama and four current U.S. Supreme Court justices as alumni, recently endorsed a major screw up on its own pages after it ran an eight-page factually-void analysis of the nation’s latest First Amendment case law. The piece, authored and edited by unnamed students (consistent with the journal’s...

Feminist proponents of “comprehensive sexuality education” like to portray themselves as advocates of science, bravely battling religious conservatives who preach bigotry and gender stereotypes to schoolchildren. Don’t be fooled. If you have a child in school, you should read “You’re Teaching My Child What?” by Dr. Miriam Grossman. Rather than learning just the facts, students are schooled in gender politics and feminist ideology—an ideology that is highly dogmatic and scientifically unsupported. Planned Parenthood, for example, wants to teach your kids that “All people are ‘gendered beings’ by virtue of the fact that we are socialized into a heavily gendered culture.”...

ITHACA, NY — Incoming students at Ithaca College will get together the day before the start of classes to discuss their summer reading assignment: Barack Obama’s “Dreams from My Father.” The 44th president’s autobiography was chosen as the 2009–10 First-Year Reading Initiative selection. “President Obama’s ruthlessly honest self-examination on issues of race and identity gives us an opportunity to lead students through what could be the most important conversation they will have during their freshman year,” says Ithaca College President Tom Rochon. The initiative was created in 2003 as a way to offer the incoming class a shared academic experience...

An eye-opening book titled The Language Police lists about 500 words that are banned from school textbooks. Some are amusing, some stupid (probably a banned word), and some are chilling. Here is a very partial list of banned words: Founding Fathers—Banned as sexist. Replace with Founders or Framers. (Because we would not want to note that the men who wrote the documents were men) Caveman—Banned as sexist, replace with cave dweller. (Wonder if that makes the Geico Cave . . . uhhh . . . dweller feel a little better?) Disadvantaged—Banned, replace with reference to the resources or rights that...

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia, August 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After the National Education Association (NEA) last month confirmed its support for abortion and same-sex "marriage," one teacher's association is reporting an influx of new members seeking an ethical alternative source of liability insurance and other benefits.The American Association of Educators (AAE) says that more teachers are discovering their legal options, after the NEA in its July convention voted down an attempt to end the group's abortion advocacy, and strengthened their support for same-sex "marriage."  In addition, they say, teachers coming to the AAE have expressed outrage with retiring NEA general counsel...

The National Education Association, which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage. This emphasis on advocacy for homosexuals was spelled out in a five-point New Business Item E. Point No.1 tells its union affiliates to support state legislation that registers same-sex couples in a way that mimics marriage. This registration would cover taxes, inheritance, adoptions, medical decisions, and even immigration. Point No. 2 says that states can call this same-sex registration marriage or civil union or domestic partnership so long...

The National Education Association, which usually passes a dozen or more pro-homosexual resolutions every year at its annual national convention, this year in San Diego went all-out in support of same-sex marriage. This emphasis on advocacy for homosexuals was spelled out in a five-point New Business Item E. Point No.1 tells its union affiliates to support state legislation that registers same-sex couples in a way that mimics marriage. This registration would cover taxes, inheritance, adoptions, medical decisions, and even immigration. Point No. 2 says that states can call this same-sex registration marriage or civil union or domestic partnership so long...

Stanford University’s Teacher Education Program (STEP) has finally let dissenting student-blogger Michele Kerr graduate. When Stanford tried to revoke Kerr’s admission after she voiced disagreement with “progressive” views held by STEP administrators, Kerr turned to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help. Kerr sought FIRE’s aid a second time after Stanford School of Education administrators demanded the password to her private blog and threatened to expel her for her opinions and teaching philosophy. The shameful story of Kerr’s travails is featured online in The Washington Post today by education columnist Jay Mathews. “From before even her first...

NYU will be short one professor this fall. Thio Li-ann, a professor at the National University of Singapore and a member of that country’s Parliament, was scheduled to teach a course on human rights in Asia and a seminar on constitutionalism as a visiting professor at NYU’s Law School. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, she cancelled her plans last week in response to campus protests of her comments in opposition to homosexuality. More than 740 people have signed an online petition saying that, by hiring Thio, the law school was “acting in opposition to its own policy of...

Another day, another casualty in a conflict pitting equality and demographic diversity against free speech and diversity of opinion: "A Singapore law professor who was to teach a human rights course at New York University Law School this fall has withdrawn after students protested what they called her anti-gay views," the New York Times reported last week. The anger at Dr. Thio Li-ann's appointment as a visiting professor was understandable: According to a petition protesting it, she had opposed repeal of a Singaporean law criminalizing homosexual conduct and "supported the imposition of a $15,000 fine on a free-access Singaporean television...

“Nearly All My Professors Are Democrats. Isn’t That a Problem?” is the title of a wonderful opinion piece at the Christian Science Monitor by University of Oregon journalism student Dan Lawton. Lawton’s investigation into the liberally funded diversity program at the University of Oregon yielded some interesting results: “The University of Oregon (UO), where I study journalism, invested millions annually in a diversity program that explicitly included "political affiliation" as a component. Yet, out of the 111 registered Oregon voters in the departments of journalism, law, political science, economics, and sociology, there were only two registered Republicans.” When Lawton published...

Though now scrubbed from the Boston Globe website where it was originally posted, what appears to be a .pdf copy of the incident report (#9005127) filed by the officer involved in the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Gates is available online. Before being swept up in the indignant frenzy being whipped up over this supposed outrage, it's worth perusing.

SHE'S tired of the 'bullying' and 'torrent of abuse' she has received for her views on homosexuality. She questions why her detractors have chosen to attack her personally and jeopardise her job, instead of focusing their attack on her views. And she asks if people can appreciate the cost she has paid for holding on to her convictions and principles. Dr Thio Li-ann expressed these views in an 18-point memo she sent to the dean of the New York University (NYU) law school and some faculty members, a copy of which has been posted on a US legal blog....