http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/publicschools/ en-us Sun, 3 Jan 2010 12:33:45 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419910/posts ... I’ve had tiny first graders who stubbornly refused to work. I’ve had powerful high-school boys who stubbornly refused to work. In a phys-ed class, I discovered a girl was legally blind only when I tossed her an eraser and it bounced off her face. I’ve been locked out of a school building for 30 minutes with a class of crying third graders. Of course we rang the bell! No one answered because all the teachers were at an end-of-the-year luncheon. As much as I became frustrated by the lack of training and support, I was most angered by how... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419910/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 12:33:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418820/posts When a child doesn't finish his homework, who's at fault? The Race, Culture, Class and Gender Task Group in the University of Minnesota's teacher-education program wants every teacher blaming things like "white privilege, hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity and internalized oppression." Those who don't, these professors believe, are unfit to be teachers. These professors plainly want everybody to share their ideology. Fair enough. But they don't want to limit themselves to persuasion -- they want to use the university's power to demand that all teachers conform to their political litmus test. Thus the task group's "final report" recommends ideological screening of applicants... ny post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418820/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:20:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407904/posts Taunton second-grader suspended over drawing of Jesus Father angered by forced psychological evaluation of boy, 8 By Gerry Tuoti, Staff Writer GateHouse News Service Posted Dec 14, 2009 @ 10:20 PM Taunton — A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus... Taunton Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407904/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:50:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2413147/posts My fellow Americans you all are overlooking the obvious or refuse to accept the premise that we are not dealing with Americans. I read that it is unconstitutional; it flies in the face of the rule of law; a legal body cannot bind its equal. I agree whole heartily with all of these arguments, but again I repeat, you are denying the obvious. Until you accept the obvious, who we are really dealing with and after accepting that realization you’ll understand what needs to be done next and it has nothing to do with waiting for elections next November. These... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2413147/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:37:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413161/posts LEBANON — “Silent Night” was not on the program at Pioneer School’s concert Tuesday, but it was sung anyway — by the audience after the kids were done. Shortly after the children started rehearsals this fall, Principal Mark Finch had scratched the number after a parent complained that the carol’s emphasis was “too single-religion.” Superintendent Rob Hess, in attendance Tuesday, said he didn’t see who started the carol but thought approximately 100 of the more than 700 people in the audience joined in. Sam Long, a Pioneer volunteer and the grandmother of a Pioneer student, said the only reaction following... Democrat Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413161/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:44:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411322/posts INDIANAPOLIS -- A teacher and basketball coach at Pike High School has been arrested on a charge of child seduction. Sara L. Strahm, 28, was arrested on Friday in connection with an incident involving a 17-year-old girl, said Sgt. Paul Thompson. Police did not elaborate on what prompted the arrest, 6News' Sarah Cornell reported. Strahm, a special education teacher at the school, is also the varsity girls basketball coach. theindychannel.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411322/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:11:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409586/posts Demand for the removal of homosexual advocate Kevin Jennings from his position as chief of the Department of Education's Office of Safe Schools is growing, with the Washington Post saying the appointment was wrong and thousands joining a petition. WND reported efforts by the organization Jennings founded, the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network, to indoctrinate young children into the homosexual lifestyle when a conference later dubbed "Fistgate" was held in Massachusetts in 2000. At GrassrootsNation.com, several thousand people have signed a new petition addressed to Obama, demanding Jennings' dismissal. "As a citizen of the United States of America I respectfully... World Net Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409586/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:48:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409351/posts The biggest gift came from Swift herself. The singer has donated $250,000 to schools around the country that she's either attended or worked with. The money will pay teachers' salaries as well as buy books and fund various educational programs. "Something I wanted to do at the end of this amazing year and especially on my birthday was give back to something I really believe in, which is education," says Swift. "The schools that I went to and the amazing people I got to learn from really turned me into who I am, and I wanted to give back." People Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409351/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:34:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408995/posts Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle has just signed a bill into law that forces schools to teach the glories of organized labor and collective bargaining. Doyle has received significant campaign contributions from labor unions over the years prior to forcing their special interest agenda into the classroom. Ever since unions have been involved in teaching, our system has spiraled into laughable mediocrity. It is what happens when you abandon actual education to turn children into racially-sensitive little environmentalists. Teachers' unions even tried to have the fact that 9/11 was committed by Muslim extremists scrubbed from the history books. Their effect on... The Macon County Conservative Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408995/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:38:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408908/posts The Islamic Circle of North America has been named in "a list of our organizations and the organizations of our friends" by the Muslim Brotherhood, which is bent on waging "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions." They say they want to encourage dialogue via these billboards. Great. I'll start. The billboard says that Islam is "the way of life of Adam, Noah, Abraham,... Soda Head http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408908/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:56:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408052/posts One eight-year-old in Taunton just learned a valuable lesson in political correctness, and a school district may wind up learning a little something about free speech, religious expression, and not asking questions to which one does not want to hear the answers. An elementary school student was asked to draw something that reminded him of Christmas. When he drew a picture of Jesus on a crucifix, the teacher and the administration recoiled in horror at the “violent image.” No, really: An eight year old elementary school student in Taunton was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological... HOTAIR.COM http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408052/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:01:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408295/posts An 8-year-old boy has been suspended from school and forced to undergo a psychological evaluation after he drew a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross. A teacher at Lowell Maxham Elementary School in Taunton, Mass., said the second-grade student created a violent drawing, the Taunton Daily Gazette reported. The boy's picture portrayed a crucified Jesus with Xs over his eyes to indicate that he had died on the cross. The child's father, outraged at the school's action, asked to remain anonymous to protect his son. He said his boy drew the picture after returning from a family trip to... WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408295/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:42:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408288/posts A battle over religion is brewing in central Indiana after a public school wanted second graders to sing a song declaring, “Allah is God.” The phrase was removed just before the performance after a national conservative group launched a protest. The principal of Lantern Road Elementary School in Fishers, IN, said they were trying to teach inclusiveness through their holiday production. It included references to Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa. However, no other deity, other than Allah, was referenced in the show. “It went off…without a hitch,” Danielle Thompson told the Indianapolis Star. “Several families thought it was... Fox News Radio http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408288/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:33:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407949/posts Impassioned parents demanded jail time for educators and district officials Saturday following the release of test scores that showed fourth- and eighth-graders had the worst math scores in the nation. City students took the National Assessment of Educational Progress test this year, and 69 percent of fourth-graders scored below the basic level in math and 77 percent of eighth-graders scored below basic. The Detroit scores on the progress test were the lowest in its 40-year history. The sample of students included 900 of Detroit's 6,000 fourth-graders and 1,000 of the district's 6,000 eighth-graders. Sharlonda Buckman, CEO of the Detroit Parent... Detroit News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407949/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:39:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2407597/posts Every December, public school students, parents, teachers and administrators face the difficult task of acknowledging the various religious and secular holiday traditions celebrated during that time of year. This pamphlet is designed to inform members of the public school community about the current state of the law regarding constitutionally permissible religious holiday observance in the public schools. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion to all Americans — including young schoolchildren — by prohibiting the government from endorsing or promoting any particular religious point of view. This prohibition has led courts to ban such plainly coercive religious activities in public... ADL http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2407597/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:01:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2406581/posts The Republican Party, the Party of Reagan has been nearly smothered and suffocated by the RINO-virus which has spread more rapidly than any swine flu pandemic, the GOP has been infected from the top down, and IF it is to avoid the fate of the Bull Moose Party, the principles of Reagan conservatism must be re-established, the fair weather collaborators and Quislings (that means YOU Juan McCain and your butt buddy Lindsey 'Goober' Graham!) MUST be driven out and banished and if they join up with the traitorous 'Rats, so be it. Force them to show their true colors. The... Self http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2406581/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:07:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406135/posts Her choppy blue-and-blond hair hiding the fear in her eyes, a 15-year-old voiced her dislike for a hip-hop music group and got punched in the face by a classmate. The whole thing was caught on tape, and social media helped police in their investigation. A crowd of six to 10 classmates were following the self-described emo girl and her boyfriend home from school in Newark, Ohio, on an autumn day in September. Some kids were taping it and others were egging on the assailant, who was on the school wrestling team. It all started because Alexis Xanders doesn't like Insane... Sphere.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406135/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:01:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405658/posts Is Rep. Michele Bachmann a “lovable little fuzzball”? Those of us who know her on a more personal basis know that’s a pretty good description of Michele personally, but politically,she’s about as tough as they get. Breitbart TV’s B-cast interviews Bachmann, who brings listeners up to date on Barney Frank’s financial-reform legislation, which dropped on the House last week. It’s 1300 pages long, and the vote will be taken — today. It reorders the entire financial-services industry and vastly increases government control over it. Oh, and ACORN, too. Frank bypassed the committee process, according to Bachmann, and she doesn’t see... hotair http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405658/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:19:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405744/posts WASHINGTON - The House passed the most ambitious restructuring of federal financial regulations since the New Deal on Friday, aiming to head off any replay of last year's Wall Street failures that plunged the nation deep into recession. The sprawling legislation would give the government new powers to break up companies that threaten the economy, create a new agency to oversee consumer banking transactions and shine a light into shadow financial markets that have escaped the oversight of regulators. The vote was a party-line 223-202. No Republicans voted for the bill; 27 Democrats voted against it. While a victory for... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405744/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:31:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2404650/posts Texas and Alaska are the only states not participating in the common standards effort. Scott said Texas is already ahead of the other states in developing tough standards. The U.S. Education Department appears to be "placing its desire for a federal takeover of public education above the interests of the 4.7 million schoolchildren in the state of Texas by setting two different starting lines — one for nearly every other state in the country and one for Texas," Scott wrote last week in a letter to the state's congressional delegation. "Because Texas has chosen to preserve its sovereign authority to... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2404650/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:43:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404421/posts ALAMEDA, Calif. – The school board blinked. Under the duress of a lawsuit and threats of recall, the Alameda Board of Education has voted to phase out an elementary school curriculum it adopted in May to prevent anti-gay bullying. The so-called Lesson 9, which had become an opposition centerpiece in a national anti-gay marriage campaign, will be replaced by a more generic anti-bullying message. But the board's action Tuesday night did little to ease the tension between gay parents, who want their children protected, and parents who who think elementary school is too early to talk to students about gay... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404421/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:39:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404291/posts Sean Hannity & Michelle Malkin Break Media Silence on Fistgate & Obama’s Dangerous Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings (Video) Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 8:58 PM Jim Hoft Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin broke the media silence on Fistgate, GLSEN and Obama’s deranged Safe Schools Czar Kevin Jennings. Hannity says he won’t stop talking about Kevin Jennings until he is fired. Gatewaypundit / Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404291/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:47:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403766/posts Kevin Jennings, Safe Schools Czar, Homosexuality, and the Obama administration Kevin Jennings, the appointed "Safe School" Czar by the Obama administration, has a depraved, sick, and perverted sense of safety in American schools. The organization he directed for many years, the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network was designed to attract otherwise "straight" children and recruit them into the Gay Lesbian lifestyle. Jennings became the "Safe School" Czar after holding the position of Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual fund-raising co-chair in the Obama campaign. In a 1990 "report" for the Massachusetts Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Jennings is the individual who proposed taking... JEFFHEAD.COM http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403766/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:20:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403783/posts Kevin Jennings has been appointed as director of the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools under Obama. Here's a bit of his bio: In 1997, according to a transcript put together by Brian J. Burt, managing editor of the student-run Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Jennings said he hoped that promoting homosexuality in schools would be considered fine in the future. The group Jennings founded has also been accused of promoting homosexuality in schools. At a GLSEN conference in 2000, co-sponsored with the Massachusetts Department of Education, the group landed in hot water when it was revealed... Right Wing News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403783/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:37:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403630/posts WARNING: This editorial includes discussion of topics that are sexually graphic. . . . . The Obama administration is stonewalling serious inquiries about sexual filth propagated by a senior presidential appointee who is responsible for promoting and implementing federal education policy. Democrats clearly are terrified of ruffling the feathers of their activist homosexual supporters, who are an influential part of the Democratic party's base. This scandal, however, is not merely about homosexual behavior; it is about promoting sex between children and adults - and it's time for President Obama to make clear that abetting such illegal perversion has no place... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403630/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:31:26 GMT