Free Republic

Like a great pendulum that has swung too far in one direction, American education has spent decades lurching away from its founding principles. For generations, our public schools have transformed from institutions that acknowledged the divine into sterile laboratories of secular indoctrination. Parents have watched helplessly as their children were taught to hide their faith like contraband, to whisper prayers as if they were speaking profanities. But sometimes, just when the pendulum seems frozen at its furthest point, gravity reasserts itself. The erosion didn’t happen overnight. Since the 1960s, a series of court decisions and bureaucratic edicts have systematically scrubbed...

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a curious new religious group began spreading throughout the fledgling United States. Their official name was the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing – known colloquially as “Shakers” for their tendency to fall into ecstatic trances and literally shake or tremble during worship. The Shakers are most famous today for their belief in strict celibacy – even within the confines of marriage. All members, whether single or married before joining, had to agree to remain chaste for their entire lives. Because of this, their communities had no biological offspring. They...

This week, another transgender shoot-up of a Christian school provides more chilling evidence that the culture war is a spiritual war. The Minneapolis shooter’s actions and Democrats’ interpretation of them both demonstrate this. The New York Post published excerpts of the shooter’s journal posted on YouTube that include a drawing of him communing with a Satanic figure in a mirror. As I’ve written before, Satan-worshippers can be startlingly more direct than many Christians about the connections between their spiritual and political beliefs.

Robert “Robin” Westman, a man who identified as a woman, attacked Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis today, killing two and wounding 17 others. The two fatalities were children with 14 of the 17 wounded also being school kids. Three adults were also injured. Westman penned an alleged manifesto and posted a video before the attack. His mother reportedly used to work at the school before retiring in 2021. Some of the writings were written in Cyrillic, but New York Post reporter Diane Nerozzi translated some of the pages (via NY Post): Transgender Minneapolis shooter Robin Westman spoke of murdering “filthy...

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced it is placing Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools (the Divisions) in Northern Virginia on high-risk status with the condition that all federal funding flowing to these districts is done by reimbursement only. This action is being taken after all five Divisions have been found in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). The Department found the Divisions in violation of Title IX last month for their policies allowing students to...

The Fairfax County Public Schools system in Virginia has launched an investigation into accusations that school staff arranged abortions for students without notifying their parents, according to local reports. School officials at Centreville High School in Union Hill allegedly arranged and bankrolled abortions for girls in 2021, including a 17-year-old, according to local news outlet WJLA. “We learned yesterday of these concerning allegations from 2021,” FCPS said in a statement to the outlet on Wednesday. “We are launching an immediate and comprehensive investigation as we take all concerns of student wellbeing very seriously.” Pressed on whether FCPS staff have ever...

The Trump administration should investigate them to stop potential violations of federal civil rights laws.It’s been two years since the Supreme Court banned racial discrimination in college admissions. Nonetheless, at medical schools, evidence suggests that the discrimination continues.That’s my conclusion after submitting Freedom of Information Act requests to all 93 public medical schools. I asked for several years of admissions data, including on students who matriculated in 2024, following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard. I sought data on race, undergraduate grades, MCAT scores, and admission status, in order to assess whether...

The Florida Department of Education on Friday sent a scathing letter to Alachua County School Board Chair Sarah Rockwell in response to her social media post celebrating the death of Hulk Hogan as “one less MAGA,” and the board’s attempt to silence a parent at Thursday’s school board meeting. “Your recent unprofessional conduct has been brought to my attention. You made disparaging comments about the death of a conservative public figure, leading the public to lose confidence in your ability to treat all students and families fairly,” Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas wrote. That concern has now been reaffirmed by...

The College Board reduced the Reading and Writing portion of the SAT exam by up to 500 words, arguing the length was nonessential in assessing students' aptitude.. One expert projects the ACT will soon cut its standards as well. In 2024, the College Board introduced sweeping changes to the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), made largely without the awareness of lawmakers. According to a June 18 op-ed by Michael Torres, the policy director for the Classical Learning Test (CLT), one major change was the format switch from paper to computerized testing. This allows the exam to be adaptable, which means that...

“We’re aware; the challenge here is finding a federal hook. But WH has been in touch about whether we can assist in some form or fashion.”America First Legal shared documents with Fox News showing communication between the Biden White House and the DOJ over the memo that demonized protesting parents at school board meetings. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memo weaponized the FBI against these parents after the National School Boards Association begged former President Joe Biden’s administration to intervene. The NSBA described the protests as “a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.” The memo came out on October 4,...

There’s an old saying that goes, something that can’t go on forever won’t. Chicago is now in the early stages of learning that this applies to their public school system. They’re facing a massive budget deficit of $734 million and are on pace to lay off almost 1,500 teachers and staffers. Perhaps Mayor Brandon Johnson should have been more focused on delivering the services that American citizen taxpayers paid for and less on the needs of illegal immigrants and Chicago’s ‘sanctuary city’ status. ... Chicago Public Schools parents and community members sounded off on Monday, three days after the district...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” CNN Political Contributor and Democratic strategist Paul Begala said that while he disagrees with bans on gender transitions for children, it’s “crazy” for states like California to keep schools from telling parents about their children transitioning. Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) said, “[T]his is one of the reasons why the Democrats are losing on an issue like this, because, again, if you can’t definitively tell — I have a six, a four, and a 2-year-old. My six and four-year-old, they think that they’re Anna and Elsa and my little boy thinks he’s Lightning McQueen....

The education news outlet Chalkbeat recently highlighted a Denver, Colo. elementary school that’s teaching students as young as age 3 about environmental damage. Mental-health professionals praise their efforts, saying the lessons can help prevent “eco-anxiety,” a “chronic fear of environmental doom.” The mental-health industry’s logic is self-serving: Introduce kids to the idea of Earth’s demise, then step in to manage their worry. Climate catastrophism has come to the classroom — and, as one educator put it, it’s “scaring the kids to death.” Human beings aren’t born aware of our supposed environmental crisis. The fear of climate change — and therapists’...

In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, a seismic shift caught many political analysts off guard: young voters, assumed to be a reliably progressive demographic, showed unprecedented support for conservative candidates. This was no fleeting anomaly. Rather, it reflects a cultural transformation among America's youth, in particular young men, one that is steering them toward traditionalism and a rejection of the liberal paradigms that have dominated their cultural landscape for decades. From a resurgence of traditional religious practices to a renewed appreciation for authentic, skill-driven music, the young are embracing values that align with Traditionalism. As politics is downstream from culture,...

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical schools, will no longer consider Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs during evaluations. Another medical education accreditor announced earlier this month that it would suspend diversity requirements. ... The Liaison Committee on Medical Education—which accredits medical schools around the country—has announced that it will no longer consider Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs during its evaluations. On May 19, the committee, which is sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) decided to eliminate DEI considerations as part of its criteria for assessing medical schools’ performances, ... The Liaison Committee...

A bill seeking to allow Texas public and charter schools to hold voluntary prayer and readings of religious texts has stalled after lawmakers failed to take action on the legislation. The House Committee on State Affairs grappled with Senate Bill 11, which would allow school boards to decide whether to carve out time for private prayer or readings from religious texts, such as the Bible. The bill, which passed the Senate 24-6 in March, sparked intense debate last Wednesday before being left pending at the session’s close, signaling further deliberation ahead. Authored by Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston, and introduced in...

A Brooklyn teen was busted for allegedly making multiple threats to schools across Texas and Florida – even personally targeting a relative of one of the victims of the 2022 Uvalde school massacre on TikTok, authorities announced this week. The 16-year-old boy was picked up May 1 at his Brooklyn home and charged with one felony count of making terroristic threats, the Uvalde Police Department said Wednesday. In addition to the threats to the Uvalde shooting victim’s family, he is accused of making multiple “swatting” – or false report – calls and sending threats to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School...

SVU detective exposed the buffalo school system

Lefty activists pushed a resolution this week to issue a predator warning to schools if Andrew Cuomo is elected mayor. The bizarre political stunt happened Wednesday at the Community Education Council meeting for District 2. The motion called on the city to protect students and staff, specifically from Cuomo. It referenced his 2021 resignation following a report by state Attorney General Letitia James into allegations that he sexually harassed 11 women. “Given the extremely serious nature of the allegations against Cuomo . . . CEC2 urges the City Council to institute protocols to safeguard students and school staff from a...

In what many citizens concerned with the survival of Austria as a European nation-state are calling a demographic tipping point, Muslims have now become the largest religious group in Vienna’s compulsory schools, comprising a striking 41.2% of all students across primary, secondary, and vocational education levels. The stark demographic shift has sparked outrage among conservatives and nationally-minded citizens in Austria, with the Freedom Party (FPÖ) warning that the capital is being culturally transformed beyond recognition. “This is no longer immigration. This is displacement,” said Maximilian Weinzierl, national council member and leader of the FPÖ’s youth wing. “41.2% of Muslim students—that’s...