Category: Education

Republicans Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, and Matt Gaetz Explain Why They Voted Against Parents Bill of Rights Act: ‘The Federal Government Should Not Be Involved in Education’

Susan Berry, PhD

The U.S. House passed the Parents Bill of Rights Act Friday, with most House Republicans voting in favor of the bill that would require school districts to give parents access to their children’s curricula and reading lists, to inform parents of any violence occurring on campus, and to notify parents if their child is sharing a bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite biological sex.

The measure passed by a vote of 213-208, with five Republicans voting no. Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY-17); Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05); Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01); Ken Buck (R-CO-04); and Matt Rosendale (R-MT-02) all voted against the legislation.

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Minnesota Gov. Walz Promotes Sexually Graphic Book at Reading Event

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In his latest attempt to raise his national profile, Gov. Tim Walz took shots at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday, saying the Republican’s state is “where freedom goes to die.”

The remarks were made during an event to promote reading month, where Walz unveiled a Little Free Library outside of his office.

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Commentary: Parents’ Bill of Rights Is How Congress Can Help State School Reformers

Minnesota Sun Staff

The stunning success of conservative education reform across the country in the past few years is the result a moral fact: Parents are children’s primary educators. Until very recently, this was not disputed, let alone controversial.  

But lately, it has become clear that progressive elites who run teachers unions and school boards, the Democratic Party, and the corporate media no longer share this view. Their contempt for parents’ rights has fueled a long train of abuses, from racist curricula to a war on girls sports and bathrooms to darker episodes of criminal cover-ups and student grooming. 

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House Passes Legislation to Give Parents More Say in Their Kids’ Education

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a piece of legislation on Friday aimed at giving parents more of a say in school curriculum and more control in their children’s education.

In a 213 – 208 vote, the House approved the Parents Bill of Rights, which would require school districts to annually post their curriculum online, allowing parents to review the materials. The bill, considered the “Politics over Parents Act” by Democratic politicians, moves to the Democratic-controlled Senate, where it is unlikely to pass.

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Parents Group Says Pornographic Books Available to Minnesota Students

Minnesota Sun Staff

Parents can’t assume schools have kids’ best interest in mind, said a Delano father after a parents group discovered “quite a few” books containing pornographic material in the high school library.

Parents said they found books containing sexually explicit content, including depictions of rape, in the Delano High School library, which services students in grades 7-12.

According to Jake Torola, advisor to Concerned Community of 879 (CC879) and father of six, the list is at 20 and counting.

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House Judiciary Committee: ‘No Legitimate Basis’ for Biden Administration to Target Parents Protesting School Boards

Minnesota Sun Staff

The latest report by the House Judiciary Committee declares that there was “no legitimate basis” for the Biden Administration’s efforts to label parents protesting at school board meetings as domestic terrorists and place them under federal investigation.

As reported by Fox News, the Judiciary Committee and its new subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government have completed an interim staff report on the matter of the federal government’s handling of parents’ rights groups, who were “voicing concerns about controversial curricula and education-related policies.”

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Commentary: The Problematic Rise of ‘Media Literacy Education’

RealClearWire

New Jersey is enlisting public-school teachers and librarians to show children how to combat what it calls the grave threat of disinformation.

“Our democracy remains under sustained attack through the proliferation of disinformation,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in signing the nation’s first law mandating “information literacy” instruction for all K-12 students. The law, which aims to provide students with the “critical thinking” skills necessary to differentiate between “facts, points of view, and opinions” will, Murphy proclaimed, ensure “that our kids … possess the skills needed to discern fact from fiction.”

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Parent Groups ‘Fed Up’ with Striking Los Angeles Unions ‘Using Kids as Pawns’

Susan Berry, PhD

Parent groups in California and those specifically in Los Angeles are enraged that tens of thousands of staff and teachers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) went out on strike Tuesday, demanding higher pay and increased staffing in district schools.

“Parents are fed up with LAUSD unions using kids as pawns in contract negotiations,” tweeted Parent Union (CPC), a coalition of parents, parent groups, education reform advocates and community leaders dedicated to advancing meaningful education policies, accountability and choice in California’s K-12 education system.” 

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Commentary: The Things Students Are Learning After They Left Public Schools During Pandemic

Minnesota Sun Staff

The education disruption caused by mass school closures and prolonged remote instruction beginning three years ago this month led many families to seek other learning options beyond an assigned district school. Emerging research reveals just how significant and sustained that shift was.

In a new report, “Where the Kids Went: Nonpublic Schooling and Demographic Change during the Pandemic Exodus from Public Schools,” Stanford economist Thomas Dee reveals that more than 1.2 million students left district schools during the pandemic response. That exodus endured throughout the 2021/2022 academic year, as families continued to opt for private schools and homeschooling even though most district schools reopened. 

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California School District Hires CRT Critic Consultant to Teach Staff, Parents, and Students

Susan Berry, PhD

The governing board of the Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) in California has voted 3-2 to approve a consulting contract with an anti-Critical Race Theory (CRT) attorney who will educate teachers, parents, and students about the ideology and the “myth” of systemic racism.

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Diversity Dean Who Derailed Law School Speaker Event Placed On Leave

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An elite Stanford Law School (SLS) dean who berated a federal judge during a speaker event earlier this month was placed on leave, the school announced on Tuesday. Federal Judge Kyle Duncan attempted to deliver remarks about COVID, Twitter and guns on the California campus on March 9 but was repeatedly interrupted by student hecklers. SLS Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Tirien Steinbach responded to his request for an administrator to help silence the room, but instead took the podium to accuse Duncan of causing “harm” and questioned if his speech was worth delivering.

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New York Attorney General Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour with Drag Group Receiving City Contracts

Susan Berry, PhD

The attorney general of New York State hosted a drag queen story hour event for young children in New York City to protest a perceived “rise in anti-LGBTQ+ protests, rhetoric, and policies.”

In a press statement following the event Sunday, James’ office said “nearly 200 guests enjoyed four back-to-back Story Hours hosted by the Drag Kings, Queens, and Royalty of Drag Story Hour NYC at The Center, which has been a home and resource hub for the LGBTQ+ community and allies since its founding in 1983.”

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Once Vaunted as the Best in the Word, Stanford University’s Wayward Record is Growing Infamous

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Stanford was once one of the world’s great universities. It birthed Silicon Valley in its prime. And along with its nearby twin and rival, UC Berkeley, its brilliant researchers, and teachers helped fuel the mid-20th-century California miracle.

That was then. But like the descent of California, now something has gone terribly wrong with the university.

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Commentary: The Universities I Knew in Soviet Russia Valued Merit More than Some American Schools Do Today

Admin

Walking near Temple University, I noticed a flyer advocating for “socialism in our lifetime.” The message from an outside group reads in full, “Socialist Revolution: Join the fight for socialism in our lifetime.” Having grown up in Soviet-era Ukraine and now a tenured professor at Temple, I feel strongly that most college-age Americans do not understand what they are saying when they advocate for socialism. 

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Dem-Linked Nonprofit Sues DeSantis Admin for Records on Decision to Reject AP History Class

Minnesota Sun Staff

A left-wing watchdog organization sued Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration on Thursday for allegedly withholding records relating to the decision to reject the AP African American Studies course.

American Oversight filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Education claiming the government agency is allegedly not responding to eight public records requests for the communications between state agencies, DeSantis’ office and outside parties discussing the decision to reject an AP African American Studies course because it lacked “educational value and historical accuracy.” The lawsuit comes after DeSantis rejected the college-level course because it violated state law against the teaching of CRT.

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Texas Announces State Takeover of Houston Independent School District

The Center Square

The state of Texas intends to take control of the Houston Independent School District, citing poor academic accountability, violations of the law and the expiration of an injunction that had previously prevented the state from acting, state officials said Wednesday.

The Texas Education Agency said it would name a new district superintendent and suspend the district’s board of trustees. This is the latest in a yearslong fight between the state and the district of about 200,000 students over poor academic performance and the behavior of trustees.

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‘Apparently, I Am the Wrong Kind of Black’: California Equity Director Fired for Viewpoint Diversity

Minnesota Sun Staff

Dr. Tabia Lee, faculty director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza College, alleges that she is being terminated for not adhering to anti-racist “orthodoxy.”

Lee, a Black woman who grew up in central California, was fired last week from her position as a tenure track Faculty Director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at the community college in Cupertino, California, according to Inside Higher Ed.

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Minnesota Considers Bill That Provides Free School Meals to All Students

Minnesota Sun Staff

Minnesota is poised to become just the third state in the nation to provide free school meals for all students. But it will come at a taxpayer cost of about $200 million a year, regardless of whether a family has any trouble at all paying for their kids’ breakfast and lunch — which amounts to about $6 a day.

On Tuesday four Republicans joined 34 DFLers as the Minnesota Senate voted 38-26 to pass a universal school meals bill that Gov. Tim Walz has said he’ll sign when it reaches his desk. Last month the House passed the bill by a 70-54 vote. No Republicans in the House supported the measure.

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Dr. Mark McDonald Tells Parents What They Need to Do to Save Their Children from Government Schools

Susan Berry, PhD

Los Angeles-based psychiatrist Dr. Mark McDonald said “America’s schools are broken” beyond repair and have now become “dangerous” centers of leftist indoctrination – a problem parents must solve by changing their lifestyles, if necessary, to save their children.

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‘Health Crisis’: Minnesota Legislators Call for Return to Phonics-Based Reading Instruction

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Half of Minnesota’s students can’t read at grade level.

At a recent press conference, legislative Republicans said this is because the education establishment bought into the “whole language” and “balanced literacy” approaches to reading.

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Teachers, Activists Push School Districts to Drop Calculus in the Name of Equity

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Teachers and activists are pushing for high schools to drop their calculus courses to increase equity as many minority and low-income students don’t have access to the class, according to The 74, a nonprofit news organization covering education.

In the 2017-2018 school year, 76% of schools with “low student of color enrollment” offered calculus while 52% of schools with a high proportion of students of color offered the advanced math course, according to a Learning Policy Institute report. The course, teachers and activists argued, is disproportionately offered to students not of an underrepresented group, giving other students an advantage in the college admissions process, according to The 74.

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Professor Argues Cancer Research Needs More ‘Antiracism’

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Christabel Cheung, a professor at the University of Maryland, recently gave a presentation arguing that principles of “antiracism” must be incorporated into cancer research.

The presentation came as part of a symposium hosted by the University of Michigan School of Social Work on “Achieving Health Equity in Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Psycho-Oncology Care.”

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Commentary: Student Debt Forgiveness Won’t Cure Higher Education’s Ills

RealClearWire

On February 28th, the Supreme Court heard arguments on President Biden’s plan to extinguish an estimated $400 billion in student debt. Biden deserves credit for highlighting a debilitating federal program in desperate need of reform. His proposal, however, would make the problem far worse, not better. Any serious reform would force academic institutions to take some responsibility for the education they provide—and to show some responsibility to the many young Americans they induce to go deeply into debt. 

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Study: Average American IQ Is Declining for the First Time in a Century

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A new study asserts that the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the average American citizen is now on the decline for the first time in nearly 100 years.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the study was published in the psychology journal Intelligence. Analyzing the time period between 2006 and 2018, the study’s authors note that the biggest decline in IQ occurred among Americans between the ages of 18 and 22.

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Minnesota Bill Would Prohibit Colleges from Requiring a Faith Statement for Postsecondary Enrollment Options Students

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A proposal to bar colleges that require a statement of faith from participating in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is buried within Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy bill.

The Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act allows Minnesota high school students to earn both high school and college credits for free, since the schools are reimbursed by the state.

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Commentary: The Importance of Philosophical Fiction

Minnesota Sun Staff

I must admit that I have not always been a serious reader. Like the vast majority of consumers of art, I was more interested in the escapist element of fiction and cinema. I would read a book or watch a film as a way to escape into another world for a couple hours. I was enthralled by the likes of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Stephen King’s The Shining.

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Commentary: The Right’s Long Countermarch Through the Institutions

RealClearWire

Is the Right commencing a long countermarch through the institutions, including the very one – the academy – from which the Left’s own long march began? 

Judging by the distress shown by some in the educational establishment, and like-minded corporate media, regarding higher-education reform efforts in North Carolina and Florida, one might get the impression that the countermarch is not only underway but rapidly advancing – threatening progressives’ stranglehold over schools and virtually every other American power center. 

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Parents Organization Reports Nearly 6,000 U.S. Public Schools Support Keeping Child’s Gender Identity Hidden from Parents

Susan Berry, PhD

A Parents Defending Education (PDE) report revealed that 5,904 government schools in the United States maintain transgender or “gender nonconforming” policies that openly assert school staff can or should keep a child’s preferred gender identity hidden from parents.

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Civil Rights Commissioners Urge Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Hold Hearings on Title IX to Assure ‘Biological Sex’ is Protected

Susan Berry, PhD

In a letter obtained by The Star News Network, four members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) are calling upon House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to hold hearings on the Biden administration’s “radical and legally unsupported proposals to change Title IX” to require that its prohibition on sex discrimination be interpreted to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The letter, signed by USCCR Commissioners labor attorney Peter Kirsanow, University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot, Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams, and South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce CEO Stephen Gilchrist, asserts to McCarthy that the Biden Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has erred in its claim that the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County “requires that Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination be interpreted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

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Liz Cheney to Teach Politics at the University of Virginia After Losing Re-Election

Just the News

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., will take up a post as a professor at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“I am delighted to be joining the UVA Center for Politics as a Professor of Practice,” Cheney stated in university press release. “Preserving our constitutional republic is the most important work of our time, and our nation’s young people will play a crucial role in this effort. I look forward to working with students and colleagues at the Center to advance the important work they and others at the University of Virginia are doing to improve the health of democracy here and around the world.”

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House GOP Proposes Parents’ Rights Legislation to Allow More Say in Curriculum

Minnesota Sun Staff

House Republicans under the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California are reintroducing legislation to promote parental rights in their children’s education, giving them more of a say in school curriculum, according to The Associated Press.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights Act will be the first piece of legislation McCarthy has introduced as speaker, the AP reported, and will ensure that parents are aware of their rights and that schools understand them. School systems will be required to publish the curriculum and budget spending, and must ask permission of parents before any medical examination takes place, such as mental health counseling.

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Not One Student Proficient in Math in 10 Minneapolis, St. Paul Public Schools: Report

Minnesota Sun Staff

At least 10 elementary and high schools in the Minneapolis Public School District and St. Paul Public School District in Minnesota, did not have a single student meet grade level expectations in math during the 2021-2022 school year, according to a Wednesday report by the Center of the American Experiment, an organization focused on state public policy.

State wide, 19 school districts did not have one student test proficient in math on the 2022 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment, a standardized test used to determine what students have learned, according to a Center of the American Experiment report. Of elementary schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts, seven did not have a single student meeting grade level expectations in math.

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Catholic University Drops Theology Degree, Nine Others

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Board of Marymount University unanimously voted on Friday to eliminate ten degree programs in the humanities and social sciences, including English, History, and Theology and Religious Studies.

Founded as the first Catholic college in Virginia in 1950, Marymount is affiliated with the Sacred Heart of Mary and serves approximately 3,500 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.

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