public schools
229 pieces tagged “public schools”, newest first.
Our Most Divisive Political Issue
Can you name the most contentious issue in American politics? Here's a hint. It's being fought at the federal, state and local levels. And it doesn't go away. The struggle is persistent, ongoing, unending. Here is a second hint. The issue is not gay marriage, or gun control, or police brutality and or immigration. Those issues are either settled, largely settled, isolated or completely out of the control of local and state governments.
Bipartisan Achievements: Bigger Government, Worse Schools
"This is an early Christmas present." That is what a very merry Barack Obama said earlier this month when he signed into law a bill sent to him by the Republican Congress. The Republicans in Congress entitled it "The Every Student Succeeds Act." They wrote it to replace the "No Child Left Behind Act" — which was sponsored 14 years ago by then-Rep. John Boehner, a future Republican House speaker, and signed by George W. Bush, the last Republican president.
Schools Sing Praise to Allah, Create Propaganda Posters for ISIS
Are American public schools on the verge of becoming taxpayer-funded Madrassas? In 2001 the founder of the Institute on Religious and Civic Values boasted about a covert plan to conduct a "bloodless" revolution inside American public classrooms — promoting an increased emphasis on the Islamic faith. I wrote extensively about their plans to wage a stealth academic jihad in my book, "God Less America." Read the chapter titled, "One Nation Under Allah." Still, it might surprise many moms and dads at the extent of Islamic indoctrination that's infected their local public schools.
Education Disaster
The 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress report, also known as The Nation's Report Card, shows that U.S. educational achievement, to put it nicely, leaves much to be desired. When it comes to reading and math skills, just 34 percent and 33 percent, respectively, of U.S. eighth-grade students tested proficient or above — that is, performed at grade level or above. Recent test scores show poor achievement levels in other academic areas. Only 18 percent of eighth-graders are proficient in U.S. history. It's 27 percent in geography and 23 percent in civics.
Eighth Graders Asked to Write About Booze, Herpes and One-Night Stands
A New Jersey school district is facing scrutiny for a provocative eighth grade homework assignment that reads more like a chapter from "Fifty Shades of Gray." The boys and girls at Myron L. Powell Elementary School in Cedarville were instructed to write a "reactive response" to a given situation. They wanted to know what the students would do if they went to a party, got drunk, had sex with a stranger and then contracted herpes.
Ignoring the Obvious
A recent, widely publicized incident in which a policeman was called to a school classroom to deal with a disruptive student has provoked all sorts of comments on whether the policeman used "excessive force." What has received far less attention, though it is a far larger question, with more sweeping implications, is the role of disruptive students in schools.