What’s Really Going on this Weekend?

So why are kids out of school this week? Here is  a cross post from the Education Freedom for Minnesota blog on a townhall.com article;

So why are the kids really not in school this week? What goes on at these “teacher workshops?” Well here is an article from townhall.com on the matter;

Each year, Minnesota government schools close for two days (just before the weekend, of course) so teachers’ union members can gather at a conference organized by their union. It’s meant to “inspire teachers,” EAGnews.org reported, and the conference includes a session titled, “Using Persona Dolls to Promote Social Emotional Intelligence and Acceptance of Diversity.”

The union describes it this way: “Used around the world, persona dolls are lifelike dolls with personalities and stories you create. The dolls become members of your classroom community and children learn by empathizing with the dolls and giving them heartfelt advice on the same kinds of situations they struggle with daily in the classroom and on the playground.” That’s weird. Teachers are taking time away from the classroom to learn how to play with dolls?

Playing with dolls???

The conference also includes a workshop on how to teach about Islam. The union says about the session: “An expert panel will present information on teaching about Islam in the context of social studies and world religion. They will share perspectives on how educators can help improve intercultural communication and well-being for immigrant and refugee students and families from Muslim countries.”

That sounds nice. Who’s betting they won’t hear anything about the September 11, 2001 hijackers’ jihad or suicide bombers blowing up American soldiers or Israeli children? And why the focus on only one religion?

And of course no teachers union conference would be complete without a session about the importance of the upcoming presidential election (it will become an Obama rally), and a discussion about how education reform efforts are misguided and dangerous.

Yes, we must elect Democrats who will never hold Big Education accountable!

Couldn’t the union hold this session during the summer, or on a weekend, when there are no classes to interrupt? They have to annually take time out of the school calendar to hold their union pep rally and play with dolls?

Is it any wonder American students are trailing behind their counterparts in South Korea, Estonia and Luxembourg? Is it too much for union teachers to remain in in the classroom and focus on the basics, instead of cancelling classes to talk about their ideas of “social justice” and promote their union’s political agenda?

No kidding! Support education freedom today!!!!!

Townhall article

Education Freedom for Minnesota’s blog

Spread That Diversity!

Well once again District 281 is obsessing about integration. Here is latest news in Affirmative Action goals. From the Sun Post;

At the July 9 school board meeting, Asst. Supt. Dr. Gayle Walkowiak shared the results of a two-year study. Among the findings: of the 260 participants in elective band classes at Plymouth Middle School in 2012, just 20 percent were students of color. While 38 percent of the 169 students participating in orchestra were students of color and for choir it was 30 percent of the 414 students participating. Plymouth Middle’s total school population is 41 percent students of color.

The numbers were comparable at Robbinsdale Middle School, which also offers the arts as elective classes – 47 percent for band, 44 percent for orchestra and 52 percent for choir. Sixty-two percent of that school’s total population is made up of students of color.

At the high school level, 12 percent of Armstrong High School’s band class was made up of students of color. While one-quarter of the students signed up for both the orchestra and choir were students of color. In visual arts classes, the number was a bit higher – 36 percent. Thirty-seven percent of Armstrong’s population is made up of students of color.

And at Cooper High School where 63 percent of the population is made up of students of color, 22 percent of the band, 24 percent of the orchestra and 38 percent of the choir participants are students of color. Visual arts classes, meantime, had 70 percent participation from students of color.

So what is the solution? Should we have quotas? Should we tell white kids to go home?

The numbers were also low when it came to participation by students of color in honors courses at the middle and high school levels during the 2011/2012 school year – 20 percent at Plymouth Middle School, 35 percent at Robbinsdale Middle School, 22 percent at Armstrong High School and 38 percent at Cooper High School.

Honor courses? Don’t you have to earn that? What should we do; dumb down the standards? Kick white kids out?

Here are some genius comments on the subject;

“The numbers are way too low. A lot of work needs to be done across the board in these areas,” said Walkowiak during the meeting.

“I think it is a good goal to increase minority participation in these areas, fine arts as well as the challenging academics,” added School Board member Tom Walsh.

And your ideas are…….

Full Sun Post Article

School: Opposition to Gay Adoption is “Bullying”

Check out this from Fox News;

By Todd Starnes

A Wisconsin high school is in the middle of a free speech debate after they apologized for publishing a student essay opposing gay families who adopt children. School officials called the essay a form of “bullying and disrespect.”

The column ran on the editorial page of the Shawano High School student newspaper. It was part of an op-ed featuring a student supporting gay families who adopt children and one opposed to the idea. The student who opposed gay adoptions cited Bible passages that called homosexuality and sin punishable by death. “If one is a practicing Christian, Jesus states in the Bible that homosexuality is (a) detestable act and sin which makes adopting wrong for homosexuals because you would be raising the child in a sin-filled environment,” the student wrote.

You cited the Bible? Oh no, big mistake!

The school district profusely apologized after a gay couple – who has a child at the school – complained.

A couple? One couple?

“This is why kids commit suicide,” Nick Uttecht told the Green Bay Press Gazette. “When I saw this I was in shock.” The school district released a statement apologizing for the story. “Offensive articles cultivating a negative environment of disrespect are not appropriate or condoned by the Shawano School District,” the statement read. “We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended and are taking steps to prevent items of this nature from happening in the future.”

Todd Carlson, the superintendent of the Shawano School District told Fox News & Commentary he was shocked by the article. “We do apologize,” Carlson said. “We have a responsibility as a school district to make sure we create a positive school climate and culture. This article probably didn’t go along with the policies and the guidelines and the practices that we have as a school district.”

But the school district only took issue with one of the opinion pieces – the one opposed to gays adopting children. That’s because Carlson said the essay is a form of bullying. “It is a form of bullying or disrespect to a group of people – that’s right,” he said. The school district did not comply with a request to read the entire essay – and they declined to say if the student who wrote the essay would be punished.

Really? Why don’t you release the entire essay and let us decide for ourselves if this is “offensive?”

“Our efforts have been placed to make sure that items of this nature don’t happen in the future,” Carlson told Fox News & Commentary. “We have this responsibility to create a positive environment for all.”

However, critics said removing the opinion piece is a form of censorship.

“I hope they won’t squash any political viewpoints because of this,” David Hudson, of the First Amendment Center told USA Today. “Bullying is a serious concern, and I don’t take it lightly. But I hope it doesn’t lead to squashing different viewpoints. I do think (gay adoption) is an issue people are deeply divided about. Hopefully, student journalists don’t have to fear they’ll be squashed if they take a controversial view.”

Trust us, they will only sensor speech if it offends one left-wing person.

Carlson told Fox News & Commentary this is not a case of censorship. “It is not a freedom of speech issue,” he said. “I know some are trying to make it that. It’s our policy that we are concerned about – not to create disrespect and bullying and harassment.”

Harassment? Opposing gay adoption is harassment? So if you don’t believe in gay adoption you are assumed to be a bully? Mr. Carlson you should be fired. Oh wait, you’re a public employee which means you’ll never be fired.

At least one university professor believes the school district did the right thing by apologizing for a student’s personal opinion. “To see something like this debated in the paper could be devastating,” Christine Smith, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay told USA Today.

So you’re not allowed to debate??

“How would you feel if someone said your family is abnormal, is not acceptable, that your parents never should have been allowed to have you, that they’re not suitable to raise you?”

Really “professor?” Why don’t you teach and NOT social engineer!

Everyday is Earth Day!

Once again, from the good old sun post;

ECFE wins grant

Early Childhood Family Education of Robbinsdale Area Schools has been awarded at $3,000 Environmental Education Grant for 2011-2012 from Hennepin County Environmental Services. Building parents’ awareness of and encouraging participation in public issues such as the environment is a goal of ECFE.

Huh? We thought the goal of early childhood education was to get kids to read and write at a younger age and be kindergarten ready. Isn’t that supposed to reduce the achievement gap?

“We hope to inspire ECFE families to live greener lifestyles as a result of their participation in this Hennepin County Environmental Services grand-funded project,” said Nicki Murphy, ECFE Parent Educator, who was awarded the grant. In addition to the training of staff and parents, lessons will be woven into parent discussion on a weekly basis, a field trip for parents and children is planned, and ECFE will host a garage sale and Earth Day event in the spring.

Training the staff and parents? A parental discussion on a weekly basis? A garage sale? Remember everyday is Earth Day! That makes us all feel good!!

Anyone With a 3rd Grader?

Anybody with a 3rd grader out there better check out their new textbook from McGraw-Hill;

Wondering whether elementary school students are truly indoctrinated in the left wing agenda? Well, wonder no more. They are; and it’s worse — far worse — than you can possibly imagine.

Consider, if you will, McGraw-Hill’s Our Democratic Heritage, a textbook designed for third-graders and published in 2010. If you’d assume that it was intended to teach kids about America’s founding and its institutions of government, you’d assume wrong.

The book is a veritable cornucopia of left wing spin.

There is but one sentence devoted to the Bill of Rights. It reads, “These rights [of citizens] are listed in the part of the U.S. Constitution called the Bill of Rights”.

• Two pages cover the Declaration of Independence
• Two pages describe the Constitution, all of which are devoted to the three branches of government and separation of powers
• No pages are devoted to James Madison and the authors of the Constitution; there is no mention of federalism
• Six pages are spent describing the background of Paul Revere
• Ten pages are devoted to the history of democracy in ancient Greece.
• George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are mentioned only in passing, almost as if they are immaterial scenery on the road to diversity and social Utopia.

In the section entitled “America’s Freedom Fighters”:

• Eight pages are spent covering the life of Frederick Douglass
• Five pages on Susan B. Anthony
• Six pages on Mary McLeod Bethune,
• Zero pages are devoted to the life of Abraham Lincoln

In fact, the entire Civil War is described only as a backdrop to the lives of Frederick Douglas and Mary McLeod Bethune.

In the section entitled “The Fight for Freedom Continues”:

• Seven pages are spent on praise for FDR (including 2 pages on Pearl Harbor)
• Six pages on Eleanor Roosevelt
• Six pages are devoted to Thurgood Marshall
• Six pages are spent on LBJ’s life and the wondrous effects of “Great Society”
• Six pages are spent on Cesar Chavez and the lionization of the labor movement

There is no list of American Presidents. There is no mention of the two-party system, nor the fact that there exists a group called “The Republican Party”. And there is no mention of a Republican President other than Abraham Lincoln, who merits but a picture and a single sentence. In fact, you would not know from reading this book that there ever was a Republican President.

A total of four paragraphs are spent describing World War II. There is no mention of President Harry S. Truman or of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan to mercifully end World War II. There is, of course, no mention of Ronald Reagan. One of the goals we Constitutional conservatives must have is to regain control of our public school systems, which appear to be — if this book is any indication — completely out of control.

This is just disgusting, but all too typical.

Gay Agenda Being Forced on California Kids

This is scary;

Bill Mandating California Schools Teach Gay History Is a Lesson in Controversy

After suffering setbacks in the fight to legalize gay marriage, gay rights activists in California are moving closer to victory in the classroom, which, under pending legislation, would become “gender sensitive” zones, mandating history lessons about gays and transgender Americans.

The Fair Education Act passed out of the State Senate and is now headed to the State Assembly. Also known as SB 48, the bill was authored by state Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco).  “It will require that roles and contributions of LGBT Americans, not unlike African-Americans, Mexican Americans, women, and other traditionally overlooked groups, be included in school curriculum.”  If the measure passes, the state would draw up guidelines for the districts, and then educators would get to decide who deserves inclusion.  

Supporters suggest slain San Francisco politician Harvey Milk would be an appropriate choice. Leno contends Milk’s fight for civil rights is as worthy of class study as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s. He adds this kind of “inclusive curriculum” will help protect students who may look, or act, differently.  But critics don’t buy the anti-bullying argument, and say SB 48 hijacks history class to promote a gay agenda.

“In the past, history taught about what people did, what they accomplished,” says Brad Dacus, head of the Pacific Justice Institute. “It didn’t focus on their sexuality and what they did in the bedroom. Yet that is what this legislation will impose on every public school in the state of California dealing with heterosexuality, homosexual role models, transgender role models, all the way down to the kindergarten level.”  Dacus adds, “It’s California tax dollars from parents who are paying for this kind of indoctrination that’s being put into public schools. That demeans them, their family, and their relationships.”  Leno says it’s the same criticism voiced years ago when schools embraced ethnic and women’s studies.

“We should not be afraid to teach our children of the broad diversity of human experience,” he says. “It’s not going away, it’s always been with us. We have different kinds of people, who are, under law, to be treated equally. Why would we not want to teach our children this?”  He says inclusive education is as important as the 3R’s. “This all goes together.”

But critics worry parents who object to this curriculum will be labeled intolerant, and that kids will start thinking about sexuality and gender identity at a very young age.   Despite those concerns, Leno’s bill is widely expected to become law, which would make California the first state to require gay history be taught in public schools.

Gender sensitivity zones?  Teaching homosexuality and trans-gender role models in kindergarten?  This just proves again that the public schools aren’t about educating kids and getting there ready to enter the work force.  It’s about indoctrinating them into liberalism.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/30/gay-history-in-califronia-schools-lesson-in-controversy/#ixzz1QpOq0AWd

Obama Administration Comes Out of the Closet

Once again from cnsnews.com

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the first “Federal LGBT Youth Summit” on Monday after being introduced by a homosexual on her staff, who said the secretary “gets us” and is “tireless” in her support of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender youth.  “Your federal government has finally come out of the closet in support of LGBT youth,” said Pam Hyde, HHS administrator for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.  “It’s great to see so many young faces out there, all gay and proud,” Hyde said.  Sebelius congratulated the teens and 20-somethings for attending the summit and said the goal of the summit was to “really tackle the issues facing the LGBT youth in our country.”

The LGBT Youth Summit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and is being held at the Washington Court Hotel in Washington, D.C. on June 6 and 7.  “Since President Obama took office in January 2009 he has led a commitment, shared by all those in his administration, to make sure that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans have a chance to reach their full potential,” Sebelius said.

Sebelius said LGBT people have a “strong voice” and that the Obama administration hears it.  “I want to tell you, you have a friend in this administration, who will stand beside you each and every step along the way,” Sebelius said.  Sebelius also said LGBT youth are more likely to experience depression, thoughts of suicide, have other emotional problems or abuse drugs or alcohol.

“We know these behaviors are not the result of who these young people are,” Sebelius said. “They are the result of what’s happening to them.”  Sebelius went on to say a federal interagency taskforce is partnering the Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Defense, Interior and Justice to come up with strategies and programs to fight bullying.

Sebelius also said the health care law signed into law by the Obama administration will encourage health care providers to address the “unique needs” of LGBT patients and will make health care workers “culturally competent” to deal with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients.  She also said the HHS is working with the federal child welfare system to “place LGBT children in loving homes.”  She concluded her remarks by saying she wanted to speak directly to the young people in attendance, many of whom sat at tables with adults, including moderator Kevin Jennings, a gay activist and Obama official in the Department of Education who is leaving his post at the end of the week to take a job with a non-profit group.

“Keep up your amazing work and know you have strong partners here in D.C.,” Sebelius said.  The two-day summit includes a wide range of “break-out” sessions that were not open to the media, despite the summit being sponsored by the Department of Education. A program for the summit listed the sessions, which included other federal officials and staff from the HHS, the Department of Education, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Topics for the breakout sessions ranged from bullying to  “programs creating safe environments and reducing risk behaviors.”  A large number of gay advocate groups are also involved in the summit, including the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network – which was founded by Jennings  Other participants include the National Coalition for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Health, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, the National Education Association, Advocates for Youth, American Federation of Teachers and the Human Rights Campaign.  The summit packet distributed at the event included photos by Rachelle Lee Smith, a gay activist who also displayed her poster/photos at the invitation of Jennings, Smith told CNSNews.com.

The posters feature homosexual young people with messages about their sexual behavior.  In one of Smith’s photographs, a person named “Michael” says: “So what do you think? Ever been black before? Ever been gay? Ever been both? Try it!”  A photograph of “Max” says: “In high school I dated boys. I was a straight girl. After starting college, I indentified as a card-carrying dyke. Soon I realized that what I was feeling wasn’t about sexual orientation, it was about gender. I came out as a guy the summer of ’99. Now I live my life as a gay man – a punk rock queer boy who happens to also be in love with a girl. Who knows? Maybe next year I’ll grow a tail.”  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is scheduled to speak at the event, organized by his agency, on Tuesday.

The LGBT youth summit?  Once again, this is not about educating, its about social engineering.

Chicago School Bans Bagged Lunches!

In the realm of the unbelievable, check out this story from Chicago;

The days of brown bagging it are over for students in a Chicago school. In an effort to encourage healthy eating, their principal banned lunches brought from home.  Elsa Carmona, principal of Little Village Academy on Chicago’s West Side, forbade students from bringing food from home (except those students with a medical excuse) after she noticed kids eating “flaming hot” chips and drinking soda at lunchtime. “It’s milk versus Coke,” she said.

Flaming hot chips and a soft drink are cause for banning bagged lunch?  As John McEnroe would say “you cannot be serious.”  Is there any evidence that kids who bag their lunch are fatter than kids who eat lunch at school?  And this policy has supposedly been in place for six years as we understand it!  Where has the outrage been?  And, of course, as with everything else. Congress and our camera-hungry president have to stick their noses in it;

As part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, school lunches everywhere will soon undergo a dramatic makeover thanks to Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, signed by President Obama last December. The act allows the government more power to decide what foods can be offered in school lunches, school vending machines and at fundraisers during school hours.

While the goal of healthy eating is a positive one, parents are understandably upset about the Carmona dictating what their kids can and cannot eat for lunch. Not to mention the fact that some parents may be able to send their kids to lunch with a meal that costs less (and one that could be even healthier) than the school’s offerings.  The kids are upset, too. When the Tribune reporter visited the school, one seventh grader led students in a chant of “We should bring our own lunch! We should bring our own lunch!” Students say the school’s food tastes bad. Bad-tasting food, parents say, often means that kids throw away the school lunch and go hungry.

Of course there may be another reason to ban school lunch that has nothing to do with so-called nutrition;

It’s also worth noting, as reported by the Tribune, that the school district receives money from the federal government for each free or reduced-price lunch it serves, meaning that in banning homemade lunches could potentially put more money in the pockets of both the district and the school district’s food provider.

No that couldn’t be the reason could it?

So what to Americans think about this ridiculous government intrusion?  Well, Scott Rassmussen did a poll and here are the results;

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that an overwhelming 92% of American Adults believe students should be allowed to bring lunch from home. Only three percent disagree, with six percent (6%) undecided.  Support is slightly stronger among those with children in the home compared to those without children living with them.  Fifty-nine percent (59%) of all adults think lunch brought from home is healthier for students to eat than a school cafeteria lunch. Nineteen percent (19%) say a cafeteria lunch is healthier, but another 22% are not sure.  Among adults with children living with them, 71% say lunch from home is healthier. Only 48% of adults without children in their home agree. Adults under the age of 50 are more likely than their elders to believe bringing lunch from home is the healthier alternative for students.

Americans don’t seem to like this, nor do they much else the government is trying to do when it comes to telling us what to eat.

In December, just after President Obama signed into law a measure that gives the federal government the authority to regulate all foods in schools, only 23% of Adults said the government should set school nutritional standards.   Fifty-two percent (52%) of adults feel that sugary snacks and soft drinks should be banned from sale in schools.  But only 32% favor “sin taxes” on soda and junk foods. Fifty-nine percent (59%) are opposed to new taxes of this kind.  Just 11% support a ban on kids’ fast-food menu options unless they meet nutritional guidelines.  A move for such a ban in San Francisco was unsuccessful late last year but now is being proposed in New York City.

So Americans clearly saying NO to the big government food police!  Are our arrogant leaders listening?

Wisconsin School Teachers Use Children Against Walker

Well this is really no surprise;  Here are unidentified teachers and — and students chanting protest slogans against Governor Scott Walker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8BRa9ffT9o&feature=player_embedded

And of course there is no indoctrination in public education!  And before we hear the usual public school apologists trying to claim this is an isolated incident and we can’t paint everyone with a broad brush does anyone remember this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO3NBqT3LBc

Just more reasons to support vouchers and school choice.

New Jersey Unions Exposed!

OK everyone check out this youtube video of teachers unions in New Jersey!

Gee, you have to love them bragging about all the “free stuff” they get or that we pay for!  How about calling kids the N-word?   Isn’t that nice?  And remember all these people care about is the children!