Assault on education

[China]

America’s long embrace of stupidity

 

In February, 2013, in one of his first public utterances as U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry told a group of Europeans that in America, people have the right to be stupid.

As his listeners choked on their canapés, he went on to explain. Sort of:

 

“Now I think that’s a virtue, I think that’s something worth fighting for. The important thing is to have tolerance, to say, you know, you can have a different point of view.”

 

There must have been some in his audience who nodded sagely. Europeans have long thought that their American cousins were not the brightest bulbs on the planet.

 

And every four years, as presidential election campaigns got under way, they wondered if Americans would make wrong, indeed stupid, choices.

 

As always, a silent, bedevilling question hanging over this year’s politicking like a damp rag is this: Is the country’s dysfunctional state of affairs the result of widespread ignorance?

 

Are the Democratic nominee Joe Biden and the presumed Republican flag carrier Donald Trump smart enough to be effective presidents?

 

Or does being smart not matter any more?

 

With the erosion of political civility and the rise of distrust of facts, Americans vote with their emotions, not their intelligence.

 

A recent analysis of IQ test scores indicates that the Intelligence Quotient test scores of Americans has dropped over a 13-year period.

 

For researchers, this is a troubling reversal of the so-called Flynn Effect, which suggests that IQ scores rose consistently during the 20th century and would continue to do so. However, this does not mean that Americans are stupid.

 

In a 2006 study of IQ and global inequality in 190 countries, the American levels pretty much averaged those in other industrialized countries.

 

The dumb American is a stereotypical comic pillar in American culture, from the Marx Brothers to George Carlin. Comedian Bill Maher excoriates the country’s education system for failing to teach young people properly: ”They don’t know anything.”

 

Talk show host Jay Leno used to send interviewers into the streets to test average intelligence. Question to a young person: “Who was the first man to walk on the sun?” Response: “Lance Armstrong?”

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

Florida school bans poem read at Biden inauguration after objection of just one parent

 

The poem that was read by poet Amanda Gorman at President Joe Biden's inauguration has been banned from elementary schools in Miami-Dade County, Florida after the objections of just one parent.

 

The Miami Herald reports that the poem, which is titled "The Hills We Climb," was removed from the K-5 curriculum in the county after local parent Daily Salinas challenged it as inappropriate for students.

 

In addition Gorman's poem, Salinas also challenged four other books: The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Countries in the News Cuba, and Love to Langston for what she claimed were filled with "indirect hate messages" inspired by critical race theory.

 

Salinas tells the Miami Herald that she's not in favor of censorship but she instead wants students to "know the truth" about Cuba with accurate reading materials.

 

That said, she also complained that the district had left the books she objected to available for middle school students, as she claimed they were inappropriate for all ages.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Fan since a Fetus]

What the hell is wrong with people? Banning Amanda Gorman’s poem, The Hill We Climb, form kids? Give me a damn break….jeez…more at the link: Miami Herald - Book Ban

 

 

A K-8 school in Miami-Dade County last month issued restrictions for elementary-aged students on three books and one poem after a parent objected to five titles, claiming they included topics that were inappropriate for students and should be removed “from the total environment.”

 

The move — which allows for middle school students at the school to access the titles — is the latest example of districts and schools across the state restricting or removing books from libraries in recent months. 

 

For Stephana Ferrell, the director of research and insight at Florida Freedom to Read Project, it underscores a growing trend to redefine what is considered age appropriate, “especially regarding books that address ethnicities, marginalized communities, racism or our history of racism.” 

 

“Books written for students grades K-5 are being pushed to middle school [libraries and] out of reach for the students they were intended for,” she said. The books aren’t being banned from the district, she argued, “but they’re banned for the students they were intended for.”

 

The challenges were “school-level only” and “impact one school,” district staff said in an email Monday. 

In March, Daily Salinas, a parent of two students at at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, challenged The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Countries in the News Cuba, the poem The Hills We Climb, which was recited by poet Amanda Gorman at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, and Love to Langston for what she said included references of critical race theory, “indirect hate messages,” gender ideology and indoctrination, according to records obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project and shared with the Miami Herald. 

 

In an interview with the Herald on Monday, Salinas said she “is not for eliminating or censoring any books.” Instead, she wants materials to be appropriate and for students “to know the truth” about Cuba, she said in Spanish. 

 

A school materials review committee — composed of three teachers, a library media specialist, a guidance counselor and the school’s principal, among others — however, determined one book, Countries in the News Cuba, was “balanced and age appropriate in its wording and presentation” and would remain available for all students. 

The four other titles were deemed “better suited” or “more appropriate” for middle school students, despite acknowledging that at least one book, The ABCs of Black History, was written for ages 5 and up. The books would be kept in the middle school section of the media center, the review concluded. 
 

The committee did not include examples of what the reviewers considered inappropriate for elementary students but “more appropriate” for middle schoolers. When asked to provide examples, district officials said staff was not involved in the committee review and therefore “cannot speak to the intent, reasoning or provide examples.” 
 

Salinas, for her part, also questioned the reasoning behind why some books remain available for middle schoolers. She argued the books should have been removed for all students. School libraries are meant “to support the curriculum of the school and I don’t see how these books support the curriculum,” she said.

[The Evil Genius]

Oh great. More christofascism grooming in Texas.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by The Evil Genius

[The Evil Genius]

 

[GhostofSparta]

Yeah well, some Democrats have the gall to tell some parents that they're not better in every way than teachers, so these poor maligned parents have no choice but to keep voting for extremist Republicans who will destroy education but will also tell these parents that they're smart and special and deserve the right to dictate the education of every child with a single-parent veto power.

 

What can ya do?

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Long n Left]

45 minutes ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

EXACTLY how a democracy is supposed to run!

[The Evil Genius]

GOP continuing their race to the bottom.

 

 

[Destino]

Anyone involved in high school debates know if this is real?  
 

 

from the article

Quote

First, some background. Imagine a high school sophomore on the debate team. She’s been given her topic about a month in advance, but she won’t know who her judge is until hours before her debate round. During that time squeeze—perhaps she’ll pace the halls as I did at the 2012 national tournament in Indianapolis—she’ll scroll on her phone to look up her judge’s name on Tabroom, a public database maintained by the NSDA. That’s where judges post “paradigms,” which explain what they look for during a debate. If a judge prefers competitors not “spread”—speak a mile a minute—debaters will moderate their pace. If a judge emphasizes “impacts”—the reasons why an argument matters—debaters adjust accordingly. 
 

But let’s say when the high school sophomore clicks Tabroom she sees that her judge is Lila Lavender, the 2019 national debate champion, whose paradigm reads, “Before anything else, including being a debate judge, I am a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist. . . . I cannot check the revolutionary proletarian science at the door when I’m judging. . . . I will no longer evaluate and thus never vote for rightest capitalist-imperialist positions/arguments. . . . Examples of arguments of this nature are as follows: fascism good, capitalism good, imperialist war good, neoliberalism good, defenses of US or otherwise bourgeois nationalism, Zionism or normalizing Israel, colonialism good, US white fascist policing good, etc.” 

 

[Destino]

4 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

GOP continuing their race to the bottom.

 

 

I want to assume something like this qualifies as evidence that they’re intentionally sabotaging public schools.  No one reasonably interested in improving anything would appoint a lunatic right?  I suffer from overt bias here though because I suspect sabotage is behind all of their recent efforts.  This isn’t limited to public schools either.  The GOP essentially campaigns on destroying public institutions.  IRS, EPA, FDA, CDC, and FBI have all recently become targets.  Public schools is an old one.  So choosing a twitchy conspiracy nut seems in line with the thinking of destroying things.  
 

But what if that, which is horrible, is simply giving them too much credit?  They genuinely seem to be open to conspiracy theorists these days and view these whackos as truth tellers and brave, so maybe they sincerely believe this lunatic is a capable choice.  What if this is a genuine and sincere attempt to improve things?  What if they think this lunatic is actually a good choice?
 

That seems so much worse.

[The Evil Genius]

1 hour ago, Destino said:

I want to assume something like this qualifies as evidence that they’re intentionally sabotaging public schools.  No one reasonably interested in improving anything would appoint a lunatic right?  I suffer from overt bias here though because I suspect sabotage is behind all of their recent efforts.  This isn’t limited to public schools either.  The GOP essentially campaigns on destroying public institutions.  IRS, EPA, FDA, CDC, and FBI have all recently become targets.  Public schools is an old one.  So choosing a twitchy conspiracy nut seems in line with the thinking of destroying things.  
 

But what if that, which is horrible, is simply giving them too much credit?  They genuinely seem to be open to conspiracy theorists these days and view these whackos as truth tellers and brave, so maybe they sincerely believe this lunatic is a capable choice.  What if this is a genuine and sincere attempt to improve things?  What if they think this lunatic is actually a good choice?
 

That seems so much worse.

 

Maybe both. I mean look no further than who dear leader Trump chose to lead his Cabinet departments. The worst possible choices are being made by the GOP powers in charge. 

[The Evil Genius]

 

[Destino]

I think the best way to deal with this book issue is to force everyone that complains about a book, to give a report on that book at a board meeting.  They need to demonstrate a full understanding of the subject material, clearly spell out what their objection is, and be prepared to answer questions.  Make the adults fuming over kids books, do the work first.  Have them present their case publicly and then put it to a vote.  That seems fair to me.
 

I'm 100% ok with parents challenging books that they genuinely believe to be inappropriate.  I’m also ok with parents demanding books be included that are conspicuously missing as well.  Communities and schools should work together, even if that means community standards differ between place to place. 
 

What I’m not ok with is people that have not read the books, haven’t even seen what the controversy is about, arguing from positions of willful ignorance.  That’s what we have here, especially in the case of these trolls that are mass producing complaints.  

[GhostofSparta]

3 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

 

My God, of this quote isn't just the perfect summation of the current "parents' rights" MAGA morons.

Quote

She said she had only read parts of the books.  “They have to read for me because I’m not an expert,” she said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.”

 

44 minutes ago, Destino said:

I think the best way to deal with this book issue is to force everyone that complains about a book, to give a report on that book at a board meeting.  They need to demonstrate a full understanding of the subject material, clearly spell out what their objection is, and be prepared to answer questions.  Make the adults fuming over kids books, do the work first.  Have them present their case publicly and then put it to a vote.  That seems fair to me.

Ok but, serious question, who gets to judge if they made a good case or understand before having a vote? Because having actual teachers/authors/critics/experts judge some MAGA mom's book report is just more "deep state repression and brainwashing" and you'll never convince them otherwise. But having other idiot parents judge whether "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" is about turning our kids into communists (red fish!) and Democrats (blue fish!) so we need to ban all Dr. Suess from elementary schools before they're harvested for adrenachrone also seems like a bad solution.

 

And as for the voting idea, how would you plan on conducting that?

-Are you only taking votes from parents who are well-off enough to be able to attend school board meetings in person instead of having to work?

-Would you send something home with each kid from their school, since kids are well known for never forgetting/losing paperwork? 

-Would it be an every year/2 years part of a regular local election so that even people like me who have no kids can decide what's best for everybody else's kids? And if not, why not, since I pay school taxes too?

 

Don't get me wrong, I agree with what I think is your basic stance: parents should have some sort of say in their kids' education, but an individual parent veto is an extremely stupid idea. I just don't know where that compromise line is that won't lead to Matt Walsh storming a schoolboard meeting in a different state from where he lives with a big enough mob to get whatever he wants without people like him crying about any rules to prevent that as proof of a pedophile groomer deepstate conspiracy. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by GhostofSparta

[Destino]

42 minutes ago, GhostofSparta said:

 

My God, of this quote isn't just the perfect summation of the current "parents' rights" MAGA morons.

I’ve found that most people arguing have books on all sides are largely entirely ignorant.  They become hostile if you demand to even see precisely what the controversial bits are.  Apparently the game is to argue about the idea of offensive books.  These are likely the same people that respond to tweet longer than two sentences with “tldr”.  Morons, in other words.

 

42 minutes ago, GhostofSparta said:

 

Ok but, serious question, who gets to judge if they made a good case or understand before having a vote? Because having actual teachers/authors/critics/experts judge some MAGA mom's book report is just more "deep state repression and brainwashing" and you'll never convince them otherwise. But having other idiot parents judge whether "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" is about turning our kids into communists (red fish!) and Democrats (blue fish!) so we need to ban all Dr. Suess from elementary schools before they're harvested for adrenachrone also seems like a bad solution.

 

And as for the voting idea, how would you plan on conducting that?

-Are you only taking votes from parents who are well-off enough to be able to attend school board meetings in person instead of having to work?

-Would you send something home with each kid from their school, since kids are well known for never forgetting/losing paperwork? 

-Would it be an every year/2 years part of a regular local election so that even people like me who have no kids can decide what's best for everybody else's kids? And if not, why not, since I pay school taxes too?

 

Don't get me wrong, I agree with what I think is your basic stance: parents should have some sort of say in their kids' education, but an individual parent veto is an extremely stupid idea. I just don't know where that compromise line is that won't lead to Matt Walsh storming a schoolboard meeting in a different state from where he lives with a big enough mob to get whatever he wants without people like him crying about any rules to prevent that as proof of a pedophile groomer deepstate conspiracy. 

Present at a school board meeting.  Open the floor to questions from both parents in attendance and board members.  Have the school board vote.  Require a super majority to make any changes.  maybe even require a certain number of parents to agree.  It’s not perfect but at some point you have to have a way for this that allows communities and schools to work together.  
 

the goal is to create a democratic mechanism for this issue, that’s fair, but makes it unlikely one troll rubber stamps complaints based on some twitter trolls rankings.  Do the work, present your case, and get a fair hearing over your concerns.  An imperfect democratic solution.

 

I wouldn’t send anything home, parents should be aware of what their school board is doing.  Make announcements on their public website and view social media.  If parents can figure out what time a playoff game is in without their kid bringing home a flyer they can keep an eye on their kids school board too. It’s not difficult.

 

every school board would set their own schedules as I’m sure there a great deal of difference between counties.  

[The Evil Genius]

5 hours ago, Destino said:

I think the best way to deal with this book issue is to force everyone that complains about a book, to give a report on that book at a board meeting.  They need to demonstrate a full understanding of the subject material, clearly spell out what their objection is, and be prepared to answer questions.  Make the adults fuming over kids books, do the work first.  Have them present their case publicly and then put it to a vote.  That seems fair to me.
 

I'm 100% ok with parents challenging books that they genuinely believe to be inappropriate.  I’m also ok with parents demanding books be included that are conspicuously missing as well.  Communities and schools should work together, even if that means community standards differ between place to place. 
 

What I’m not ok with is people that have not read the books, haven’t even seen what the controversy is about, arguing from positions of willful ignorance.  That’s what we have here, especially in the case of these trolls that are mass producing complaints.  

 

Have your kid opt out. 

 

The end. 

[Destino]

1 hour ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

Have your kid opt out. 

 

The end. 

 

then they, and you, would fight over what books require kids to opt in or out.  There’s no getting around this endless bull****.  
 

I’m sticking with my idea, create a cumbersome process that requires people read books and speak in public. 90% reduction right there.  Let democracy handle the rest.

[EmirOfShmo]

I was wondering when something like this was going to happen. I'm going to guess we'll see satanists, atheists, etc. do the same thing...

 

 

[China]

ILLINOIS TO BECOME FIRST STATE TO BAN BOOK BANS

 

The Illinois Senate has passed HB 2789, a bill whose terms dictate that state funding from public or school libraries that remove books from circulation will be withheld.

 

As per the bill, the $62 million of funding that goes to the state’s libraries will only be eligible for said funding if they “adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights” or “develop a written statement prohibiting the practice of banning books or other materials within the library or library system.“

 

Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois’s newly selected Secretary of State, first drafted the bill in response to the 67 book bans that were attempted in Illinois, as well as ban attempts in other states.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Christ, these people are stupid.

 

Fox & Friends host dimly wonders why school has sauna after hearing about academic STEAM room

 

What do you do when you don't want your weekend news crew outshining your A-team, but your A-team includes Brian Kilmeade, whose synapses appear to be mostly coal-fired and who—and this can’t be repeated nearly enough—once attempted to toast marshmallows live on air with a plastic spoon? Well, it’s Rachel Campos-Duffy to the rescue. 

 

Campos-Duffy, who made her name by living with a bunch of other people her age and having film crews follow them around as they waxed rhapsodic about the piece of pizza they ate over the sink last night while drunk, eventually parlayed her fame into a spot on one of Fox’s top un-reality shows. She also married the pride of Hayward, Wisconsin, which used to be that giant musky statue before her hubby and four-term GOP congressman Sean Duffy came along. Oh, and he was also an MTV reality show star who now works for Fox.

In other words, both these golden goobers have impeccable credentials. For a job at Fox News, that is.

 

On Sunday, Campos-Duffy sat down with her Fox & Friends Weekend co-hosts Joey Jones and Will Cain—and, boy, the sparks flew. Mostly from her head.

 

Quote

JONES: “Parents at a New York City public school say it’s overcrowded with migrants and can no longer provide proper programs, as a third grader writes a letter to her superintendent, and we have a quote here. ‘Dear Superintendent Samuels, I’m a third grader at Public School 145 and I love my school. I have been there since pre-K. This year, we lost our library, music room, and STEAM room, and I’m happy that we have a lot of new kids, but it’s not okay that we don’t have enough space.

 

CAMPOS-DUFFY: “Yeah, I’m still trying to get over the fact that they have a steam room. Did I read that right? [Laughs]. Wow, schools change. [laughs] Maybe we did give them too much COVID money. [Laughs].”

 

Ah, but we’re burying the lede here. A STEAM room (note the capitalization) isn’t a ****ing sauna, you gormless twit. It refers to science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) programs. Donald Trump’s repeated use of unnecessary capital letters has apparently fried these people’s brains. 

 

Click on the link for more

[China]

Librarians sue Arkansas state over law banning them from giving ‘obscene’ books to children

 

The American Library Association and the Authors Guild are among a group of organisations bringing a lawsuit against the state of Arkansas over a law which makes it a crime for librarians to give children books with “obscene” content.

 

The lawsuit involves 17 plaintiffs, including the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS), the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association.

 

The groups are aiming to challenge Senate bill 81, which exposes librarians who provide “obscene materials” to children to criminal liability. The law, part of Act 372 of 2023, is due go to come into force on 1 August.

 

It says that anyone will be allowed to “challenge the appropriateness” of a book, but it does not define exactly what is meant by “obscene” or “appropriateness”. Under the law, a group of people chosen by head librarians would review material that had been challenged, and vote in a public meeting about whether it should be kept on public display or moved to an area of the library inaccessible to those under 18.

 

CALS executive director Nate Coulter said this part of the law would be “totally impractical to enforce”, reported the Arkansas Advocate.

 

The board of CALS voted this month to file the lawsuit challenging parts of Act 372 of 2023. John Adams, a lawyer from Fuqua Campbell, the law firm representing CALS, said that librarians needed clarity on the law to ensure they could do their jobs without risking arrest.

 

American Library Association president Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada told Publishers Weekly that the lawsuit was “to vindicate Arkansas residents’ freedom to read”.

 

“The government has no place in deciding what books people can borrow or buy,” she added.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[The Evil Genius]

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Safe to assume that this will drive more FL children to religious-based educational facilities…where there will be none of that awful “grooming” we hear so much about.

Edited June 4, 2023 by TradeTheBeal!

[China]

Can a teacher lose their license for quitting a job?

 

As another school year gradually comes to an end, the nationwide teacher shortage has forced some states to ramp up efforts to find ways to retain teachers for the next school year.

More teachers are breaking their contracts and quitting, and officials with state education boards don’t want to be left in a bind to hire teachers next school year, so some districts are fining, suspending and revoking teaching certificates of those who quit on what they’ve said is short notice.

 

In Texas, the number of requests to consider suspending or revoking teaching certificates for job abandonment is the highest the state has seen in the past few years. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the Texas State Board for Educator Certification suspended more than 300 teaching certificates statewide for job abandonment.

 

Meanwhile, in Missouri, the number of teachers breaking contracts has increased, and teachers who quit are facing severe consequences. School districts are imposing financial penalties as high as $10,000 or seeking to suspend the teaching licenses of teachers who break their contracts, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

 

The number of teachers who have faced contract-related suspensions increased during the pandemic, reaching a record high of 11 in the past year, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

 

On Tuesday, three teachers will go before the State Board of Education to consider discipline affecting their license. In each case, the teachers were reported to the state board of education after breaking their contract early.

 

In one case, the teacher reported she was threatened by students, and that contributed to why she quit.

 

In two cases, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will recommend a one-year suspension, but no action for a teacher who quit her job located in a St. Louis school district, the Springfield News-Leader reported.

 

The Ohio Department of Education also warns that teachers can have their license suspended for up to a year for breaking a contract. Other states have similar laws, including Minnesota.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Seems to me if you take away their licenses then you are reducing the size of the pool of available teachers and thereby exacerbating the teacher shortage.