Wanderlust

Tag: Education

  • Justice Department awards $1M grant to Parkland first responders

    The Department of Justice said Monday it will award a $1 million grant to defray some of the overtime costs racked up by local law enforcement officials in response to the shooting deaths of 17 people

    The Department of Justice said Monday it will award a $1 million grant to defray some of the overtime costs racked up by local law enforcement officials in response to the shooting deaths of 17 people at a Parkland, Florida, high school in February

    Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the grant demonstrates the department’s commitment to helping first responders.

    “The school shooting in Parkland shocked and horrified the nation, but the community and law enforcement at all levels have shown resilience and determination,” Mr. Sessions said. “As I told our state and local partners back in February, the Department of Justice stands ready to help them in any way we can. Today we offer $1 million to support the police who have been working overtime in the aftermath of this tragedy. They can be sure about this: we have their backs.”

    The Bureau of Justice Assistance, a Justice Department arm that provides funds to improve safety across the country, will award the grant. It will be distributed to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which coordinates police and other agencies throughout the state.

    More than 18 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, the Justice Department said. Local, state and county agencies incurred several million dollars in costs, including securing crime scenes and operating command centers.

    Last month, the Department of Education awarded Broward County Public Schools, where Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School is located, a $1 million grant to help students recover from trauma resulting from the shooting.

  • Sex Ed Sit Out draws parents alarmed by pro-choice, pro-gay teachings

    Parents participate Monday in the Sex Ed Sit Out, an international demonstration to protest what rally organizers say is a campaign by pro-choice and gay rights organizations to force their ideologies

    “Mom, you won’t believe what my teacher’s talking about right now.”

    That is the text message Regina Young, a parent in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, said she received from her seventh-grade daughter one day.

    “Before I could even respond to her text,” Ms. Young said, “she told me how uncomfortable she was to hear her teacher tell stories about her transgender home.”

    Ms. Young was just one parent who participated Monday in the Sex Ed Sit Out, an international demonstration to protest what rally organizers say is a campaign by pro-choice and gay rights organizations to force their ideologies on children through public education.

    The movement began among parents in Charlotte, North Carolina, but spread to 16 cities in four countries in the months leading up to the event. According to the Sit Out’s website, rallies were also held in Calgary, Alberta; Mulgrave, Australia; Bloomington, Indiana; and London.

    For the Sit Out, parents were asked to pull their children out of school for the day, accompanied by a note to the principal explaining the absence as a protest against “pornographic” sex education.

    It’s the latest culture war to be fought on the grounds of America’s public schools, closely following national walkouts against guns and abortion.

    On Monday, parents picked out two organizations for particular scorn: Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign.

    The nation’s largest abortion provider and America’s leading LGBT rights advocacy group, respectively, have written sex education curricula that public and private schools across the nation have adopted.

    Welcoming Schools, the pamphlet written by the Human Rights Campaign, is marketed to elementary school educators as a guide to prevent “bias-based bullying.”

    Ms. Young said forcing radical sex education on children is a “form of bullying” itself.

    “This is not about bullying,” she said. “We already have a policy against bullying. Why can a school teach and promote a sexual agenda to our children and violate our parental rights, giving permission to more of what’s happening and what happened to my daughter? It is not acceptable.”

    At the demonstration in Charlotte, Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, said the rhetoric about bullying is a “Trojan horse” to give the gay rights movement “complete access to our kids in public schools.”

    She said Ms. Young’s story is representative of what hundreds of other parents have told her.

    “About a year ago this time, we began receiving phone calls from parents, teachers and counselors in CMS, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “They were saying, ‘Please help us. You cannot believe what they are teaching our children in public schools.’”

    Welcoming Schools includes a list of children’s books that promote gay and transgender rights. Two of the books on the list, “Red: A Crayon’s Story,” about a blue crayon that identifies as a red crayon, and “Jacob’s New Dress,” about a boy who wants to wear a dress to school, were read to kindergarten students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Ms. Fitzgerald said.

    Protesters held up signs that read: “Let kids be kids,” “My child my choice” and “How dare you take funding to destroy my child’s innocence!”

    Caryl Ayala, a former public school teacher, said about 15 people participated in the protest she organized in Austin, Texas.

    “We are uniting with parents across the globe to demand that our rights as parents be respected regarding the teaching of sexuality and sexual orientation,” Ms. Ayala said.

    Laura-Lynn Thompson attended a demonstration outside of the Parliament building in Victoria, British Columbia. She estimated the attendance at 100 to 150.

    “We have had enough, and we’re not going to take it anymore,” Ms. Thompson said. “Canada is a nation that has a Charter of Rights, which include freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. Our rights have been trampled by the sex-ed curriculum in our schools.”

    Heidi Pezdek, a member of Indiana’s Salt & Light chapter, helped organize the rally in Bloomington and estimated the number of participants at 40 to 50. She said walking into schools these days is like “walking into Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s all about sex.”

    Leading social conservatives also backed the demonstrations.

    The Rev. Franklin Graham said parents need to be aware of what public schools are teaching their children.

    “Your children are in danger of being exposed to ‘Pornography 101’ under the guise of sex education in many schools,” Mr. Graham wrote in Facebook. “Today some parents across the country are pulling their students out in protest of the sexualized school curriculum being promoted by the progressive agenda. Know what is being taught in your child’s school and be prepared to walk out. I encourage you to be involved, know what’s going on, and let your voice be heard.”

  • Colleges, universities see decline in public confidence

    Soaring tuition costs, degrees of dubious value and nonstop student activism have combined to bring public confidence in the ivory tower tumbling down.

    Soaring tuition costs, degrees of dubious value and nonstop student activism have combined to bring public confidence in the ivory tower tumbling down.

    Even college and university presidents acknowledge that the country is becoming disillusioned with higher education. In a recent survey conducted by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup, 51 percent of institution leaders said the 2016 election “exposed that academe is disconnected from much of American society.”

    The erosion of higher education’s brand comes as no surprise to Cornell Law School professor William A. Jacobson. He said the public’s negative perception of academia reflects the “reality of left-wing bias disconnected from American society.”

    “Particularly in the humanities and social sciences, many faculty view political activism and indoctrination as a core part of their academic mission,” said Mr. Jacobson, who runs the Legal Insurrection blog. “While they may have the academic freedom to do so, there is a price to pay for the higher educational system.”

    When asked to assess which factors are responsible for the negative view of higher education, 86 percent of college and university presidents cited the perception of liberal bias on campus.

    Seventy-seven percent said they are worried about the way conservatives view higher education, and 65 percent said the perception that colleges and universities are intolerant of conservative ideas is having a major impact on higher education.

    Despite their concern, less than one-third of college presidents agreed that conservative ideas are not tolerated on campus. Only 12 percent said Republican doubts about higher education are justified.

    Ninety-eight percent of college presidents said concerns about affordability and student debt are factors contributing to higher education’s image problem, and 95 percent pointed to concerns about whether college education adequately prepares students for careers.

    Yet university presidents said economic concerns also have more to do with perception than reality.

    Eighty-six percent said the attention paid to student debt has “led many prospective students and parents to think of college as less affordable than it is, taking into account student aid.”

    Just 16 percent of institution leaders said Americans have an “accurate view of the purpose of my sector of higher education,” and 14 percent said most Americans have an “accurate view of the purpose of higher education.”

    Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, vice president for social policy at Third Way, a left-leaning higher education think tank, knocked campus heads for chalking up dissatisfaction with their institutions to misperception.

    “The presidents 100 percent think it’s about perception,” Ms. Erickson Hatalsky told Inside Higher Ed. “There’s little acknowledgment that there might be a kernel of truth” to the public concerns.

    The survey suggests that college presidents may have tunnel vision when it comes to their institutions.

    Eighty percent of presidents said race relations are “good” or “excellent” on their campuses, and just 1 percent described them as “poor.” But when asked to evaluate race relations in higher education in general, just 20 percent described them as “good” or “excellent,” and 14 percent said they were “poor.”

    The Inside Higher Ed/Gallup survey polled 618 college and university presidents from Jan. 3 to Feb. 1.

    It builds on studies that have documented a rapid decline in Republican views toward higher education.

    A survey released last year by the Pew Research Center shows that just 36 percent of Republicans believe colleges and universities have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country, compared with 58 percent who say they have a negative effect.

    Those numbers are nearly reversed from 2010, when 58 percent of Republicans said higher education has a positive effect and 32 percent a negative effect.

    Seventy-two percent of Democrats, meanwhile, had a high regard for higher education, which is up slightly from 65 percent in 2010.

    Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, said discontent with higher education has more to do with economics than culture, citing focus groups with Trump voters in Florida and Pennsylvania.

    “They overwhelmingly think the value [of a degree] has declined, and they measure value by economic return,” Mr. Hartle told Inside Higher Ed. “They think you don’t need a college education to get a good job, but their own kids are going to go to college, and they think it’s too expensive.”

    Mr. Jacobson, the Cornell Law School professor, said the first step for university presidents is to recognize that there is a problem.

    “At least a substantial number of university presidents recognize the problem and how it has undermined public confidence in higher ed,” he said. “Whether and what they can do about it is the challenge.”

  • Some teachers expected to cut class with students at National School Walkout for gun control

    Ordinarily teachers frown on class-cutting, but any number of K-12 instructors are planning to join students who walk out of class Wednesday in a show of support for gun control.

    Ordinarily teachers frown on class-cutting, but any number of K-12 instructors are planning to join students who walk out of class Wednesday in a show of support for gun control.

    Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the union is working with “school administrators, local governments and others to support these efforts so that students and educators can participate safely” in the National School Walkout.

    “Students, educators and staff are taking action to demand long-overdue action to ensure schools — and our communities — are free from gun violence,” she said in a statement, citing union efforts in Massachusetts and New York.

    The involvement of teachers adds another wrinkle to the walkout, a response to the deadly school shooting last month in Parkland, Florida, organized by the left-wing Women’s March Youth EMPOWER.

    Who’s walking out tomorrow? #ENOUGHpic.twitter.com/bOKkSEH8tZ

    — Women’s March (@womensmarch) March 13, 2018

    More than 185,000 students at nearly 3,000 schools are expected to walk out “to demand that Congress take action to stop gun violence,” according to the Women’s March.

    Participants are planning to walk out of class at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the one-month anniversary of the Feb. 14 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and remain outside class for 17 minutes, one minute for each of those killed.

    Supporting the nationwide event are nearly 100 activist groups ranging from gun-control organizations such as the Brady Campaign to Democratic Party allies such as Planned Parenthood, Indivisible and Organizing for Action.

    The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a legal guidance for students about their First Amendment rights, including what to expect in terms of consequences such as unexcused absences, and urged schools not to discipline students who participate.

    “Unfortunately, some schools view this act as a disruption and are threatening to discipline students who participate,” said ACLU staff attorney Sarah Hinger. “A disciplinary response is a disservice to young people and a missed educational opportunity.”

    The reaction from school districts has ranged from walkout bans to enthusiastic resolutions of support as officials grapple with the logistics of allowing thousands of students — including in some cases elementary-age kids — exit class without putting themselves in danger or disrupting those who choose to stay put.

    In Harford County, Maryland, the ACLU fired off a letter to Superintendent Barbara Canavan after she sent a letter to parents saying that students “may be subject to disciplinary action for disrupting school operations,” CBS Baltimore reported.

    The ACLU of Maryland warned her that schools “may not punish students more severely for leaving class to engage in free speech activity then they would for any other unexcused absence.”

    In Horry County, South Carolina, school officials cited concerns about student safety in banning students from leaving the building.

    “I think there’s some leeway given to each school if they want to honor the students who were slain in Florida, but one thing we have not allowed is a walkout to the outside, which obviously puts children in harm’s way having them all congregating in an area that’s outside that’s totally unprotected,” Horry County Schools board chair Joe DeFeo told the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

    Instead, schools will “identify options that will take place inside the schools and student participation will be voluntary,” according to a statement.

    Other districts are taking the same tack, offering alternatives such as letter-writing to Parkland students and moments of silence.

    Elsewhere, student and faculty protesters are planning to congregate outside but on school property such as football and soccer fields.

    In Montgomery County, Maryland, superintendent Jack R. Smith urged students to stay on school grounds, saying he was “keenly aware that some students may decide to participate in a walkout that takes them off campus.”

    “MCPS does not have the staff or resources to ensure students are safe during the school day when they are not on a school campus,” Mr. Smith said.

    Carmen Farina, New York City Schools chancellor, issued a March 8 statement saying that staff members would “be present outside their school buildings during the walkout to help ensure safety and order,” and that students who produce a note from their parents will received an excused absence.

    “We commend all students and staff members, who help make our schools safe, respectful places where all students can learn free from the threat of deadly violence,” she said in the Queens Chronicle.

    In Lynn, Massachusetts, the teachers’ union affiliate “worked with the school committee to pass a resolution in support of the walkouts on March 14, and all school staff will be permitted to participate alongside students,” Ms. Weingarten said.

    Unfortunately for the would-be protesters, Mother Nature interfered. The Lynn Public Schools announced Tuesday that all schools would be closed Wednesday as a result of the blizzard.

  • Oregon Democrats abandon bill to oust teachers’ union critic from state education board

    Democrats in the Oregon legislature have shelved a hotly contested bill that would have removed an outspoken critic of the teachers’ union from the State Board of Education.

    Democrats in the Oregon legislature have shelved a hotly contested bill that would have removed an outspoken critic of the teachers’ union from the State Board of Education.

    Kim Sordyl, a lawyer and mother of two children attending Portland public schools, was chosen last year by Secretary of State Dennis Richardson to represent him on the board, but the bill would have forced her to vacate the seat by requiring him to name a full-time state employee.

    House Democrats approved the legislation last week on a party-line vote despite an uproar from her supporters, but the Senate Democratic leadership told news outlets that the bill won’t advance before the end of the session, which could come as early as this weekend.

    Proponents argued that the legislation was needed to clarify the original intent of the 2009 bill adding two non-voting members to the board, while Mr. Richardson said the effort was “clearly designed to silence an advocate for our children’s education.”

     

    This is a victory for our children, their education, and for transparency. It should be clear that bills designed specifically to silence an advocate for our children’s education is the wrong direction for our state. https://t.co/Wox5b1VjhD#orpol

    — Dennis Richardson (@OregonSOS) March 2, 2018

     

    Ms. Sordyl, a Democrat who has filed numerous complaints against school districts on behalf of parents, was appointed to the board by the Republican Richardson after he was elected in 2016.

    The legislation was proposed by Democratic state Rep. Margaret Doherty, a 22-year consultant for the Oregon Education Association, which Ms. Sordyl has fought for years over rules designed to protect teachers that also make it more difficult to remove abusers.

    Ms. Sordyl said Friday she hoped an ethics investigation would be conducted into what she described as Ms. Doherty’s “unethical and dishonest abuse of her position.”

    “We should all be vigilant over the Representatives who voted in favor of silencing a voice for students,” she said in an email. “They appear to be loyal to union donors at the expense of student health, safety and education.”

    Ms. Doherty, who no longer works for the OEA, had no immediate public comment, but she indicated last month at a committee hearing that she didn’t know Ms. Sordyl.

    Republican political consultant Jonathan Lockwood called the bill’s shelving a defeat for the Democratic establishment.

    “The system is broken and it was only after Oregon Democrats were found out for targeting an outspoken advocate that this legislation died,” said Mr. Lockwood in a statement. “This was a battle victory, but the war against Gov. Kate Brown’s status quo is not over.”

    The State Board of Education has seven voting members appointed by the governor and approved by the state Senate, as well as two non-voting members, one named by the Secretary of State and the other by the State Treasurer.

  • West Virginia college creates competitive bagpipe band

    Recruiting efforts are currently underway to form the West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College Grade V. Students versed in playing the bagpipes can earn up to a $5,000 scholarship per year

    ELKINS, W.Va. (AP) — Recruiting efforts are currently underway to form the West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College Grade V. Students versed in playing the bagpipes can earn up to a $5,000 scholarship per year based on audition performance.

    Members of Grade V will share the same MacLeod of Lewis Scottish plaid and perform in parades and other special events along with the West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College. In addition, they will compete at regional Highland festivals and games, and learn more about piping and Scottish traditions.

    The current 20-member Highlanders pipe and drum band has a long history with Davis & Elkins College and the Randolph County community.

    Formed in October 1947 as the official band of the H.W. Daniels Post 29 American Legion, the Highlanders group has continued many of its long-held traditions of music and dress with roots in Scottish heritage.

    In 1990, the Highlanders began carrying a banner with their new affiliation and name – the West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College. The band now represents the community and the college at various public events, and performs at multiple college functions, including commencement, Founders’ Day and other special events.

    The band has performed in all 50 states and marched in the National Independence Day Parade on historic Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.

    Patrick McKay, an admission counselor at D&E and drummer in the Highlanders since 1997, came up with the idea for forming a competition band after competing himself throughout the years.

    “I’ve noticed the competitors are getting younger,” McKay said. “Every time I would see these young people out there pursuing their passion I would always think D&E would be the perfect environment for them to learn and practice and go on to compete.”

    The younger set of pipers and the more seasoned members of the Highlanders will complement one another by sharing techniques and experiences. The comradery and years of combined experience of the group were part of what attracted Bryan LaFollette to attend Davis & Elkins College. A bagpipe student since the age of 10 and now a college junior, LaFollette was recently named the Highlanders’ pipe master.

    “It’s good to pursue your love for piping because it can take you a long way in life,” LaFollette said. “At the core of everything, though, is your education, and D&E really stands out. We have great resources with professors who truly care and The Naylor Learning Center to keep you on track while you pursue your passion.”

    LaFollette and McKay agree that the new group of pipers will help the tradition of the West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College live on in the community and throughout the nation.

    ___

    Information from: The Inter-Mountain, http://www.theintermountain.com