Tag: education

Two Nashville Teachers Say Bureaucrats Pressured Them to FABRICATE Grades for Failing Students — One Suspended After She Refused to Cook the Books

Two former Metro Nashville Public Schools teachers say administrators directed them to change failing grades so the district’s performance would look better on paper.

Samira Hardcastle, an eight-year art teacher at John F. Kennedy Middle School who was named the school’s 2025–2026 Teacher of the Year and recognized as a district Blue Ribbon Teacher of the Year, resigned in May.

Hardcastle said a student failed to complete an art project and received a failing grade. After the student’s parent challenged the grade, three administrators met with the parent and concluded that Hardcastle had not supplied an adequate rubric. Hardcastle refused to change the grade herself. According to her account, administrators then changed it.

Hardcastle described the episode in her resignation letter as grade fabrication and told WSMV that she believes such changes make district performance appear better than it really is.

At Tuesday’s Metro Nashville Board of Education meeting, Hardcastle also alleged that teachers were being discouraged from formally reporting some student misconduct. She warned that the numbers were being skewed to protect the district instead of children, according to FOX 17’s report on her appearance.

Samira Hardcastle: I was Teacher of the Year at John F. Kennedy Middle School in Antioch this past year and Blue Ribbon Teacher of the Year for the district. What you have in front of you right now is my resignation letter. I resigned in May. You can read those three pages at your leisure, but I’ve heard a lot of positive data in this meeting, and I just wanted to give you some facts from my firsthand experience.

So, first, district leaders asked me to fabricate grades for a parent who sat in the office for hours until her daughter’s failing grades were changed.

It creates false entitlement. What happens when these kids lie, cheat, and cry their way through school and end up as future doctors, police, or politicians? When will you protect the future of our society?

Second, that same parent has harassed over 30 teachers. Teachers have filed police reports, and entire schools have had restraining orders against her, yet she’s still allowed on school property, showing up to field trips her child didn’t earn and filming other students.

When will you stop prioritizing parents’ feelings over the safety of our teachers and our students?

I heard you also mentioned that we’re closing gaps in teacher vacancies. I want the public to know that many of those are filled with uncertified teachers.

My third point: HR withheld money from my employee paycheck, as well as many others. They took $500 from me specifically, and it put me behind on my mortgage. And then they sent out an email saying that they had to do it to pay other employees. When will you pay teachers what they are owed?

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High School English Teacher Brought to Tears as He Reveals Some Seniors in His Class Cannot Write a SINGLE SENTENCE

A high school English teacher took to social media to share his concerns about the state of education in the U.S.  He was brought to tears as he revealed that in his class, he has seniors who cannot write a single sentence.

“I literally broke down in the middle of class because I’m teaching seniors,” he shared. “These kids are leaving high school and going to college, hopefully, after they finish.”

“We had two paragraphs to read, one sentence, complete, to write. I gave them the sentence stems. I basically completed the sentence for them in the model.”

“These are 17 and 18-year-old kids, and they couldn’t fill in four words. Four words.”

“I gave them the scenario. We annotated together. I gave them the answers before we even had the problem.”

“And they couldn’t do it.”

“I don’t know. I simply don’t know where the problem is.”

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Connecticut Board of Education Member Wearing Cat Ears Declares Black Teachers Should Be Paid More Because It’s an ‘Extra Burden’ to Work While Black

A West Hartford, Connecticut Board of Education member wearing cat ears is being brutally mocked on social media after a video surfaced of her arguing that black teachers deserve higher pay because it’s “an extra burden” to be black.

In footage shared by Libs of TikTok, LaToya Yagaloff, a Democrat vice chair of the board, can be heard making the case during a public meeting that black teachers deserve higher pay based on their race.

Yagaloff claims that financial incentives will attract greater diversity.

“Are there financial incentives for black and brown people to work here? It’s an extra burden, quite frankly, to be a black and brown teacher and administrator in the district, so I think we need to start thinking about that financially if we’re not already,” she stated.

“We got money,” she laughs.

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REPORT: More Than HALF of New York Students Grades 3-5 Failed Basic Reading Tests This Year

More than half of students in grades 3-5 in New York state failed basic reading tests this year. It’s an absolute disgrace.

In New York City, they spend upwards of $40,000 on each student per school year. What is the money going to> Lessons on critical race theory and gender studies topics? Social justice activism?

Reading is one of the most basic and necessary skills that schools are expected to teach children. People who cannot read are absolutely doomed in adult life.

Part of this can be blamed on draconian school shutdowns during Covid but not all of it.

The New York Post reports:

NY 3rd-5th graders fail basic reading tests with more than half not even proficient: data

More than half of 3rd- to 5th-grade students in the Empire State failed their reading proficiency state exams this year, according to shocking new data.

Preliminary results released this week by the state Education Department that 57% of 3rd graders, 52% of 4th graders and 57% of 5th graders failed to make the grade on their 2025-26 English Language Arts tests.

City kids in grades 3-8 saw a 6% drop in their ELA scores from last year, with just about half overall rating proficient.

Overall, just 48% of students in the testing grades, 4th-8th, rated proficient on the ELA — a “significant” 5% plunge from the previous year, the department said.

Fifth graders saw the largest drop of any grade level, with those students’ reading proficiency declining by an incredible 14 points, according to the results.

In New York City — where about 40% of the state’s public school students are enrolled — the decline was even more concerning.

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WOKE FAILURE: More Than 3,000 University of California Professors Demand Return of SAT After “Equity” Experiment Leaves Incoming Students Unable to Do Basic Math

The University of California’s grand experiment with “equity” in college admissions is running headfirst into an inconvenient reality: thousands of professors say incoming students are showing up without the basic academic skills needed to handle university coursework.

UC ditched standardized testing requirements in 2020, first going test-optional amid the COVID panic and then fully test-blind, all in the name of “equity.”

Regents claimed the tests discriminated against students of color and lower-income applicants, even though a faculty task force had found the opposite: the SAT and ACT were strong predictors of college success and actually helped identify talented disadvantaged students who might otherwise have been overlooked. The data was ignored. Ideology won.

Six years later, the results are in and they are catastrophic.

According to the LA Times, more than 3,000 UC faculty, including STEM professors and department chairs, have signed open letters demanding the return of the tests.

At UC San Diego, a faculty report documented a roughly 30-fold surge between 2020 and 2025 in incoming freshmen whose math skills tested below high school level.

Of those, about 70% fell below middle school levels, reaching roughly one in twelve students in the entering class. Professors report having to reteach basic arithmetic and algebra while trying to deliver college material.

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WH unveils $180M mining school initiative, led by over $80M War Dept. investment

In a push to reinforce national security and revitalize technical education, President Donald Trump and the Department of War announced over $80 million in targeted federal investments for top American mining and metallurgy institutions.

Unveiled during a Washington roundtable bringing together top mining executives and university leaders, the initiative is designed to rebuild the nation’s critical mineral supply chains, expand pilot-scale processing capabilities and train a new generation of geologists, metallurgists and mining engineers.

Distributed through the Department of War’s Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, the funds focus on establishing innovation hubs and industry-integrated academic programs.

Under the proposed funding allocations, the Colorado School of Mines is reportedly set to receive $32.7 million to launch a Critical Minerals Innovation and Commercialization Hub for material qualification and technology scaling.

Additionally, the South Dakota School of Mines will receive $25 million to helm the Critical Minerals Merit Scholars Consortium, an integrated workforce partnership alongside Missouri S&T University and the University of Kentucky.

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Senate Committee Votes to Block Part of Trump Admin’s Effort to Dismantle Department of Education

Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (A-AK) are working with Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) on a bill to block part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the Department of Education (ED). 

On Thursday, the Senate HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) Committee approved the bill, S. 5046, in a 13-9 vote to prohibit ED from moving special education and several other education offices to other federal agencies, Politico reported. 

The bill is in response to ED entering into at least a dozen interagency agreements (IAAs) to move certain functions to other departments as the Trump administration waits for Congress to follow through on the president’s campaign promise to eliminate the department. Officially ending the department would take an act of Congress, as it was Congress that created it 45 years ago under President Jimmy Carter.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon has called the IAAs “proof of concept” and said she hopes Congress will be more willing to end ED if lawmakers see the successful transition of major functions to other federal agencies. A spokesperson for ED called the new bill “entirely premature.”

A statement from ED spokeswoman Savannah Newhouse says:

Secretary McMahon promised Congress a proof of concept that is currently underway and delivering results across our partner agencies, and it is entirely premature to sabotage this effort before it has the chance to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and fully deliver the results that our students, families, and educators deserve.

Collins called the bill “straightforward” and said it keeps the administration of certain education programs “where Congress specifically put them and where they belong.”

Murkowski claimed the programs Congress told ED to oversee are there “for a good reason.”

“We cannot lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, we’re talking about children, whether it’s children with special needs, whether it’s children in our elementary schools, whether it’s our Native students — making sure that we don’t lose that focus,” Murkowski said.

The bill would specifically stop the agency from moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, as well as the offices of Elementary and Secondary Education, Postsecondary Education, and Indian Education to other federal agencies. The bill is in addition to Congress approving non-binding language in the most recent spending bill telling ED it has no authority to move functions to other departments. 

The bill does not halt every interagency agreement, although Democrats want to stop those too, according to the report.

The future of the bill is “unclear,” per the report. However, Kaine told the outlet he hopes it is considered in appropriations discussions. The bill is directly at odds with a House bill the Education and Workforce Committee voted on last month to permanently move certain ED functions to other agencies. 

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REPORT: Harvard Tops List of American Universities Taking Money From Foreign Countries – Including China

When it comes to accepting cash from foreign countries, including China, Harvard tops the list of American universities.

This is a major concern. Some might even call it a national security issue. China steals millions in intellectual property from the United States every year and higher education gives them direct access.

At the end of Trump’s first term, Senate Republicans began to focus heavily on this issue. Now they are looking at it again and Senator Tom Cotton is leading the charge.

FOX News reports:

Harvard tops nation in foreign cash haul as Cotton demands probe into China funding

One Ivy League institution has taken in more money from foreign countries, including China, than any other university in the country.

The U.S. Department of Education has, for years, compiled a list of federally funded universities that have taken in funding from abroad. The Trump administration sought to revamp the agency’s online reporting portal, and, in doing so, it has shown that one institution, Harvard University, has scored more foreign funding than any other college in the country.

Harvard is in the crosshairs of Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., for its ties to China and other foreign nations because of the reams of outside cash the university has taken in. And the Senate Republican, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, wants Education Secretary Linda McMahon to open an investigation into China’s cash flow into higher education.

“I remain concerned that millions in additional transactions with sanctioned Chinese entities may not have been reported,” Cotton wrote. “Therefore, I encourage additional scrutiny of financial ties between American universities and Communist China.”…

Cotton noted that since the portal was relaunched in January, reporting data has shown that federally funded universities accepted more than $6.8 billion from “Communist China — including more than $300 million from sanctioned entities.”

Cotton is right to go after them for this.

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Waste of the Day: Education Fraud Sweeps Nation

At Broward County Public Schools in Florida, information officer Anthony Hunter allegedly used district funds to buy $17 million worth of school supplies from a friend’s business, ignoring the competitive bidding process. In return, the friend hired Hunter and his son to work a security job and sold Hunter a house for $150,000 below market value, state prosecutors claim

Chicago Public Schools received $1 million of federal grants meant for Native American students, using an application that included more than 1,000 students of South Asian descent. The district was unable to verify how many students were actually in the program, and agreed to repay the money.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.

Fraud arguably hits small school districts the hardest because they have fewer budgetary resources to begin with. When Janis Bucknor, former head of Community Preparatory Academy in California, admitted to stealing $3 million from the school over five years, it amounted to one-third of all the school’s state and federal funding.

Bucknor spent $220,600 of the money on Disney vacations and also funded her internet shopping and private school tuition for her kids. She was sentenced to three years of home detention and ordered to repay the money.

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Outrageous: George Washington University Summer Program Primes Middle School Students For Leftist Activism

In what appears to be another case of left-wing indoctrination at a young age, Campus Reform is reporting, “George Washington University is offering a free summer program that grooms local middle school students for progressive activism…”

“The Civic Changemakers program, operated by the university’s Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, pairs middle school children with adult college students, includes field trips and workshops, and culminates in an activism project.”

It’s bad enough that college students are being indoctrinated in Woke ideology across the country, but this reveals the left is targeting students as young as middle school for leftist brainwashing.

Rather than teaching basic academics, this program focuses on left-wing activism and controversial issues.

This is hardly the first time this has been tried either.

“A 2020 university report described students participating in lessons centered on the Black Lives Matter movement and helping “children learn social justice.”

This is precisely what students don’t need: BLM indoctrination, more math, less BLM.

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