Tag: education

Ohio Health Agency Grants $400,000 To Fund Psychedelics Education And Training For First Responders, Doctors And More

An Ohio health agency is providing a state university with a $400,000 grant to educate first responders, law enforcement, emergency departments and behavioral specialists about how to deal with potential adverse psychedelic experiences as more people use the substances for medical or recreational purposes.

Amid the expanding psychedelics reform movement, there’s been increased attention to the possible health benefits of substances like psilocybin and ibogaine. But only a handful of states allow for the regulated use of certain psychedelics, typically in medically supervised settings.

Ohio is not among those states yet, but Ohio State University (OSU) is now launching its Psychedelic Emergency, Acute, and Continuing Care Education (PEACE) initiative, with nearly half a million dollars of funding from the state Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) SOAR Innovation grant program.

“People have started to learn about the benefits of psychedelics while, at the same time, the federal government categorizes these as controlled substances,” Stacey Armstrong, associate director of the OSU’s Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE), said in a press release last week.

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Alaska Schools’ Social Studies Standards Omit Washington, Lincoln, And Christianity 

Alaska’s new social studies standards don’t mention the Nome Gold Rush. They don’t mention the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. They don’t mention William Egan, the state of Alaska’s first governor, and they don’t mention Sarah Palin, who ran for Vice President of the United States. There’s a lot more that’s missing in the Alaska social studies standards, but you can tell right away that something is wrong when Alaska’s social studies standards leave Alaska’s children ignorant of the headlines of Alaska’s history and the most famous Alaskans.

Education departments in every state are on radical autopilot when they make social studies standards. Americans expect blue states to use their state social studies standards to impose identity politics ideology and action civics (vocational training in progressive activism) on schools and students, strip out factual content, and ignore or slander the history of Western civilization and America, and call it “social studies instruction” — that’s what you get in states such as Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Minnesota. But radical activists embedded in state education departments do the same thing in red states whenever policymakers and citizens aren’t looking. That’s what just happened in Alaska.

The Alaska Social Studies Standards (2024), produced by Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development, avoided the worst of the blue-state social studies standards’ extreme politicization, unprofessional vocabulary, and ideologically extreme content. That’s because there’s hardly any historical content. The standards’ absences include basic facts of American history, much of how our government works, and our foundational documents of liberty. The standards also introduced substantial new amounts of politicized material.

How did Alaska’s Department get its curriculum so badly wrong?

The department outsourced much of the standards to the radical activists who have captured the national social studies establishment. Alaska’s standards take their structure and emphases from the National Council for the Social Studies’ (NCSS) ideologically extreme definition of social studies, as well as from its College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. The C3 Framework replaces content knowledge with insubstantial and opaque “inquiry”; lards social studies with identity politics ideologies such as Critical Race Theory; and inserts ideologically extreme activism pedagogies such as Action Civics.

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Federal Judge Blocks Push to Remove Gender Ideology From Sex Ed Curricula

A federal judge in Oregon said during a hearing on Monday that she plans to issue an injunction stopping the Trump administration from requiring several Democratic-led states to remove references to gender ideology from their sexual health education curricula as a condition of receiving federal grant funding.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, based in Eugene, made the comments in reference to a lawsuit filed by 16 states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia. The states of Oregon, Washington, and Minnesota are leading the group.

The lawsuit centers on an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20—the first day of his second term.

The order called for federal agencies to recognize two sexes, male and female, and to ensure that grant funds do not support “gender ideology.”

The Department of Health and Human Services published notices in August that recipients of grants from the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education programs must not include content teaching that gender identity is separate from biological sex.

The department also sent 46 states and territories letters in which it mandated the removal of any such references from federally funded materials within 60 days. Non-compliance led to actions including the termination of California’s PREP grant after the state did not change its educational content.

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The Propaganda of American Schooling: A History of Lies and Indoctrinated Youth

“History is a set of lies agreed upon.” These were the words of the infamous French dictator and military strategist Napoleon Bonaparte.

It is a well-known concept that history is often written by the victor—that when two cultures or ideologies clash, the one that prevails and gains more power and influence is the one whose side of the story the record favors. Yet, despite this being a fairly common idiom, it is often overlooked just how profoundly it shapes our understanding of the present—or, more aptly, our misunderstandings. 

Many still fail to grasp that the history they cling to so fervently—often as a cornerstone of political or national identity—is a carefully curated fable, designed to secure their allegiance through misbelief. Likewise, few recognize how the formalized education system of the early 20th century was deliberately shaped by the robber barons of the predator class, particularly Rockefeller and Carnegie, not as institutions of higher learning, but as tools for controlling the public and molding the minds of the masses to serve their interests.

Reverend Frederick T. Gates, the business advisor to John D. Rockefeller Sr. who helped him found the General Education Board in 1902, elaborated their vision in his book The Country School Of Tomorrow —

“In our dream we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive rural folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or of science. We are not to raise up among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply.

For the task we set before ourselves is very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are.”

In the context of modern American society, much of the mythology that makes up the concept of “American exceptionalism” is in fact a fabrication in line with this agenda, creating the docile public of Rockefeller’s vision.

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Big Tech is paying millions to train teachers on AI, in a push to bring chatbots into classrooms

On a scorching hot Saturday in San Antonio, dozens of teachers traded a day off for a glimpse of the future. The topic of the day’s workshop: enhancing instruction with artificial intelligence.

After marveling as AI graded classwork instantly and turned lesson plans into podcasts or online storybooks, one high school English teacher raised a concern that was on the minds of many: “Are we going to be replaced with AI?”

That remains to be seen. But for the nation’s 4 million teachers to stay relevant and help students use the technology wisely, teachers unions have forged an unlikely partnership with the world’s largest technology companies. The two groups don’t always see eye to eye but say they share a common goal: training the future workforce of America.

Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic are providing millions of dollars for AI training to the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union. In exchange, the tech companies have an opportunity to make inroads into schools and win over students in the race for AI dominance.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said skepticism guided her negotiations, but the tech industry has something schools lack: deep pockets.

“There is no one else who is helping us with this. That’s why we felt we needed to work with the largest corporations in the world,” Weingarten said. “We went to them — they didn’t come to us.”

Weingarten first met with Microsoft CEO Brad Smith in 2023 to discuss a partnership. She later reached out to OpenAI to pursue an “agnostic” approach that means any company’s AI tools could be used in a training session.

Under the arrangement announced in July, Microsoft is contributing $12.5 million to AFT over five years. OpenAI is providing $8 million in funding and $2 million in technical resources, and Anthropic has offered $500,000.

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Parents outraged after Pride book with drag nuns and leather gear appears in Lexington kindergarten social studies curriculum

A Pride-parade picture book showing bondage gear and drag nuns is set to appear in Lexington’s 2025–2026 kindergarten social studies curriculum, sparking fury among parents who say the district has crossed the line between inclusion and age-appropriate teaching.

The revelation was first reported by Massachusetts Informed Parents, a watchdog group that obtained lesson materials from Lexington Public Schools (LPS). According to their review, the Pride-themed book This Day in June is listed as part of a new “Social Studies” unit for five-year-olds — a class typically reserved for topics like community, geography, and basic civics.

But the book’s illustrations show men in leather harnesses, bondage gear, and members of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” drag troupe, imagery that critics say has no place in an elementary classroom. Supporters of the curriculum say the materials are meant to promote diversity and understanding.

The new program is overseen by Aisha Banda, LPS’s K–5 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, who has championed “disrupting traditional narratives” in district teaching frameworks. Under her watch, the district’s new lessons are aligned with Learning for Justice’s “Social Justice Standards,” which encourage teachers to discuss identity, family structures, and belonging — even in kindergarten.

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Meet The Radical Left Candidate Running for School Board in Ohio

Across America, parents are waking up to how deeply politics has infiltrated K–12 education. 

That’s why YouthVote exists—to expose the growing number of local candidates who prioritize ideology over education. 

YouthVote’s mission is simple but urgent: fix America’s schools by informing voters, holding school boards accountable, and empowering parents to protect their children’s education. 

With dozens of investigations and reports nationwide on radical candidates, YouthVote continues to shed light on individuals whose values threaten to undermine classrooms and communities.

One of those individuals is Rachel Gilman, a candidate for the Indian Creek Local School District Board in Ohio. 

A quick look at Gilman’s social media reveals everything parents need to know. 

Her posts promote Pride-themed books for children and call for LGBTQ propaganda to be embedded in school libraries—the same kinds of materials parents across the country have objected to for promoting sexualized and ideological content to minors. 

She has openly supported efforts to include gender ideology in school reading lists, showing little regard for parental consent or local community standards.

Even more disturbing are her radical pro-abortion posts. 

Gilman has shared graphic images of naked pregnant women smeared with blood to form the American flag, complete with clothes hangers replacing the stars—a grotesque and politicized display meant to shock, not educate. 

These are not the actions of a responsible leader or someone focused on improving student achievement. They reflect an agenda rooted in cultural activism, not classroom excellence.

And yet, this is the person asking to oversee your children’s education. Parents in Indian Creek should understand exactly what’s at stake. 

School boards are supposed to safeguard educational quality, transparency, and family values — not serve as platforms for social engineering.

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Former Archdiocese of Detroit Superintendent of Schools Blasts MI Department of Education for Its Latest Ploy to Force Young Children to Learn Sick Sex Agenda Without Parental Consent

Last week, several groups focused on the well-being of Michigan’s youth sent an SOS to parents and grandparents of children attending public schools in the state about a radical proposed change in sex education for young students in the Great Lakes state.

Citizens for Traditional Values warned: Currently Michigan public schools’ health standards for Sex-Ed curriculum INCLUDES a provision to allow parents the right to make the decision whether their child takes the class or not.

Public schools require all students to take a health class for graduation. This is separate from Sex-Ed curriculum. The health class curriculum covers things such as healthy eating habits, sleeping habits, the benefits of physical activity, mental and emotional health, healthy relationships, time management, etc.

Regarding Sex-Ed, Michigan legislators passed a law in 2004 to protect parents’ rights and specifically made it elective and not a requirement for graduation. The law protects parents’ rights to opt-out their children from the class, if desired.

In addition, they provided a safeguard that IF a school was to teach Sex-Ed, it would require an advisory board that included local clergy, parents and members of the community on it.

The Michigan State Board of Education (SBOE) is in current negotiations to change this:
They want Sex-Ed curriculum to become a required part of health education in Michigan public schools. This not only violates the current law that keeps Sex-Ed classes separate, but it also eliminates a parent right to opt-out their child. Why? Because Health Class – would then include Sex-Ed – is required for graduation.

Kevin Kijewski, a Republican candidate for Michigan Attorney General and former superintendent of the Archdiocese of Detroit, blasted the proposed change, calling it unlawful and “reckless.”

Kijewski will testify in front of the Michigan Department of Education today, where he plans to stand up for parents whose voices are being ignored.

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California Schools Are About to See Waves of Children Flee After Gavin Newsom’s ‘Demonic’ ‘Kidnap’ Bill

While the world’s attention was focused on the release of the Jewish hostages taken by Islamic Hamas monsters, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that would make it easy for strangers to kidnap children from his state’s schools—without parental permission, naturally. While one story gloried in hostages freed from totalitarian barbarians, another set of totalitarians loosed a plot to take more. 

Think that’s overwrought? Hold my beer. 

Newsom signed AB 495 into law on Sunday night and pretended that the law, proffered by a Democrat to hide kids illegally in the country from Immigration authorities, kept parental rights intact and preserved parents’ relationships with their own children. Instead, it made every child in California schools, preschools, and state-licensed childcare facilities a target. 

Newsom had the hubris and temerity to tout it as “a bill to protect parents’ rights and children.”

That is false. Indeed, it’s worse than false. It’s a license allowing anyone to take your child without your permission and act as that child’s unapproved “guardian.” As the California Family Council (CFA) put it, “Anyone falsely claiming kinship can easily sign the affidavit, access a child, obtain medical care, and enroll them in another school. Even the most basic safeguard of a notary is not required to confirm the true identity of the person accessing your child. AB 495 violates fundamentally constitutionally protected parental rights, endangers California’s children, and will be appropriately legally challenged and struck down.”

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MIT Says It Will Not Sign Trump Admin’s Higher Education Compact

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has declined to sign onto the Trump administration’s proposed compact, which would mandate campus reforms in exchange for preferential access to federal funding.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth announced the decision on Oct. 10 in a campus-wide letter attaching her formal response to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who invited nine universities to sign the new agreement.

The proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” would require participating universities to freeze tuition for five years, limit international student enrollment, and adopt the federal government’s biology-based definitions of sex and gender when it comes to sports or single-sex spaces.

Other provisions call for reinstating the SAT requirement for applicants, curbing grade inflation, prohibiting the use of race and sex as factors in admissions or employment, and reforming or dismantling departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”

MIT ‘Cannot Support the Proposed Approach’

In her response, Kornbluth acknowledged that MIT shares some of the administration’s stated goals, such as focusing on merit, reducing costs for students, and upholding free expression.

“These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission—work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health, and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law,” Kornbluth wrote.

She also noted that MIT disagreed with a number of the demands, saying that they “would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution” and that the premise of the document is inconsistent with MIT’s core belief that “scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.”

“In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence,” Kornbluth wrote.

“In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.”

MIT is the first of the nine universities invited to join the compact to publicly reject it. The administration also invited Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Arizona, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University.

It’s unclear why those particular institutions were chosen or whether other schools will be offered the same terms.

The Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times by publication time.

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