Tag: public schools

Michelle Obama’s Ex-Chief of Staff Hired Illegal CRIMINAL to Run A School District

In 2023, the Des Moines School Board appointed Ian Andre Roberts as Superintendent of Schools, handing him one of the most lucrative contracts in Iowa public education. 

His base salary started at $270,000. That alone should raise eyebrows in a state where teachers regularly earn less than $50,000 a year. 

But what makes this case even more alarming is the fact that Roberts was an illegal immigrant with a criminal record when he was hired.

Roberts entered the United States legally but overstayed his visa. 

By May 2024, he had received a final deportation order, yet he remained in charge of the entire Des Moines Public School District. 

Worse still, when the board voted to hire him, they were already aware that Roberts had faced a weapons charge in 2020. 

Despite these red flags, the school board proceeded with the appointment, prioritizing political connections and appearances over community safety and integrity.

The arrangement was not only reckless—it was expensive. According to the Des Moines Register, Roberts’ contract went far beyond a six-figure base salary. 

Taxpayers were also on the hook for a payment to a “tax-sheltered annuity” equal to 14% of his annual pay. That comes out to nearly $38,000 per year. 

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School District Superintendent Raked in MILLIONS Before ICE Arrest

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts after allegedly fleeing when agents arrived to enforce a deportation order. 

Roberts, originally from Guyana, has been under a final deportation order since May 2024. Despite that order, he continued to lead Iowa’s largest school district until his arrest this week.

What makes this case even more alarming is not only that Roberts remained in office unlawfully, but that he was paid handsomely for doing so. 

His current base salary exceeded $180,000 per year, and district officials were preparing to raise his base pay to $270,000. Over the course of his tenure, that means Roberts could have earned millions of dollars in taxpayer money while residing in the country illegally.

The district released a short statement claiming they had “no information” about the circumstances of his arrest. That explanation does not change the facts. 

Federal records make clear that Roberts was under orders of removal. Yet the school board allowed him to remain in charge, responsible for nearly 30,000 students and one of the state’s largest budgets.

This is not the first controversy involving Roberts. He was previously detained in connection with carrying a firearm, though authorities never provided full details. That earlier incident was first noted in reports months ago, but new information about his contract and salary has raised the level of concern. 

Parents and taxpayers now have to ask: how was an individual under deportation orders allowed not only to keep his job but to receive a six-figure salary funded by public money?

The political response has been predictable. Protests are already being organized to defend Roberts, portraying him as the victim rather than the perpetrator. That narrative ignores a basic truth. 

A superintendent facing deportation should not be rewarded with a salary approaching $200,000, nor should a school board prepare to give him an even larger raise.

Families deserve better than a system that treats lawbreaking as a minor administrative detail.

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Southern States of Mississippi and Louisiana Go Back to Teaching the Basics in School – Now Lead Liberal States Like California in Literacy

Anyone who follows education news, or just has children in public schools, knows that we have an education crisis in this country right now.

Grade school students in multiple states cannot read or do math at grade level. The problem already existed years ago, but shutting down schools during Covid-19 made things even worse.

Now, some states in the south have discovered a cure for the problem – Going back to basics and teaching things like phonics.

It’s amazing. If you focus on teaching kids to read rather than telling them about social justice and gender theory, they actually learn to read. Who knew?

Kelsey Piper writes at ‘The Argument’ on Substack:

Illiteracy is a policy choice

This month, the Department of Education released its latest edition of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the standardized tests better known as the Nation’s Report Card. The results have left me blazing with rage.

In my home state of California, for instance, only 30% of public school fourth graders can read proficiently. Fully 41% cannot even read at a basic level — which is to say, they cannot really understand and interpret written text at all. Eighth graders, as you might expect, look almost as bad…

But scores are not slipping everywhere. In Mississippi, they have been rising year over year. The state recovered from a brief decline during COVID and has now surpassed its pre-COVID highs. Its fourth grade students outperform California’s on average, even though our state is richer, more educated, and spends about 50% more per pupil.

The difference is most pronounced if you look at the most disadvantaged students. In California, only 28% of Black fourth graders read at or above basic level, for instance, compared to 52% in Mississippi. But it’s not just that Mississippi has raised the floor. It has also raised the ceiling: The state is also one of the nation’s best performers when you look at students who are not “economically disadvantaged.”…

First, it’s not just Mississippi — Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee have adopted the same strategies, stemmed the bleeding affecting states elsewhere, and seen significant improvements…

This is the part of the story that has gotten the most attention — teach phonics! And you should, indeed, teach phonics. But making schools adopt the approach took more than a mere nudge. The Southern Surge states have tried earmarked funding, guidance to districts, and outright mandates to accomplish universal adoption.

When schools embrace nonsense like gender and social justice, they do so at the expense of basic and necessary skills like reading and basic math, robbing students of learning the things they will need to succeed in life.

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L.A. School District to Ban Fifth-Grade Plays About U.S. History: ‘Culturally Insensitive’

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is banning a celebrated series of fifth-grade musical plays about American history at a local charter school because, the district says, they are “culturally insensitive.”

For nearly three decades, the fifth-graders at Marquez Charter Elementary in Pacific Palisades have performed musicals about crucial periods in the formation of the United States.

These include Miracle in Philadelphia, about the Constitutional Convention; Hello, Louisiana!, about the voyage of Lewis and Clark; and Water and Power, about the Industrial Revolution. (A fourth-grade play, Gold Dust or Bust, focuses on the history of California.)

The musicals, co-written by Jeff Lantos (with music composed by the late jazz pianist Bill Augustine), are so successful in conveying historical details that Marquez students consistently score off the charts in history assessments.

A 2004 academic study of the Marquez plays observed: “Students who attended Marquez Elementary School scored more than twice as many items correctly [on history tests] as did students from other schools.”

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Sorry: Firing teachers who cheer Charlie Kirk’s murder isn’t embracing ‘cancel culture’

Listen to the mainstream media, and you’ll hear that conservatives, once stalwart opponents to censorship, are now themselves the censors.

“Is the right embracing cancel culture after the Charlie Kirk assassination?” Newsweek asks.

Poppycock.

No one has ever argued that expression should never face consequence of any kind.

Were I tomorrow to openly insult my boss and pen a column praising the finer points of “Mein Kampf,” my employer would be well within its right to show me the door.

If a pastor of a Christian church espoused atheism, the elder board would be wise to keep him from preaching.

In this case, if a teacher celebrates the murder of a father, it’s only normal that parents might email their principal requesting action.

The issue with left-wing crusades for cancellation over the previous decade isn’t that individuals faced social consequences for their speech but that the speech itself comprised innocuous opinions or inconvenient facts.

Examples abound of individuals facing professional sanction for the most trivial of expression.

Analyst David Shor lost his job for noting data that found riots actually helped the right.

A professor had to pack up his office for teaching the proper pronunciation of a Chinese word that sounded like an English slur.

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Jillian Michaels: “Kids At My Daughter’s High School Were Celebrating” Assassination Of Charlie Kirk

In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Jillian Michaels told NewsNation about a very disturbing text message received from her daughter.

“Kids at my daughter’s high school were celebrating” the assassination, said Michaels. It’s unclear in what area this took place.

Michaels, a lesbian, had worked a bit with Charlie Kirk. She said the celebrations were “disgusting”. “Something is WRONG in this country,” she added.

Michaels is a fitness trainer, podcaster, and media personality.

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Trump Administration Teaming Up with TPUSA and Others to Promote Patriotism in Schools

As the United States approaches its 250th Anniversary, the Trump administration is making it a priority to promote patriotism in schools across the nation.

On Wednesday, a partnership with Turning Point USA and more than 40 organizations was formed to promote civics education to young people.

According to Fox News, “Partners in the American 250 Civics Education Coalition include conservative groups such as PragerU, Hillsdale College, Moms for Liberty, and the America First Policy Institute.”

Fox News reports:

The Department of Education called it a “landmark initiative” that is “dedicated to renewing patriotism, strengthening civic knowledge and advancing a shared understanding of America’s founding principles in schools across the nation.”

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With oversight from Education Secretary Linda E. McMahon, the initiative aims to foster conversations about citizenship and America’s values.

McMahon said Wednesday that young Americans need to be equipped with an understanding of American history and values.

The U.S. Department of Education shared details of the initiative as well as the organizations who will be participating. 

“With oversight from U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and the Department, the AFPI-led coalition will spearhead nationwide initiatives to engage students, educators, and communities in conversations about liberty, citizenship, and America’s enduring values.”

“As America approaches 250 years since its founding, we are proud to announce this coalition to ensure every young American understands the beauty of our nation and is equipped with the civic knowledge required to contribute meaningfully to its future,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

“A country cannot survive if its values are forgotten by its people. More than ever, we need to restore the vitality of the American spirit, and this coalition will take bold steps to educate, inspire, and mobilize youth toward active and informed citizenship.”

“AFPI is proud to stand with the Department of Education and partner with over 40 best-in-class organizations to form this coalition,” said Interim President of the American First Policy Institute Greg Sindelar. “Together, we are building a movement that will ensure the next generation understands America’s founding principles and carries them forward with confidence and pride.”

“Turning Point USA, which includes Turning Point Education, is more resolved than ever to advance God-centered, virtuous education for students flourishing across our nation,” said Dr. Hutz H. Hertzberg, Chief Education Officer of Turning Point Education. “With that in mind, we are honored to partner with the distinguished organizations that comprise the America 250 Civics Education Coalition to restore, revive, and reclaim robust American civics education for all students throughout our country.”

“We celebrate Lincoln for his greatness in recalling the nation to the principles of its birth, the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the most beautiful political document in history,” said Dr. Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College. “It is time to repeat his work and the work of Jefferson and the Founders. We will work together to learn those principles, and for the love of them we will have a grand celebration.”

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Educational Crisis: Baltimore High School Fails To Produce A Single Proficient Math Student In Four Straight Years

President Trump’s executive order earlier this year to dismantle the Department of Education comes as the president highlighted a disturbing and inconvenient truth about Baltimore City’s Democratic Party-run “failure factory” school system: 40% of public high schools have zero students proficient in math. This damning statistic follows eight years of Fox45 investigative reporter Chris Papst’s coverage of the crime-ridden city’s education crisis. Keep in mind, the metro area is mainly controlled by leftists at City Hall, with virtually no diversity when it comes to Republicans holding positions of power.

A new report by Papst released this past week may catch the White House’s attention, highlighting yet another inconvenient truth about the stunning failure of Baltimore City Public Schools in terms of academic outcomes, proving that simply throwing more taxpayer funds at the problem is not a viable solution.

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Students from Rhode Island High School Attend School Board Meeting to Demand Teacher Who Went on Vile Rant Against Charlie Kirk Be Fired-” I do not feel comfortable or safe with our teachers supporting violence.

A group of outraged high school students from Rhode Island attended a school board meeting to demand action against a teacher after a vile rant that included calling Charlie Kirk a “piece of garbage.”

Benjamin Fillo, a teacher at Barrington High School, made the comments following the political assassination of Kirk while speaking to students in Utah.

During Fillo’s unhinged remarks in a video shared on social media he stated, “I have about as much sympathy for Charlie Kirk right now as I do for all those farmers across the country who want socialist handouts from the government right now.”

“This is a man who hated the LGBTQ community, who hated women’s rights, who hated democracy.”

“Who thought that he was a big man cause he went to college campuses, debated young college students and thought he proved how tough he was with his words that he studied ahead of time.”

“What a piece of garbage. This is what happens,” he said before smugly adding, “Bye, Charlie!”

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School district may have ‘intentionally deceived’ parents on girl’s gender transition, judge rules

AMichigan school district may have violated the due process rights of parents by “actively concealing” their daughter’s identification as a boy, referring to the girl by her given name with parents and her “masculine” name at school, a federal judge ruled, exacerbating conflicts in the lower courts that may trigger Supreme Court review.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney, known for siding with a school district that banned students from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts, greenlit Dan and Jennifer Mead‘s Fourteenth Amendment claims against Rockford Public School District for violating their “fundamental rights as parents” and “deprivation of liberty without due process.”

He dismissed the Meads’ free exercise claim, however, saying surreptitious social transitions don’t “compel students (or their parents) to believe or do anything,” contrary to the mandatory exposure to LGBTQ “storybooks,” compelled school attendance and flag-salute requirement struck down by the Supreme Court in precedents from the 1940s to this year.

The President George W. Bush nominee noted the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is binding on him, last month upheld an Ohio gender identity school restroom policy as “facially neutral” in a challenge by Muslim and Christian students. (Their only potential relief was damages, since Ohio mandated restroom access by sex during the case.)

The 1st Circuit, which oversees Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island and has no Republican-nominated judges, reached the opposite conclusion as Maloney on parental rights and due process earlier this year, prompting parents Stephen Foote and Marissa Silvestri to petition the Supreme Court.

Several friend-of-the-court briefs are backing the Massachusetts parents, including detransitioners who abandoned transgender identities after medicalization and a prominent transgender child psychologist who argues parents are integral to transitions.

The 3rd Circuit, covering Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, heard a similar case this summer and already has precedents upholding parental authority, including an opinion joined by future Justice Samuel Alito on “actions that strike at the heart of parental decision-making authority on matters of the greatest importance.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley called Maloney’s ruling “potentially precedent-setting” on parental rights in public schools. He highlighted Maloney’s finding that the Meads’ allegations “show some amount of coercion or interference” from the district, implicating their right to make “fundamental decisions” for the girl.

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