Tag: public schools

Hantavirus Case Reported at NY High School Not Linked to Deadly Cruise Ship Outbreak

Health officials in Ontario County, New York, are investigating a suspected case of hantavirus involving a student at Geneva High School, just after a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship sparked international concerns about a COVID-2.0 scenario.

According to health officials, the case is not connected to the rare Andes strain that killed three passengers aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship and prompted the quarantine of 18 Americans, including three New Yorkers.

Officials emphasize this is a locally acquired infection typical of the hantavirus strains already present in the United States, and there is no evidence of risk to other students, staff, or the general public.

The Ontario County Department of Health received the alert Thursday morning.

Geneva City Schools sent a letter to parents Friday afternoon confirming the investigation and reassuring families that the situation poses no threat to the school community.

“The Ontario County Department of Health is investigating a suspected case of locally acquired hantavirus involving a Geneva High School student,” the district said in the announcement. “The Department of Health has advised that there is no evidence of risk to other students or staff related to this situation. Health officials have also emphasized that this situation is not tied to the hantavirus strain currently receiving national media attention.”

Ontario County Public Health Director Kate Ott described the timing as “horrible” given the ongoing national attention to the cruise ship outbreak, but stressed that the student’s symptoms have been mild fatigue, aches, and lethargy for several weeks, according to a report from local station WHAM.

“We thought surely this can’t be Hantavirus in relation to what’s going on in the media at this time,” Ott said.

“The case is mild, and hantavirus is not always mild,” Ott added. “It can be really severe, so we’re really grateful for that.”

She noted this is only the second suspected hantavirus case in Ontario County in the past two decades.

The student is not required to quarantine.

Officials are urging residents to take standard precautions when cleaning areas that may have rodent droppings, such as attics, cabins, sheds, and garages, by wearing masks and gloves and wetting down debris before sweeping to avoid aerosolizing particles.

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Insanity: Ex-BLMer and Special Ed Teacher on Leave Over Abuse Allegations Just Elected President of Teachers Union

Homeschooling only looks more appealing as the education system continues to leave children with some of the worst excuses for teachers.

One of those is Ibijoke Idowu, who teaches special education at Rising Star Elementary in South Beacon Hill for Seattle Public Schools in Washington state.

In December 2025, Idowu was placed on leave following allegations that she abused an autistic child in her classroom. A complaint was filed with the district after the third-grader’s parents saw bruises the size of an adult’s fingertips in October and December.

The child’s parents also alleged his therapist witnessed Idowu throw a marker at him, hitting him in the face.

Since those incidents, The Seattle Times reported that according to his father, the child has been emotionally distressed, not sleeping well, and has been avoiding school.

The Teacher Accountability System summarized the allegations as follows:

“Alleged physical abuse of a third-grade student with autism, including leaving fingertip-sized bruises and throwing a marker at the student’s head, causing injury to face and glasses. Additional allegations include grabbing students by the arm, causing pain.”

The organization puts the case severity as high, and the Seattle Police have been notified with the investigation ongoing.

If those claims weren’t bad enough, Idowu is also a leftist, having previously worked as an organizer for Black Lives Matter.

Apparently, none of this has kept her from holding office, as she’s been elected president of the Seattle Teachers Union ,with the New York Post reporting that the election results were certified Friday.

The criteria to run for office includes paying union dues and being employed by the school system.

Given that Idowu is on leave but still employed, she was an eligible candidate, but who in their right mind would vote for this woman?

From a practical perspective, she is relatively inexperienced.

Her teaching career began in 2021, but she is also a special education teacher. Why would her fellow teachers — she now represents 6,000 SPS employees — put her in this job?

Per the New York Post, as the race last week was winding down, Idowu commented on how she’d like to be seen as a candidate.

“I am not afraid to be a line stepper when it’s necessary and when it protects others,” she said.

“You can’t be afraid, and the thing is, sometimes you even have to be the bad guy. You have to ruffle feathers. But that is a part of, like, leadership, and sometimes you have to advocate for this group, and it bothers this group. But you know what? That’s for this group to deal with. And you figure out why the advocacy for this group is bothering you, because that’s something you have to deal with. That’s not for me to deal with.”

Her dystopian collectivism in handling individuals on a group basis is a topic of discussion in itself, but the comments about being “a line stepper” or “the bad guy” lack self-awareness. She should have given pause in consideration of the accusations, but her rebuttal now would likely be that those statements won her the race.

Idowu’s story is another advertisement for homeschooling.

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16-Year-Old Texas Student EXPOSES Woke High School’s War on Conservative Kids – SILENCING Republicans While Openly Promoting Sharia Law and Islam

Brave 16-year-old sophomore Marco Hunter-Lopez just blew the lid off the radical left’s blatant double standard in Texas public schools: conservative students get censored, harassed, and stonewalled for months, while Islamic groups get the royal treatment to push “Understanding Shariah” pamphlets, Qurans with conversion cards, and hijabs right in the lunchroom.

As previously reported by The Gateway Pundit in February, “Why Islam” (tied to the Islamic Circle of North America) invaded Wylie East High School during lunch, setting up a massive table and handing out Islamic materials and head coverings while administrators watched approvingly.

The school later tried to downplay it as a “procedural breakdown,” but Hunter-Lopez – president and founder of the Wylie East High School Republican Student Club – has now gone public with the full story of systematic anti-conservative bias.

Hunter-Lopez detailed how his club faced endless roadblocks that other groups never encounter: months of delays in getting approved, posters ripped down by administrators while he was out of town, and hostile interrogations and condescending lectures pulled straight from the principal’s office.

He’s documented over 55 specific incidents of censorship, unfair treatment, and outright harassment against him and his conservative club dating back to August 2024.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Student Association and “Why Islam” got a free pass. They operated with zero pushback, distributing Sharia-promoting materials and hijabs as part of World Hijab Day celebrations.

School administrators didn’t just allow it – they enabled it. Principal Tiffany Doolan has proudly participated in World Hijab Day two years in a row, posting photos of herself wearing the hijab and gushing online: “I LOVED this experience!”

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GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville Urges English Language for Everyone in Schools, Colleges

Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville slammed the U.S. education establishment Tuesday for pushing America’s children into second place by promoting multiple languages used by diverse migrants.

Standing beside a sign reading, “Assimilate Or Go Home,” the Alabama senator blamed some of the problems with American schools on “mass migration,” which he says is “destroying our educational system.”

“Mass migration is destroying our educational system…more and more American kids are entering the classroom, hearing multiple languages being spoken around them every day, and having a difficult time making friends because they are now the minorities in the school,” Tuberville said on the floor of the United States Senate.

“We’re having enough problems with our education system when our kids can’t understand the language that the other people are speaking,” he continued.

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OpenAI sued over ChatGPT’s alleged role in guiding FSU shooter

OpenAI is being sued by the family of a victim killed in the April 2025 mass shooting at Florida State University that left two people dead. The lawsuit alleges that OpenAI’s ChatGPT enabled the attack.

Vandana Joshi, the widow of Tiru Chabba, who was killed alongside the university dining director Robert Morales, filed the federal lawsuit against OpenAI in Florida on Sunday.

The complaint also names Phoenix Ikner, the man accused in the shooting, as a defendant, citing his “extensive conversations” with ChatGPT. The suit says that OpenAI failed to effectively detect a threat in ChatGPT’s conversations with Ikner, claiming the chatbot “either defectively failed to connect the dots or else was never properly designed to recognize the threat.”

According to the complaint, Ikner, then a student at FSU, shared with ChatGPT images of firearms he had acquired. The chatbot then allegedly explained how to use them, “telling him the Glock had no safety, that it was meant to be fired ‘quick to use under stress’ and advising him to keep his finger off the trigger until he was ready to shoot.”

The suit said Ikner began his attack at FSU by following the instructions.

At one point, the lawsuit alleges, ChatGPT said that it’s much more likely for a shooting to gain national attention “if children are involved, even 2-3 victims can draw more attention.” Later, on the day of the shooting, the lawsuit says, Ikner asked about what “the legal process, sentencing, and incarceration outlook” would be.

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REPORT: As People Flee New York City Over Mamdani’s Policies, NYC Public School Enrollment is Going to Drop Dramatically

As New York City’s new Democratic Socialist (communist) Mayor Zohran Mamdani implements his new policies, there has been a lot of talk about wealthy people fleeing the city, but that is only part of the story.

Everything is connected on some level. As people leave the city, the number of children enrolled in their public schools is going to drop, which will have other rippling effects.

At some point, too much of the foundation is eroded away and things start to crumble. Then the real problems begin.

FOX News reports:

New York City’s declining public school enrollment projected to lose over 150K more as population declines

New York City’s public schools are projected to drop, mirroring the downward trend of its overall population since last year.

According to a “Statistical Forecasting” prepared for the New York City School Construction Authority, New York City is projected to lose thousands of students in the 2034-35 school year.

“Enrollment is projected to be 721,251 in 2034-35, which would be a decline of 153,000 students from the 2024-25 enrollment,” the outlet reported.

“Over the next ten years, enrollments are projected to decline in each of the five boroughs. Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx are projected to have the largest declines in the next ten years, losing 45,000, 43,000, and 35,000 students, respectively,” it added.

The projected shortfall was attributed to continuing falling birthrates, an exodus of residents, and an aging population. “Statistical Forecasting was retained by the New York City School Construction Authority (“SCA”) to perform enrollment projections for the New York City Public Schools for the ten-year period beginning with the 2025-26 school year and ending in 2034-35,” the document states…

New York City public schools lost 22,000 students this year from last year’s 906,248 students. According to preliminary Department of Education data, a total of 884,400 students were enrolled in the city’s traditional public schools. NYC had more than 1,002,000 students enrolled at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, meaning it has since lost more than 117,000.

New York City currently spends more per school student than any other place in the country and gets mediocre results on reading and math.

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DOJ Launches Investigations Into 36 Illinois School Districts for Secretly Pushing Transgender Ideology and Gender Transitions on Kids Behind Parents’ Backs

The Department of Justice has launched sweeping civil rights investigations into 36 Illinois public school districts accused of pushing transgender ideology on students from pre-K through 12th grade.

The federal probe, announced by the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday, is also looking into whether these districts are allowing biological males into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams, which would be a direct violation of Title IX and basic child safety.

The DOJ said it will be investigating whether the schools are promoting sexual orientation and gender ideology to students, and if they notified parents to allow them to opt out.

“The investigations will examine whether these Illinois School Districts, which are recipients of hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funding, are adhering to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Supreme Court’s extensive precedents on parental rights as recently reiterated in Mirabelli v. Bonta and Mahmoud v. Taylor,” the DOJ explained in a press release.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a press release, “This Department of Justice is determined to put an end to local school authorities keeping parents in the dark about how sexuality and gender ideology are being pushed in classrooms.”

“Supreme Court precedent leaves no doubt: parents have the fundamental right and primary authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children. This includes exempting their children from ideological instruction that contradicts their values or decisions about their children’s health and best interests,” Dhillon added.

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Teacher caught simulating incestuous sex act on video will be allowed back in classroom on Monday, parents told

The teacher mom of Baywatch star Noah Beck has been allowed to return to the classroom after being suspended for a video of her appearing to simulate oral sex on her son. 

Amy Beck, 55, the mom of actor and social media star Noah Beck, 24, was placed on leave from Coyote Hills Elementary School in Peoria, Arizona last week after the 2020 video resurfaced. 

The footage recirculated social media earlier this month after her daughter Haley Beck, 27, who is a teacher in the same school district, was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with a teenage boy. 

The video was originally posted by Noah, who has 33 million TikTok followers, in 2020, and showed the mother and son singing along to the song ‘King’s Dead’ by Jay Rock, which features lyrics about oral sex.

As the pair lip-synced to the lyrics, Noah repeatedly pushed his mother’s head toward his groin.

In a statement to the Daily Mail on Friday night, the Peoria Unified School District said it was allowing Amy to come back to the classroom following her suspension for the video.

‘The school and district have addressed concerns regarding videos that were published in 2020, appropriate measures have been taken, and Mrs. Beck will transition back into the classroom on Monday, May 4,’ the district said. 

While Amy Beck will return to work, her teacher daughter Haley was terminated from Centennial High School, and the Peoria Police Department said Friday it was ‘looking into’ new allegations regarding her alleged conduct with a second student. 

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Chicago Schools to Bus Students to Anti-Trump May Day Protests Using Tax Dollars

Tomorrow on May 1st, teacher unions in Chicago have decided to once again hold ‘May Day’ protests, which will obviously be aimed at Trump and all things Republican.

As part of these protests, Chicago Schools are going to allow students to attend, and if they choose to go, they can be shuttled to the protests using tax dollars.

Aside from the fact that a significant number of students in Chicago schools can’t read at grade level, how is any of this even legal?

Using tax dollars to transport students to political protests? Where is the outrage?

This report is from PBS:

Chicago labor unions, community groups, students and other advocates are expected to participate in events around the city on Friday in recognition of May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day.

Thousands of Chicagoans are expected to participate in a May Day rally and march starting at Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St., and ending at Daley Plaza downtown. Other related actions are scheduled in different parts of the city in the morning ahead of the march.

The main rally is expected to begin at 1 p.m. in Union Park. The march is set to step off at 2 p.m.

The expected May Day actions come after disagreements between Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King and the Chicago Teachers Union over whether to close schools on Friday to allow students and teachers to participate in demonstrations…

Chicago Public Schools will still hold classes on May 1 after reaching an agreement with CTU that will also allow students and staff to attend labor rallies.

The union said the school district has pledged to provide buses for field trips for students and educators who choose to attend the afternoon May Day rally in Union Park.

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Ed-Tech Vendors Fleece Schools Out Of Millions Of Dollars For Software That Makes Kids Dumber

After the teachers in Los Angeles nearly went on yet another strike, they may want to study a recent scandal that reveals where some of the district’s money is going. According to a report in the Westside Current, a former Los Angeles Unified School District employee and technology vendor, Gautham Sampath, just pled “not guilty” to money-laundering charges after allegedly rerouting $3 million to LAUSD technical project manager Hong Peng to land a $22 million contract for his information software.

Assuming Peng is guilty in this instance — and the hilariously illiterate texts between her and Sampath would suggest she is — it is reasonable to conclude she has probably done the same with other tech vendors, paying gargantuan sums of taxpayer money for often shoddy, useless software and pocketing large sums for it. And she is far from the only person doing it. Sampath’s company, Innive, evidently has “government contracts in California and elsewhere in the country.” This means that all over the country, local and state governments are awarding multimillion-dollar bids to conmen with few legal repercussions.

To be clear, this is money that could have gone to teachers, counselors, and administrators. This is money that could have been kept by the homeowners paying extortion-level property taxes. This is money that families could have applied to alternative schooling options. 

But instead, this kind of corruption continues to siphon away taxpayer money without anyone realizing it. Years ago, I wrote about the expenses that consume most of a school district’s budget, namely extracurriculars, special education, and disciplinary programs. What I should have added to this list was technology. 

For the past couple of decades, school districts have raided their rainy day funds, issued bonds, and gone broke paying for iPads and Chromebooks, educational software, and specially trained personnel tasked with helping faculty use these products. And aside from a few district bureaucrats safely hidden in a nondescript office building that the district somehow owns, no one really knows how much any of this costs. Naturally, this lack of transparency makes it all too easy for embezzlement, laundering, and bribery.

Moreover, in my own experience of teaching high school English, most of these programs are usually worthless. I have no clue how much local districts are paying for so many research databases, note-taking apps, informational organizers, or AI tools, but I do know I never use them, nor do any of the teachers I’ve known.

Ironically, what’s worse than this useless software is the software we actually do have to use. Whether it involves recording grades, taking attendance, referring misbehavior, or compiling standardized assessment data for each student, these programs are, as a rule, terrible. They are poorly designed, convoluted, and frequently glitch and crash. Added to this are our online textbooks, which force users to click two dozen times through two dozen dropdown menus to open a particular text — and usually require a few periodic reboots afterward. 

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