Tag: public schools

Economic suicide by design

This week, Oregonians heard the announcement that Tektronix, an iconic Oregon-based company, is moving its headquarters from Oregon to North Carolina.

Tektronix has decided that it has had enough of the Oregon Democrat high taxes, poor schools, and constant degradation of the quality of life for its employees. Textronix was once one of the largest employers in the state of Oregon. Anybody working in the electronics branch of technology relied on Tektronix test equipment to troubleshoot electronic problems. Driving by the Tektronix campus was very sad for me when we moved to Oregon. The parking lots around the Tektronix buildings were mainly empty, and slowly got even emptier. As an Electronic Technician who relied on the Tektronix test equipment my entire career, this was like watching an old friend slowly die from neglect.

Elections have consequences, and so does how people vote. Voting for more taxes, higher fees, and the crazy bills the Democrat supermajority pushes through is costing Oregon thousands of highly-paid citizens who have had enough, and they then leave Oregon for different states. Yet Oregon continues down the same old path to economic disaster. Oregonians cannot figure out that Democrats are all the same; their solution to problems is to raise taxes and fees on everything. For decades, Oregonians have been voting for Democrats to lead Oregon, and nobody noticed that conservatives and Republicans were leaving over economic or freedom issues. The Democrats, Liberals, and progressives just kept on making Oregon less affordable and less desirable to raise a family or retire here.

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Washington Teacher Fired for Reading ‘the N-Word’ from a Passage in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

In what some believe to be another case of political correctness gone awry, a teacher at West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, claims he was fired for reading the “n-word” aloud during a class discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s iconic novel about racial injustice in the Jim Crow South.

The former West Valley High School teacher, Matthew Mastronardi, was secretly recorded by a student while reading a passage from the school-approved text that uses the n-word in its historical context.

In a series of posts on X, Mastronardi explained that while he teaches Spanish, he had overheard two students discussing how they were instructed to skip over “the n-word” while reading the novel in their English class.

Mastronardi wrote, “I was astonished and expressed disagreement, saying, ‘That’s silly; it undermines the book’s historical context and disrespects the author’s intent to use accurate language.’ A girl asked me in front of the class, ‘Would you read the word?’ I replied, ‘Yes, I would read every word.’”

“A male student immediately handed me the book and said, ‘Okay, do it.’ I knew the situation was serious with 30 students watching, wondering if I would read,” Mastronardi continued. “Nervous but committed, I saw it as a teachable moment about context and literary honesty in reading. I read a passage aloud, including the word ‘nigger,’ unaware I was being recorded.”

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Fatal Austin Metcalf stabbing caught on surveillance tape — but Texas school district won’t publicly release video

Amid an ongoing investigation over the fatal stabbing of high school student Austin Metcalf at a Frisco, Texas, track meet, the school district announced it has surveillance footage of the stabbing.

The Frisco Independent School District confirmed to Fox News Digital that it possesses surveillance footage of the April 2 incident at Kuykendall Stadium but will not be publicly releasing the video.

The fatal altercation between 17-year-old Metcalf of Memorial High School and allegedly 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, a student at Frisco Centennial High School, unfolded during a rain delay on April 2 at the district track and field championship.

Anthony is facing first-degree murder charges.

Authorities say that Anthony fatally stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Though the two students reportedly had no prior relationship, a brief altercation escalated quickly. 

An arrest report obtained by Fox News sheds new light on the pre-stabbing clash after Metcalf reportedly told Anthony that he needed to move out of the Memorial team’s tent, a witness told Frisco police.

The report noted that Anthony “grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it” and said, “Touch me and see what happens.”

“Austin stood up and pushed the male to get him out of the tent,” the arrest report said.

The witness told police that Anthony then “reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin,” per the report.

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Former Hopkinton deputy police chief convicted of child rape while school resource officer

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Friday that a Middlesex Jury has convicted former Hopkinton Deputy Chief of Police, John “Jay” Porter, of three charges of Rape of a Child. The assault on the student occurred while he was assigned as a school resource officer in the Town of Hopkinton school system.

The incidents occurred during 2004 and 2005 while the victim was a 15-year-old student. During that time Porter assaulted the victim on multiple occasions off school property.

“The defendant in this case abused his position of power to take advantage of and manipulate a child to gain her trust before sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions,” said District Attorney Marian Ryan.

This investigation was conducted by the District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police. The prosecutor assigned was Assistant District Attorney Maren Schrader and Victim Witness Advocate was Meaghan McCarthy.

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Troublesome School District Once Again in DOJ’s Sights After Locker Room Disaster

Four years after Loudoun County Public Schools became the national poster child for cover-ups in the name of advancing the transgender agenda, the schools are again in the news over a gender-based complaint.

In 2021, the school and its leaders were pilloried after it was revealed that school officials knew about a sexual assault in a high school girl’s bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt but didn’t disclose it for weeks.

Now, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is calling for the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the district over “significant concerns regarding potential violations of Title IX, unlawful retaliation, and viewpoint discrimination,” according to a news release.

“The investigation reveals a disturbing misuse of authority by Loudoun County Public Schools, where students appear to have been targeted not for misconduct, but for expressing their discomfort for being forced to share a locker room with a member of the opposite sex,” Miyares said.

“Title IX was never meant to be used as a weapon against free speech or religious convictions. Every student in Virginia deserves the right to speak openly, think freely, and live according to their conscience without fear of retaliation. Protecting those rights is not political — it’s foundational to who we are as Americans.”

The release said the school retaliated against three male students at Stone Bridge High School after they objected to the school’s policy of letting gender identity determine access to bathrooms and locker rooms.

“Rather than safeguarding the constitutional rights of all students, LCPS appears to be punishing those who hold and express faith-based views,” the release said.

“Furthermore, there are persistent reports that LCPS and the School Board take adverse and potentially unlawful action against parents, teachers, and public speakers,” the release added.

WJLA-TV reported that the root cause of the issue was that a female student used a boys’ locker room and recorded the boys, prompting them to object.

“The boys indeed are the victims in this situation,” Miyares said. “There is no evidence, no corroborating evidence that we have found that they had sexually harassed anyone, that they had done anything even approaching what would be considered sex discrimination. The reality is, is that Loudoun County Schools, what we have found, have bad policy and bad judgment.”

“We’ve also seen, in our opinion, that the three students sincerely held religious beliefs, some of these students in question are Christian, some were Muslim, but they basically were told to be silent, to be quiet and not to express their sincerely held religious beliefs,” he said.

Miyares said the district is “weaponizing” Title IX.

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School board tells teachers ‘family’ is a white supremacist term

A school board distributed the teachings of a faculty member who was hired through a race-based initiative to tell staff that families are a product of white supremacy.

The faculty member, Dr. Laura Mae Lindo, focuses her research on “addressing social justice” and was hired at a local university through what is known as a “black hiring cluster.” The “equity-based” hiring initiative was for black and “Indigenous” people only, with Lindo being one of 10 ethnicity-based hires.

Given Dr. Lindo’s past discourses on “race in comedy” and the “whiteness” of philosophy, her teachings on families should come as no surprise.

Internal training documents obtained by True North reporter Melanie Bennet showed that not only were staff at the Waterloo Region District School Board in Ontario, Canada, given materials that said “family” is a white supremacist term but also that ideas like “objectivity” and a “sense of urgency” are part of a white supremacist culture, as well.

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Student Suspended For Saying ‘Illegal Aliens’ Will Receive Cash, Public Apology

The perceived overreach of administrators at one North Carolina high school sparked a nationwide conversation about whether students should be kicked out of school for using terms some others might find offensive.

At the heart of the case is Christian McGhee, who was 16 when he received a three-day suspension for uttering the words “illegal aliens” during a class lesson.

He insisted he was only trying to clarify the assignment, but the supposed violation was nevertheless deemed severe enough to warrant a suspension.

The ensuing backlash has resulted vindication for the student, as the New York Post reported:

McGhee’s mother, Leah, had filed a lawsuit in which she accused the school and the Davidson County Board of Education of violating her son’s First Amendment rights.

However, McGhee’s family and the school board settled on Wednesday after a year-long battle in the courts, according to court documents.

The board has agreed to remove all references to racial bias in McGhee’s school record and issue a public apology “for the mischaracterization of racial bias” in his record, documents show.

The board will also provide him with $20,000 in compensation to help his family with the costs of tuition at his new private school, to which he was forced to transfer after being suspended.

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Connecticut Lawmakers Silence House Republican Reading Graphic Excerpts from School Library Books

Lawmakers in the state of Connecticut silenced Republicans as they read graphic excerpts from books available in school libraries.

The stunning display occurred during a late-night debate on Tuesday when veteran Republican lawmaker, Rep. Anne Dauphinais of Danielson stood up to read graphic sexual references in a school library book. According to the Hartford Courant, Dauphinais expressed concern “that portions of the ‘library bill’ had been inserted into the 693-page state budget that lawmakers were debating at about 11 p.m. Monday.”

Dauphinais read the charged language, claiming that state students could read them in available school libraries. One excerpt came from the book Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which was later adapted into a film.

“Are you going to eat her pussy?,” Dauphinais read from the book. “Yeah, Earl, I am going to eat her pussy.”

Dauphinais warned parents to remove their children from the debate before she read.

Rep. Juan Candelaria, a New Haven Democrat and deputy House Speaker, immediately banged his gavel to stop the lawmaker from speaking.

“Madam, I would ask that we not try to use that type of language in the chamber and try to keep some decorum,” said Candelaria. “I know you were talking of specific books, but if we could refrain from those type of words because there are also people and children watching this debate.”

“I would ask kindly if we could just use either a different word or something different just out of respect for others that might get offended. Thank you,” he added.

“Mr. Speaker, I stand here to share with the chamber the books that are available in our public school libraries to the very children you’re telling me that this language isn’t appropriate in this chamber,” responded Dauphinais. “This is in elementary school libraries, approved by the very individuals that are supposed to be the experts.”

Opponents to Dauphinais shot back, saying she misrepresented the material while charging that students are exposed to far worse content on their phones almost daily.

Lawmakers were debating a bill designed “to ensure that all libraries have written policies on how to purchase books and how to handle challenges to the content of the books, officials said.”

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World’s first drone combat textbook lands in Russian schools to train 1 million kids

Russia has formally introduced drone operations into its national school curriculum as part of a comprehensive initiative to train a new generation of unmanned systems operators. 

On Monday, Russian drone manufacturer Geoscan announced the release of the country’s first state-approved school textbook on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), designed for use in 8th and 9th-grade classrooms.

Titled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: 8th and 9th Grades,” the publication is now included in the federal list of approved teaching materials, following formal certification by the Russian Ministry of Education. 

The course will be delivered under the “Robotics” module of the subject Labor (Technology), Russia’s equivalent of technical education.

World’s first drone ops textbook

Geoscan said this is “the only school publication on unmanned aircraft systems that has passed state expertise.” 

The textbook was co-developed with Russia’s largest schoolbook publisher, Prosveshcheniye, and reflects 14 years of the company’s drone R&D and eight years of experience in educational robotics.

Head of Geoscan’s educational projects, Mikhail Lutsky, said the material was not abstract theory, but “tested in practice,” forming a “ready-to-use course” to build applied piloting and engineering skills among Russian youth. 

The course spans 34 academic hours and includes chapters on UAV classifications, design, electronics, manual control, autonomous programming, and career trends in drone aviation.

The initiative is part of the Russian government’s “Personnel for Unmanned Aerial Systems” program, which aims to train 1 million drone operators by 2030 across over 500 schools and 30 universities. 

In 2023, approximately 30,000 university students in Moscow and St. Petersburg began similar coursework. In parallel, military training in schools has begun incorporating basic combat drone instruction.

The political backdrop to this education push is significant. In November 2023, a foundation linked to President Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, acquired a 10% stake in Geoscan. 

The company is currently under US sanctions, reflecting broader Western concerns about the militarization of Russia’s youth education and its use of dual-use technologies.

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‘Cowardice’: Male student ‘frequently switches gender throughout day’ to ogle girls in shower despite competing in boys’ sports

The Defense of Freedom Institute (DFI) filed a federal civil rights complaint against the South Colonie Central School District (SCCSD) in New York over a male student who allegedly frequently “switches gender identity throughout the day” to watch girls change in bathrooms and locker rooms.

DFI’s complaint alleges the high school boy competes on the boys’ track and field team and wears the male uniform, but claims a transgender identity during the school day to access the girls’ facilities. Several girls have reported the boy to school officials for “staring at them” while they changed, but the Title IX complaint alleges the school showed “deliberate indifference to that student-on-student harassment.”

The district told the Daily Caller News Foundation it was “unable to comment on individual student matters due to privacy laws” but “can confirm that the district responded to this situation accordingly.” SCCSD also cited several state laws that require schools to accommodate “gender identity.”

The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), for instance, prevent discrimination based on gender identity. Assembly Bill A5240A also requires all single-occupancy bathrooms to be designated gender neutral in schools and most other public establishments.

“The filing of a complaint or an investigation into a complaint does not change the district’s approach or procedures,” a spokesman for the district added. “All concerns raised were addressed through the proper channels, and students were offered reasonable accommodations as needed.”

“My daughter and her teammates have a right to feel safe in their own locker room,” Kevin Martin, the father of a student at SCCSD, said in a statement to DFI. “South Colonie refused to protect them and told them to accommodate the boy instead. That’s not fairness—it’s cowardice. I never thought I’d have to file a federal complaint just so my daughter could change clothes in a girls’ locker room without being stared at by a male student.”

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