Tag: public schools

North Carolina superintendent defends children’s Pride book featuring BDSM gear because children may see it ‘in their community’

A North Carolina school superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district was grilled by state lawmakers in the legislature after being accused of breaking state law having to do with parents’ rights and the inclusion of sexually inappropriate material in school libraries. When he was asked about a book that contained men dressed in BDSM, he didn’t take any issue with it and said that children may see it “in their community.”

Dr. Rodney Trice, superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, was being grilled by North Carolina Republican Majority Leader Brenden Jones in a viral clip that has spread on X.

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Home Education Must Be “Equivalent” to Public School: Lawmakers

Home educators in Connecticut are officially in the government’s crosshairs. In fact, under a new bill moving through the legislature, parents will need approval from child protection services to homeschool. And they will have to prove to bureaucrats that they are providing “equivalent instruction” to that offered by the government-school system.  Only about a third of children in the state’s public schools are even “proficient” in reading or math, federal data show. Suicide, mental problems, and other issues are off the charts and rising among government-educated children, too. So, it was not immediately clear why anyone would want homeschoolers to be subjected to “equivalent instruction.” 

The bill purports to require that every parent must send their child to a government school. The only exception is if the parent or guardian can “show that the child is elsewhere receiving equivalent instruction in the studies taught in the public schools,” the text of the Connecticut legislation declares. 

Lawmakers lambasted the provision. “What is equivalent instruction? Is it equivalent to Prospect’s education, Bridgeport, Waterbury, Greenwich, Darien, East Haddam? I don’t know,” argued Ranking Member Rep. Lezlye Zupkus, a Republican. Democrats on the committee dismissed the concerns.

To prove that parents are giving their children “equivalent instruction,” the statute purports to require that they keep records for three years. They are also required to provide a demonstration of their child’s work to government. Ultimately, the state Department of Education will provide “guidance” regarding what all of it means. 

Senator Heather Somers, also a Republican, warned this was a scheme to force homeschool families to do the same thing as government schools. “By homeschooling being evaluated and really being pushed to public school standards, this bill is pressuring families to mirror the public school system,” she explained, echoing other critics. 

The demands are especially ironic considering how well homeschoolers tend to do compared to their government-schooled peers. “Every single homeschooler that I’ve had the privilege of meeting, their kids are smarter,” Sen. Somers said. “They’re graduating early from high school. Some of them are taking college courses or actually getting two years of college before they even turn 18.”

The elephant in the room — the fact that the government is horrifically failing the children already in its school system — did not escape notice. “People are withdrawing their kids, they’re quitting their jobs, because they don’t feel their kids are safe in public school,” observed Representative Tina Courpas, a Republican. “To me, that is so basic.” 

Lawmakers should focus on fixing the government’s schools. “If this committee did nothing else for the next two years other than make our public school safe, that would be a big win,” the lawmaker continued. “But this bill doesn’t address that problem. Instead, it cuts off people’s options to solve a problem that this state has created for them.”

Under the new legislation that has already cleared several important hurdles, the homeschooling community in the state would also need to be cleared by Child Protective Services (CPS) to obtain permission to homeschool. The Home School Legal Defense Association says this is a major change.

“One of the most troubling aspects of the proposal is the idea that parents could need permission from a child welfare agency before teaching their own children at home,” noted Ralph Rodriguez, associate attorney for HSLDA. “That represents a significant shift in how homeschooling families are treated under the law.”

Lawmakers, too, were perplexed by the decision to get the CPS involved in approving homeschooling. “The child advocate … stated publicly yesterday to me in a hearing that she agrees the real cause of these tragic events is a catastrophic failure of the Department of Children and Families,” said Education Committee Ranking Member Sen. Eric Berthel, referring to two tragic cases in which children died despite child-welfare officials being involved.

“All of this begs the question: Why would we want DCF to be involved at all in the monitoring or regulation of homeschoolers when the agency has demonstrated they cannot handle the cases they are already monitoring?” added Sen. Berthel. Other critics suggested the bill against homeschoolers was an effort to blame innocent people for the failures of government.  

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Appeals Court Sides With Texas on 10 Commandments in Classroom, Overruling Lower Court

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Texas can require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, marking a victory for upholding the nation’s Christian foundation of the law.

The 9-8 decision overrules a preliminary injunction put in place by a federal district court judge in November, who concluded that “displaying the Ten Commandments on the wall of a public-school classroom as set forth in S.B. 10 [Senate Bill 10] violates the [First Amendment’s] Establishment Clause.”

The First Amendment says in part that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” But the Supreme Court has ruled that the Amendment’s protections apply to state law.

In the 5th Circuit’s majority opinion, Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote, “To Plaintiffs, merely exposing children to religious language is enough to make the displays engines of coercive indoctrination. We disagree.”

“S.B. 10 authorizes no religious instruction and gives teachers no license to contradict children’s religious beliefs (or their parents’). No child is made to recite the Commandments, believe them, or affirm their divine origin.”

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No whites allowed: School district sends kids ‘of color’ on cross-country ‘social justice’ field trip

A California school district recently organized a field trip that excluded white students and maintains several other race-based policies, documents reveal.

Albany Unified School District (AUSD) hosted the trip to Virginia for “young men and women of color” to visit Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and discuss issues such as “social justice,” according to documents obtained by parental rights group Defending Education (DE) and shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation. The trip was approved by the board of education and cost the district $42,845.

“This unique mentoring program encourages Albany High School young men and women of color to develop social, personal, and academic success skills,” the document from the board reads. “Students gather in a safe, supportive, and empowering environment to voice their needs and challenges. The students engage in enriching discussions on social justice, education, leadership, mental well-being, and self-awareness. This mentoring program is transforming the lives of young men and women of color to make a significant global impact in society.”

Along with college tours, students visited the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, the Virginia Civil Rights Memorial and the Black Heritage Trail.

The district maintains several other programs geared specifically toward non-white students and staff, documents show.

AUSD’s 2025-2026 Local Control and Accountability Plan names “Young Men of Color and Young Women of Color Programs” that aim to “provide social emotional supports to most underserved students.” The programs are part of a $1,257,234 “social emotional/mental health” support effort.

The same plan details the district’s intention to provide staff with “professional development” programs centered on “culturally responsive/anti-racist pedagogy.” These teaching practices are necessary to support “student groups who are persistently and historically underserved,” the document states.

Another document from 2026 includes a goal of “Recruit[ing] and Retain[ing] a Diverse, High Quality Staff,” DE found. The Superintendent Report detailed plans to “strengthen inclusive hiring,” expand “equitable recruitment pipelines,” and implement “affinity-based supports.” The report mentioned a “Black Teacher Project” to help in these race-based hiring and retention efforts and suggested the district would track staff demographics as an indicator of success.

AUSD did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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Supreme Court Rejects Massachusetts Case Over Hiding Student’s Gender Identity

Supreme Court justices on April 20 declined to take up a case involving a Massachusetts schoolgirl whose parents say officials wrongly hid their daughter’s purported identity as a male from them.

At least six of the nine justices declined to accept a petition to rehear a lower court verdict in the case, which was brought by the girl’s parents in 2022 against the Ludlow, Massachusetts, school district.

The vote count on the petition and how each justice voted were not disclosed, nor were any comments offered by the justices.

“Today’s denial by the Supreme Court is a missed opportunity to defend parental rights,” Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, who was helping represent the parents, told The Epoch Times in an email.

“Social transition, including going by inaccurate or nonbinary pronouns and a different name, is a major intervention in a child’s life that puts the child on a difficult-to-escape pathway to medicalized transition, carrying the risk of life-altering damage. No school district should make important mental health decisions on behalf of parents and conceal those decisions from them, especially in opposition to the mental-health care that those parents have chosen for their children.”

An attorney representing the school officials did not return a request for comment by publication time.

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‘HELL NO!’ Public high-school remodel features Muslim prayer room and foot-washing station

A Minnesota school district has confirmed that part of a remodeled section of its high school will include a Muslim prayer room and foot-washing station, calling into question adherence to “separation of church and state” in the use of public funds.

According to AlphaNews reporter Liz Collin, the school district affirmed the development for Park Center Senior High in Osseo, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, saying the Muslim-centered facility was “included in updated plans after hearing from user groups on student needs.”

Collin reports a tipster told her: “This is undoubtedly for Muslim students only. I cannot understand how this can be happening in this era of no religion in schools.”

One commenter on X noted: “Ten Commandments in schools, includes command not to kill.”

Liberals: “HELL NO!! Separation of church and state!”

“The Quran that calls for jihad and killing, foot washing, no more pork at lunch, 5 calls to prayer, and prayer room with carpets!”

Liberals: “Duuuuuuh… okay?!?!?”

The perceived “need” for students relates to the surge in the number of Muslim Somali migrants settling in Minnesota in recent years, including some who have bilked taxpayers out of billions of dollars in government payments meant to support day care centers and other facilities.

Referencing the infamous “Learing Center” sign uncovered in Minnesota as part of Nick Shirley’s investigative reporting, one commenter remarked: “They should change their name to OSSEO SENIOR LEARIN CENTER HIGH SCHOOL….. at this pace we will become Somalia before 2040. The state flag is Somali already.”

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Philly mayor yells at public, asks ‘how dare’ they question how much she wants to tax

n one of the most out-of-touch examples I’ve seen of Democrats in recent weeks, we’ve now got Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker yelling at her constituents over a new tax she wants on each and every ride-sharing journey: if enacted, all Uber and Lyft rides would have an additional dollar tacked on (to support the dying city education system), which in a substantial number of instances, wouldn’t be a miniscule tax. (The average cost of a rideshare in Philadelphia is somewhere between $16 and $24, or 6.25% and 4%, respectively.)

Parker wonders “how dare” the citizens and voters question how much she wants to take out of their pockets for others’ expenses.

Just so we’re all clear, this same woman just marched against “kings” a few weeks back, and even showed up as a featured speaker (via video) for her city’s protest…now imposing unpopular taxes by royal decree.

For context, under Cherelle Parker’s “leadership,” the public school system is facing a $300-million deficit, which according to the superintendent, “is driven by salary increases… rising charter school payments, and higher healthcare costs.” Entry-level teaching positions start around $54,000—in a school district where a whopping 85% of kids don’t test at or above a “proficient” level in their studies, according to the “Nation’s Report Card” data. Ironically, you may remember that Parker is the same woman who in 2025, made headlines when she couldn’t even spell “Eagles,” as in the Philadelphia Eagles. Her city’s own NFL team. A five-letter word. “E-L-G-S-E-S!”

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School Board Strikes Veterans Day Which Is Outrageous, But the ‘Holiday’ They Kept Is Even More Infuriating

Fairfax County, Virginia, decided students should no longer get Veterans Day as a holiday.

However, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is one “holiday” they’ll gladly keep.

FFX Now reported on Monday that the county school board has arrived at their calendar for the next academic year, which reduced the number of early release days and omitted Veterans Day as a holiday.

Both Veterans Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day were up for omission as holidays, but only the former passed.

Ostensibly, the decision came in response to parents’ concerns about disruptions to the school year.

Fairfax County’s board has not been a shining example for an educational body when looking at its history.

A Virginia mother, Stacey Langton, spoke out three years ago when Fairfax County included lewd LGBT-themed books in its libraries, exposing children to sexual content.

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‘Moderate’ Democrat Abigail Spanberger Signs Bill Forcing Virginia Schools To Consider ‘Restorative Disciplinary Practices’ Before Suspending Students

“Moderate” Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger signed a bill on Monday requiring public schools to consider “restorative disciplinary practices” like “peer mediation” or a “restorative circle” before suspending or expelling students, the Free Beacon’s Peter Hasson reports. The move follows controversial attempts to swap “exclusionary discipline”—what normal people call “discipline”—with “restorative justice” in liberal strongholds like New York City and Portland. It’s a far cry from the affordability-focused agenda on which the “centrist” Spanberger campaigned.

The bill states that “no public elementary or secondary school student shall be suspended, expelled, or excluded from attendance at school unless the school first considers at least one evidence-based restorative disciplinary practice.” Examples include “mentoring,” “a peer jury,” “peer mediation,” “a restorative circle,” and “any other disciplinary practice” that “provides solutions tailored to students’ cultures” and “includes community members reflecting the cultural and demographic diversity of the school community.” Though the bill does not detail how to organize a “restorative circle,” a guide from the left-wing Center for Justice Innovation says such circles are “rooted in centuries-old indigenous practices” and include an “opening ceremony” like a “breathing exercise” before “passing around an object that serves as the talking piece” which “gives the speaker a chance to share openly and uninterrupted.”

You won’t believe this, but after New York City, under former mayor Bill de Blasio, allocated millions of dollars toward “restorative justice” initiatives in schools, chronic absenteeism among city students rose to 34.8 percent in 2022-23 from 26.5 percent in 2018-19, while the number of incidents that required a response from the New York Police Department’s school safety division rose to 4,120 in the first quarter of 2025 from 1,200 in the first quarter of 2016. High-profile incidents exposing the pitfalls of the policy also emerged: In one case, a Jewish high school teacher in Brooklyn sued her district after students who subjected her to Nazi salutes and threats were sent to a “meditation room” rather than suspended.

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Appeals court upholds West Virginia vaccine mandate, denies religious exemption

A federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia can enforce its school vaccine mandate without offering religious exemptions, overturning a lower court decision that had allowed an unvaccinated student to remain enrolled in an online public school.

In a 2-1 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit found the state’s vaccination requirement does not violate the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom.

The case was brought by Anthony and Krystle Perry on behalf of their daughter, who was enrolled in West Virginia Virtual Academy but was later disenrolled after officials determined she was not fully vaccinated. The parents argued vaccination conflicted with their Christian beliefs and sought a religious exemption, which state law does not provide.

West Virginia is one of a small number of states that do not allow religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements.

A lower court had previously sided with the family and issued an injunction allowing the child to continue attending school while the case proceeded. The appeals court reversed that decision, ruling the parents are unlikely to succeed on their constitutional claim.

Legal experts cited in the case said the ruling does not reflect what they describe as a shifting legal landscape around religious exemptions. They pointed to recent Supreme Court decisions that they say require courts to apply a higher standard, known as “strict scrutiny,” when evaluating such claims.

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