Tag: public schools

America’s First Legal Launches “Parents’ Rights Toolkit” To Help Families Protect Children From Woke Educators

America’s First Legal (“AFL”) just launched a “Parents Rights Toolkit” to help parents protect children from woke educators and policies in K-12 schools, colleges and universities.

The AFL toolkit includes template letters and other resources to help parents file civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights under:

  • Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex;
  • Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin; and
  • The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (“PPRA”), which protects parents’ rights to know about and opt out of divisive race and gender-related lessons and curricula.

The toolkit additionally includes state-specific Freedom of Information template letters that can be used when making public records requests.

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Get the Government out of the Classroom

President-elect Trump has nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. President-elect Trump promised that, if confirmed, Mrs. McMahon would “spearhead” the effort to “send education back to the states.” This has led some people to wonder if Linda McMahon may be the last Secretary of Education.

The Constitution does not give the federal government any role in education. Instead, education is left in the hands of state and local governments and private citizens. For almost 200 years American children were provided with education largely free of US government interference.

In the 1950s, a significant federal intervention in education was created as a response to fears that America was losing the “space race” to the Soviet Union and thus needed to improve science education. In this instance, the Cold War contributed to the growth of federal government involvement in education.

The Department of Education was created in 1979. Since then, presidents, both Republican and Democrat, have expanded federal funding and control of education with little or no improvement in student performance. Anger over their children being denied a year or more of education over fears of covid caused many parents to abandon government schools. Many other parents began challenging the use of schools to indoctrinate children in “woke” ideology. Some of these parents started attending school board meetings and running for school boards.

Woke education also caused more parents to abandon government schools. The key to improving education quality and stopping schools from promoting a political agenda is restoring control over education to those most concerned that children receive a quality education and who best know children’s unique needs and abilities: parents.

The best way to empower parents is to restore parents’ control over the education dollar. Fortunately, President-elect Trump has proposed adding a 10,000 dollars tax credit for homeschooling parents to the tax legislation Congress will consider next year. Tax credits should also be made available for private school tuition and any educational expenses — such as supplies, tutoring, or costs related to participation in an extracurricular activity — of parents who choose to send their children to government schools. Tax credits should also be available for donations to programs helping low-income students attend private schools. Education tax credits should be paired with cuts in the Department of Education. Americans will always spend generously on education. The question is who should control the education dollar: politicians and bureaucrats or parents.

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Ouija Board Lesson Spells Trouble for Michigan Elementary School Teacher

A substitute teacher at a Michigan elementary school has been fired after she gave a lesson on the Ouija Board to her class of second graders. The eyebrow-raising incident reportedly occurred last week at Freeman Elementary in the city of Flint. For reasons unexplained, the unnamed teacher showed the youngsters a video on the infamous divination device and promised to bring one of the ‘talking boards’ to class the following day. As one might imagine, the misguided discussion of the proverbial dark arts did not sit well with parents when they learned about the lesson.

Billie Deville Mitchell, the mother of one of the students, told a local TV station that the video was particularly traumatizing for her daughter. “She has not been able to sleep at night,” the mom lamented, “it is the same for me knowing that she is still having reactions to whatever she learned in the classroom.” After Mitchell and other parents took their concerns to the school district, administrators issued a swift response wherein they apologized for the unfortunate incident that, they stressed, was not a part of the official curriculum.

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Ex-Maryland teacher sentenced to 30 years for having sex with student — but will only spend one year behind bars

A disgraced Maryland teacher who had sex with a teenage student nearly two dozen times was slapped with a 30-year prison sentence — but will only serve one year behind bars for the crime. 

Melissa Marie Curtis, 32, was handed the three-decade sentence with all but 12 months suspended for engaging in sexual acts with the 14-year-old while she was a teacher at Montgomery Village Middle School in 2015, Fox 5 DC reported.

Curtis — who was 22 at the time — had sexual intercourse with the minor more than 20 times between January and May 2015 — with illicit trysts occurring within the school, her car and several residences, including her mother’s home in Montgomery County, according to court documents obtained by the outlet.

The convicted perv also gave the eighth-grader alcohol and marijuana, the Montgomery County Police Department said.

Prosecutors said the pair were often left alone together after the young teen volunteered for an after-school program Curtis headed, according to court docs.

Police launched their investigation in October 2023 when the victim came forward with the abuse allegations.

Curtis, of Upper Marlboro, was a teacher for approximately two years and had also taught at Lakelands Park Middle School, cops said.

The sicko teacher turned herself in to police on Nov. 7, 2023, and was charged with sexual abuse of a minor and multiple counts of third- and fourth-degree sexual offenses. 

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Oregon School Staff Covered Up Pedophile Teachers’ Abuse For Nearly A Decade Until Viral TikTok Video Blew Lid Wide Open

A pair of teachers at St. Helens High School in Oregon were arrested last week on charges of sexual abuse taking place over the past nine years, and school administrators are being lambasted by the public for reportedly covering up the molestation.

46-year-old Eric Stearns, the choir teacher, and recently retired teacher Mark Collins, 64, allegedly sexually abused at least nine underage girls from 2015 to 2024.

According to KGW 8, school officials received complaints of sexual abuse in 2019, but seem to have ignored the allegations and never contacted law enforcement.

Furthermore, Stearns continued teaching after the school was notified police had launched an investigation against him.

The law enforcement investigation began shortly after a former student of the school posted a viral TikTok video in September accusing several teachers of engaging in illegal sexual activities with students when he attended St. Helens.

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In Logansport, Indiana, kids are being pushed out of schools after migrants swelled county’s population by 30%: ‘Everybody else is falling behind’

Thousands of migrants from Haiti and dozens of other countries have arrived in this isolated Indiana city of 18,000 in just a few years.

Furious residents say they no longer feel safe in the once-sleepy downtown, and their kids are being muscled out of the schools by new students who don’t know English and need a lot of help.

They blame Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.

“Do something. Our community cannot withstand this many people being here,” Candice Espinoza, 32, a local photographer, told The Post when asked what her message would be to the Democratic presidential candidate.

Nancy Baker, 44, a mother of two, was more blunt about what she would tell Harris: “Get off my property.”

“I don’t see how she can stand behind Biden the whole time and she keeps deflecting anytime they ask questions.”

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New York high schoolers to stage WALKOUTS in protest of ballot measure that will allow trans athletes to participate in girls’ sports

High school students across New York are planning to walk out of their classrooms on Oct. 24 in protest of a ballot measure that would allow transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sporting events.

New York’s Proposal 1, also known as the “Equal Rights Amendment,” would add language to the New York Bill of Rights to provide that people can’t be denied rights based on their “ethnicity, national origin, age and disability” as well as due to their “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive healthcare and autonomy.”

Campaigners in favor of Proposal 1 are marketing the ballot measure as a pro-abortion measure that would enshrine abortion rights into state law. However, the Coalition to Protect Kids, the main organization that has organized the statewide walkouts, argue that Proposal 1 would not only protect abortion rights but also mandate extreme “trans rights” in New York, including the participation of transgender athletes in girls sports.

The statewide demonstration, dubbed “Walk Off for Fairness Day,” is organized by the Coalition to Protect Kids with support from the Catholic Church, the New York Republican State Committee and the Conservative Party of New York State. (Related: World Athletics bans transgender athletes from competing in female category at international events.)

“Girls are being systematically canceled in this state, and ‘Walk Off for Fairness Day’ will give them a safe opportunity to make their voices heard,” said Coalition spokeswoman Ayesha Kreutz. “So many of these young women are afraid of speaking out, so they’re forced to watch as 50 years of female athletic progress gets washed away by destructive ideologues. Girls are not second-class citizens, so why are they being treated that way?”

Many high school students across New York have spoken out in support of the walkout.

“It’s not right for boys to compete against girls in sports. It’s a huge disadvantage for girls,” said Hannah Pompeo, a 16-year soccer player at Eden High School near Buffalo.

Similarly, Millie McCormack, a dancer from Somers High School, stated that she and her sister would join the protest because they believe transgender athletes threaten the fairness of girls’ sports. “I don’t think it’s right for men to be in our safe spaces. We worked hard for places on our teams. Boys have physical advantages we don’t have.”

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Berlin Freezes School Budgets While Allocating Billions For Migrant Housing

Berlin’s public schools are facing a budget freeze that has halted spending on key activities, including school trips, as the city contends with major financial challenges.

The freeze follows the Berlin House of Representatives’ decision to allocate an additional €1.3 billion for the accommodation of migrants, raising concerns about the city’s spending priorities.

In a letter issued on Wednesday, Education State Secretary Christina Henke (CDU) informed school administrators that they are no longer allowed to enter into “financially effective” contracts that extend into the next financial year. According to Tagesspiegel, this restriction includes school trips, where teachers’ travel expenses — typically reimbursed by the state — will no longer be covered.

Sven Zimmerschied, head of Friedensburg High School in Charlottenburg and board member of the Berlin Secondary School Heads’ Association, expressed his concerns over the sudden halt.

“On Monday I signed the leasing contract for a new copier,” he said, ahead of the ban.

The budget freeze, he explained, will disrupt many routine activities, though he noted that exceptions could be made in cases of “indispensability and urgency.”

The move comes as the city struggles to balance its budget following the House of Representatives’ decision in June to spend an additional €1.3 billion on the accommodation of asylum seekers. This includes expanding tent cities at former airports in Tegel and Tempelhof, renting more hotel space, and setting up 16 new locations for container housing.

During the summer, Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) warned that Berlin’s capacity to accommodate more refugees was nearing its limit.

“The pressure is increasing. We already have no places,” Wegner said.

The billions set aside have funded new emergency housing but at the cost of cuts to other areas, including education.

The budget freeze has drawn criticism, with many wondering why funds are available for migrant accommodation but not for school activities.

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Canada’s woke Stasi

Under other circumstances, former school trustee Barry Neufeld may have retired as one of your curmudgeonly, albeit amusing, elderly neighbours, equipped with a brash sense of humour, a glass of wine and a cigarette. Had he not introduced himself at a recent panel event I spoke on in Victoria, British Columbia (BC) about the harms of gender-identity ideology, I would never have pegged him as a supposed hate-monger. He seemed rather jovial, in fact. Yet the Canadian media and some of Canada’s most powerful unions see things differently. They have made Neufeld their nemesis.

Neufeld is now in his seventies. His troubles began in 2017. This was when he discovered a new gender-identity curriculum for kids coming down the pike in his school district of Chilliwack, BC. This was the year that the SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) 123 programme was implemented in public schools across the province, with the aim of making classrooms more ‘inclusive’ for LGBT-identified kids. That same year, Bill C-16 was passed by the national parliament, adding ‘gender identity’ to the list of protected characteristics under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Both pieces of legislation were introduced with little public debate and most Canadians were completely unaware of what was even happening.

But Neufeld noticed and spoke out on Facebook, criticising SOGI 123 for instructing ‘children that gender is not biologically determined, but is a social construct’. ‘At the risk of being labelled a bigoted homophobe’, he wrote, ‘I have to say that I support traditional family values and I agree with the [American College of Pediatricians] that allowing little children to choose to change gender is nothing short of child abuse’.

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Indiana Teacher and Democrat County Chair Arrested For Masturbating in Front of His Students

A teacher and Democratic Party official in Indiana has been charged and arrested with masturbating in front of his students.

According to court filings obtained by The Commercial Review, 37-year-old Joel Bowers allegedly masturbated under his desk while teaching in April of this year.

A 14-year-old girl who witnessed the incident told law enforcement Bowers “would not get out of his seat and didn’t tell us to do anything.”

“There was white stuff on his pants and he would not get up for anything. He had his hand down there and was sweating but it was cold in his room,” she explained.

“His hands was down there but when someone went up there he would wipe his hand off with paper towel.”

Students who witnessed Bowers pleasuring himself captured the incident on camera and submitted it to investigators. The footage purportedly shows him looking at his phone while engaging in the act.

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