Tag: public schools

California State Guidelines Discourage Schools From Offering Advanced Middle School Math

A small but growing number of American schools are reducing or delaying access to advanced courses. Most often, these changes have been enacted in the name of reducing achievement gaps between demographic groups. However, rather than helping marginalized students, these policies deny educational opportunities for gifted students of all backgrounds.

“Detracking” is an increasingly popular proposal among educators that attempts to reduce the degree to which students are separated by academic ability. It typically takes the form of removing advanced course offerings or delaying the introduction of these offerings. Supporters claim that marginalized students are often wrongly placed—or place themselves—in less advanced courses and that these students often stay on a less advanced curricular path.

In San Francisco, public schools have eliminated accelerated math courses in middle and high school since 2014, and several Seattle schools had rolled out detracking efforts by 2016. Earlier this year, a Detroit-area school district eliminated middle school honors math classes, while schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts, began phasing out advanced middle school math in 2017—though the district announced it would reverse course in August. Outrage erupted in February when one Los Angeles–area school eliminated honors English courses for ninth- and 10th-grade students.

Keep reading

The predators’ playground

Clara didn’t think much of it when the social science teacher gave her his phone number.

She’d met Alex Rai in her fifth-period journalism class. He was friends with the journalism teacher, Eric Burgess, and often stopped by Room 16 during his prep period to kill time. Burgess introduced Rai to Clara, telling her that Rai had been his student a decade before. Burgess thought they’d get along.

In the weeks that followed, Rai would perch on Clara’s desk, leaning over as he asked about her day and who she hung out with after school. He’s only a few years older than my sister, Clara thought when Rai texted her one day after volleyball practice. It was a hot Southern California afternoon in 2008, the kind where dry heat radiates off the asphalt. She was bored. Why not pass the time by chatting with the cool teacher?

Soon, Rai was texting her regularly. At first, the messages were flirtatious. Before long, he was calling Clara late at night. She recalled him asking whether she’d had sex yet with any boys her age. Halfway through her senior year, Clara dropped her humanities class so she could become his teacher’s aide.

She loved her humanities class. But Rai had encouraged her to make the switch. They could spend more time together, she recalled him telling her, and he could make her truancies from ditching other classes disappear.

Clara remembers her sister warning her not to get too close. She’d heard stories about Rai from girls who’d attended Rosemead with him, when he was a wrestler on a team known as much for its aggressive pursuit of teenage girls as its state champions. But Clara brushed the concerns aside. She didn’t show her sister the texts Rai sent, teasing her — “you wish you were sleeping next to me” — and asking if she missed him.

Keep reading

Trans-identified male violently beats female student in Oregon middle school

A young female student was violently beaten by a trans-identified male in the hallway of an Oregon public school.

The shocking incident occurred at Hazelbrook Middle School in the Tigard Tualatin School District, which is right outside of Portland, Oregon.

The brutal beatdown captured on video shows the trans-identified student, a biological male, throwing multiple blows to the female student’s head after he violently grabbed her hair, yanked her back and forth, then knocked her down flat in the school hallway.

As the girl lay on the ground, he viscously grabbed her by the hair, dragging the girl across the ground before violently assaulting her further.

“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything!” the victim can be heard pleading to the trans attacker, according to the video.

“Touch me again, b-tch,” the trans student threatened before walking away.

The female student stands up and walks over to the person filming the incident in tears and says, “I can’t breathe.”

The victim’s mother posted about her daughter’s “horrific” attack on social media, demanding answers from the school and threatening legal action against the trans attacker.

“Yesterday my daughter was attacked at school by a biological male student dressed as a girl. I cannot even put into words my anger at the situation after watching this horrific video nor my distraught knowing I can’t do anything because I will ultimately, end up in jail. To the school- Where were the supervisors? Why wasn’t anyone present in the hallways? I don’t want excuses, I want answers. Of course, the coward that he is fled after putting hands on her,” the mother said.

“HIS name is, [omitted] and as of right now the police cannot find him. We WILL be pressing charges. I want everyone to see this video. I want everyone to share this video. Assaulting someone is never ok BUT a boy/man should NEVER lay hands on a girl/woman and that’s on the parents for not raising a decent human being. Clearly, [omitted] isn’t a human of good values or morals,” she continued.

“In fact, he doesn’t seem like a good human being at all. He is known for being a bully and has done this to several girls. He is clearly, targeting females. [Omitted], if you see this just know we are coming for you and we will not stop until you are punished in the court of law to the furthest extent. You will NOT get away with this,” the mother said.

Keep reading

California School District Considers Removing Honors Courses For Sake Of “Equity”

A San Francisco Bay Area high school district is considering removing honors classes for high school students in an effort to streamline its courses and promote “equity” – a move that has sparked concern among students, parents, and teachers.

The Sequoia Union High School District’s board discussed the move during a six-hour meeting Sept. 20, but did not come to a decision on the matter.

District administration staff annually review courses based on students’ academic outcomes, and “typically in response to low scores … that have not improved over time,” according to a district analysis.

Arguing for equity, the analysis stated that eliminating certain honors courses and merging students taking “advanced” classes with those taking them at “grade-level” would “diversify” the classroom and could improve academic outcomes for students who “have historically experienced barriers” to advanced coursework.

Over the past several years, Sequoia Union has merged advanced freshman science with grade-level science courses and merged advanced freshman math courses with grade-level math districtwide.

At several individual high schools, advanced English, physics, and chemistry have additionally been merged with their respective grade-level courses.

The analysis said its study found such changes had little-to-no effect on the districts’ advanced-placement students—while students that have struggled saw academic improvement and higher rates meeting college entrance requirements.

“When students have greater access to rigorous coursework and are held to high standards, they are more likely to meet those expectations,” the analysis stated.

But SUHSD Students First—an advocacy group made up of students, parents, teachers, and community members—raised concerns about transparency, saying that the school community was not given an opportunity for input on the matter.

The group said they believed the analysis was “biased” toward merging despite their efforts to work with the district to get neutral data.

“We are disappointed the board did not ensure a neutral report and did not have any participation in the review of the data.  It is clear we should have advocated for an external contractor to conduct the research and prepare the report,” the group said in a statement on their website.

Keep reading

Lawsuit Over Sex-Trafficked Teen Could Stop Schools From Hiding Kids’ Dysphoria

The mother of a Virginia teen sex-trafficked twice after her school concealed her newly asserted gender identity has filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against school staff and a Maryland public defender who alleged parental “misgendering” and abuse. The complaint was filed Aug. 22 in the Western District of Virginia court on behalf of Michele Blair by the Child and Parental Rights Campaign (CPRC) with support from the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR).

It alleges that the defendants’ actions—first in withholding vital information about the girl’s gender identification and related assault in the boys’ bathroom, then later by falsely alleging abuse to deprive her mother of custody—resulted in the child’s ordeal at the hands of sexual predators not once, but twice. Blair v. Appomattox et al. will set critical precedents in two areas of roiling national debate: parental notification of gender transition in schools and parental custody relating to gender identity.

Keep reading

NY Teacher Who ‘Prefers’ Underage Girls Hid Disturbing Content in Secret Application on Phone

A New York educator has been apprehended for his alleged involvement in child exploitation.

Kostas Fekkas, 34, was employed at a Manhattan charter school at the time of his arrest on September 14. His teaching career also spans several other schools in the Bronx and neighboring Westchester County.

Court documents reveal that Fekkas communicated with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations agent, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. During this interaction, Fekkas allegedly stated his preference for underage girls and even claimed to have had sexual relations with a 10th grader.

“Cool. I usually cut off at 9th grade but you’re insanely gorgeous,” Fekkas allegedly told the undercover agent, who identified herself as an 8th grader. Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was unequivocal in his condemnation.

“Kostas Fekkas’s alleged conduct is despicable,” Williams said. “As a teacher, Fekkas was entrusted with the care and well-being of children, who he in turn allegedly sought to victimize.”

Keep reading

Fury as ZERO children at 13 Baltimore state schools pass math exam – as parent groups call on leaders to step down

A slate of Baltimore schools have sparked outrage after zero students passed their state math exams – with almost 75 percent testing at the lowest possible score.

The poor performances came in the latest round of Maryland‘s state testing, where 13 high schools in the city – a staggering 40 percent – failed to produce a single student with a ‘proficient’ score in math.

‘This is educational homicide,’ said Jason Rodriguez, deputy director of Baltimore-based nonprofit People Empowered by the Struggle, to Fox Baltimore.

The activist said there is ‘no excuse’ for the failure, which has come after years of warnings over the city’s poor education standards.

It also comes days after a scathing new study found that schooling across America fell to dire lows during the pandemic, concluding that one-third of fourth and eighth grade students can’t even read at a ‘basic’ level.  

Keep reading

Author Responds to Sen Kennedy’s Viral Reading of ‘Gender Queer:’ ‘I Don’t Recommend This Book for Kids’

“Gender Queer” author Maia Kobabe reacted to a Republican senator reading a sexually explicit passage from the book during a Senate hearing, saying that the book it isn’t recommended for “kids.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., read from several explicit books found in public schools around the country last Tuesday. One of the titles was Kobabe’s “Gender Queer,” a graphic novel that has caused controversy among parents and criticized for its depictions of sex acts as well as discussions of masturbation. It was the most banned book in 2021, according to the American Library Association.

Kennedy read one explicit passage from “Gender Queer” at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that went viral. Kobabe reacted to Kennedy’s reading in an interview with the Washington Post Thursday.

“I have seen the clip. Another trans-activist friend texted it to me with a very ‘Congratulations, and also I’m sorry’ attitude,” Kobabe said.

“[T]he point of the comics was initially to be a tool to help me come out to my own family. A way to say: ‘This is what I’m talking about when I talk about gender. The pronouns are the tip of the iceberg,” Kobabe, who uses “e/em/eir” pronouns, said.

Keep reading

Police report reveals Rocky River intermediate school principal’s text conversations about sex, drugs, and alcohol with kids as young as 17

Shocking details have been revealed as part of the investigation into the Rocky River School District principal who was placed on administrative leave in June after a complaint was filed by the parent of a former high school student. 

Dr. Heath Horton continues to be on leave from his post as Kensington Intermediate School principal and is barred from school district properties during the investigation. 

Earlier this week, the Rocky River Police Department released a redacted 66-page report detailing a long series of text messages between the 42-year-old Horton and 17 former students with ages ranging from 17 to 23. In those messages, Horton said “we can never share our relationship through education.” He said he had to be viewed “as their uncle or family friend.”

From June 27, 2022 to May 11, 2023, Horton sends several text messages to a male asking for sexual videos. One interaction outlined in the report has Horton saying, “Don’t tease me with a three-second video. I want a longer video.” He adds, “Get me a good nut on face or ass vid/pic.”

The report also mentions a “Boom Room,” described as an extra bedroom at Horton’s house. Horton allegedly brought former students to his house, including minors, to drink alcohol and smoke cigars. In several text messages, Horton is seen propositioning people to “visit the Boom.”

Keep reading

Chicago Teachers Union Boss Sends Son to Private School

The head of the Chicago Teachers Union who has described school choice as “the choice of racists” sends her son to a private school. 

Stacy Davis Gates, who was elected as president of the Chicago Teachers Union in 2022, has long derided school choice—a wide range of policies that make it easier for parents to send their children to schools other than their local public school, often by getting back some of the government funding that would have followed their child to public school—as inherently racist.

“*School choice* was actually the choice of racists,” Gates tweeted in August 2022. “It was created to avoid integrating schools with Black children. Now it’s the civil rights struggle of our generation?”

In a letter she wrote earlier this month, Gates explained her decision to enroll her son in a private school while her other two children remained in Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

Chicago classrooms are “struggling to recover from waves of school closings and disinvestment under previous mayors. Public and charter high schools in our Black and Brown neighborhoods are living and breathing examples of inequality,” she wrote. “For my husband and me, it forced us to send our son, after years of attending a public school, to a private high school so he could live out his dream of being a soccer player while also having a curriculum that can meet his social and emotional needs.”

This excuse misses key context. While Gates is right that school systems across the nation, including in Chicago, are still reeling from pandemic-era setbacks, she herself led the charge to keep Chicago Public Schools closed sporadically as late as early 2022. When CPS announced a two-week shutdown in January 2022, Gates told The New York Times that the closure was necessary for schools to “get themselves together.”

Gates also frames CPS as underfunded, describing “decades of systemic underinvestment in marginalized communities.” However, over the past five academic years, CPS’ operating budget has actually skyrocketed—increasing from $5.92 billion to $8.49 billion, despite enrollment dropping by nearly 40,000 students over the same period. 

Further, in consistently framing school choice advocates as racist, Gates also ignores the fact that minority parents are often the strongest supporters of school choice. According to a RealClear Opinion Research poll from earlier this summer, 73 percent of black respondents supported school choice, the highest of any demographic group. At least 70 percent of other demographic groups also support school choice policies.

Keep reading