Tag: public schools

D.C.’s Test Scores and Absenteeism Rates Are Getting Worse, so Why Are More Students Graduating?

The high school graduation rate in Washington, D.C., is climbing. However, student school performance seems to be falling dramatically. While more and more seniors graduate high school, test scores are down and absenteeism is up.

According to a recent report from the D.C. Policy Center, graduation rates at D.C. public schools and public charter schools have been steadily rising since the 2018–19 school year. In 2022, 75 percent of all students graduated high school in four years, up seven percentage points from 2019. However, this progress is not reflected in measurements tracking students’ academic achievement. On state assessments, the percentage of high school students that “met” or “exceeded” expectations in the math test declined from 18.4 percent in 2019 to just 11 percent in 2022. English scores stayed the same. Absenteeism is also up, with the percentage of students absent for more than 10 percent of the school year reaching a staggering 48 percent in the 2021–22 academic year, increasing from 29 percent three years prior.

Based on academic achievement and school attendance data, fewer D.C. public school students should be graduating high school. Yet the steady rise in graduation rates remains. Why, then, are so many more kids getting high school diplomas?

The answer isn’t exactly clear. One possible reason is increasing grade inflation, meaning that students who haven’t actually learned course material are getting passing grades anyway. There’s an “increase in policy that we’re seeing to not fail students,” Max Eden, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, tells Reason. “You know, 50 percent as the lowest grade kind of policy, which is being picked up in more and more especially urban schools across the country,”

Eden also suggests that D.C. could also be failing to follow its own policies around attendance requirements for graduation. It wouldn’t be the first time District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) have made this blunder. In 2018, an audit of DCPS found that, despite the district’s sharp rise in graduation rates, the increase “was entirely attributable to schools systematically not enforcing their own policies,” says Eden. “And it’s not as though in the wake of these revelations … D.C. really clamped down and you saw the graduation rates plummet. They kind of didn’t do anything to change their policy because they could not stand to have their graduation rates decrease further.”

Unfortunately, graduating kids without necessary academic skills doesn’t lead to better outcomes. Just because more DCPS students are graduating high school doesn’t mean more of them are leaving with important skills.

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Democrat Representative Says Parents ‘Not Qualified’ To Choose Schools For Their Kids

It’s another case of Democrats saying the quiet part out loud.  The school choice movement has been fighting for decades for parents to have the ability to determine which schools get their tax dollars, including schools other than state sponsored institutions.  They have consistently hit a brick wall in terms of legislation, but that is starting to change. 

Conservative groups have long ignored the public school environment as a place of potential indoctrination, often assuming that leftist propaganda was limited to colleges.  However, identity politics and gender theory have now become commonplace within schools across America all the way down to Kindergarten and pre-school ages.  Numerous instances of school sponsored programs involving sexualized curriculum, Critical Race Theory and even drag queen shows are pervasive.

On top of this, many parents in 2020 also found themselves in conflict with public school mandates during the covid hysteria and realized they had few options in dealing with overzealous state restrictions.  In some cases, state officials were calling for forced mRNA vaccination of children in order to get access to educational facilities.     

These developments have startled millions of parents out of their apathy and injected momentum into School Choice policies – A plan to decentralize schooling and take power away from government bureaucrats and far-left teachers unions.  Multiple states have now introduced or passed legislation allowing tax dollars to be allocated for parents to move their children to private schools if they feel their public school is insufficient.  The laws vary, but are often associated with school vouchers. 

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Woke VA middle school bars Whites, Asians from joining college prep program

Cooper Middle School in McLean, Virginia sent out an email inviting students to apply to the College Partnership Program (CPP) offered by Fairfax Country Public Schools (FCPS). The email to parents outlined the criteria for application, which indicated that Black students and Hispanic students can apply. But the same correspondence also stated that all non-disabled Asian or White students whose family members have attended college are not welcome to the CPP.

Those who are accepted into the program can avail of academic counseling, college experiences, assistance with completing college and scholarship applications, a summer experiential learning opportunity and receive news and information related to colleges and careers.

The exclusion of White and Asian students from the CPP criteria appears to be intentional. As per the website of FCPS, a “typical CPP student” is either Black, Hispanic, native American or native Alaskan.

Cooper Middle School’s racism did not sit well with many parents in the school district. One lawyer whose child is enrolled at the school said the CPP was problematic.

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A Teacher Writes: Too Many Teachers See the Indoctrination of Children With Leftist Ideology as Fundamental to Their Role

“Aren’t we supposed to be agents of societal change?” were the words which greeted a colleague of mine recently during a meeting with his line manager. And it is true that teachers are agents of change, but the issue is what that change actually is. It is one thing to help children understand mathematical problems or show them ways in which to structure their writing, but it is another matter entirely to embark on some moral crusade in the name of social justice and political activism. I have worked in education for several years, having taught in both secondary schools and universities, and it has been ever more apparent that so-called professionals see the indoctrination of children with Leftist ideology as fundamental to their role. The woke brigade is, I can assure you, on the march in education and it is winning more ground over time. This article stems from a series of experiences and observations, though the core of it was triggered (as one might say in woke world) by a recent experience with PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education). It is intended in the first instance to provide a snapshot of some of the work which happens in schools, though I am sure readers here could very well already have a good idea about that. In the second instance, it outlines why that work is (to use another woke word) problematic before theorising why such problems arise in schools.

Whilst there is plenty of evidence that Leftist ideology either has permeated or is permeating academic subjects, my focus here is on some teaching resources which were recently sent out by management to all form tutors at my school for use in PSHE. In times gone by, this tended to focus on issues like drugs and drug abuse. However, over time it has increasingly covered issues like sex education, bullying and relationships (one might wonder how previous generations managed to get by just fine without being specifically ‘educated’ about such matters). In still more recent times, PSHE has been used to teach children about the hundreds of different genders which supposedly exist and which defy biology, and it has also been used to scare them about the impending doom which awaits us all with climate change. It might come as no surprise that, yes, PSHE was also used to put the fear of Covid into children by instructing them on the dangers of not wearing a face mask. It was not, of course, used to warn children about the risks of wearing face masks or indeed of the risks of mRNA vaccines (even though PSHE used to educate children to, in the words of Nancy Reagan, ‘just say no’ to drugs).

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Wiener Vows to Stop California Bill Requiring Schools to Inform Parents About Gender Transition

California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is vowing to stop a proposed bill that would require schools to inform parents in writing that their children have chosen to change their gender identity.

The bill, AB 1314, proposed by Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Norco), would provide that

the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in public schools have the right …  to be notified in writing within three days from the date any teacher, counselor, or employee of the school becomes aware that their child is doing either of the following:

(i) Identifying at school as a gender that does not align with the child’s sex on their birth certificate, other official records, or sex assigned at birth.

(ii) Using sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, or using facilities that do not align with the child’s sex on their birth certificate, other official records, or sex assigned at birth.

The bill is motivated by the case of physical education teacher Jessica Tapia, according to NBC Palm Springs, who was fired after challenging a school district policy that required her to “lie” to conceal information from parents about students who wanted to transition to a different gender. She is currently suing the Jurupa Unified School District.

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Oregon Considers Mandatory Lessons About Climate Change in Public Schools

Lawmakers in the state of Oregon are considering legislation which would mandate the teaching of climate change in public schools.

The only other state that is already doing this is the solidly blue state of Connecticut in liberal New England.

Public schools across the country are struggling with students who can barely read or do basic math but advancing the left’s political agenda on claimte change is being given special attention in blue Oregon.

FOX News reports:

Oregon eyes mandate for climate change lessons in schools

Oregon lawmakers are aiming to make the state the second in the nation to mandate climate change lessons for K-12 public school students, further fueling U.S. culture wars in education.

Dozens of Oregon high schoolers submitted support of the bill, saying they care about climate change deeply. Some teachers and parents say teaching climate change could help the next generation better confront it, but others want schools to focus on reading, writing and math after test scores plummeted post-pandemic.

Schools across the U.S. have found themselves at the center of a politically charged battle over curriculum and how matters such as gender, sex education and race should be taught — or whether they should be taught at all.

One of the bill’s chief sponsors, Democratic Sen. James Manning, said even elementary students have told him climate change is important to them.

“We’re talking about third and fourth graders having a vision to understand how this world is changing rapidly,” he said at a Thursday state Capitol hearing in Salem.

Connecticut has the only U.S. state law requiring climate change instruction, and it’s possibly the first time such a bill has been introduced in Oregon, according to legislative researchers. Lawmakers in California and New York are considering similar bills.

Manning’s bill requires every Oregon school district to develop climate change curriculum within three years, addressing ecological, societal, cultural, political and mental health aspects of climate change.

This is a recipe for disaster.

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Americans’ IQ Declining for First Time in Almost a Century, Study Finds

Americans’ average IQ is in decline for the first time in nearly a century, according to a new study, a finding that comes as many schools gut curricula standards to promote so-called equity and inclusion.

Young Americans between the ages of 18 and 22 saw the biggest decline in IQ, according to a new study published in the psychology journal Intelligence and reported on by Campus Reform. The study’s authors suggest that these IQ declines occurring between 2006 and 2018 may be due to poor-quality education.

The findings could indicate “that either the caliber of education has decreased across this study’s sample and/or that there has been a shift in the perceived value of certain cognitive skills,” according to the report.

The study comes as school districts across the country eliminate honors curricula from high schools in the name of racial equity. Culver City School District in Los Angeles caught backlash from parents of honors students who lost opportunities to enroll in accelerated programs.

“It’s not working and we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater,” said one Culver City parent.

Universities have also lowered their standards for admission, with the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University removing their entrance exam requirements.

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TV Channel Had To Cut Feed When Gov. DeSantis Read Pornographic School Book, Reporter Says

On Wednesday, a TV channel had to cut its live feed after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) read aloud a pornographic book kept in Florida schools, according to a reporter.

DeSantis held a press conference Wednesday, titled “Exposing the Book Ban Hoax,” in which he presented a five-minute long video, reading from books the administration had banned from classrooms across the state.

The books include “Gender Queer,” which depicts masturbation and oral sex between girls; “Flamer,” which describes explicit sex acts between boys; and “Let’s Talk About It,” which explains how men and women can masturbate and shows how to perform anal sex.

“Some of the media had to cut their feed when books with graphic content were displayed that were found in K-12 school libraries,” DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin said on Twitter.

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Surprise: More Right-Wing ‘Conspiracies’ and ‘Misinformation’ Now Confirmed

Let’s begin with the important point that dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories are, in fact, real problems that seem to be gaining momentum in American politics.  The Left flatters itself by pretending this phenomenon is, more or less, the sole or overwhelming province of the Right, all while indulging or embracing their own falsehoods.  But these things do exist, on both sides, and they really do threaten to warp our collective sense of reality by injecting poisonous forms of paranoia into our discourse and polity.  But here’s what also erodes trust in institutions, and degrades the importance of truth, within American society: Partisans and ideologues, posing as neutral arbiters, arrogantly declaring ideas or allegations with which they disagree to be “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories” — not just debatable or controversial, mind you, but factually wrong, and dangerously so.  This goes beyond dishonesty; it’s irresponsible.  

When the official Narrative shapers have aggressively attempted to disqualify something as crazy and beyond the pale, and then reality intervenes and disproves their spin, people are much less likely to believe them next time they fire up their warning sirens.  Some toxic claims truly need to be debunked and discarded, but when would-be gatekeepers’ credibility has sustained one self-inflicted blow after another, the ability for truth to win out over perilous and inaccurate nonsense is diminished.  Let’s walk through just a handful of examples that have come to light within the last few days.  First, one “conspiracy theory,” for which some on the Right were roundly denounced and ridiculed by the bien pensant ‘Consensus’ crowd, was the idea that COVID-19 escaped from a Chinese laboratory.  At some point, this possibility morphed from unspeakable, to potentially viable, to perhaps probable, including among some of the very people who’d lectured anyone who’d whispered about it even months earlier.  Over the weekend, we saw this report, as the reality trajectory continues to bend toward erstwhile right-wing “misinformation:”

The U.S. Energy Department has concluded that the Covid pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak, according to a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. The shift by the Energy Department, which previously was undecided on how the virus emerged, is noted in an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines’s office…The Energy Department now joins the Federal Bureau of Investigation in saying the virus likely spread via a mishap at a Chinese laboratory. Four other agencies, along with a national intelligence panel, still judge that it was likely the result of a natural transmission, and two are undecided. The Energy Department’s conclusion is the result of new intelligence and is significant because the agency has considerable scientific expertise and oversees a network of U.S. national laboratories, some of which conduct advanced biological research…The FBI previously came to the conclusion that the pandemic was likely the result of a lab leak in 2021 with “moderate confidence” and still holds to this view.

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Washington teacher says schools must do more to keep students’ info secret from ‘Christo-fascist’ parents

A Washington teacher complained on Friday that many schools’ “guidelines and laws” haven’t helped them keep students’ information secret from “Christo-fascist” parents.

A tweet shows Auburn School District 408 teacher Karen Love responding to another that urged parents to check their school district’s policy regarding keeping info about their child’s secret from them. 

“Parents-check your school districts’ policy regarding keeping info about YOUR child secret from you. There are some scary policies out there. Schools should not have a right to keep info about your child from you unless abuse by you is suspected. There I said it and mean it,” a tweet written by “The Principle’s Office” reads.

Love responded, “I cannot disagree with this more. So many students are not safe in this nation from their Christo-fascist parents. And our guidelines and laws haven’t caught up with this.”

The Twitter thread of Love and the other users was reposted as a screenshot by Ian Prior, a senior advisor at American First Legal. 

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