Tag: race

‘Equity’ Grading Is the Latest Educational Fad Destined To Fail

Modern public-education history is littered with novel education theories that have failed so spectacularly that the terms are now used as pejoratives. For instance, when I was in elementary school in the 1960s, the “New Math” focused on teaching abstractions rather than fundamentals. You can find reams of research documenting its failure decades later, but the evidence was recognized almost immediately.

That then-new approach “ignored completely the fact that mathematics is a cumulative development and that it is practically impossible to learn the newer creations if one does not know the older ones,” according to Morris Kline’s 1973 “Common Core,” a set of educational standards embraced by California and 39 other states in 2010. On hindsight, it also deserves a failing grade.

“Despite the theory’s intuitive appeal, standards-based reform does not work very well in reality,” read a 2021 Brookings Institution report. “The illusion of a coherent, well-coordinated system is gained at the expense of teachers’ flexibility in tailoring instruction to serve their students.” Don’t get me started on some of the loopier ones: pass-fail grading, the replacement of phonics with whole-language learning, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

“Education in the United States has lurched from fad to fad for the better part of a century, finding ever-ingenious ways to underperform preceding generations,” explained investigative reporter Joe Herring in a 2022 piece reviewing some of them. Apparently, there isn’t enough productive employment for education PhDs, so they spend their time dreaming up big experiments to improve education rather than focusing on the obvious ones.

The process gains life as evidence pours in about the latest underperformance. And the latest data certainly is impressive, albeit in a depressing way. Following COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, traditional public schools (and California’s in particular) couldn’t rise to the occasion. Teachers’ unions slowed re-openings. Test scores plummeted, especially for poor and minority students. Many students checked out permanently, as soaring chronic absentee rates prove.

Always eager to embrace easy-button solutions rather than, say, ideas that promote competitiveness and excellence, our school bureaucracies are on to some “innovative” ideas that have a ballpark-zero chance of improving educational outcomes. The new ones are based around the concept of equity. As with every education reform fad, they sound OK in the elevator pitch. Who doesn’t support equity? But they will create a mess that further impedes student progress.

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George H.W. Bush’s Alma Mater Throwing A Beach Party For People Of Color Only — White Students Appear To Be Excluded

Oops, they did it again!

This is not the first time that the elite private day school in Greenwich, CT, has scheduled an event for people of color only.

The last time Greenwich Country Day School (GCDS) tried to hold an event that excluded white students the story became national news after the Greenwich Republican Town Committee posted the GCDS letter on X. The effort was unsurprisingly organized by the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“The annual Cider and Donuts event is open to GCDS families who identify as Black, Asian, Latinx, multi-racial, Indigenous, Middle Eastern, and/or people of color,” read the announcement which listed nearly every group, except white students.

Eventually the school capitulated and opened the event to any interested students.

But that’s not stopping GCDS from trying to hold another event that appears to exclude white students, this time it’s the “POC Beach Party”.

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College Activists Postpone Anti-Israel Encampment Because Students Are Too White

Students at the University of Washington postponed an anti-Israel demonstration planned for Thursday because too many of the students who signed up are white.

According to MyNorthwest, a Washington-based radio station, the University of Washington’s Progressive Student Union (UWPSU) opted to delay an encampment in solidarity with Palestinian terrorists “to make sure this encampment is a better reflection of the UW community, and having even greater unity with Muslim, Palestinian and Arab students.”

“We want to be part of a much larger coalition of groups and make no mistake, WE WILL HAVE A UW ENCAMPMENT! We want to make sure everyone’s voice is included and this action is as safe, secure, and strong as possible,” read a statement from the far-left student union published by MyNorthwest.

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London Museum’s ‘LGBTQ Audio Guide’ Wrongly Claims British Monarch Was ‘Person Of Colour’

A London museum is facing backlash after it was revealed that a special ‘LGBTQ audio guide’ it is providing to visitors is claiming that the wife of King George III was mixed race.

The audio guide is being used in the Queen’s House in Greenwich, a publicly funded part of Royal Museums Greenwich.

A section of the guide references a large golden sculpture of Queen Charlotte, claiming: “Queen Charlotte, the nation’s first royal person of colour.”

The guide then states “Yep, you heard me. The insecure white boys writing history conveniently forget to mention that bit, because… well, structural racism.”

There is no evidence at all that the queen, who was of German ancestry, was of any other heritage than white European. 

Indeed, it appears that one basis for the claim may be that the Netflix series Bridgerton and its spin off show Queen Charlotte has a mixed race actor playing the role of the queen.

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CNN Reporter Slips Up, Suggests People Were “Happy” OJ “Could Get Away With” It Because He Was Black

A CNN reporter made a revealing Freudian slip when she suggested people were “happy to see ” OJ Simpson “get away with” it because he was black.

Simpson died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 76, it was announced yesterday.

The former NFL star was cleared of murdering his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994 in the so-called “trial of the century,” although many believe the verdict was wrong.

Simpson was later found liable of murder in a civil trial and ordered to pay a $33.5million judgment to the victim’s families.

Commenting on Simpson’s death, CNN’s Stephanie Elam placed it in the context of the race riots of the 1990’s, arguing that people were “happy to see” OJ being cleared as a form of restorative racial justice.

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No Taxes For ‘Black Folk’, Says Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) has suggested that black people in the United States pay no taxes, reported Dallas City Wire.

“Just this past week I saw, I don’t remember which celebrity, but it was actually a celebrity, and I was like, that’s not necessarily a bad idea, but I’d have to think through it a lot,” Crockett said in a video interview shared April 9 by X account End Wokeness.

“One of the things that they propose is black folk not have to pay taxes for a certain amount of time.”

“Because then again, that puts money back in your pocket,” said Crockett.

This is the very same Jasmine Crockett who, during a September 2023 hearing on the impeachment of Joe Biden said of the president and his son, Hunter Biden:

I will tell you what Joe Biden has been guilty of. He is unfortunately been guilty of loving his child unconditionally and that is the only evidence that they have brought forward. And honestly, I hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child.

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NPR journalist blows whistle on network’s obsession with DEI and progressive diktats and reveals how stories like Hunter Biden laptop were ignored: ‘Here’s how we lost America’s trust’

A veteran NPR editor has blown the whistle on how the publicly-funded broadcaster has become an activist organization obsessed with pushing progressive ideals. 

Uri Berliner, a business editor at NPR for 25 years, has offered a glimpse into his belief that NPR has gone from a respected information source to one that can’t be trusted to honestly cover the news. 

In an essay for The Free Press, Berliner notes that while NPR has always had a liberal bent, the publication was not ‘not knee-jerk, activist, or scolding’ – something he says changed when Donald Trump entered the political arena. 

Berliner uncovers how NPR knowingly kept information from its audience during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. 

He says NPR editors were quick to jump on claims that Donald Trump was a Russian asset – but far more reticent to cover their subsequent debunking.

It was a similar story with the Covid lab leak theory, which NPR continues to discredit, as well as the Hunter Biden laptop, which bosses declined to cover, Berliner says.  

‘Today, those who listen to NPR or read its coverage online find something different: the distilled worldview of a very small segment of the U.S. population,’ Berliner writes.

Berliner tracks the last days of the old NPR to 2011, when he says it still had a leftist tilt, but ‘still bore bore a resemblance to America at large,’ and an audience that described themselves as 26 percent conservative, 23 percent moderate and 37 percent liberal.

But by 2023, only 11 percent of listeners described themselves as very or somewhat conservative, while 21 percent said they were ‘middle of the road,’ and 67 percent reported they were very or somewhat liberal. 

‘That wouldn’t be a problem for an openly polemical news outlet serving a niche audience. But for NPR, which purports to consider all things, it’s devastating both for its journalism and its business model,’ the veteran editor says in his essay.

Berliner explains that Trump’s 2016 candidacy for presidency changed how NPR covered politics, writing: ‘what began as tough, straightforward coverage of a belligerent, truth-impaired president veered toward efforts to damage or topple Trump’s presidency.’

NPR, Berliner writes, became obsessed with rumors about Trump colluding with Russia to defeat Hillary Clinton, repeatedly covering Representative Adam Schiff as he led the fight against Trump.

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Saturdays Only For “People Of Color” At UC Berkeley Farm; Report

A community farm run by the University of California at Berkeley only allows “people of color” to participate on Saturdays, according to a new federal complaint.

The report to the Department of Education accuses the Gill Tract Community Farm of racial discrimination in violation of Title VI.

Run by the public university, the farm is a research, education, and extension project “focused on ecological farming and food justice,” according to its website. It welcomes the public to harvest food if they “help with weeding, planting, and watering.”

However, the Mountain States Legal Foundation, which filed the complaint last week, said the program discriminates against white people.

“Saturdays are exclusively BIPOC,” a farm manager wrote in a series of text messages cited in the complaint. “Exceptions have only been made for events that are BIPOC-centered and with plenty of advance notice and planning.”

The manager also advocated for “upholding boundaries around that safe and sacred space,” according to the complaint.

University spokesperson Dan Mogulof told the New York Post he was unaware of the allegations. After reviewing the complaint, Mogulof said the university takes such matters “extremely seriously” and will investigate the situation.

“The anonymous texts attached to the complaint have no specific information about time or place. And, as you can see, the Gill Tract’s website and calendar make no mention whatsoever of any program or activity of the sort described in the complaint,” Mogulof said.

“Having said that … I will contact the appropriate people on campus in an effort to determine what the facts are,” he told the Post.

The complaint asks the university to publish a statement reminding the public that everyone is welcome at the farm. It also asks the university to require training for individuals who run the farm.

“While the farm purports to be a welcoming place, the staff running the farm seem to think that racial segregation should make a comeback,” Mountain States Legal Foundation stated on its website.

“… But neither the Constitution nor federal law permit public institutions like UC Berkeley to engage in racial segregation.”

Other universities also have incorporated racial issues into their agricultural programs in recent years.

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White House pushed Trans Day messaging on English accounts, but not to Spanish speakers

The Biden White House social media account “La Casa Blanca” did not post anything related to “Transgender Day of Visibility” while the English White House account on X made a post on Easter to declare the LGBTQ recognition day. 

Over the weekend, the Biden administration faced backlash for issuing a proclamation for March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility” when the holiest Christian holiday, Easter Sunday, fell on the same day. A proclamation from Biden was issued about March 31 on Good Friday that read, “By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility.” The day was established in 2009 and Biden has proclaimed it repeatedly during his administration.

On Easter Sunday, Biden’s social media accounts made several different posts about both Easter and “Transgender Day of Visibility.” One account, that was lacking any post related to the LGBTQ holiday, however, was the Spanish iteration of the White House account, “La Casa Blanca.” 

The posts that were issued for the Spanish White House account only celebrated Easter and Cesar Chavez.  

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Government Funded Study Claims Shakespeare Made Theatre ‘Too White, Male And Cisgender’

A study funded by the British government to the tune of almost a million pounds claims that William Shakespeare, one of foremost the literary icons in history, has been disproportionately represented and has enabled “white, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender male narratives” to dominate theatre.

The study, by academics at the University of Roehampton, was funded by the government’s Arts and Humanities Research Council and essentially claims that Shakespeare is not diverse enough.

The Telegraph reports that the overseer of the study, Andy Kesson, complains that “masculinity and nationalism were crucial motivating factors in the rise of Shakespeare as the arbiter of literary greatness” adding that “[w]e need to be much, much more suspicious of Shakespeare’s place in contemporary theatre”.

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