Obama cuts all funding for Christian-based ‘Abstinence Only’ sex-ed programs 

President Obama’s 2017 budget proposal has removed a $10 million annual grant proposal that goes towards funding “abstinence-only” sexual education classes in public schools. By eliminating the grant, Obama would end the financial incentive for states to continue teaching the debunked sex-ed program.

Obama cuts all funding for Christian-based ‘Abstinence Only’ sex-ed programs – DeadState

hmmm

Walz: A Democrat’s case for charter schools 

Boston charter schools achieve tremendous results. They rank among the top public schools in the state, with long wait lists.

Walz: A Democrat’s case for charter schools | Boston Herald

I actually love Marty Walz but she is dead wrong on this.

Charter schools siphon resources away from other public schools, further weakening them. Period.

Charter schools leave children who have less resources at home behind, effectively sentencing them to a lifetime of reduced circumstances.

Charter schools prioritize the advancement of the few over improvements for all.

…And that is the opposite of what the public education system is for.

On the other hand, I do believe this is what the majority of her constituents believe and you can’t fault her for representing them.

This transgender student won the right to run for prom king, now he’s suing to use the boys’ bathroom 

Case is another sign of the intensifying legal battle over transgender rights; student says school district wanted transgender students to wear special wristbands to identify them.

This transgender student won the right to run for prom king, now he’s suing to use the boys’ bathroom – The Washington Post

Buried in here is the fact that the school district plans to require transgender students to wear green wristbands, publicly labeling them in a way very akin to Nazi stars and pink triangles.

Jeeee-zus. What jerks!

Law professor responds to students who complained about her Black Lives Matter shirt

On student claims that their tuition requires her to [acquiesce to their desires] : “…The natural and logical extension of your premise is that students on a full scholarship are not entitled to assert their needs and desires to the same extent as other students (or maybe even at all). So, as you can see, arguments premised on consumerism are not likely to influence me.”

On the student premise that “you are not paying for my opinion”: “You are not paying me to pretend I don’t have one.” 

On student criticism that Black Lives Matter is “racist and anti-law enforcement and has been known to incite violence”: “If I say ‘law students matter,’ it does not imply that my colleagues, friends and family do not …. When people are receiving messages from the culture in which they live that their lives are less important than other lives, it is a cruel distortion of reality to scold them for not being inclusive enough.” 

…Leary then goes on to offer a critique of the writing style of the memo, saying it was poorly written and undercut the argument of the letter writers.

Law professor responds to students who complained about her Black Lives Matter shirt

Awesome sauce!

Gov. Rick Snyder to appeal return of $550M to Michigan school workers

AG Bill Schuette said Tuesday he won’t supply …attorneys to continue court fight.

…Gov. Rick Snyder will appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court the ordered return of more than $550 million collected from school employees to fund retiree health care, despite Attorney General Bill Schuette’s refusal to provide state attorneys to fight the case, a Snyder spokeswoman said Tuesday.

…Snyder’s appeal is at odds with several court rulings — including two from the Michigan Court of Appeals — that say the 2010 law used to collect the money from school employees was unconstitutional.

Gov. Rick Snyder to appeal return of $550M to Michigan school workers

What a douchebag piece of shit.

Teacher Sent Home After Conducting Social Experiment

“One of our male teachers encouraged us to break dress code since the boys never get in trouble for it, why should we?  Several girls went to school in tank top style dress and thick strapped tank tops.  Boys wore hats and cutoffs.  In the morning, girls were immediately pulled into the office.  They were told their outfits were inappropriate and distracting, but the boys had no consequences.  They were not told to cover up or that their outfits were distracting.  Our teacher helped us prove how sexist our dress code really is.  The teacher was sent home for being unprofessional and encouraging us to protest.  We lost a very valuable teacher that day because our school cares more about the dress code than the quality of teaching we are receiving.”

Constant policing of girls’ bodies creates a hostile learning environment.  It forces girls to internalize the sexist societal message that women should be judged based on appearance above all else.  Dress codes that sexualize young girls force them to view their own bodies through a heteronormative patriarchal lens that objectifies girls and women and blames them for the actions of others.

…The dress code at Indian Creek High School is less about health, safety, and limiting classroom disruptions and more about controlling girls.  Although, the dress code states that clothing to the “point of immodesty may not be worn” and shorts and skirts must “extend past the students fingertips when the arms are extended,” school-mandated uniforms for Girls’ Volleyball, Cheer, and other sports do not even come close to meeting dress code regulations.

Teacher Sent Home After Conducting Social Experiment

hmmm

How some students who refused to take high-stakes standardized tests are being punished

By Carol Burris

…Since December of 2015, she has repeatedly asked the district to create a fair policy to accommodate students in the admissions process if their parents opted them out of the state test. Cognizant of state law as well as the practices of other school districts, including New York City, Nevergold knew that other places made accommodations. On March 23, after three months of administrative evasion, she submitted a resolution to the Board to direct the staff to provide a recommended solution to resolve the problem. The resolution was tabled, and then later passed by the Board, when no progress was made.

Through her persistent questioning, it was discovered that 14 children who opted out would rank high enough for admission if their COGAT scores were doubled, like the private school students without achievement scores.  Meanwhile, students continue to be moved into the competitive schools from wait lists, even as these opt-out students are denied.

What has occurred in Buffalo, a district in which the majority of students are of color and come from homes that are poor, would never happen in an affluent, suburban district.  Stalling and dismissiveness would not be the way the problem is resolved. As a district administrator who wishes to remain unidentified told me, “We are engaging in a form of disenfranchisement that walks like punishment and talks like punishment.” I think that sums it up pretty well.

How some students who refused to take high-stakes standardized tests are being punished – The Washington Post

Sigh…

Why We Desperately Need To Bring Back Vocational Training In Schools

Yet despite the growing evidence that four-year college programs serve fewer and fewer of our students, states continue to cut vocational programs. ….The justification, of course, is budgetary; these programs (which include auto body technology, aviation maintenance, audio production, real estate and photography) are expensive to operate. But in a situation where 70% of high school students do not go to college, nearly half of those who do go fail to graduate, and over half of the graduates are unemployed or underemployed, is vocational education really expendable? 

…The U.S. economy has changed. The manufacturing sector is growing and modernizing, creating a wealth of challenging, well-paying, highly skilled jobs for those with the skills to do them. The demise of vocational education at the high school level has bred a skills shortage in manufacturing today, and with it a wealth of career opportunities for both under-employed college grads and high school students looking for direct pathways to interesting, lucrative careers. Many of the jobs in manufacturing are attainable through apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and vocational programs offered at community colleges. They don’t require expensive, four-year degrees for which many students are not suited.

Source: Why We Desperately Need To Bring Back Vocational Training In Schools – Forbes

Although I think the point could be better made by focusing on costs of tuition and student loan debt instead of the dubiously worded, “not suited” concern, this is issue is an important consideration looking forward.

You Have To See This Badass Prom Dress Inspired By Beyonce’s Met Gala Gown

India Ross slayed Bey’s 2015 sequin dress.

You Have To See This Badass Prom Dress Inspired By Beyonce’s Met Gala Gown

I’ve sen a lot of hate on the face space over this dress. (Strangely enough though, half of the posts used the exact same wording. “I think it’s sad when young ones today can’t/won’t be themselves but must emulate someone other than their parents like we did years ago! The dress is without class mainly because it damn near shows everything… I remember years ago the saying was the less you show the more appealing you are!!”)

Blah, blah, blah… Haters. Emulate what exactly? The amount of skin hippies showed int eh late sixties?

This young woman realized her idea and it looks fabulous. The haters need to get a grip on themselves.

Suspicious of ex-Stanford Hoover fellow’s differential equation, woman causes flight delay 

An Ivy League professor who was formerly a national fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution said his flight was delayed because a fellow passenger thought the math equations he was writing might be a sign he was a terrorist.

Suspicious of ex-Stanford Hoover fellow’s differential equation, woman causes flight delay – San Jose Mercury News

the headlines for this story just get better and better

oh and I’m categorizing this as an education article because it highlights the piss poor quality of education infesting this country.