5 Takeaways From the Trump Administration’s School Safety Report

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The Trump administration is calling for scrapping Obama administration regulations on school discipline, in a school safety report issued Tuesday responding to school shootings.

The Federal Commission on School Safety, established in response to the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February, issued its final report, making a series of recommendations.

The 177-page report also tackles building security, violence in the media, and school resource officers, and opposes raising the age for buying guns.

“This is one of the most important things we can do for schools and communities to help them think about creating a positive culture and climate in schools,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told The Daily Signal, referring to the report. “We have to look at kids as individuals, and make sure they are not lost through the cracks and feel isolated.”

DeVos was among the participants in a White House roundtable discussion with other Cabinet members and with community leaders seeking to protect schools and curb gun violence.

President Donald Trump called the report a “very important thing.”

“Nothing is more important than protecting our nation’s children,” he added.

Marshall County, Kentucky, Sheriff Kevin Byars praised Trump for doing more on the issue than the president’s predecessors.

“I want to thank you for listening,” Byars said during the roundtable talk at the White House. “Previous administrations wanted to bury their heads in the sand.”

Meanwhile, the Justice Department issued a new regulation Tuesday banning bump stocks, devices that make it easier to fire rounds faster from semiautomatic rifles, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced.

DeVos noted that Trump previously signed two bills this year, one to fix the national criminal background check system, and another boosting federal grants for school safety.

Tuesday’s report doesn’t call for federal legislative action, but does push for ways that multiple departments and agencies can work with local school districts through federal grants, rulemaking, and guidelines for promoting mental health and security issues in schools.

“This is a start. This will not sit on a bookshelf,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said of the report during the roundtable.

Here are the top five takeaways from the report.

1. Restoring School Discipline

The report notes the need to reverse the Obama administration’s policy guidance on how local school districts should be able to discipline misconduct by students.

“Maintaining order in the classroom is a key to keeping schools safe,” the commission’s report says. “Teachers are best positioned to identify and address disorderly conduct.”

The report continued:

However, guidance issued by the prior administration advocated a federal solution that undercut the ability of local officials to address the impact of disciplinary matters on school safety.

The guidance also relies on a dubious reading of federal law. The guidance should be rescinded, and information about resources and best practices for improving school climate and learning outcomes should be developed for schools and school districts.

In 2014, the Obama administration’s Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to school districts across the country. The goal was to crack down on the perceived racial disparities in what President Barack Obama called the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

DeVos heard from teachers and administrators about the negative effects of the Obama-era rules, she told The Daily Signal.

“We will be moving fairly quickly to address this rule, because it has been particularly hard for teachers and school leaders to deal with,” she said.

Many experts have argued the new regulations prompt school districts to fear investigations by the U.S. Department of Education, and as a result, adopt lower standards and are unwilling to punish students, and teachers feel they have lost control.

2. The Media’s Role in School Violence

A major problem cited about school shootings is that they make the gunmen famous, DeVos said.

“More than one time, we have heard complaints from parents of the victims about the attention given to those who carry out these awful incidents,” she said. “It [attention] gives an incentive to pursue these horrid, awful acts, because of the notoriety they gain. We’re just asking the media not to use their names and photographs.”

DeVos stressed that that wouldn’t be a matter of censorship. Rather, it’s a matter of asking federal, state, and local officials—as well as media outlets—to minimize the attention given to the perpetrator.

The report calls for local governments and media outlets to adopt a “No Notoriety Campaign,” defined as “not using shooters’ names or photos, but instead focusing on facts and victims,” the report says.

The report also addresses violent entertainment and the rating systems for it.

“The role of the family is central to controlling violent entertainment,” the report says. “State and local educational agencies should collaborate with parents to strengthen internet safety measures to curb access to inappropriate content.”

The report adds that the entertainment industry—movies, TV, and video games—has a role to play.

“In addition, the entertainment industry should ensure its rating systems provide parents with the full complement of information needed to make informed decisions about entertainment for their children.”

3. Arming Teachers and School Staff

During the roundtable, Rusty Norman, president of the board of trustees of Santa Fe, Texas, schools said there was a need for “hardening of schools” from the “epidemic of violence that has got to be stopped.”

The report discusses local school districts considering arming teachers, for which Trump previously expressed support. Already, national programs exist for training teachers and other school staff to respond to an active shooter.

DeVos stressed that would not be a national policy.

“Every school district is different and has different needs,” the education secretary explained.

“States and local communities, in concert with law enforcement, should consider various approaches to school safety based on their own unique needs,” the report says. “School districts may consider arming some specially selected and trained school personnel as a deterrent.”

4. No Age Increases for Gun Purchases

After the Parkland, Florida, school massacre, in which 17 died and 17 others were injured, Trump talked about supporting increasing the age for buying a gun from 18 to 21. Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation to do so in Florida.

However, legal experts said such a proposal posed potential constitutional hurdles.

The report issued Tuesday said such measures were likely ineffective.

“The available research does not support the conclusion that age restrictions for firearms purchases are effective in reducing homicides, suicides, or unintentional deaths,” the report states. “Most school shooters obtain their weapons from family members or friends, rather than by purchasing them. States should consider offering training or other resources to promote safe storage of firearms.”

DeVos said raising the age is something that could require continued study. However, as of now, no evidence exists showing a restriction would reduce violence.

A more effective policy would be for states to adopt laws permitting “extreme-risk protection orders,” the report says.

Such orders are intended to prevent individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others from possessing or purchasing firearms.

5. Building Security and Preparedness

The report notes that “school-based mental health and counseling for young people is an important aspect of prevention.”

The report adds that casualties could have been higher in Parkland if the high school didn’t have a preparedness plan in place.

Building and campus security are also key, the report states.

“A risk assessment can identify vulnerabilities and enable the development of a strategy to address any security gaps,” the report says. “Effective security plans use a layered approach across all three areas of a school: entry points, the building envelope (e.g., walls, roofs, windows, doors), and the classroom.”

COLUMN BY

Portrait of Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas

Fred Lucas is the White House correspondent for The Daily Signal and co-host of “The Right Side of History” podcast. Send an email to Fred. Twitter: @FredLucasWH.

RELATED ARTICLE: Obama’s School Discipline Guidance Could Be Doomed. Here’s Why That’s Great News.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column by The Daily Signal with images is republished with permission. Photo:Chris Kleponis /CNP/Newscom.

Just give me your Children…

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“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.”

“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”

“Destroy the family, you destroy the country. The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” — Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Was the cry of Lenin, Khrushchev, Castro and Hitler and other dictators just before they destroyed their country and used indoctrination with propaganda on the children to turn on their parents and neighbors. The key to the future of our country is its children.  For it does not matter what we accomplish in 8 years to “fix” America, once more “socialists graduate” America will elect socialists.  According to the National Review 2017 40% of the population wants America to be socialist. For the purpose of definition remember that the goal of all ….isms ie, progressivism, globalism, socialism, fascism, collectivism etc. is communism whereby the state (government) control every aspect of human life.

Since the lowest common denominator in America (something ever American does – is attend school) the students are the low hanging fruit.  Also the new brand of communism has changed since the leaders feel they can infiltrate their opponent by mass migration of socialists. By integrating the media, Hollywood and education incremental change and pressure is continual. Weapons are no longer necessary. Winning the “hearts and minds” are the answer. How do you fool millions of people? YOU LIE.

Education is Key… So let’s get directly to the point…

The problem is the content of the curriculum. No amount of money, No choice, no voucher will do anything to fix anything as long as the curriculum stays the same.  The curricula are written by people who want to destroy America. You are seeing the results. Lies, Lies, and more Lies

Students are now taught: The government is gospel, grants your rights and never lies. Your self worth is not important only your group worth.  Facts are not as important as value. Education has become training for work. Being mediocre gets a trophy.  So what happens to a society when mediocre is accepted as the norm.   America now gets mediocre – doctors, inventors, mechanics, teachers, legislators etc.  No more innovation and creation.

2 simple lies, making a huge impact:

Calling America a Democracy:   Our founders were very careful to create a representative republic using our U.S. Constitution as the contract of laws applicable to ALL Americans. (They purposely us words like ALL to eliminate class distinction.)   Article 4 Section 4 guarantees that each American will have a republican form of government. A democracy fails at every turn for it is nothing more than rule by mob.  What is law today can be undone tomorrow by “majority rules”. In addition, if America were a democracy there would be no reason for representatives.  The people would vote directly by referendum.

It is not important to learn English.  What you are not told is that English is the language of Business.  If you can not read contracts, laws and regulations, you are a slave to your interpreter and the government. Welcome to communism. The children in these failing socialist schools have grown up to become your legislators and educators.  Many teachers can not read and write proper English.
The “educators” (the bureaucrats running education who rarely were in a classroom,) today are interested in 3 things:  Money, Power, Control

Money is thrown around by the government, publishers, NGO’s and non-profits as grants to “help” teach the new modern education. As grades slip the cry for MORE MONEY is heard throughout the education community. More money is not the answer. Teaching using programs that work is the answer.  In the 1960’s America was in the top 10 worldwide. After 60 years using proven failed programs America is 37th worldwide and all we hear is: we need more money.

Control is done through standards – in 2013 under the Obama administration a $350 million grant was given to Pearson Publishing to make all its texts Common Core compliant. Pearson supplies about 80% of America’s texts.  Pearson is an English (socialist) company. Does it matter what your state called the standards if all texts follow the same standards?  In addition state got grants as well to help promote common core.

Power: The only way someone can have power over you is if you give it to them.  STOP accepting mediocrity. Have you noticed that the spelling of exceptionalism always comes up as misspelled? Silence is considered compliance.

Education is local and it is the one area I believe that we the people can have control.

The Florida Citizens Alliance in 2017, helped get a bill passed CS989, that gives any Florida resident the right to challenge the texts for accuracy, bias, errors and omissions. Does your state have a bill like that?    Having that bill is only good if you use it.

The Alliance is offering help to form committees and challenge the texts.  It is important that we use their words and framework.  Therefore, under the current guidelines that demand equality we must demand they offer a traditional education as well.  Teaching socialism only “is not fair and equal.”

I now ask you:  Is America worth saving?  If so what will you do?  Do you know what is in your school?   If you are interested in education solutions, contact me:  Karen Schoen  kbschoen@bellsouth.net

For the statistics go to https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/millennials-patriotic-survey/

EDITORS NOTE: This column is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Jose Gomez on Unsplash.

VIDEO: Parkland Father Andrew Pollack Is Leading the Charge for Safer Schools

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Andrew Pollack: “Numerous Entities Failed My Daughter.” 10 Months After Parkland.

Father of Meadow Pollack, Andrew Pollack, joins Grant to discuss his efforts to secure schools and protect our children 10 months after the Parkland massacre.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with video is republished with permission. The featured image is from Andrew Pollack – Parkland Parent @meadowmovement Facebook page.

College Campuses: America’s Biggest Speech Impediment?

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The most dangerous threat to Americans may be the colleges teaching them. In a country where a majority of students are afraid to voice their views, here’s the irony: most campuses don’t allow it anyway. That’s the bottom line of a new report on U.S. colleges, where a whopping nine in 10 are the First Amendment’s worst enemy.The survey, “Spotlight on Speech Codes 2019: The State of Free Speech on Our Nation’s Campuses,” combed through the policies of almost 500 American schools to see how well they protect free speech. Of the 466, a whopping 89.7 percent have rules that “restrict — or too easily could restrict — student and faculty expression.” To most people — especially parents with kids in college — it’s probably not a surprise that campuses are hostile to debate. What is a surprise is how widespread that hostility has become.

Laura Beltz, lead author of the report at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), was also taken aback by the depth of the censorship. “Colleges should be a place for open debate and intellectual inquiry, but today, almost all colleges silence expression through policies that are often illiberal and, at public institutions, unconstitutional.” Almost a quarter of the 466 universities got a red-light rating, the worst on FIRE’s scale. It’s important to point out, she explains, that this isn’t just a problem on public college campuses. Private schools are just as likely to crackdown on speech as the rest of them.

Amazingly, 11 states and the District of Columbia make up the bulk of the red-light campuses: Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. Some even have “free-speech zones,” which have either been struck down by the courts or negotiated away in settlements.

In a country that already has a First Amendment problem, the idea that colleges are creating even more antagonism for free speech is a scary prospect. There’s nothing more dangerous to a republic than the rise of totalitarians shutting down debate. Americans are already paying the price for years of political correctness. And now, even the supposed guardians of the free flow of ideas are nowhere to be found. “When was the last time you saw the American Civil Liberties Union stand up for free speech on college campuses?” Harvard Law Professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz asks.

“We can no longer count on the ACLU. We can no longer count on all college administrators. We have to count on people of good sense on college campuses to try to restore a situation where we can hear conservative points of views as well as liberal points of view.” The real heroes, he says, “are the students — the conservative students, the pro-Israel students, the students who stand up for free speech rather than the administrators, and the faculty who are prepared to go along with this censorship…” It only takes a few students to make a difference. Raise yours to have the courage to be one of them!

Tony Perkins’ Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission.

How School Districts Weaponize Child Protection Services Against Uncooperative Parents

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Parents are increasingly required to obey, to conform to a school’s demands even if they believe such orders may not be appropriate for their child.

Schooling is adept at rooting out individuality and enforcing compliance. In his book, Understanding Power, Noam Chomsky writes:

“In fact, the whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don’t know how to be submissive, and so on—because they’re dysfunctional to the institutions.”

This filtering process begins very early in a child’s schooling as conformity is rewarded and divergence is punished.

Most of us played this game as schoolchildren. We know the rules. The kids who raise their hands, color in the lines, and obey succeed; the kids who challenge the rules struggle. The problem now is that the rules are extending beyond the classroom. Parents are increasingly required to obey, to conform to a school’s demands even if they believe such orders may not be appropriate for their child.

In my advocacy work with homeschooling families across the country, I frequently hear stories from parents who decided to homeschool their kids because schools were pressuring them to comply with various special education plans, push medications onto their children, or submit to other restrictive procedures they felt were not in their child’s best interest. Even more heartbreaking is the growing trend of school officials to unleash child protective services (CPS) on parents, homeschooling or not, who refuse to give in to a district’s demands.

An investigative report by The Hechinger Report and HuffPost released last month revealed that schools are increasingly using child protective services as a “weapon” against parents. It said:

Fed up with what they see as obstinate parents who don’t agree to special education services for their child, or disruptive kids who make learning difficult, schools sometimes use the threat of a child-protection investigation to strong-arm parents into complying with the school’s wishes or transferring their children to a new school. That approach is not only improper, but it can be devastating for families, even if the allegations are ultimately determined to be unfounded.

More troubling, these threats disproportionately target low-income and minority parents. According to the report:

Such families also have fewer resources to fight back. When a family in a wealthy Brooklyn neighborhood learned roughly two years ago that their child’s school had initiated an ACS [New York’s Administration for Children’s Services] investigation against them, they sued the city education department. Parents from lower-income, majority-black and Latino neighborhoods, few of whom can afford that option, say such investigations can be a regular, even expected, part of parenting.

For parents who are unhappy with their child’s school and decide to withdraw their child for homeschooling, threats of child welfare investigations can sometimes turn to actions. In Massachusetts, a mother is reportedly suing the Worcester Public Schools after school officials called the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) on her for alleged “educational neglect,” even though the mother contends that she dutifully filed her homeschooling paperwork for her eight-year-old son mid-year.

Brian Huskie, a public high school teacher and homeschooling father in New York, noted a similar case last year with one of his students. Dissatisfied with the school, the parents decided to remove their daughter from the district, filed the necessary homeschooling paperwork, and were soon visited by child protective services investigating “educational neglect.” Huskie detailed the incident on his blog, writing that the school made a “decision to weaponize CPS against a district family.”

Parents who push back against a district’s recommendations or withdraw their child from school for homeschooling are often trying to ensure their child’s well-being. Questioning various educational interventions and examining alternatives is part of a parent’s job. They should be praised for looking out for their child’s best interest, while schools should be sure that they use social services agencies to investigate serious claims of abuse and neglect—not just district snubs or paperwork quarrels.

If, as Chomsky suggests, many of us have grown acquiescent to power due to our successful schooling, it can be hard to challenge authority. It can be even harder when that authority is strengthened by government force and when we may not have the resources to fight it.

Supporting parents, broadening their education choices, and respecting their decisions are crucial steps in liberating families and curbing government coercion.

COLUMN BY

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald

Kerry McDonald (@kerry_edu) has a B.A. in Economics from Bowdoin and an M.Ed. in education policy from Harvard. She lives in Cambridge, Mass. with her husband and four never-been-schooled children. Kerry is the author of the forthcoming book, Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press). Follow her writing at Whole Family Learning.

RELATED VIDEO: Child protection services “Legally Kidnapped.”

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission.

Why Most Academics Tilt Left

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There’s no denying that an overwhelming majority of academics in universities across the country are liberal, progressive, socialist, or otherwise Left-wing.

There’s little disputing the fact that an overwhelming majority of university professors in America are on the political Left. A common response from leftists circulating to this reality is that “academics are liberal because that is the way intelligent people think.”

It’s easy to dismiss such a response, as it reflects nothing more than an “all smart people think like me” assumption held by people who insulate themselves in an ideological bubble.

It does, however, make one to ponder why such a disproportionate share of academics are Left-wing.

In his 1949 essay “The Intellectuals and Socialism,” Friedrich Hayek explored this topic with observations still very much alive today.

The Problem with Intellectuals

Intellectuals, according to Hayek, are drawn to utopian visions. First and foremost among those visions is the creation of a new social order, specifically one designed by “experts.” They also have the hubris to anoint themselves as the experts to design this new order. Hayek wrote:

The intellectual, by his whole disposition, is uninterested in technical details or practical difficulties. What appeal to him are broad visions, the spacious comprehension of the social order as a whole which a planned system promises.

Socialist intellectuals often misapply observations from the hard sciences as inspiration for designing a new society. Hayek noted that such intellectuals observed engineering techniques that enabled man to organize the forces of nature (natural resources) and convert them into useful technology. These observations have “contributed a great deal toward the creation of the belief that a similar control of the forces of society would bring comparable improvements in human conditions.”

In short, progressive intellectuals fancy themselves as radicals, desiring to overturn capitalism and traditional Western culture, with themselves at the helm. But what are the best means for them to achieve their goals? For the ambitious among them, an academic career provides a rosy opportunity. For those radicals, “an intellectual career is the most promising path to both influence and the power to contribute to the achievement of his ideals,” Hayek explained.

Like most humans, Leftist intellectuals desire to exert influence and, in turn, feel important. Their desires to re-make society can only realistically be brought about through the existence of a massive government; a government in which these academics will be able to influence, under the guise of academic “expertise.” There is an inherent liberal bias favoring greater social control by the state among academics in part because it’s the only avenue academics have to become the social reformists they desire to be.

Hayek also pointed out that the young are especially receptive to idealist theories aimed at transforming the world. He explained:

(S)ocialist thought owes its appeal to the young largely to its visionary character; the very courage to indulge in utopian thought is in this respect a source of strength to the socialists which traditional liberalism sadly lacks.

The allure of advancing a utopian vision combined with classrooms full of highly amendable students proves to be a powerful magnet attracting Leftist intellectuals to academic positions. And once a majority of academics are progressives, then confirmation bias connects the dots for some to conclude that is the case because “that is how intelligent people think.”

As Hayek put it, “The socialist will, of course, see in this merely a proof that the more intelligent person is today bound to become a socialist.”

Arrogance and Selfishness

Meanwhile, those wishing to largely preserve traditional systems find other avenues to pursue personal success. Even those who fight for freedom and to roll back government are perceived, as Hayek described, as being merely “those who aim at a piecemeal improvement of the existing order.” Such an approach does not excite the imagination of many young intellectuals.

Finally, there is the role played by naked self-interest. Government subsidies and student financial aid make up a significant share of revenue for universities. Furthermore, government grants dominate funding for academic research. Academics reap financial benefits from government largesse. What a tidy coincidence that most academics favor big government.

There’s no denying that an overwhelming majority of academics in universities across the country are liberal, progressive, socialist, or otherwise Left-wing. To dismiss this fact with the thoughtless trope that “this is the way intelligent people think” displays a lack of genuine intellectual curiosity.

Academic research and intellectuals continue to exert influence on public policy and public opinion. We at least owe it to ourselves to have a serious discussion about why there is such a lack of intellectual diversity on our college campuses.

COLUMN BY

Brian Balfour

Brian Balfour

Brian Balfour is Executive Vice President for the Civitas Institute, a free-market advocacy organization in Raleigh, NC. He is the author of the high school economics iBook Economics in Action, creator of the Austrian Economics educational app, and has served as an adjunct economics instructor at Mount Olive University.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission.

VIDEO: Arkansas Governor Says No Mandate Needed on Armed Presence at Schools

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NRATV’s Cam Edwards joins Dana Loesch to weigh in.

Christian Teacher Fired for Refusing to Use Transgender Student’s New Pronouns

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A Virginia high school teacher was sacked Thursday for allegedly misgendering a student, marking the first time in the state that an educator has lost a job for using biological pronouns to refer to a student.

The West Point School Board voted unanimously 5-0 to fire Peter Vlaming who teaches French at the school, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Vlaming, 47, was charged with discrimination after failing to use male pronouns to address a biologically female student. Vlaming did not intentionally misgender the student, but avoided using any pronouns to address or talk about the student in order to accord with his Christian faith, the Times-Dispatch reported.

“I’m totally happy to use the new name,” Vlaming told local NBC affiliate WWBT. “I’m happy to avoid female pronouns not to offend because I’m not here to provoke … but I can’t refer to a female as a male, and a male as a female in good conscience and faith.”

Vlaming has referred to the student as a female, according to the Times-Dispatch. The teacher was placed on paid administrative leave in October.

Misgendering refers to using biological pronouns for a transgender person as opposed to pronouns that accord with the person’s new gender identity. Deadnaming refers to using the “dead name,” the name the person used before transitioning, to describe or address a transgender person.

Vlaming’s avoidance of pronoun use made the transgender student feel singled out, according to the report.

“That discrimination then leads to creating a hostile learning environment. And the student had expressed that. The parent had expressed that,” West Point schools Superintendent Laura Abel said, the newspaper reported. “They felt disrespected.”

Following a complaint about Vlaming’s behavior, school administrators claimed that Vlaming had transgressed school harassment and nondiscrimination policies. “Mr. Vlaming was recommended for termination due to his insubordination and repeated refusal to comply with directives made to him by multiple WPPS administrators,” Abel said in a statement.

West Point High School’s policies include protections for persons who identify as transgender but include no specific language on pronoun use.

“One of those rights that is not curtailed is to be free from being compelled to speak something that violates your conscience,” his lawyer Shawn Voyles said, according to the Virginia newspaper.

Numerous teachers and students have displayed an outflowing of support for Vlaming, according to the Times-Dispatch. Some raised questions about the fairness of Vlaming’s firing for allegedly violating a policy that does not exist or is not clear.

“If there’s no policy in place, how can they just let him go?” West Point High School parent Jennifer Haynes said, the Times-Dispatch reported.

The incident at West Point High School is not the first time a teacher has been fired for misgendering a student.

Math teacher Joshua Sutcliffe allegedly said “well done girls” to two students—one of whom was transgender—at an Oxfordshire secondary school in England. He was suspended for six weeks before being fired over the offense in December 2017. He filed a lawsuit shortly thereafter.

Twitter banned the use of biological pronouns to refer to transgender persons, adding a clause prohibiting the practice to its policy regarding hateful conduct in October. “Targeted harassment or expressing hate towards a person, group, or protected category” is banned, according to Twitter’s hateful conduct policy.

Adolf Hitler: “He alone, who owns the youth gains the future.”

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Schools have become the epicenters for pushing propaganda and various political agendas. Schools are not educating children to think critically or to become life long learners. School should be preparing our youth to become productive citizens not activists.

What we must have is more learning in schools and less activism.

The poster child for less learning and more activism in schools is a 15-year old girl named Greta Thunberg. Greta Thunberg is a disabled child. According to Wikipedia Greta has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. WebMD says this about Asperger syndrome:

Asperger’s syndrome is technically no longer a diagnosis on its own. It is now part of a broader category called autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Those with ASD tend to have “an obsessive focus on one topic or perform the same behaviors again and again.” Greta’s obsessive focus is on climate change.

Greta is being used to push the environmentalist agenda of climate change at the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP24) conference in Poland.

Pat Carlson, Environmental Chairman for the Eagle Forum, in an article titled “Controlling The Youth” writes:

Conference of the Parties COP24 reflects 25 years of saturating the world’s youth in the dogma of global warming or, as we now refer to it, climate change. They have been told all their lives that humans (their parents) are killing planet Earth with all of our modern conveniences. Of course, the most advanced economies of the world are the most guilty of this crime with the United States being the worst offender.

One young Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, learned about the crisis of global warming when she was 7. She was so concerned she quit talking or eating and became ill. She is now 15 and acts as though she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders trying to stop climate change. She has been skipping school one day a week or striking, as she calls it, to bring attention to this crisis. This has made her a celebrity in Sweden.

I have learned from my good friend John Casey that: 1.) The climate changes; 2.) these changes follow natural cycles; and 3.) there is nothing mankind can do to change these natural cycles. Casey found that there is a 260 year cycle where the sun has few or no sunspots. This natural cycle causes the earth to cool and can last for decades. Carlson confirms what Casey discovered stating:

The fact is, according to satellite readings, Earth’s temperature has been in a pause for the last 20 years and has had no significant additional warming. Furthermore, Don Easterbrook, Professor Emeritus of Geology at Western University, is one of several scientists who say the Earth is cooling. Prof. Easterbrook predicts Earth’s temperature will cool 3/10th’s of a degree Fahrenheit over the next 20 years and will continue that cooling trend for several decades.

Carlson notes:

The United Nations is not going to miss cashing in on her fame. She is at COP24 and she is being held up as a hero. Her anguish over this is heart-wrenching. In just one interview she referred to the crisis as an “existential threat,” the “biggest crisis humanity has ever faced,” and “we must try to save what we can save.”

She has had an audience with United Nations’ Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, as well as other heads of state telling them “they are behaving like children.” She is being used as a pawn by the U.N. to further their cause. What adult can resist the impassioned plea of a child asking for help?

Hitler also said, “I use emotion for the many and reason for the few.”

President Trump has pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement. He has said that he is “not convinced” about global warming/climate change.

It is clear that Greta is being used. It is clear that the United Nations wants to push it’s climate change agenda and is more than happy to use Greta as their pawn to do so.

The problem is implementing the UN COP24 agenda harms human flourishing and especially children. Just look at Paris burning to understand the social cost of the UN agenda. Macron followed Greta’s advice and now he faces its consequences on his own people.

Carlson concludes:

Climate change is just a smoke screen for the U.N.’s hidden agenda to have a centralized government giving it the ability to globally regulate and redistribute wealth from rich countries to poor countries and of course, itself. The global warming lie has deprived the youth of the world the hope of a prosperous future. That hope has been replaced with fear.

President Trump is showing great courage and true leadership in pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement and questioning the whole human-induced global warming claim.

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EDITORS NOTE: The edited featured image of Greta Thunberg is by Marc Femenia from Wikipedia.

Does Legalization Increase Marijuana Use?

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The new 2016-2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health State Estimates is out this week. The below graphs illustrate a few of the findings from this annual survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Numbers in graphs are percentages. The graphs can be downloaded starting Thursday, December 6 here. National Families in Action grants permission to reproduce them for educational purposes.

RELATED ARTICLE: America’s Invisible Pot Addicts. More and more Americans are reporting near-constant cannabis use, as legalization forges ahead.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Grav on Unsplash.

Six Months After Asking – Eye hears from Duval Schools about Sex with Students. Yep it’s happening.

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On the day before Thanksgiving, Eye got a gift for which we are thankful.

The public school system answered a question we asked last May. In August, they told us we could have the info for $107.60, which we paid.

As it turns out, they gave us more than we asked for, so it was almost a Black Friday deal.

Our question was, have any local schoolteachers been accused of improper conduct with students?

The answer: yes.

Since two such accusations have been made since we asked, we were fairly confident the answer would be yes.

We expected only statistics but we got the actual reports, with details (some redacted for privacy).

The reason for our inquiry is that this has become a serious problem nationwide in the past 10 years, but we had seen little notice of it here.

A book titled The Corrupt Classroom claims that “sex crimes by teachers have reached shocking levels.” In 2014 there were 781 sex crimes reported, according to author Lance Izumi.

In Florida, a 14-year-old student wrote down his cell phone number on a chalkboard – and got a call from his 32-year-old teacher, who initiated a sexual relationship. A 31-year-old Florida teacher was accused of soliciting sex from at least four students.

There have been at least 50 cases in Florida public schools this year alone, but the liberal media shrugs them off while focusing on a few incidents in private schools.

Earlier this year, USA Today wrote: “schoolchildren across the nation continue to be beaten, raped and harassed by their teachers while government officials at every level stand by and do nothing. The investigation uncovered more than 100 teachers who lost their licenses but are still working with children or young adults today.”

Cases have been uncovered in Florida of a teacher leaving one district under a cloud and being hired in another district, apparently having escaped scrutiny.

Local School Superintendent Diane Greene told Eye on Jacksonville her career has been dedicated to the well-being of children. “…. I will not be tolerant of adults who do them harm,” she said.

That’s refreshing when, in some school districts, more emphasis is on protecting the teachers.

In Jacksonville, it appears that incidents are investigated thoroughly and teachers are cleared when accusations are unfounded. Of the 16 cases we were given, nine were substantiated.

A fifth-grade teacher in an elementary school was accused by students of touching them improperly. Investigators interviewed students and the teacher (who had no previous record) and concluded there was not evidence of improper conduct. There were several other such cases.

In April 2017, school officials were told by one student that a teacher was involved in “sexual conduct’ with a sixth grade student. The report said the matter was turned over to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. No further information was provided.

A high school teacher was accused of improper language, flirting and groping girls in 2016. Investigators interviewed numerous students and found the charges were substantiated. The teacher resigned.

One high school teacher was found to have had students in her home using marijuana and alcohol, and sleeping over. She was not rehired the following year.

In 2016 a homosexual high school band teacher was found to have made improper remarks and advances toward students, and he resigned.

This year a teacher at Fletcher High School was found to have had sex with two students under the age of 18, at times in a classroom, after his wife found out and notified school officials. He resigned and was arrested.

Another high school teacher resigned after reports from students and another teacher that he was having sex with a student in a classroom, even though the students said they didn’t actually “do it” because they were afraid of being seen.

In another incident this year, a teacher was tutoring an underage student and allowed him to live in her home with him. They had moonlight walks on the beach and professed love for each other, but both said they did not have sex, although she told him that as soon as he was 18 she would show him how a teacher “took care” of a student. The report said the teacher violated professional conduct but did not indicate whether the teacher was punished.

In another case this year, a teacher who already had been reprimanded for remarks to young girls was accused of using his cell phone to take a picture of a girl in a short dress sitting with her legs crossed. He was not re-hired.

Another teacher who sent text messages and photos to young girls resigned in April after they reported his actions to school officials.

The dean of a middle school resigned after investigators concluded he had received intimate photos of students on his phone and talked of having sex with one “after she graduated.”

Clearly, the investigative reports from just two years indicate there are problems with interactions between some teachers and students. What is remarkable is the extent that some teachers use their phones for such conduct, an indication of how technology can facilitate bad behavior as well as benefit users. Fortunately, it can also provide evidence for investigators.

COLUMN BY

Lloyd Brown

Lloyd was born in Jacksonville. Graduated from the University of North Florida. He spent nearly 50 years of his life in the newspaper business …beginning as a copy boy and retiring as editorial page editor for Florida Times Union. He has also been published in a number of national newspapers and magazines, as well as Internet sites. Married with children. Military Vet. Retired. Man of few words but the words are researched well, deeply considered and thoughtfully written.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission.

Podcast: The Importance of Civics Education

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On today’s show, we’re talking about civics. At a time when students across the country lack a basic understanding of government and economics, one university is doing something about it. We’ll feature an interview with Paul Carrese, founding director of the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.

We’ll also hear from Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald about what’s wrong with college campuses today. Listen to the full interview below.

Also on today’s show:

  • Your letters to the editor. Don’t forget, your letter could be featured on our show; write us at letters@dailysignal.com or call 202-608-6205.
  • A heartwarming good news story out of California following the deadly wildfires.

The Daily Signal podcast is available on the Ricochet Audio Network. You also can listen on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts.

If you like what you hear, please leave a review or give us feedback. Enjoy the show!

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

PODCAST BY

Portrait of Rob Bluey

Rob Bluey

Rob Bluey is editor-in-chief of The Daily Signal, the multimedia news organization of The Heritage Foundation. Send an email to Rob. Twitter: @RobertBluey.

Portrait of Ginny Montalbano

Ginny Montalbano

Ginny Montalbano is a contributor to The Daily Signal. Send an email to Ginny. Twitter: @GinnyMontalbano.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. The featured photo is by NASA on Unsplash.

Podcast: A Homeschooling Mom Shares Why, and How

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Where do you begin if you’re thinking about homeschooling? Can you do it if you’re not a teacher? And how can you make sure your kids get enough socialization? We’re joined by a special guest, Colleen Trinko—yes, Kate’s mom! Colleen, who is a teacher, homeschooled her five children for many years, and now works with other homeschool families to advise. Plus: A feminist is kicked off Twitter, seemingly for saying “Men aren’t women.”


We also cover these stories:

  • President Donald Trump is now threatening additional tariffs on cars in response to General Motors Co.’s announcement of layoffs and plant closings.
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says there’s no “direct reporting” linking the Saudi crown prince to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
  • In an interview, Ivanka Trump made the case for why her use of a personal email was not at all the same as what Hillary Clinton had done.

The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Play, or Stitcher. All of our podcasts can be found at DailySignal.com/podcasts. If you like what you hear, please leave a review. You can also leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at letters@dailysignal.com. Enjoy the show!

PODCAST BY

Portrait of Katrina Trinko

Katrina Trinko

Katrina Trinko is managing editor of The Daily Signal and co-host of The Daily Signal podcast. She is also a member of USA Today’s Board of Contributors. Send an email to Katrina. Twitter: @KatrinaTrinko.

Portrait of Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis

Daniel Davis is the commentary editor of The Daily Signal and co-host of The Daily Signal podcast. Send an email to Daniel. Twitter: @JDaniel_Davis.

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images and podcast is republished with permission. Photo: Ingram Publishing/Newscom.

How Liberal Policy Keeps Black Kids From Succeeding

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What do you think of the proposition that no black youngsters should be saved from educational rot until all can be saved?

Black people cannot afford to accept such a proposition. Actions by the education establishment, black and white liberal politicians, and some civil rights organizations appear to support the proposition.

Let’s look at it with the help of some data developed by my friend and colleague Thomas Sowell.

The Nation’s Report Card for 2017 showed the following reading scores for fourth-graders in New York state’s public schools: Thirty-two percent scored below basic, with 32 percent scoring basic, 27 percent scoring proficient, and 9 percent scoring advanced. When it came to black fourth-graders in the state, 19 percent scored proficient, and 3 percent scored advanced.

Sowell compared 2016-17 scores on the New York state ELA test. Thirty percent of Brooklyn’s William Floyd elementary school third-graders scored well below proficient in English and language arts, but at a Success Academy charter school in the same building, only one did.

At William Floyd, 36 percent were below proficient, with 24 percent being proficient and none being above proficient. By contrast, at Success Academy, only 17 percent of third-graders were below proficient, with 70 percent being proficient and 11 percent being above proficient.

Among Success Academy’s fourth-graders, 51 percent and 43 percent, respectively, scored proficient and above proficient, while their William Floyd counterparts scored 23 percent and 6 percent, respectively, proficient and above proficient. It’s worthwhile stressing that William Floyd and this Success Academy location have the same address.

Similar high performance can be found in the Manhattan charter school KIPP Infinity Middle School among its sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders when compared with that of students at New Design Middle School, a public school at the same location.

Liberals believe integration is a necessary condition for black academic excellence. Public charter schools such as those mentioned above belie that vision.

Sowell points out that only 39 percent of students in all New York state schools who were recently tested scored at the “proficient” level in math, but 100 percent of the students at the Crown Heights Success Academy tested proficient. Blacks and Hispanics constitute 90 percent of the students in that Success Academy.

There’s little question that charter schools provide superior educational opportunities for black youngsters. In a story The New York Times ran about charter schools earlier this month, “With Democratic Wins, Charter Schools Face a Backlash in N.Y. and Other States,” John Liu, an incoming Democratic state senator from Queens, said New York City should “get rid of” large charter school networks. State Sen.-elect Julia Salazar, D-Brooklyn, said, “I’m not interested in privatizing our public schools.”

The New York Times went on to say, “Over 100,000 students in hundreds of the city’s charter schools are doing well on state tests, and tens of thousands of children are on waiting lists for spots.”

One would think that black politicians and civil rights organizations would support charter schools. To the contrary, they want to saddle charter schools with procedures that make so many public schools a failure.

For example, the NAACP demands that charter schools “cease expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate.” It wants charter schools to “cease to perpetuate de facto segregation of the highest performing children from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.” Most importantly, it wants charter schools to come under the control of teachers unions.

Charter schools have an advantage that some call “selection bias.” Because charter schools require parents to apply or enter lotteries for their children’s admission, they attract more students who have engaged parents and students who are higher-achieving and better behaved.

Many in the teaching establishment who are against parental alternatives want alternatives for themselves.

In Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, 25 percent of public school teachers send their children to private schools. In Philadelphia, 44 percent of teachers do so. In Cincinnati, it’s 41 percent. In Chicago, 39 percent do, and in Rochester, New York, it’s 38 percent.

This demonstrates the dishonesty, hypocrisy, and arrogance of the elite. Their position is, “One thing for thee and another for me.”

COMMENTARY BY

Portrait of Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams

Walter E. Williams is a columnist for The Daily Signal and a professor of economics at George Mason University. Twitter: .

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Suad Kamardeen on Unsplash.

As Mississippi runoff approaches, could colleges sway results?

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UPDATE: Republican Hyde-Smith wins Mississippi Senate runoff

  • With the Mississippi Senate runoff election just days away, young voter turnout is expected to hold a lot of weight.
  • How are young voters, particularly those in college, likely to vote? The political donations of college employees could offer some insight.

With the Mississippi runoff election just days away, the young voter turnout is expected to hold a lot of weight. Senate candidates Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mark Epsy will likely need the young vote to secure the election on Tuesday.

College faculty and administrators’ influence on voting students may very well sway the election. Campus Reform analyses of several Mississippi colleges show that students are exposed to far more politically active, Democrat-supporting faculty and administrators than Republican supporting ones.

Ole Miss

At the University of Mississippi, locally known as Ole Miss, 7.8 percent of donations were given by employees to Republican politicians or political organizations, while 92.2 percent donated to Democrats.

While Republicans received higher value donations, only 15 Ole Miss employees donated, compared to the 177 employees who gave to Democrats.

Seven Ole Miss faculty members donated $60,064 to Republican causes between Jan. 1, 2017 and Oct. 22, 2018, while 107 faculty members donated $48,799.77 to Democrat organizations and politicians.

Only eleven Ole Miss administrators made political donations. No administrators donated to Republicans, but rather to Democrat organizations like Randy Wadkins’ congressional campaign, which Wadkins lost.

University of Southern Mississippi

Republican Senatorial candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith attended the small public research university in the late 1970s before her time in politics. However, the current disparity amongst politically active university employees shows a strong lean against Republicanism. Only 0.8 percent of university faculty donated to Republican organizations while 99.2 percent of faculty gave to Democrats.

In total, 94.4 percent of University of Southern Mississippi employee donations were given to Democrats or Democrat organizations, while just 5.6 percent of employees donated to Republicans.

Campus student group, Southern Miss Common Cause, has recently condemned Hyde-Smith for several comments made on the campaign trail over the past several months. The group has called for Hyde-Smith’s resignation and informally banned her from campus, according to WDAM-TV.

Hyde-Smith was reported to have made comments in favor of voter suppression by making it more difficult for college students to vote as they tend to be more liberal. Hyde-Smith’s campaign has since claimed the comment was a joke, according to Politico.

Hyde-Smith also made a joke about being “on the first row” at a “public hanging” if a supporter invited her, The Hill reported. The comment has received criticism from both sides of the political aisle.

Mississippi State

Of the faculty at Mississippi State, 98.1 percent donated to Democrat organizations, like Act Blue and Swing Left, while only 1.9 percent of those who donated gave to Republican organizations.

In total, 92.05 percent of Mississippi State employees, who donated politically, gave to Democrats while 7.95 gave to Republicans.

For the purposes of this data, Campus Reform defined “faculty” as employees of the college that have direct instructional contact with students, such as professors, teachers, and instructors. “Administrators” were defined as employees who manage programming or are responsible for students and faculty, such as department chairs, deans, presidents, and provosts.

Campus Reform sorted individual donors using their stated position at the college. For example, if the individual donor noted that they were a “professor of literary theory,” they were designated as a faculty member. If an individual noted that they were employed as an “executive director,” they were designated as an administrator. In the event an employee’s title was ambiguous and could not be confirmed, they were marked as general employees, but not sorted into faculty or administration categories. Campus Reform used a variation of keyword searches to cull data specific to the University of Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, and Mississippi State University employees.

Campus Reform used the most recent FEC donor records from Jan. 1, 2017 to Oct. 22, 2018.

COLUMN BY

Grace Gottschling

GRACE GOTTSCHLING

Investigative Reporter

Grace Gottschling is the Investigative Reporter for Campus Reform. She is a recent graduate of The College of New Jersey and has experience traveling across the country to engage and train others in pro-life apologetics. Grace manages research and Freedom of Information Act records requests for Campus Reform.

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