Florida Shooting Shows Government Cannot Protect Americans

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In the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting and the wave of well-organized and financed protests using emotionally traumatized students, the Florida Legislature is set to vote on a range of legal responses — including a series of gun restrictions.

This, from a state that has some of the strongest Second Amendment protections in the union, should cause some real alarm. The pressure on legislators up for re-election in November is immense, from the demonstrators, anti-gun activists, their media allies, and the public consuming it all. But it is totally and purposely misdirected.

The real blame in this atrocity — after the deranged shooter himself, never forget that — is the total collapse of the governmental institutions charged with protecting the defenseless students collected into an unprotected public school.

Let’s recap how the Parkland shooting has played out politically. Because make no mistake, it is now allpolitical in Florida and nationally, and it is driven by the activist left and the media pursuing their anti-gun agendas — and not by the facts as they are being revealed.

The FBI failed twice to take any steps when informed about the Parkland shooter being a threat to do exactly this, by his own family members. This is hardly the worst, as the FBI gets a lot of bum tips, but it is still a failure.

Worse, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office failed to take any steps when called to his home 39 times, including for violent and threatening behavior, and being told he had guns. That is an extraordinary number of red flags missed or blown off by local law enforcement. The FBI and the Sheriff not only did nothing, but apparently they did not communicate with each other with this information.

Worse yet, the sheriff’s deputy assigned to the school did nothing, standing outside with his gun while the killer roamed the halls killing defenseless people.

And then very worst of all, when three more Broward deputies showed up, all of them stayed outside while the monster continued killing inside. They did nothing until Coral Springs police arrived on the scene, at which point the killer had stopped and was slipping away.

With four deputies all doing this, it is clear it was not cowardice. There are just too many good cops for that to be the case. They were almost assuredly following some sort of policy by the uber-incompetent and morally dubious Broward County Sheriff, a Democrat with a history of corruption charges.

The collapse of law enforcement and school security in the Parkland shooting (such as cameras being on a 20-minute delay, not a live feed, sowing more confusion) is perhaps the worst in modern American history. This shooting was eminently preventable, and should never have happened. The systemic collapse on the part of multiple government organizations failed the students, their families, friends and community.

And it will again.

But the entire media and political focus is on the weapon the killer used. It’s not the killer, not the FBI, not the deputies, not the school. It’s the weapon.

None of these protests are about the utter failure of the law enforcement community in Broward County. That’s because there is an agenda, using impressionable, traumatized youth. What there is not with any of these well-orchestrated protests is any effort to look at cause-and-effect solutions in this shooting. They are staring us in the face, but being ignored for the ongoing anti-gun political agenda.

And finally, the pursuit of gun bans and even gun confiscation, as has been suggested repeatedly in the wake of Parkland — using dubious example of Australia as the success of gun confiscation — means Americans would have to simply trust their defense to the same law enforcement and government systems that failed Parkland students so badly. Even in the best of times, police or deputies are several minutes away from a murderous rampage — or a home invasion. In the worst times, apparently they wait until the murder spree has ended.

Compare and contrast Parkland to the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting last year where a civilian heard the attack, got his semi-automatic rifle and took down the mass killer at the church before cops could get to the scene. What was the gun he used to stop the slaughter? An AR-15, the exact type of weapon that is being aimed at for banning by activists and Democrats.

As the protests and politics continues to play out, remember where the real blame lies — after the evil shooter — when you hear all the calls for gun regulations. And ask how you will defend yourself once all our non-musket guns are confiscated. Because that is the only end-game for the anti-gun activists, protestations to the side.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Revolutionary Act. Please visit The Revolutionary Act Channel.

Social Engineering in Florida’s Public Schools: The Vicious Circle that Led to the Parkland School Massacre

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We have been writing about how policies in Florida’s public schools used to educate students on how to read, do arithmetic and write. Today public schools in the Sunshine State teach students what to think, not how to think. This is call social engineering, “the use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society.” Public schools used to teach students values and skills allowing them to become law abiding, productive and informed citizens. This is no longer the case in Florida’s public and charter schools.

Florida’s public schools have been fundamentally transformed from institutions of learning into social engineering centers.

This fundamental transformation has lead to a vicious circle. A vicious circle is defined as, “a sequence of reciprocal cause and effect in which two or more elements intensify and aggravate each other, leading inexorably to a worsening of the situation.”

Students are now being socially molded to believe things that are either simply not true, not scientifically based and fundamentally immoral. This fundamental transformation began with the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1962 and 1963, which made it illegal to pray and the corporate reading the Bible in public schools. The April 20th, 1999 Columbine school massacre caused the national discussion of school bullying and the hasty implementation of many new anti-bullying rules and “zero-tolerance” policies across the United States.

In 1996 the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) launched its own anti-bullying campaign. The anti-bullying campaign focused on perceived bullying againsyt gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning student. The GLSEN movement then led to legislation and policies promoting the gay agenda in public schools.

How has social re-engineering impacted students?

Susan Porter, author of Bully Nation: Why America’s Approach to Childhood Aggression is Bad for Everyone found that,

“They  [students] are becoming less resilient, if you’re now a victim, and you think of yourself as a victim, you are much more apt to get victimized.”

Porter sat down with Reason TV’s Tracy Oppenheimer to discuss the anti-bully movement and how laws, labeling and the media are only agitating the problem. She says that kids are actually suffering because of these anti-bully efforts. Watch this six minute video interview with Susan Porter:

The Zero Tolerance policies in Florida’s public schools led the Broward County School Board to rethink its anti-bullying policies.

In 2010 the Broward County School Board acquiesced to demands made by the NAACP to stop reporting illegal acts by minority students to the police under a policy titled “diversionary programs.” Students who engaged in violence, drug sales, robberies, burglaries, theft and other various crimes were intentionally kept out of the criminal justice system.

On November 5th, 2012 the Broward County School Board entered into an agreement with local law enforcement officials and the NAACP. The agreement reads in part:

WHEREAS,

the parties acknowledge that law enforcement plays an essential role in maintaining safety in the community. However, the use of arrests and referrals to the criminal justice system may decrease
a student’s chance of graduation, entering higher education, joining the military, and getting a job.

WHEREAS,

in the 2011-2012 school year, the Department of Juvenile Justice reported 1,062 school-related arrests in Broward County, the highest number in the state. 71% of these arrests were for misdemeanor offenses. Over half of those students had never been referred to the Juvenile Justice System before.

WHEREAS,

across the country, students of color, students with disabilities and LGBTQ students are disproportionately impacted by school-based arrests for the same behavior as their peers.

WHEREAS,

The Florida Legislature “encourage[s] schools to use alternatives to expulsion or referral to law enforcement agencies by addressing disruptive behavior through restitution, civil citation, teen court, neighborhood restorative justice, or similar programs” and has instructed school districts “that zero -tolerance policies are not intended to be rigorously applied to petty acts of misconduct and misdemeanors, including, but not limited to, minor fights or disturbances.”

WHEREAS,

with a joint commitment to ending school-based arrests for minor misbehavior, school districts and law enforcement agencies across the country have improved school safety, school engagement and academic achievement. The parties to this agreement are confident that by working together, they can return Broward County Public Schools to a culture of common sense discipline that allows all students to enjoy a safe and effective education.

NOW, THEREFORE,

in consideration of the premises and of the mutual covenants contained herein, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the Parties hereby agree as follows: In order to follow the guidelines set forth by the Legislature, the parties are entering into this cooperative effort among the public agencies named herein to establish guidelines for the handling of school-based student misbehavior. The guidelines are intended to establish uniformity in the handling of incidents while ensuring that each case is addressed on a case-by-case basis. The manner in which each incident is handled by the Police, School System, and/or Court is dependent upon the many factors unique to each child that includes, but is not limited to, behavioral history, present circumstances, disciplinary record, academic record, general demeanor and disposition toward others, disability or special education status, and other factors. Therefore, the parties acknowledge that students involved in the same incident or similar incidents may receive different and varying responses depending on the factors and needs of each student. To address these issues and ensure that all students have access to a safe and effective learning environment, the parties agree to enter into a cooperative agreement governing appropriate responses and use of resources when responding to school-based misbehavior. [Emphasis added]

Nikolas Cruz “misbehaved” by threatening fellow students both in person and on social media. Cruz “misbehaved” when he wrote on YouTube, ““Im going to be a professional school shooter.” Nikolas Cruz was a bully.

At least two citizens contacted the FBI warning that Cruz was a danger and wanted to shoot up a school. The first tip was on September 24th, 2017, the second on January 5th, 2018.

Are these not perfect examples of bullying/misbehavior, with an intent to kill, then what is?

Florida has created a vicious circle which has inextricably led to what happened in Parkland.

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The Parkland School Massacre: A story of armed cowards and unarmed heroes

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As Americans learn more and more about what actually happened leading up to the massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School located in Parkland, Florida the more astonished they are that this happened. There are two smaller groups of people who are getting angrier and angrier.

Who are two angry groups?

The first group are the Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, the Broward County School Board, transgender students, some vocal Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and politicians representing the Democratic Party.

The second group are those who want safe schools for children, don’t trust government to protect them, believe in God, are law abiding gun owners, and politicians representing the Republican Party.

The first group blames what happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on:

  1. Guns in general and the AR 15 style rifle in particular.
  2. The National Rifle Association.
  3. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
  4. The Republican Party in general and President Donald J. Trump in particular.

The second group blames what happened on February 14th, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 19-year old Nikolas Cruz the man in custody and charged with the premeditated murder of 17 faculty members and students.

Which one is right?

The first group wants more government control of guns and more reliance on government and law enforcement to protect school children.

The second group believes that murder is a crime and believes in crime prevention, if you see something, say something. The second group believes in self-defense.

As the facts become know about what happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, when and by whom, the story tends to support the second group over the first group.

Here are the facts:

  1. In 2010 the Broward County School Board acquiesced to demands made by the NAACP to stop reporting illegal acts by minority students to the police under a policy titled “diversionary programs.” Students who engaged in violence, drug sales, robberies, burglaries, theft and other various crimes were intentionally kept out of the criminal justice system.
  2. Multiple students and teachers reported that Nikolas Cruz was “troubled.” Cruz posted disturbing photographs on his social media sites.
  3. Cruz was suspended from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Former schoolmate Joshua Charo said Cruz had been found with bullets in his backpack.
  4. Nikolas Cruz has no criminal record.
  5. Nikolas Cruz posted on YouTube “Im going to be a professional school shooter”.
  6. At least two citizens contacted the FBI warning that Cruz was a danger and wanted to shoot up a school. The first tip was on September 24th, 2017, the second on January 5th, 2018.
  7. Law enforcement visited Cruz on at least two dozen occasions after receiving 911 calls. On November 29, 2017, Nikolas Cruz called 911 himself in Palm Beach County to report that someone “attacked me and said they were going to gut me.”
  8. The Broward County Sheriff’s office released records dating back 10 years documenting contacts it had with Nikolas Cruz. The records released are logs of 23 separate 911 calls, including 15 calls made by his now-deceased mother, Linda Cruz, reporting disputes and disturbances involving Cruz between November 2008 and June 2014. Several other calls were made by third parties beginning in February 2016 through November 2017.
  9. On February 5, 2016, deputies received a call summarized as: “Third hand information from the neighbor’s son that Nikolas Cruz planned to shoot up the school on Instagram (Picture of Juvenile with guns.) One month time delay. Unknown high school. Cruz lives in area.”
  10. Cruz passed a background check and purchased a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle in February, 2017 from Sunrise Tactical Supply in Coral Springs, Florida.
  11. On February 14, 2018 at 2:12 p.m. EST Nikolas Cruz entered Building 12 and began shooting faculty and students.
  12. At 2:50 p.m. Cruz calmly went into a Walmart near the school and purchased a drink at a Subway inside and then left the store.
  13. At 2:53 p.m. Broward County Deputies responded to reports of a shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. There was one Broward County deputy already on campus. He did nothing to stop Cruz during the assault nor arrest him once he left the campus. It is reported that three other Broward County Sheriff’s deputies were on the scene but did not go into Building 12 to find the shooter or help the wounded.
  14. At 3:41 p.m. a Coconut Creek police officer detained Cruz in Coral Springs, Florida.
  15. On February 15th, 2018 Florida shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz was booked into the Broward County jail and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

The Bottom Line

Given this timeline it is clear that:

  1. Nikolas Cruz was known to law enforcement at every level from the Broward County Sheriff’s office to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  2. In the Broward County School system Nikolas Cruz was know as troubled and a growing threat to other students.
  3. Nikolas Cruz, like the shooters at Columbine, were able to get weapons. Nikolas Cruz passed a federal background check and was allowed to buy a rifle.
  4. At least four Broward County deputies did not do what was expected of them. Question: Are they cowards or were they told to stand down?
  5. At least two unarmed faculty and one unarmed student at the high school, assistant football coach Aaron Feis, athletic director Chris Hixon and Junior ROTC Cadet Peter Wang, raced toward the shots and attempted to shield others. All three died as heroes.

Government did not protect the children in Parkland, Florida. Government is working to downplay its failures by directing attention at others and an inanimate object.

Bottom line: Government failed! People died!

American author, historian, and Unitarian minister Edward Everett Hale wrote, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”

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How the NAACP and Broward County School Board are responsible for the Parkland Massacre and Trayvon Martin shooting

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The Associated Press in a November 2013 article titled In Florida, agreement to reduce student arrests Christine Armario reported:

MIAMI (AP) — One of the nation’s largest school districts, law enforcement and the NAACP have reached a deal aimed at arresting fewer students for minor offenses and cutting down the so-called school-to-prison pipeline, which the civil rights group and others say disproportionately affects minority students.

The agreement with Broward County Public Schools in Florida announced Tuesday is one of the first comprehensive plans bringing together district officials, police and the state attorney’s office to create an alternative to the zero-tolerance policies prevalent in many schools. It charges principals rather than school resource officers with being the primary decision makers in responding to student misbehavior.

[ … ]

“It’s pretty rare,” Michael Krezmien, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said of the agreement. “I think if every other school district did it that would be a great step forward.”

The new policy creates a matrix for district officials and school resource officers to follow when a student misbehaves. For non-violent misdemeanors like trespassing, harassment, incidents related to alcohol, possession of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, administrators are instructed to try and resolve the situation without an arrest. A variety of alternatives, like participation in a week-long counseling program, are designed to address and correct the student’s behavior.

No student would be arrested for a first non-violent misdemeanor, but further offenses will result in graduated levels of school-based interventions. After a fifth incident, students are referred to law enforcement.

Felonies or serious threats will still be handled by police. [Emphasis added]

Read more.

After Florida’s Broward County School Board implemented this policy the Miami-Dade School Board did the same. This new “matrix” is dubbed “diversionary programs.”

Diversionary Programs Kill

Four days after the Parkland massacre a column was published by the Conservative Tree House titled School Shooting Was Outcome of Broward County School Board Policy – Now Local and National Politicians Weaponize Kids for Ideological Intents. The author reported:

Broward County schools intentionally created polices from 2010 through 2016 that culminated in the 2018 mass school shooting in Parkland.  We know this with great specificity because five years ago we warned Broward County Florida school board members this could happen.

In 2012 and 2013 while doing research into the Trayvon Martin shooting we discovered an alarming set of school policies being enacted in Miami-Dade and Broward County Florida.  The policies were called “diversionary programs” and were essentially about stopping High School students from being arrested. Law enforcement was instructed to avoid arrests and defer criminal conduct to school administrators.

Students who engaged in violence, drug sales, robberies, burglaries, theft and other various crimes were intentionally kept out of the criminal justice system.  County administrators and School Superintendents told local and county law enforcement officers to stop arresting students. [Emphasis added]

How the Miami-Dade School Board mandated policies came into conflict with law and order

Frances Robles from the Miami Herald reported:

Trayvon [Martin] was suspended several times in the months before his death, including one incident in which a school police officer said he caught the Michael Krop High student with a bag of what appeared to be stolen jewelry.

The Conservative Tree House reported:

It was that M-DSPD internal affairs investigation which revealed in October 2011 Trayvon Martin was searched by School Resource Officer, Darryl Dunn. The search of Trayvon Martin’s backpack turned up at least 12 pcs of ladies jewelry, and a man’s watch, in addition to a flat head screwdriver described as “a burglary tool”.

When Trayvon was questioned about who owned the jewelry and where it came from, he claimed he was just holding it for a “friend”. A “friend” he would not name.

Later, after the police report was outlined in the Robles article, and despite Trayvon being suspended for the second time in a new school year, Martin family attorney, Benjamin Crump, said Trayvon’s dad, Tracy Martin, and Trayvon’s mom, Sybrina Fulton, did not know anything about the jewelry case.

[ … ]

However, there was ONE big issue. SRO Dunn never filed a criminal report, nor opened a criminal investigation, surrounding the stolen jewelry. Instead, and as a result of pressure from M-DSPD Chief [Charles] Hurley to avoid criminal reports for black male students, Dunn wrote up the jewelry as “found items”, and transferred them, along with the burglary tool, to the Miami-Dade Police property room where they sat on a shelf unassigned to anyone for investigation.

Read M-DSPD Chief Charles Hurley’s testimony here.

In April 2012 Jessie Jackson, after the Trayvon Martin shooting, called for “no more black suspensions.” It should be noted that the Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz is Hispanic, a minority. Jackson said at a rally that the Trayvon Martin case was about ending all types of racial profiling — not just in criminal cases, but by banks, insurance companies and in the job market. Jackson called for “end profiling now.” “We must stop suspending our children,” Jackson said, asking the crowd to repeat: “Invest in them. Educate them.”  (read more)

After Jackson’s remarks this policy was implemented nation wide by former President Obama and led to an executive order to allow black male students to have independent disciplinary policies based on their race and gender.

What happens when law enforcement sees something and does nothing in order to “end profiling”based on race and gender?

Are the NAACP and the Broward County School District’s “diversionary program” responsible for the Parkland massacre? We report, you decide.

READ: The Broward County School Board’s Collaborative Agreement on School Discipline dated November 5th, 2013:

Broward Co Collaborative Agreement on School Discipline – MOU by The Conservative Treehouse on Scribd

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When it Comes to School Shootings, Stop the Bickering and Solve the Problem.

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The Chamber of the Florida House of Representatives is a very austere place.  Upon entering, you feel the weight of your constituents urging you to work for the betterment of all Floridians.

Despite its loftiness, during session, it is also a place bustling with activity as members scope out other members’ positions on issues and chairmen are approached regarding the possibility of having a bill heard.

But on Wednesday, February 14, 2018, all of that came to a halt as the announcement was made that a terrible mass shooting incident was taking place at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School, and a moment of silence was called in solidarity with those who were tragically affected by the day’s events.  The work of the Florida House continued after that, but at a much more somber pace.

As we know, seventeen people paid the ultimate price for this senseless act of violence while countless others were left with a huge void in their lives and in their hearts.  And those of us in the Florida House were left with a renewed call to do something to address this tragic problem.

The question, of course, is what?

The easy but fruitless answer is to reach for gun control legislation.  All sorts of ideas have been floated ranging from a ban on assault weapons all the way to confiscation.  The problem with these suggestions is that no matter how many of these laws are passed, the nefarious shooter will continue to obtain weapons and wreak havoc on the frail and unarmed.  Although many are frustrated by the Congress’s inability to enact stricter gun control legislation, the ineffectiveness and futility of these measures is the very reason for the gridlock.  Unquestionably, if gun control measures truly worked, their passage would be unstoppable.

So, absent these ineffective measures, what else can be done?

Well, there are actually some very promising solutions.  For starters, school districts can enact programs designating individuals with familiarity in handling weapons (such as concealed weapon permit holders, military veterans, former law enforcement officers, etc.) to carry them in schools for the purposes of protecting students in case of an active shooter or hostage situation.  These programs may include training requirements, background checks, and psychological testing in order to qualify to carry in a school.  These individuals ought to be carrying in a concealed manner so that no student or stranger would know the identity or number of such designated carriers.

Many states prohibit the carrying of any weapons in all schools, public or private, thus rendering the members of churches with schools on church grounds powerless to respond in the case of an active shooter incident.  Those restrictions need be lifted, particularly during times when the church’s school is not in session, such as Sundays, the same time that services are being held.

States ought to enact legislation requiring school districts to develop policies and response plans to active shooter situations, and drill them, so that all involved know how to respond.

Simulation programs, such as the one run by the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine where field enactments are created requiring coordinated responses by local SWAT, EMS teams, and assigned weapons carriers.

This will allow for better coordination among the different players needing to work together and for the identification of challenges before they are encountered in live events.

Like in other areas, prevention is the best policy and over reliance on the federal system is a prescription for failure.  Consequently, state law enforcement must be tasked with the job of identifying high-risk individuals and with investigating them before a mass casualty event takes place.  It follow that state legislatures must pass laws and appropriations providing these agencies the tools they need to hunt down these would be killers and get them the interventions they need.

So why haven’t these very reasonable and logical steps been enacted?  In my experience, the number one reason legislation in this arena meets so much resistance is because of the conflations and misguidance provided by its opponents.  Without fail, whenever these measures are presented, opponents turn the debate into a discussion about the expansion of guns in schools or the intrusion on gun free zones when, in fact, these measures represent no such expansions or intrusions.  Additionally, fear mongering inevitably takes place as if the fear of the unknown were greater than the acknowledgment of the certainty of another deadly occurrence.

Clearly, our country’s problem with violent behavior and murderous conduct is much greater than the mere existence of guns, and we should never have a discussion about gun violence and school safety without noting the need to improve the moral ills afflicting us.  More importantly, we cannot allow the paralysis that grips us regarding gun control to keep us from enacting useful and lifesaving measures.  Doing so not only represents a terrible negligence on our part, but it will also lead to more tragic and needless loss of life.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Federalist Pages. The featured image is of the Cottonwood Heights, Utah Police Department motto, solve the problem.

In God Schools Trust

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America has been successful at keeping God out of schools, but not guns. And that irony isn’t lost on leaders in Arkansas, who are desperately trying to put positive influences back into classrooms. If there was ever a time to put a simple reminder like “In God We Trust” before students, it’s now. While Florida families mourn the loss of 17 young lives, maybe it’s time to rethink what messages we’re teaching our teenagers.

In Arkansas, the idea was simple: require schools to put up “In God We Trust” posters. The bill sailed through the state legislature, passing 78-1 in the House and 28-2 in the Senate. Rep. Jim Dotson (R) thought it wouldn’t just be an opportunity to honor America’s heritage, but also “provide students with a good conscience while in school.” “We all know of instances in recent events where our culture of violence is being shown all around, and I think it’s something that hopefully students will be able to see on the walls and know that our country was founded on something better.”

As a show of support, local American Legion posts have raised money to pay for 1,000 framed posters in one school district, and others are lining up to donate more. As usual, the American Atheists are pitching a fit that children might be exposed to the word “God,” something they could certainly stand to hear more of, if the latest headlines are any indication. “Rep. Dotson and groups who have pledged to donate these displays have been quite clear about their purpose: injecting religion into Arkansas’s public schools.” Well, I hate to break it to them, but God’s already there. Unless these kids check their purses and wallets at the front door, He’s on every dollar they have.

As for putting the motto out where everyone can see it, the Supreme Court has said time and time again that there’s absolutely nothing wrong about it. The motto isn’t an endorsement of religion, the court said, but a “statement of optimism” about America’s heritage. If you want to protect kids from something, try the schools’ graphic sex-ed curriculums or propaganda of those trying to deconstruct society and the family that’s paraded through our schools. Those are the real destructive influences.

At a time when more schools are war zones than classrooms, surely we can all see the good of pointing kids to the fact that there is a God to whom we will all give an account — including the atheists who work night and day to fight someone they say doesn’t exist. For everyone else, maybe we should ponder the possibility that by letting God back in we might keep the violence out.

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

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Race and IQ: A High School Science Fair Project Ignites a Storm

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We don’t know the student’s name, but we do know that he hit a nerve — in fact, he hit a whole bunch of them. Identified only as a boy of Asian descent at C.K. McClatchy High School in California, the teen’s recent science-fair project, “Race and IQ,” propounded the thesis that differences in groups’ average intelligence influence their academic performance. He couldn’t win, though, because his project was removed after parents, staff and other students became “upset” and one girl said she felt “unsafe and uneasy.” The irony?

A project on evolution would no doubt have been well received — even though an assumption of racial differences is implicit in evolutionary theory.

In fact, The Sacramento Bee, which hasn’t yet evolved out of the progressive primordial soup, mentioned that the student’s thesis is associated with eugenics (which the Bee casts negatively), the science of improving the human race via selective breeding. The paper is likely unaware, however, that the term “eugenics” itself was coined by Sir Francis Galton — a cousin of famed evolutionist Charles Darwin — and that Galton made clear that in his eugenicist endeavors, he was merely building on his cousin’s work.

Philosopher G.K. Chesterton once noted that if people “were not created equal, they were certainly evolved unequal.” This is easy to understand:

What are the chances that different groups could have “evolved” isolated from one another for eons — subject to different environments, stresses, procreation-influencing cultural imperatives and adaptive realities — and ended up identical in every worldly measure? Why, even if the peoples evolved isolated in identical environments, the separation alone would make the prospects of winding up completely “equal” a virtual statistical impossibility.

Whatever you believe about evolution, it’s clear that equality is not a thing of this world. Do we see it in nature? Some species can dominate others or are more adaptable, which is why the rat is a pest and the dodo is extinct (and, in fact, the rat helped drive the dodo to extinction). Even within species, some members are hardier, smarter, faster or stronger than others. There are alphas and betas, with a silverback gorilla running his troop and a dominant lion leading his pride. And different breeds of dogs have different characteristic traits, with some being more intelligent than others.

As for people, how is it that we can even characterize different groups as “groups”? Since we don’t do it based purely on location (e.g., dividing 10 boys into two groups of five, each on opposite sides of a room), we can only do so because there are differences among them. We can only speak of “men” and “women” because sex differences actually exist. Regarding the races, we know there are distinctions relating to skin color and hair, for example. It’s differences that make groups “groups.”

But are the differences only skin deep? Tay-Sachs disease is most common among Ashkenazi Jews, while sickle cell anemia is almost exclusive to people of Middle Eastern, Indian, Mediterranean and African heritage. Relative to American whites, American blacks generally have longer limbs, more sweat glands (and thus dissipate heat better), narrower pelvises and greater bone density; and black men have higher free testosterone levels than white men do. Not that it’s the focus of this article, but all these characteristics bring advantages and disadvantages.

Now, next question: Are the differences only neck high? If evolution is a reality, would its principles be operational with the body but, somehow, some way, be suspended with the brain? My, believing that would truly take faith.

Of course, whether nature, nurture or both — whether the tests are valid or not — the fact remains that we do see marked IQ differences among groups. Ashkenazi Jews score the highest of all, at 115 (the world average is currently about 88); this may explain why Jews are only 0.2 percent of the world’s population but were 22 percent of the 20th century’s Nobel Prize winners. Hong Kong and Singapore lead the country list with average IQs of 108, while many nations register far, far lower. Note that while good scientists may debate why these differences exist and how meaningful they are, that they exist is not in dispute.

Of course, some may quibble with the numbers I provided or the group differences I cited, but the details aren’t really the point. The point is, again, that evolution and Equality Dogma contradict one another. Embracing both is akin to believing it likely that on two different occasions, you could spin a giant bin with one million numbers in it, remove them randomly and put them in a row, and they would end up in the precise same order each time. Random processes yield variable results.

That is, unless you believe that God guided evolution. Even this belief, however, allows for the inequality that is the world’s apparent norm. How could this be? It’s simple: Equality is our hang-up — not God’s.

Is “equality” emphasized in any great, time-tested religious canon? It’s certainly only mentioned in the Bible in reference to weights and measures. In fact, Christian theology holds that in that perfect, sinless realm of happiness — Heaven — we will not all have equal glory, as St Thérèse of Liseaux once explained.

As for this fold, Hell on Earth is what Equality Dogma helps create. It has spawned perverted scientific priorities that deny Truth and demand ideological determinations. We’ve seen this before. The Soviet equality dogmatists did it with Lysenkoism, insisting that acquired traits could be inherited because Marxist ideology demanded a malleable human nature. The Nazi superiority dogmatists did it with their racial theories, believing in a “master race” that could become all the more masterful through selective breeding. And we’ve combined elements of both, demanding an unnatural and unattainable equality and measuring it by racial, ethnic and sexual representation in worldly endeavor.

In a saner time, Equality Dogma would be considered a vile heresy. The truth here isn’t hard to grasp: There are differences within groups, but there are also differences among groups. We know we mustn’t paint every individual with the same brush. Why would we paint every individual group with the same one?

One group we should paint over with the label “Rejected” is equality dogmatists. The McClatchy student’s scientific methods might very well have been shoddy, but this wasn’t what got his project scuttled. Rather, The Sacramento Bee article quoted individuals who said the it was “shocking” and its creator “closed-minded”; it spoke of how people felt “upset” and “unsafe and uneasy.” What’s notable is that no one quoted said the project’s conclusion was wrong or untrue.

Oh, if asked, the critics would surely bellow, “Well, of course it’s untrue!” But it’s no accident that they didn’t think to say it; in fact, this failure is typical today when fashionable emoters react to unfashionable science. These critics don’t think to call it untrue because the truth of the matter isn’t their focus. Ideology is.

It’s feelings over facts, emotion over education. But science doesn’t exist to make us feel good or bad; its purpose is the discovery of Truth via the scientific method. People who reject this, who subordinate Truth to agenda-driven lies, are dangerous to civilization. They also are hardly progressive — except insofar as they’re progressing toward ignorance.

Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com

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What is fundamentally wrong with our schools? Let us count the ways…

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On Valentines Day 2018 Nikolas Cruz, a 19-year old, decided to enter his former high school and began slaughtering students and faculty. Does this scenario sound familiar? It should because we knew, as a society, this was going to happen over and over again. We did not listen to those sounding the alarm bells. We turned a blind eye, and because we did there is blood flowing in our public schools and worse. We blamed everything and everyone but ourselves for this blood shed.

How did this happen? Answer: God was taken out of our schools.

God was taken out of public schools by United States Supreme Court on June 25th, 1962. In 1989 researcher David Barton published a book titled “America, to pray or not to pray?”

Barton asked:

It is impossible to know how many of the 39 million children were involved in daily verbal prayers, but most accounts indicate that a clear majority of the students voluntarily participated in daily school prayer.

Is it possible that the prayers that were being offered by these children and their teachers across the nation actually had any measurable, tangible effect? 

The editorial staff of The Forerunner in 2008 published an op-ed titled “What Happened When the Praying Stopped.” The editorial staff looked at David Barton’s book and wrote about what Barton found in six areas:

Figure 1: SAT Total Scores. Basic data from the College Entrance Exam Board

Figure 1: The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) is an academic test that measures the developed verbal and math reasoning of a student exiting from high school or some similar type of learning facility. The results of these tests are commonly used by colleges and universities to indicate the strength of a student’s academic preparation and his potential for success on the college level.

Figure 1 shows how drastically the actual knowledge of high school students began to drop at an accelerating rate after 1962. Barton notes in his report that the upturn in SAT scores since 1981 is due to the increase in private Christian educational facilities which began to flourish at that time. Statistics have proven that students from private Christian schools showed higher academic achievement and higher test scores.

Figure 2: Percentage of U.S. Teenage Girls Who Have Had Pre-Marital Intercourse.

Figure 2: This graph shows the increase in sexual activity in unmarried teen-age girls after the 1962 Supreme Court decision. It is evident from the figures provided that in the years previous to the removal of prayer the rates remained stable and relatively unchanged. In the post- prayer years the numbers immediately began to soar. The sudden increase on the graph appears as if a great restraining force had suddenly been removed.

Figure 3: Unwed women 15-19 years of age showed a phenomenal increase in the rate of pregnancies after the School Prayer decision. Note that the figure jumps drastically after the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision which made abortion legal in the U.S. The United States now has the highest incidence of teen-age motherhood in any Western country.

Figure 5: SINGLE PARENT HOUSEHOLDS. Female Head, No Spouse Present

Figure 4: For the 15-19 and 20-24 age group, the rates of youth suicide remained relatively unchanged during the years from 1946 to the School Prayer decision in 1962. But in the years since, suicides among the same group have increased 253 percent, or an average of 10.5 percent per year.

Figure 5: Stability in the family has also been affected since the 1962 decision. Divorce, single parent families, couples living together but not married, and adultery are areas of family breakdown which have experienced radical growth in recent years. In the graph above, the increase in single parent families (households with only a mother and children) are detailed. Note the dotted line at the bottom, which shows the rate of growth prior to the 1962 decision.

Figure 6: VIOLENT CRIME: Number of Offenses.

Figure 6: Crime, productivity, and national morality had been on a fairly stable level prior to the 1962 decision, but that is no longer the case. It is obvious that such a quantity of students praying for their nation had a very positive effect on the course that this nation had taken. The rate of violent crime, as shown above, has risen over 330 percent.

Click here to view more of the charts in America, to pray or not to pray?.

In an August 15, 2014 CNS News published an article titled “Education Expert: Removing Bible, Prayer from Public Schools Has Caused Decline” by Penny Starr. Starr interview Dr. William Jeynes a Professor of Education at California State University, Long Beach. Starr reported:

“One can argue, and some have, that the decision by the Supreme Court – in a series of three decisions back in 1962 and 1963 – to remove Bible and prayer from our public schools, may be the most spiritually significant event in our nation’s history over the course of the last 55 years,” Jeynes said.

[ … ]

Since 1963, Jeynes said there have been five negative developments in the nation’s public schools:

  • Academic achievement has plummeted, including SAT scores.
  • Increased rate of out-of-wedlock births
  • Increase in illegal drug use
  • Increase in juvenile crime
  • Deterioration of school behavior

Dr. Jeynes noted, “So we need to realize that these actions do have consequences. When we remove that moral fiber — that moral emphasis – this is what can result.”

Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision the top five complaints of teachers from 1940-1962 were talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls and getting out of turn in line. Since 1963 the greater concerns are rape, robbery, assault, burglary and arson.

We are reaping what we have sown.

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Nickolas Cruz

EDITORS NOTE: Nikolas Cruz has been identified as the alleged killer of 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, FL. Cruz was “expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for unspecified disciplinary reasons.” Cruz was adopted by Lynda Cruz, a widow. Postings under the name Nikolas Cruz included threatening comments under videos on YouTube and other sites, including “I whana shoot people with my AR-15” (sic), “I wanna die Fighting killing s**t ton of people” and “I am going to kill law enforcement one day they go after the good people.”

Education Department Won’t Investigate Transgender Bathroom Complaints

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After much speculation pertaining to the Trump administration’s official policy on transgender restroom policies, a White House spokeswoman indicated that the U.S. Department of Education won’t investigate any complaints regarding transgender restroom policies.

Spokeswoman Liz Hill told BuzzFeed News that specific kinds of  transgender complaints may be investigated, but no bathroom complaints will garner the Department of Education’s scrutiny.

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“Long-standing regulations provide that separating facilities on the basis of sex is not a form of discrimination prohibited by Title IX,” Hill said, explaining that the department will continue investigating sex-based stereotypes and sex discrimination against transgender individuals, but will not devote resources to the slew of transgender bathroom cases.

“Until now, the official position of the department has been that Title IX protects all students and that they were evaluating how that protection applies to the issue of bathroom access,” said the chairwoman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Catherine Lhamon, who disagrees with Hill’s statement that the DOE isn’t required to include transgender restroom policies under Title IX.

“This new categorical bar of civil rights protection for transgender children required to attend schools every day ignores the text of the law, courts’ interpretation of the law, the stated position of the department to date, and human decency,” Lhamon said, according to BuzzFeed News. “That interpretation represents an appalling abdication of federal enforcement responsibility, inconsistent with the law and with courts’ interpretation of the law, and totally lacking in human compassion for children in school, whom the department is charged to protect.”

The Education Department’s announcement comes after the Trump administration revoked a vague Obama administration order that forced taxpayer-funded schools to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice.

“This is a states’ rights issue and not one for the federal government,” then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in February 2017.

Montana is considering adopting a measure requiring people to use the bathroom and locker room of their biological sex. The Locker Room Privacy Act says Montana residents must use the bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their birth gender rather than their gender identity, according to the Missoulian.

Maryland schools adopted a new policy in November, however, allowing transgenders to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice, according to The Washington Post.

A transgender student also won $800,000 from her Wisconsin high school in January after reaching a settlement in a lawsuit alleging staff had monitored her trips to the boys’ bathroom.

Ash Whitaker, who identifies as male, filed a lawsuit claiming that teachers had accompanied her to the boys’ bathroom and forced her to wear an identifying bracelet to single her out from other students. The Kenosha, Wisconsin, school board voted 5-2 to grant the $800,000 settlement.

RELATED ARTICLE: Parents on Explicit Sex Ed: Get Real!

EDITORS NOTE: Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. The featured image is by Ciud/Getty Images.

Georgetown University Pro-Family Group Gets Back Money Wrongly Given to LGBT Organizations

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A pro-family student organization at Georgetown University has received its donations back after an investigation of faculty and others who the group accused of misappropriating funds contributed to it.

The group, Love Saxa, said that Georgetown officials had taken private donations intended for it and deposited them into other student organizations’ accounts.

The organizations who received those funds hold views contrary to the Love Saxa mission. The money was reportedly deposited into LGBT-affiliated student groups’ accounts.

During the fall 2017 semester, some students at Georgetown were angered by Love Saxa’s pro-family messaging and called on the university to withdraw recognition of the group as an affiliate of the school.

After a thorough vetting of the club and its leaders by the university, Love Saxa remains an officially recognized student organization on campus.

Love Saxa’s views on marriage and family align with official Catholic teachings, and Georgetown has long been recognized as one of the most prestigious Catholic and Jesuit universities in the United States.

Proponents of the club agree that a student organization on a Catholic campus should be able to support Christian views on marriage without being threatened with having its organizational recognition revoked.

The group’s unusual name stems from Georgetown’s college chant “Hoya Saxa,” which translates as “what rocks.” Love Saxa means “love rocks.”

In a letter addressed to Georgetown’s president, John J. DeGioia, Love Saxa and its legal advocate, the Alliance Defending Freedom, called on the university to investigate the funding misappropriation matter, restore the donations, and hold the individuals responsible accountable.

There were three specific incidences of misappropriations of funds cited in the letter, written by Tyson Langhofer, director of the Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Academic Freedom. The Alliance Defending Freedom is a nonprofit focused on advocating, training, and funding on the issues of religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.

One example, from November 2017, cited an individual who sent a check for $50 to Love Saxa. The president of the student organization, Amelia Irvine, deposited the check with Georgetown officials. Yet, Love Saxa never received the funds.

To the contrary, the donor received a receipt from Georgetown showing that the donation had been credited to the LGBTQ Resource Center reserve.

The other two examples of misappropriations of funds showed the money being appropriated to similar LGBTQ resources and organizations.

“In light of the sustained mistreatment of Love Saxa throughout this academic year, now is the time for transparency and accountability,” Langhofer wrote. “While we desire to resolve this matter amicably, Georgetown needs to demonstrate its commitment to integrity through its actions.”

Asked about the matter, a Georgetown university spokesperson sent the following statement to the Daily Signal:

All gifts to Love Saxa have been identified and deposited to Love Saxa’s account. When the university receives a gift designated by a donor for a student group with access to benefits, the gifts are allocated with a designated worktag that ensures they reach the intended recipient.

Because a fall 2017 gift was the first donation of its kind to Love Saxa, no established path existed.

As always in these cases, we corrected the mistakes, have developed a path to ensure that funds are routed properly in the future, and have communicated to the student group and the donors that the gifts have been properly allocated.

COMMENTARY BY

Chrissy Clark

Chrissy Clark is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation.

RELATED ARTICLE: LGBTs force closure of another Christian business

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VIDEO: The Social Engineering Agenda of ‘Social Emotional Learning’

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Have you ever heard of “Social emotional learning” (SEL)? It’s the new fad in public schools that has permeated education policy. Proponents of SEL claim that injecting the SEL agenda into all pre-k and K12 curricula will cultivate in children the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors necessary for academic achievement, such as empathy and regulation of emotions.

Stella Morabito

In an FRC Speaker Series event, Senior Contributor to The Federalist Stella Morabito revealed how SEL is presented with a veneer of building kids’ self-confidence, but in reality is a form of groupthink through the regulation of personal interactions and relationships. The SEL model is taught in a way that requires total compliance with its methods, including the monitoring and tracking of students’ emotions. As Morabito pointed out, those pushing the SEL agenda have fallen into the trap of a collectivist utopianism that believes that if only the government were able to teach everyone the “right way” of thinking, everyone will be equally happy.

In reality, the SEL agenda enforces conformity, it invades privacy, and it undermines the influence of family and faith in a child’s life.

Instead of promoting strong relationships, as SEL proponents claim, the SEL agenda serves more to isolate children through a program of peer-modeled behavior modification that manipulates the human fear of being socially rejected. The SEL model makes almost no mention of the primary mediating institutions that form us as human beings: family, church, and civic institutions. Instead, it pushes conditioned emotional reflexes over open and honest discussion. The result of this misguided philosophy is readily apparent in how many in our society now behave — in a mush of emotional sensitivities that are easily “triggered” whenever a contrary opinion is encountered.

How can we respond and fight against this “social emotional learning” movement?

Morabito suggests that freethinkers should strengthen their support networks and spread awareness through outreach to those who are not informed on the dangers of SEL. As French philosopher and sociologist Jacques Ellul said, “Propaganda ends where simple dialogue begins.”

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

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Communist China’s Growing Influence in Florida’s Schools and Universities

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On February 5th, 2018 U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) urged Miami Dade College, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida, the University of West Florida, and Cypress Bay High School to terminate their agreements with Chinese government-run programs known as Confucius Institutes. In a letter sent to each Florida school, along with its board of trustees, Rubio warned of China’s growing foreign influence operations in the United States.

The full text of the letters is below:

Dear X:

I write with regards to growing foreign influence operations of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the United States, particularly in our academic institutions. There is mounting concern about the Chinese government’s increasingly aggressive attempts to use “Confucius Institutes” and other means to influence foreign academic institutions and critical analysis of China’s past history and present policies. Additionally, the PRC continues its efforts to interfere in multilateral institutions, threaten and intimidate rights defenders and their families, and impose censorship mechanisms on foreign publishers and social media companies. For reasons outlined below, I respectfully urge you to consider terminating your Confucius Institute agreement.

Confucius Institutes are Chinese government-run programs that use the teaching of Chinese language and culture as a tool to expand the political influence of the PRC. In November 2011, Li Changchun, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, the highest body of the Chinese Communist Party, stated in a speech at the Beijing Headquarters of the Confucius Institute:

“The Confucius Institute is an appealing brand for extending our culture abroad. It has made an important contribution toward improving our soft power. The ‘Confucius’ brand has a natural attractiveness. Using the excuse of teaching Chinese language, everything looks reasonable and logical.”

There are presently more than 100 Confucius Institutes, in addition to Confucius Classrooms at the K-12 level in the United States, including several in the state of Florida. These institutes are overseen by a branch of the Chinese Ministry of Education, and are instructed to only teach versions of Chinese history, culture or current events that are explicitly approved by the Chinese Government and Communist Party. As the American Association of University Professors noted in a June 2014 report:

“Confucius Institutes function as an arm of the Chinese state and are allowed to ignore academic freedom. Their academic activities are under the supervision of Hanban, a Chinese state agency which is chaired by a member of the Politburo and the vice-premier of the People’s Republic of China. Most agreements establishing Confucius Institutes feature nondisclosure clauses and unacceptable concessions to the political aims and practices of the government of China. Specifically, North American universities permit Confucius Institutes to advance a state agenda in the recruitment and control of academic staff, in the choice of curriculum, and in the restriction of debate.”[1]

Moreover, Confucius Institute instructors are almost always hired in China and trained by the Chinese Ministry of Education without any of the same employment and hiring protections that exist in the United States. Much more difficult to measure but no less insidious, however, is the self-censorship that often takes place in academic settings where there is a Chinese government presence in the form of a Confucius Institute. University of Chicago professor Marshall Sahlins has called Confucius Institutes “academic malware” because they represent and reflect decidedly illiberal views of education and academic freedom. We know from multiple reports that topics, such as the status of Tibet and Taiwan, the fourth of June 1989 at Tiananmen Square, Falun Gong, and universal human rights, are off-limits at these institutes.

In a 2017 report titled, “Outsourced to China: Confucius Institutes and Soft Power in American Higher Education,” the National Association of Scholars found that “to a large extent, universities have made improper concessions that jeopardize academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Sometimes these concessions are official and in writing; more often they operate as implicit policies.”[2]

In turn, a growing number of universities have already cut ties with Confucius Institutes:

  • In 2014, the University of Chicago suspended negotiations to renew its agreement to host a Confucius Institute following a petition signed by more than 100 faculty members raising concerns.
  • Days later, Pennsylvania State University cut ties with its Confucius Institute, noting:  “Several of our goals are not consistent with those of the Office of Chinese Languages Council International, known as the Hanban, which provides support to Confucius Institutes throughout the world.” [3]
  • Ontario’s McMaster University shuttered its Confucius Institute in 2013 after a former instructor alleged that the university was “giving legitimization to discrimination” because her contract with Hanban prohibited her participation in Falun Gong.[4]

Indeed, as Politico reported in “How China Infiltrated U.S. Classrooms” (January 16, 2018): “The American Association of University Professors, America’s leading professorial guild, also recommended in 2014 that ‘universities cease their involvement in Confucius Institutes unless the agreement between the university and Hanban is renegotiated,’ so that the universities have unilateral control over the curriculum and faculty, Confucius faculty have the same rights of free inquiry as their fellow teachers, and contracts between Hanban and the partner universities are made public.”

I remain deeply concerned by the proliferation of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in the United States. Given China’s aggressive campaign to “infiltrate” American classrooms, stifle free inquiry, and subvert free expression both at home and abroad, I respectfully urge you to consider terminating your Confucius Institute agreement. Should you have any questions or concerns please do hesitate to contact my office for further discussion.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

REFERENCES:

[1] https://www.aaup.org/report/confucius-institutes

[2] https://www.nas.org/projects/confucius_institutes

[3] https://www.wsj.com/articles/penn-state-latest-school-to-drop-chinas-confucius-institute-1412196655

[4] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/mcmaster-closing-confucius-institute-over-hiring-issues/article8372894/

The Hypocritical, Sanctimonious Indignation of the Collier County School District

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The Collier County School District voted in November to join a lawsuit alongside other Florida county schools board, claiming that the Florida Legislature violated the constitutional rights of the school boards to “operate the free public schools.”

Specifically, the School Board challenges the Florida Legislature’s right to create a system of “schools of hope” during the 2017 session, whereby failing public schools may now be converted into charter schools so that the students of this state have a better chance of receiving a quality education through new leadership.  Apparently, the Legislature has found that “schools of hope” have actually worked elsewhere throughout the United States, and wants to give students of failing schools that same chance here in Florida.

In a carpetbagging Motion to Intervene, the Collier County School Board asserted a right to now join the lawsuit previously filed by the Alachua County School Board and other school boards, sanctimoniously regurgitating legal arguments already made by other lawyers.  The Motion to Intervene is linked here:

[Click here for School Board Motion to Intervene]

The lawsuit pits a battle between the competing but co-equal constitutional authority of the school boards and the Florida Legislature:

Florida Constitution Art. IX, Sect. 4(b) empowers the various school boards to “operate the free public schools.”  This has been construed to mean grades K-12.

Florida Constitution Art. IX, Section 1(a) empowers the Florida Legislature to create a “uniform…high quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high quality education.”  it also empowers the Legislature’s “establishment, maintenance, and operation of institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require.”

The battle before the court is whether the establishment of “schools of hope” intrudes upon the School District’s right to “operate the free public schools,” or alternatively whether the Legislature can critically analyze the various school districts’ failure to meet the educational needs of all students of this state, and thus legislatively create a statewide “schools of hope” option under its constitutional authority to create a “uniform high quality system of free public schools” so that all students have a chance to “obtain a high quality education.”

This will be an interesting legal debate, since the law provides that different sections of the Florida Constitution are to be construed “in pari materia,” meaning “equally.”  The court will have to balance these overlapping constitutional powers.  Expect this one to end up before the Florida Supreme Court.

What is interesting to this author, though, is the hypocrisy of the Collier County School Board.

In its Motion to Intervene, the School Board argues that its constitutional rights are violated because the Legislature’s new “schools of hope” create a “dual or even multiple system of public education.”  But nothing in the Florida Constitution or Statutes prohibits a dual system of public education.  Rather, the Legislature is constitutionally empowered to create a “uniform” system of public education.  “Uniformity” does not necessarily prohibit having a “dual” system, as long as that dual system is uniform statewide.

So here’s where the school board’s hypocrisy is on display…..One area of Florida’s Education Code where there is clearly a strict requirement for a “single system” of education is with Florida’s colleges.  The Florida Legislature has provided that there shall be a “single Florida College system.”  Fla. Stat. 1001.60.  It then defines by name all of the 28 state colleges.  Fla. Stat. 1000.21(3).  For instance, for Collier County, the designated state college is Florida Southwestern State College.   The Legislature then provides that the term “college” can only be used in those state colleges’ name if they meet certain criteria. Fla. Stat. 1001.60(2)(b).  And lest there be any remaining doubt, the Legislature states that no other institutions may use the term “college,” individually or in combination with any other letters or words.  Fla. Stat. 1005.03.

Despite these clear directives from the Legislature, in 2015 the Collier County School Board changed the name of its “institutes of technology” to “technical Colleges”:

Lorenzo Walker Institute of Technology became “Lorenzo Walker Technical College.”

Immokalee Technical Center became “Immokalee Technical College.”

The Florida Legislature has the sole authority to legislate requirements for the establishment “state colleges” and “postsecondary institutions” because they fall within the Legislature’s constitutional authority to create  “institutions of higher learning and other public education programs that the needs of the people may require.”  The Collier County School Board has no constitutional authority here because these are tuition-charging institutions and thus do not fall within the “free public schools” operated by school boards under their constitutional authority.  Thus, the Florida Legislature alone has the authority to create a “single Florida College System,” and the Collier County School Board must abide by the Legislature’s statutory mandates.

The Collier County School Board — alongside many other school boards throughout the state — have effectively thumbed their noses at the Legislature, establishing an illegal “dual Florida College system,” by creating a statewide system of “technical colleges” which are not really colleges at all.

So note the irony here.  The Collier County School Board wants to sue the Florida Legislature for creating a “dual or multiple system of public education” despite no specific prohibition against that; but the Collier County School Board is operating a “dual Florida College system” in direct contravention of the Legislature’s statutory prohibitions.

That, my friends, is hypocrisy.

Might the Collier County School Board also be committing fraud?

Students attending these career centers may think they are getting a college education, but they are not.  When the Collier County School Board voted to change the name of its technical centers to “technical colleges” back in 2015, it was with the specific stated intent to have post-secondary students now go to a “college.” The school district presented a Powerpoint showing how more students will enroll if it is called a “college.”  They posted a video testamentary about a student who was pleased that her hard work at the career center is more recognized now that she is attending a “college.”

Steve Bracci, of B&B,  has repeatedly placed the School Board on notice about this “technical college” issue, and thus the district cannot deny its knowledge and intent.  These notices include:

  •  Public comment to the School Board on January 22, 2018:

It is the opinion of this author that the Collier County School Board may want to gird its loins for a possible class action lawsuit for “fraud” or “deceptive trade practices” when these students realize that they were deceived into paying tuition to the Collier County School Board for a “college” education at a so-called technical college, which is really no college at all.

Worse yet is the example of Collier County School Board member Erick Carter.  Mr. Carter attended Lorenzo Walker Technical Institute in 1996, and received a cosmetology certificate to become a hairdresser.  But according to the Collier County School Board’s website, Carter “graduated from our own local Lorenzo Walker Technical College, a division of Collier County Public Schools.”

Huh…so Erick Carter has now retroactively become a “college graduate?”  Does that mean the Collier County School Board created decades-worth of college grads in one day, simply by changing the name of its career centers to “technical colleges” in contravention of Florida statutes?

What say you, Board?

And how about you, Mr. Carter?  Are you now a college grad?

Betsy DeVos: ‘Common Core Is Dead’

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In her first major policy address of 2018, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos criticized the education policies of the Obama and Bush administrations, and laid out plans for the future of education reform.

DeVos has made school choice and reducing the role of the federal government in education two of her priorities as the Trump administration’s education chief. She also is working toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign promise to end Common Core—the education initiative that outlines what students should know in math and language arts at the end of each year of K-12 schooling.

“I agree—and have always agreed—with President Trump on this: Common Core is a disaster,” DeVos said in recent remarks at the American Enterprise Institute.

“And at the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core is dead,” DeVos added.

“It’s about educational freedom,” she said, expressing support for school choice. Opponents of school choice could repeal every state and local school choice measure, but it “wouldn’t go away,” she said. “There would still be school choices … for the affluent and the powerful.”

DeVos said the “federal first” approach did not start with the federal No Child Left Behind law under President George W. Bush and noted how the federal government created the Department of Education under President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s. She said federal mandates “distort” what the education system should be, which is “a trusting relationship between teacher, parent, and student.”

Even with the creation of the federal Education Department, she said, most classrooms today look “remarkably similar” to those of 1938, the year the American Enterprise Institute was founded. “Our societies and economies have moved beyond the industrial era, but the data tell us education hasn’t,” she said, contrasting it with how retail has changed over the past 80 years, from general stores to websites.

Each time the federal government has passed education reform legislation, such as with No Child Left Behind, which “did little to spark higher scores,” it has not changed “the system,” DeVos said. “Each attempt has really just been a new coat of paint on the same old wall.”

It’s not just the amount of education funding, either, DeVos said. “The fact is the United States spends more per pupil than most other developed countries, many of which perform better than us in the same surveys.”

Additionally, the Obama administration’s School Improvement Grants, which sought to fix targeted schools by “injecting them with cash,” cost $7 billion with little to show for it.

DeVos didn’t knock all of President Barack Obama’s policies, however. She said the Every Student Succeeds Act “charted a path in a new direction” and “is a good step in the right direction, but it’s just that—a step.”

DeVos said she thinks equal access to a quality education “should be a right for every American, and every parent should have the right to choose how their child is educated.”

She added, “I trust parents and teachers, and I believe in students.”

Commentary by:

Kyle Perisic

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EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaking during a rally to promote the importance of school choice as part of National School Choice Week, in Washington on Jan. 18. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

New Jersey Middle School Sued For Instructing Students Islam Is The ‘True Faith’

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ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a federal lawsuit yesterday evening in the New Jersey District Court against several officials and teachers of the Chatham Middle School and the School District of the Chathams, located in New Jersey.

The lawsuit, claiming several violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, was filed on behalf of Libby Hilsenrath and her minor son. Seventh-grade students at Chatham Middle School were forced to endure Islamic propaganda and an explicit call to convert to Islam through a disturbing set of videos in their World Cultures and Geography class.

TMLC’s affiliated New Jersey attorney, Michael Hrycak, filed the lawsuit. TMLC staff attorney, Kate Oliveri, the principle drafter of the federal complaint, observed: “The Board of Education and other Defendants are waging a war against the religious protections afforded by the First Amendment. They attack religious liberty by enticing young school children with a direct call to convert to Islam and providing a step-by-step guide on how to effect that conversion.”

One of the videos, linked in this press release, seeks to convert students to Islam and is filled with the Islamic religious beliefs presented as facts, as well as pure Islamic propaganda.  This five-minute video ends with the prayer “May God help us all find the true faith, Islam. Ameen.” 

This video includes the following phrases as facts:

  • “Allah is the one God who created the heavens and the earth, who has no equal and is all powerful.”
  • “Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the last & final Messenger of God. God gave him the Noble Quran.”
  • “Lo, We have sent thee (O Muhammad) with the truth, a bringer of glad tidings and a warner.”
  • “What is the Noble Quran? Divine Revelation sent to Muhammad (S) last Prophet of Allah. A Perfect guide for Humanity.”
  • “The Noble Quran: Guidance, Mercy and Blessing for all Mankind.”
  • “The Noble Quran: Without any doubt and an eloquent guide from Allah.”
  • “The Beautiful Quran: Guidance for the wise & sensible.”
  • “Islam: A shining beacon against the darkness of repression, segregation, intolerance and racism . . .”

This propaganda video also contains excerpts from the Quran stating that Islam is “perfected” religion and the only religion for mankind. And it ends with a call to conversion: “May God help us all find the true faith, Islam.”

However, just as shocking is the background music which includes the poem “Qaseedah Burdah” in Arabic, describing Christians and Jews as “infidels” and praising Muhammad in gruesome detail for slaughtering them:

  • “He [Muhammad] kept on encountering with them (infidels) in every battle until they looked like meat put on butcher’s bench (they were the lesson for those who were willing to encounter with the Muslims)” (parenthetical in original).
  • “It is as though the religion of Islam was a guest that visited every house of those (infidels and was) extremely desirous for the flesh of enemy. . .” (parenthetical in original).
  • “(The Muslims made their) white shining swords red (with the blood of infidels) after they were plunged; (and the majority of) enemies were having black hair (i.e., most of them were young).” (parenthetical in original).

 WATCH the 5-minute video here

Seventh-grade students were also instructed to view a subtle propaganda cartoon video, 5 Pillars, which included bright, multi-colored words quoting the Islamic conversion creed: “There is no god except Allah and Prophet Muhammad is His messenger.” The video concludes with text containing contact information for the students of Chatham Middle School to set up their own mosque tour.

Clearly, seventh graders were given a sugarcoated, false depiction of Islam. They were not informed of the kidnappings, beheadings, slave-trading, massacres, and persecution of non-Muslims, nor of the repression of women — all done in the name of Islam.

Richard Thompson, TMLC President and Chief Counsel remarked, “What would people say if our public schools taught Christianity as the true faith? After watching this video, I can’t imagine any reasonable person saying this is not Islamic indoctrination. Chatham Middle School made a mockery of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.”

Continued Thompson, “When Libby Hilsenrath brought her concerns to the school board’s attention, on February 6, 2017, they were disregarded. And when she appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show on February 20, 2017 to express her concerns to the Nation, the school community pilloried her. Clueless school administrators across our Nation are allowing this type of indoctrination to take place, and it’s up to vigilant and courageous parents like Libby Hilsenrath to stop it.”

Because of Libby Hilsenrath’s attempts to get the Board of Education to remove the videos and end the Islamic indoctrination of her son and the other seventh-grade students, she was subjected to a barrage of personal attacks from her own community: “hateful,” “ignorant,” “intolerant,” “racist,” “closed minded,” and the list goes on. These attacks significantly intensified after she appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show.

Click here to read the entire Federal Complaint