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Foundations Destroying American Public Education: The Hydra

May 24, 2022/in Culture War, Education, Elections, News, Policy, Politics, Social Issues, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Capital Research Center

Summary: The world of K–12 education policy has long been dominated by philanthropic foundations. Much of the education “reform” sweeping across America has been financed and pushed by elite, well-heeled foundations. They have used the billions from their endowments to create various associations and activist groups to promote these changes. The Ford, Kellogg, and MacArthur Foundations commanded assets of nearly $27 billion and, between them, doled out more than one billion dollars in 2015. For example, it is philanthropic foundations who have injected critical race theory into society. The Ford Foundation spent $665 million on “racial equity” between 2011 and 2020.

Pierce Delahunt is a trust-fund baby with an inheritance in the millions, generated from a chain of successful outlet malls. By thirty-two, Delahunt took “nongendered pronouns” like “their,” was a self-styled anarchist and communist, and was directing the inheritance to nonproﬁt groups that advanced those causes. Their parents were socially liberal and Delahunt often heard things like “be kind to all, and mindful of those less fortunate.” But after learning “social justice throughout high school,” Delahunt realized that was not equity. They expressed distaste for concepts like “NeoLiberalism (an intentionally repackaged Capitalism), ‘Classical Liberalism’ (similarly repackaged Conservatism), Liberalism itself (as opposed to Leftism) . . . and other liberation-washed practices of oppression.”[1]

With time and money at their disposal, Delahunt “put a lot of energy into critiquing this country. I enjoy problematizing in general.” Though outlet malls provide name-brand goods at deeply discounted prices, allowing lower-income earners to enjoy the same luxuries as the rich, Delahunt was ashamed of the source of their wealth, saying, “When I think about outlet malls, I think about intersectional oppression.” They decided to donate their inheritance to anticapitalist groups that “tackle the externalities of discount shopping.”[2]

Delahunt now has a master’s degree in education and gives speeches to children, such as one geared toward middle and high schoolers called “Vegan Praxis in a Political Context of White Supremacy.” As a professional biography says: “Their research was a study of activist-education programs throughout the country. They grew up in occupied Lenape territories of New York and New Jersey, and . . . teach social emotional learning, activism, social justice, and Leftist eco nomics.”[3]

Key to Delahunt’s activities was a group called Resource Generation, a group funded by the Ford Foundation and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to coax guilt-ridden young scions of millionaires into steering their families’ funds to activist groups that oppose capitalism. Delahunt is one of a thousand or so dues-paying members of Resource Generation, a network that stands to inﬂuence a combined $22 billion in inheritance. The group held “workshops on family dynamics” to train young inheritors how to siphon off their parents’ money on the premise that capitalism is based on “stolen land, stolen labor, and stolen lives.”[4]

This is typical of how philanthropic foundations like Ford and Kellogg work. Elite, well-heeled foundation executives use the billions from their endowments—amassed through capitalism—to create various associations and activist groups. Those nonproﬁts radicalize youth by associating racism with America, and America with capitalism. The foundation money serves as seed money that is eventually leveraged by another source. The foundations have created their own mouthpieces, and gotten others to pay for it.

There are hundreds of such activist groups, local and national, pushing complaints about “systemic racism,” equity, and the evils of capitalism to public schools and children. It is a veritable industry, breathtaking in its volume and complexity.

But like the Hydra of Greek mythology—the immortal, multi-headed snake monster that, if someone cut off a head, would grow two more in its place—these activist groups are all parts of one machine. Pick any one of them, and its funding is likely to tie back to the foundations, primarily Ford; Gates; W. K. Kellogg; Annie E. Casey; MacArthur; and Surdna. There is also the New Venture Fund, a group that pools money from all of these foundations and then distributes it.

The Ford Foundation spent $665 million on “racial equity” between 2011 and 2020. But foundations do not simply subsidize existing, independent nonproﬁts. They decide what they want to allocate their focus and money to, then a crowd of activist groups lines up with grant proposals promising to do just that, even if it means diverting from what those groups would have otherwise done. In October 2020, Ford announced $180 million in new funding for racial equity, with a focus on litigation—perhaps suing over racism and ﬁghting for the likes of racial quotas in the courts. In making this decision, Darren Walker, the gay black former securities trader who leads the foundation, was like a coach calling the play, sending his players out into position, and setting the course of American activism.[5]

Equity grantee groups are professional outﬁts, but many operate in largely esoteric areas such as school board policy making and curriculum development, where the “other team” is simply regular parents, who rarely have the time or know-how to resist, or even notice these efforts. The obscurity of their work makes them harder to challenge.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton spent more than half a billion dollars on her presidential campaign. By comparison, the Ford, Kellogg, and MacArthur foundations alone commanded assets of nearly $27 billion and, between them, doled out more than one billion dollars in 2015.[6] Imagine having the resources of two presidential political campaigns without having to worry about expensive advertising, because the arena they were inﬂuencing was, to the average citizen, so small and arcane.

Then imagine that in this presidential campaign, there was no opposing candidate—essentially no organized faction presenting a competing choice.

Then imagine that the views being pushed by this campaign were far more extreme than a mainstream candidate like Clinton—ideas that, if Americans had been paying attention, most would oppose, regardless of political party.

Now imagine that the people behind this campaign were among the wealthiest, most powerful people in America, working in close coordination, and that their arena was the nation’s K–12 schools. This is how this game is actually being played.

In this framework, the foundations seek to transform America in ways few Americans would want, and to do it, they seek to transform your children, by inﬂuencing the largest and most intimate thing government does: operating America’s public schools. For some reason, this is viewed as an obscure policy arena by most people, who spend more time paying attention to things like presidential politics. But it shouldn’t be. And the philanthropic foundations should not be thought of as merely the rich families who paid for some art museums or public television programming. These rogue foundations are perhaps the most radical, powerful, and least understood force in American politics. And their aspirations go far beyond the outcome of an election.

In the next installment, learn which foundation are behind equity initiatives.

Foundations Destroying American Public Education (full series)
The Hydra | Equity Initiatives | Education | Youth Activism | Two Steps Ahead

AUTHOR

Luke Rosiak

Luke Rosiak is an investigative reporter with the Daily Wire who broke stories that put Loudoun County Public Schools on the national stage. He previously worked as a journalist at…+ MORE BY LUKE ROSIAK

Notes

[1] https://www.sfgate.com/lifestyle/article/The-Rich-Kids-Who-Want-to-Tear-Down-Capitalism-15759903.php; https://medium.com/delapierced/how-i-became-a-patriotic-millionaire-8d3ba645b3e1; https://medium.com/delapierced/sel4sj-9ababbc6f5ab.

[2] https://medium.com/delapierced/how-i-became-a-patriotic-millionaire-8d3ba645b3e1; https://www.sfgate.com/lifestyle/article/The-Rich-Kids-Who-Want-to-Tear-Down-Capitalism-15759903.php.

[3] https://medium.com/delapierced/about-e1770f9f8577.

[4] https://www.sfgate.com/lifestyle/article/The-Rich-Kids-Who-Want-to-Tear-Down-Capitalism-15759903.php; https://resourcegeneration.org/who-we-are/history/; https://resourcegeneration.org/frequently-asked-questions/.

[5] https://www.fordfoundation.org/the-latest/news/ford-foundation-announces-180-million-in-new-funding-for-us-racial-justice-efforts/; https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/what-money-can-buy-profiles-larissa-macfarquhar.

[6] https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/candidate?id=N00000019; http://data.foundationcenter.org/#/foundations/all/nationwide/top:giving/list/2015.

Florida OKs School CHOICE Vouchers For Parents In Districts Requiring Masks, FREED From Public School Tyranny

August 8, 2021/in Education, Healthcare, News, Policy, Politics/by The Geller Report

Finally school choice. Parents won’t go back to pubic schools. Watch.

Silver linings playbook.

Texas A.G. Ken Paxton said this is an excellent idea for Texas.

Florida OKs school vouchers in districts requiring masks

Florida’s Board of Education has approved an emergency rule to allow private school vouchers to parents who say their school district’s mask-wearing mandates amount to child harassment

August 6, 2021:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Board of Education decided Friday to provide private school vouchers to parents who say a public school district’s mask-wearing requirements amount to harassment of their children.

The move to take private tuition costs from public school funding created yet another flashpoint in the fight between local school boards and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis over coronavirus safety measures in schools. DeSantis has long supported efforts to expand school privatization and says parents should be able to decide how to provide for their children’s health and education.

DeSantis had ordered the state education department to come up with ways to pressure school districts against creating mask mandates and punish them if they do. He said the rules could include withholding money from school districts or other actions allowed under Florida law.

The board then invoked an existing law to clarify eligibility for the Hope Scholarship, which is meant to protect children against bullying, adding “COVID-19 harassment” as a prohibited form of discrimination. It defined this as “any threatening, discriminatory, insulting, or dehumanizing verbal, written or physical conduct” students suffer as a result of COVID-19 protocols such as mask or testing requirements and isolation measures that “have the effect of substantially interfering with a student’s educational performance.”

“We’re not going to hurt kids. We’re not going to pull money that’s going to hurt kids in any way,” said board member Ben Gibson.

But he said the rule the board approved has the effect of law, and that if school districts don’t comply, the board could hold up the transfer of state money.

“If a parent wants their child to wear a mask at school, they should have that right. If a parent doesn’t want their child to wear a mask at school, they should have that right,” Gibson said.

In response to the governor’s order, the Department of Health approved a rule saying students can wear masks, but school districts must allow parents to opt their children out of any local mandates.

So far, three Florida school districts have decided to follow recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and require masks when they restart classes next week, citing Florida’s dramatic rise in coronavirus infections.

More than a dozen Florida parents filed a lawsuit Friday in Miami federal court against DeSantis, the state Department of Education and some of the largest school districts, alleging that the ban on mask mandates violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. They say their disabled children will be unable to attend public schools with unmasked classmates because they are at high risk of COVID-19 infection.

Florida leads the nation in COVID-19 related hospitalizations, rising from 12,516 on Thursday to 12,864, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Hospital data shows 2,680 of those patients required intensive care, using about 42% of the ICU beds in the state, compared with less than 20% they were using two weeks ago.

The Florida Department of Health published its weekly statistics showing a rise of seven-day average cases from 15,817 last Friday to 19,250, the highest average in the pandemic for the third time this week. The state tallied 616 deaths in one week, raising the total COVID-19 death toll to 39,695.

The number of people getting vaccinated is also rising, with more than 380,000 people getting them in the last seven-day period, compared with 334,000 the previous week.

At a news conference Friday, DeSantis reiterated his general opposition to restrictions, such as lockdowns, business closures and mask mandates.

“In terms of imposing any restrictions, that’s not happening in Florida. It’s harmful. It’s destructive. It does not work,” he said, noting that Los Angeles County had a winter surge despite all its restrictions. “We really believe that individuals know how to best assess their risks. We trust them to be able to make those decisions. We just want to make sure everybody has information.”

For years, Republicans have pushed to expand the school voucher programs, which include vouchers for low-income families and students with disabilities. The board said it was appropriate to expand the vouchers to protect children from bullying to include COVID-19 protocols. Voucher opponents say money is diverted from public to private schools once the child transfers.

School boards in Orange County, home to Orlando; Duval County, home to Jacksonville; and Alachua County, home to Gainesville, decided this week to require mask-wearing indoors.

The Duval and Orange boards are allowing parents to submit paperwork if they want their children not to wear masks. The Alachua board said it had voted to require masks for the first two weeks of school, a decision that will be reevaluated in two weeks. Students in all three districts go back to school Tuesday.

South Florida districts remained undecided Friday on their mask directives.

The Broward County School Board, which covers Fort Lauderdale and suburbs, had voted to require masks after hours of contentious debate that included a screaming match from angry anti-mask parents who set fire to masks and held picket signs outside. The board reversed course Monday over fear of losing funding, but on Wednesday said on Twitter that they are “waiting for guidance” in light of the governor’s orders.

The Miami-Dade school district hasn’t said whether masks will continue to be optional, as they were, or required.

Separately, late Thursday, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that weekly COVID-19 testing will be required for all 29,000 non-school county employees unless they show proof of vaccination amid a surge of infections from the delta variant of the coronavirus. The policy takes effect Aug. 16.

“We’ve endured too much and seen too many families hurting. We have the power to avoid what is truly preventable,” the mayor said in a tweet on Thursday urging people to get the vaccine,” Cava said.

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Public-school assignment: Create propaganda poster for the Islamic State

November 21, 2015/in Education, National Security, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Jihad Watch

The local Fox affiliate has covered this, but just imagine the national outcry if students at Salem Junior High had been told to make a recruiting poster for…AFDI. Then we would really have had a media uproar on our hands. But when a school has children telling people to join the Islamic State, the mainstream media yawns and only the “right-wing” is concerned.

This is why the Islamic State has the upper hand in the war against the U.S. and the free world. Only one side is fighting. The other side is clueless, compromised, and — look! Kardashians! We’re so busy being multicultural and empathetic toward those who hate us, we have forgotten why we should defend ourselves.

“Utah school apologizes for homework assignment to make propaganda poster for terrorist group,” by Dora Scheidell, Fox13, November 20, 2015 (thanks to all who sent this in):

SALEM, Utah — Students in ninth grade at Salem Junior High School were given a homework assignment where they were told to draw a propaganda poster for a terrorist organization.

After parents complained, the assignment was canceled. However, many students had already completed it, leaving some parents concerned about what they had been exposed to in the process.

Annie Langston couldn’t believe her 14-year-old daughter Mikalia was given the assignment.

“My initial response was, ‘there’s no way you’re going to do this assignment,’” Langston said.

To complete her assignment, 9th grade Mikalia ended up on the Internet, where she typed in, ‘how to recruit for ISIS’ into Google. Her mother thinks it’s an inappropriate topic for her teenager to explore while the world remains on high alert after recent threats from the deadly terrorist organization. She decided to write a letter to the teacher and the principal, asking for an explanation.

Langston said: “In light of what happened in Paris, is that the reason for this assignment? I feel a different assignment or report could’ve been chosen or a discussion in class about the tragic events.”

Langston received a response from the teacher soon after, apologizing for the misunderstanding and informing her the assignment had been canceled. She also received a phone call from the principal.

“They’ve sat down with this particular teacher, and it has been taken care of,” Langston said. “The assignments that have already been turned in, they have been shredded.”

Mikhail never turned in her poster, and she brought it home to show her mother.

“When I found out she kept it, I told her rip it up,” Langston said.

The assignment was given by a first year teacher, but Annie Langston doesn’t want to see anything bad happen to her. She believes it was an honest mistake and in every other respect, this is a good teacher for her daughter….

RELATED ARTICLES:

Satanists reach out to Muslims in U.S. who fear “backlash”

Hillary: Muslims “have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism”

Never Judge a [Young Adult] Book by its Cover

October 18, 2015/in Culture War, Education, Policy, Religion/by Brandi Chambless

“…But it seems one mustn’t judge [books] by th’ outside. This is a puzzlin’ world.” —Mr. Tulliver, The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

Never judge a book by its cover is a commonly used idiom of the English language adapted from George Eliot’s fictional account of one Jeremy Tulliver in the 1860 novel The Mill on The Floss.

Brandi Chambless

More than ever, Mr. Tulliver’s words ring true. We live in a puzzling world, one of the toughest assignments of all being the departing of wisdom into teenagers who basically have a foreign media-based world order that looks nothing like we Moms and Dads could have ever fathomed as teenagers ourselves.

In light of this communication quandary, I cannot tell you the joy I felt in prying the Wii remote from my teenager’s crusty little fingers in order to deliver the experience of an event that would actually resemble something from the former world order I once knew where he would encounter this once highly popular printed object known as a book. This was going to be one life-transforming event as far as I was concerned: Texas Teen Book Festival here we come!

Because of the rush of whetting my son’s appetite for my love of reading or ANYTHING other than the lobotomy-robotomy media addiction that we Mamas battle with our kids, I never considered that the book festival would actually offer material used to entice the sexual appetite of young adult readers, yet that is exactly what I found in the content of almost ALL of the featured authors and panelists.

For instance, take Jenny Han for example, whose writings can be purchased online in Amazon’s dating and sex section just in case you missed the festival. These are reminiscent of the old Harlequin romances minus the cheesy Fabio cover art, perfect for any 13 year old. The overarching theme teaches that boys cannot be trusted, but once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn.

Or perhaps, you may be interested in assisting your teen in how to find their very own truth, but you don’t exactly have the right words. Why then, very simply, you can make an easy purchase of Aaron Hartzler’s Rapture Practice which not only features the how-to on his one-way ticket to salvation, including a full-scale rebellion from the upbringing afforded to him by two “overly loving” parents who actually forced him to wear socks when he didn’t want to and had the audacity to bake precious little tomb cakes every Easter with coconut grass. Is it any wonder he felt the need to consistently buck authority and finally overcome this hell to write tell-most books, all the while disciplining younglings in the art of rebellion and losing their faith?

You can also purchase Hartzler’s fictionalized account of the Steubenville rape case featured in his masterpiece entitled What We Saw when Stacey Stallard didn’t handle her alcohol very well. Hey, he is critically acclaimed, so why would anyone think twice about making him the moderator of such an event with thousands of impressionable ears?

And my personal favorite of all is Jesse Andrew’s New York Times Bestseller Me and Earl and the Dying Girl that has been compared to the John Green novel The Fault in Our Stars. A delightfully touching forward is provided so no Mom would think twice about the benefits of making this purchase.

The onliest “Fault”of author John Green was his failure to include in The Fault in Our Stars account the actual MULTIPLE pornographic accounts of teaching teenagers the art of oral sex and how it can be improved with the use of Heinz 57. Oh, are you offended? Yes, I was too. Quite. The “Earl” book is FILLED with material so shocking I am unable to quote it here. Earl and Fault are not even in the same ballpark.

Because agents are encouraging writers everywhere to sex it up with salacious compilations in hopes of boosting sales, I urge Moms to take action and contact planning committees of upcoming festivals and library events to let them know you expect the very best selections of authors for young impressionable minds:

North Texas Teen Book Festival, April 23, 2016 coming soon. Mamas, Grandmothers, Dads and Grandpas everywhere, please email northtexasteenbookfestival@gmail.com.

“Gender-neutral” Bathrooms, the Mixed-up Kid and Homosexual Dad

September 9, 2015/in Culture War, Featured, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Selwyn Duke

The big news out of San Francisco last week was that it would register another first: a city elementary school is going to switch to all “gender-neutral” bathrooms. The idea is, as the Daily Mail put it, to “accommodate young students who don’t fit into gender norms.” Of course, this apparently means that normal students who might like those supposedly antiquated single-sex bathrooms can just go to Hell (I mean, the Hell that isn’t San Francisco).

The scene of this enlightened step into the brave new world is Miraloma Elementary. Now, you might think a San Fran school would have a couple of hundred sexually confused kids, but, actually, the change is in deference to six to eight children (and to liberal dementia) who “range from tomboys to transgender,” reports SFGate.com. Hey, don’t you know? The whims of the few outweigh the good of the many.

But what really caught my attention was this passage from the Mail:

‘I think most people don’t think about how difficult it can be, going to the bathroom for someone like my son,’ said a woman named Jae, who refused to give her last name to protect her son.

Her son, a first-grader, is a boy who identifies as a boy but prefers to dress and style his hair like a girl.

‘He was just struggling with it quietly,’ the mom added. ‘[Now] he can just use the restroom without thinking about it.’

Ari Braverman, 6, says he too is happy about the bathroom change since he likes to dress like a girl and doesn’t discriminate between boys’ and girls’ toys.

‘I think it’s nice because then people don’t have to be separated just to go into bathrooms,’ Ari said. ‘It’s just easier to go to the bathroom if there’s just a bathroom.’

Ari’s dad, Gedalia Braverman, agreed, saying, ‘As parents, you eventually realize it’s not your job to change your child’s personality. It’s not my job to identify and pigeonhole my children’s genders, and certainly it’s not the school’s.’

There’s a lot here to take issue with. For instance, one could also imagine the following: “Ari Braverman, 6, says he too is happy about ice cream for dinner since he likes ice cream and doesn’t care for meat and vegetables.” Then there’s, “Ari Braverman, 6, says he too is happy about replacing math with video-game time since he likes video games and doesn’t discriminate between education and fooling around.” What a six-year-old thinks about social norms is only taken seriously by someone (such as, let’s say, Jimmy Carter) who would cite in a debate his little daughter’s views on nuclear-weapons policy, or a president who’d say his flip-flop on marriage was influenced by his kids. (Of course, Barack Obama was for faux marriage in 1996, so it’s more likely dad influenced Sasha and Malia.)

Speaking of influence, restroom Luddite that I am I got the feeling from the Mail piece that parents who are new-age bathroom reformers probably didn’t give their kids a normal start to life. So I did some sleuthing. Finding information on the secretive “Jae” was unlikely, but there couldn’t be more than one Gedalia Braverman in the U.S. And lo and behold, while this isn’t mentioned by the Mail, I learned that Braverman is actually a single homosexual father. Moreover, read the following, from a blog describing “Gedalia’s Journey”:

His twins were born thanks to the modern technology of assisted reproduction, and with the help of his friends.

In last June’s newsletter for Pacific Fertility Center, the clinic that helped Braverman become a parent, he describes the story of his journey.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child. In my case it took a village to create a child. Thanks to a loving gestational surrogate, and longtime friends as both egg and sperm donors, my dream of parenting has come true,” he writes.

Question: Does it take a village idiot to raise a really mixed up child?

Of course, I’m sure Ari’s Little Journey is just an anomaly. We know that homosexuals aren’t any more likely to raise homosexual or maladjusted children than are average parents. We know this because the Left has told us so, again and again, citing “studies” all the way through. And it’s bigotry to think otherwise (or even to think. Emote now, will ya’?).

Except for one thing. We also know that little children model the behavior of those around them; they could not do otherwise. While Braverman says it isn’t his “job” to change his child’s “personality” or pigeonhole his “gender,” the reality is that he’s shaping his children’s personalities whether he realizes it or not. You influence your child by what you choose to be (which determines the example you set), by what you say, how you act, and by what you don’t say. In fact, “values are caught more than they’re taught”; it’s what’s assumed that is learned best.

Moreover, this Rousseau-esque notion of just letting your child be what he is “naturally” is pure and utter nonsense. Naturally, a baby is a barbarian, illiterate, bereft of morals and manners, and quite likely a sociopath. Just as how children have to be taught math or biology, they have to taught (trained in, actually) morals and civility. That’s how they become civil-ized.

This gets at the contradiction inherent in the “I’m not going to put my child in a gender straitjacket” fad. (Note: “gender” once only referred to words, and it shouldn’t be used with people.) Why stop at “gender”? Psychobabblers diagnose “gender dysphoria,” the sense that you’re stuck in the body of the wrong sex. But there’s also “species dysphoria,” the sense that you’re stuck in the body of the wrong species. As to this, a young Texas woman going by the name “Wolfie Blackheart” insisted in 2010 that she was a canine.

So why suppress your child’s “true personality” by putting him in a species straitjacket? Yet we do. We teach children language, manners, our human society’s norms (mostly), how to use human-birthed technology and a whole host of other things beyond the average mammal’s capacities. We do this because the child is human; we thus assume that a human-specific upbringing is a better idea than raising him like a ferret.

But just as this is indicated by biologically determined species, so does his biologically determined sex indicate the wisdom of a sex-specific upbringing. This gets at a once universally recognized truth:

Contrary to modern myth, sex stereotyping is actually a good and necessary thing.

It’s not the application of a “straitjacket” any more than is providing musical instruction to a music prodigy. Rather, in the same vein, it is the process of recognizing the characteristic strengths and roles of each sex and providing teaching that will augment those strengths in preparation for those roles. Just as targeted training can help turn that musical rough diamond into a maestro, it can turn girls and boys into women and men.

On the other hand, we could just continue down the “gender identity” road and turn the whole nation into San Francisco.

RELATED ARTICLES:

At What Point Does the Homosexual Agenda Become a National Religion?

California Teachers Unions Force Nonmembers to Pay for LGBT, Other Political Goals

New Chicago Schools Bathroom Policy Proves Liberals’ Extreme Agenda

EDITORS NOTE: The featured image is of First grade twins Ari Braverman (left), and Ella Braverman (right), both 6 years old, show first grade gender neutral bathrooms at Miraloma Elementary school in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, September 2, 2015. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle. To contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com

Could You Spot a Potential School Shooter?

April 28, 2015/in Commentary, Gun Rights, Healthcare, News, Policy, Politics/by Alan Caruba

In April 1999, we were all stunned by the news that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had attacked and killed students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and, more recently, in December 2012, that Adam Lanza, after killing his mother at home, then massacred twenty-six staff and students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. These events evoke dread of potential events, a quest to understand why they occurred, and ways to avoid further comparable killings.

Peter Langman has authored “School Shooters: Understanding High School, College, and Adult Perpetrators.” It offers very little comfort, but only because this psychologist, widely recognized for his expertise, is refreshingly honest.

“Many people seek to reduce school shootings to a bite-sized explanatory chunk, but the phenomenon defies easy analysis,” says Langman. “There is no one cause of school shootings, there is no one intervention that will prevent school shootings, and there is no one profile of a school shooter.”

He offers a wealth of information about forty-eight shooters He divides them into “Psychopathic shooters” whom he describes as “profoundly narcissistic, arrogant, and entitled; they lacked empathy, and met their needs at other’s expense” and ”psychotic shooters” who “suffered from schizophrenia or a related disorder. They were out of touch with reality to varying degrees, experiencing hallucinations or delusions.”

“Unlike the psychopathic and psychotic shooters, who generally came from well-functioning, intact families, traumatized shooters endured chronic abuse as children. They grew up in violent, severely dysfunctional homes.” Most fell into the first two categories.

I would like to offer the reader some comfort that school shooters can be “spotted” in advance, but in most the cases that Langman cites, they looked like everyone else in any school. Only if one of them was to confide his plan was there any opportunity to intervene and then only if he was reported.

Among the psychopathic category “at least 75 percent (nine out of twelve) had body issues. Many of these physical characteristics had a direct bearing on perceived manliness, including short stature, thin build, chest deformity, and fear of sterility” leading Langham to suggest a link between feeling weak or damaged and extreme narcissism. It is widely believed that bullying is linked to these events, but Langham notes that while about forty percent were harassed only one targeted a bully. While there is concern these days about bullying in schools, it is mostly due to a heightened awareness, not because there is more or less of it than has ever existed.

One thing does stand out, however, “nearly all shooters had bad educational experiences, including academic difficulties (failing classes, repeated grades, not graduating) or disciplinary problems…at least 92 percent had negative academic or disciplinary experiences.” And then there’s this: “At least 38 percent of shooters had relatives who worked or volunteered in schools.”

Another common factor was that “at least half of the perpetrators engaged in substance abuse (illegal drugs, prescription drugs, or alcohol.) In addition, “at least 42 percent of the shooters had a history of legal troubles, including arrests, contempt of court, and loss of a driver’s license.”

“Many shooters had trouble getting or holding jobs.” This was particularly true of the older shooters. Charles Whitman, an American engineering student at the University of Texas, gained infamy when in August 1966 he killed his wife and mother in their homes and later that day went to the Austin campus where he killed sixteen people and wounded 32 others over the course of ninety minutes, firing from the observation deck of the main building before being killed by an Austin police officer.

To academic and employment problems, add romantic failures. “Most shooters either failed to establish any romantic or sexual relationships or else suffered breakups or rejections that contributed to their anguish and anger.”

It should surprise no one that a number of the shooters “had specific role models for violence, including serial killers, mass murders, and other school shooters.” Most of them were psychotic, whereas the psychopaths “felt no need to attach themselves to a source of power; they were the source of power.”

Out of this densely documented book Langham concludes “There is no one way to prevent school shootings.” What also emerges is the fact that “Most school shooters leave a trail of warning signs that are either not noticed or not responded to.”

What the shootings are not about is gun ownership. Many of the shooters came from families that owned guns and used them for hunting or sport shooting. They had little reason to regard them as instruments with which to kill people other than their own twisted psychological interpretation.

What I came away with was the conclusion that the shooters are people we would all easily identify as “losers.” Beyond that, there is no specific way of identifying them, only suspicions of their capability to do the unthinkable.

ACT for America Defeats CAIR and Government Bureaucrats in Court

October 3, 2014/in Education, Must Read, National Security, News, Politics/by ACT For America!

In February an ACT! For America chapter in Knoxville, Tennessee, was wrongfully denied the use of public facilities for a counter-sharia event due to the improper actions of CAIR and local school district bureaucrats. Our ACT! Chapter pursued litigation aggressively and this week won a settlement in its suit against the school district. Below are the details from Freedom X, the fine legal team who successfully litigated the case.

This should serve as a warning to government officials everywhere not to take legal advice from, or ally with, CAIR, an organization that openly promotes sharia and was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest successful terrorism financing prosecution in US history, the U.S. vs. the Holy Land Foundation.

Lawsuit forces Tennessee school district to allow after-school speech critical of Sharia

KNOXVILLE – After canceling a town hall meeting at the request of Muslim activists, a Tennessee school district and two school officials have settled a lawsuit over the public’s right to voice concerns about the growing acceptance of Islamic law, known as Sharia law, spreading through American communities. The settlement was finalized Wednesday evening when the district approved a policy barring school officials from selectively determining which subjects can be discussed by members of the public using school facilities.

In February, the Knoxville chapter of ACT! for America, an organization opposed to Sharia, planned an after-hours town hall meeting at a local area high school.

John Peach, president of the Knoxville chapter of ACT! for America, and Bill French sued the school district in U.S. District Court on August 4, 2014, for violating their First Amendment right of free speech and their Fourteenth Amendment rights of equal protection and due process. The county agreed to settle the lawsuit [Peach vs. Knox County Schools] just 21 days after it was filed. In addition to revising its facility use policy, the county will pay attorney’s fees and costs.

The new facility use policy states in part that “[a]pproval for use of school buildings and property will not be withheld based upon the content of the message or viewpoint of the applicant.”

“This is a victory for free speech,” said Bill Becker, president of Freedom X, a non-profit legal organization fighting discrimination against conservatives and Christians. “Sharia is incompatible with our constitutional and legal protections. That was the message Knox County school officials tried to censor. It is unfortunate we have to educate the educators about our freedoms, but we are thankful that Knox county attorneys recognized litigation would have been futile for the district.”

Knox County Schools superintendent James P. McIntyre, Jr., agreed to cancellation of ACT’s event after receiving letters from Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council for American-Islamic Relations (“CAIR”) and Abdul Raman Murphy, a Muslim youth chaplain at the University of Tennessee. The activists falsely labeled ACT! a “hate group” and falsely characterized French as a bigot. They speculated the town hall meeting would encourage violence at the school and would disrupt the school environment.

After receiving the letters, Farragut High School’s principal at the time, Michael F. Reynolds, contacted McIntyre fearing that allowing the town hall meeting to take place would convert the school into “a public forum for harassment and bullying practices that contradict the open-minded, academic discussion we seek to teach and foster.”

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tinker v. Des Moines Sch. Dist. that “in our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression. Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, society.”

‘Gay’ teachers conference reveals latest plans for school children

May 14, 2014/in Culture War, Education, Featured, News, Policy/by MassResistance

“GLBT” teachers conference in Boston reveals latest plans to push homosexuality even further into schools. Well organized, fueled with taxpayer dollars.

Exclusive report from MassResistance. Coming to your school soon.

What are the latest homosexual and transgender tactics targeting your schools? In the school “culture wars” nothing happens by accident. It is usually the result of careful planning and execution. Here is a look behind the scenes.

Homosexual teachers, school officials, and education activists (and their “allies”) — along with children as young as fifth grade — converged at GLSEN’s 2014 Annual Conference in Boston last month. At this “hands-on” event they to introduced and discussed their latest strategies for thoroughly pushing homosexuality and transgender issues and behaviors into the minds of kids.

The conference program.

Powerful national group heavily connected to state education system

GLSEN (Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network) is the nation’s largest homosexual and transgender activist organization working inside schools in all 50 states. It has set up “gay straight alliance” student clubs (GSAs) inside thousands of high schools (and even some middle schools) across the country. GLSEN pushes a wide range of psychologically penetrating homosexual and transgender programs activities into the schools, such as the controversial “Day of Silence”. It also directly organizes and trains teachers to integrate their techniques throughout the curriculum. Founded in the early 1990s by super-activist Kevin Jennings, it has a multi-million dollar budget, lavishly funded by corporate America and private foundations. The conference program.

This just one of the things GLSEN is implementing in high schools and middle schools across America.

In 2000, the Boston-area GLSEN Conference gained national outrage when MassResistance (then known as Parents’ Rights Coalition) exposed the sickening “Fistgate” workshop which involved adults teaching young kids explicit sex acts. Nevertheless, the Massachusetts Legislature (and corporate America) has continued to support GLSEN.

In Massachusetts, much of GLSEN’s activities in the schools are funded with taxpayer dollars though the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth. They are also closely coordinated through the State Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

All-day conference in Boston

The all-day conference was held on Saturday, April 5, 2014, at Madison Park Vocational High School in Boston. It included keynote addresses outlining their overall plans and direction, and 21 workshops dedicated to specific topics and strategies, by both national and local experts.

Madison Park Vocational High School in Boston.

It was attended by approximately 325 people. About two-thirds were students who were brought in from across the state — from middle schools, high schools, and (according to the conference organizers) some from elementary schools.

MassResistance was also there that day. We attended the keynote sessions, workshop sessions, and just about everything else.

The other objective: Using kids as the vanguard in schools

The GLSEN Conference is run by adults and is meant to train adults. But they go to great lengths to bring in as many students as possible, no matter how young. They come from schools across the state, and usually seem part of a “gay club” or affiliated with a homosexual activist on the school’s staff, such as a teacher or guidance counselor.

That’s because there are big roles for kids in the GLSEN strategies. Part of that is to be the “hands on” teaching of the new techniques. In the workshops, there is a fair amount of role-playing, for instance.

But even more important, the students are seen as the vanguard within the schools, to bring these ideas into the schools and interact with other kids and with authority figures in a way that other staff members can’t. For example, kids are trained to help form the gay clubs and other activities, how to talk about “coming out” to their friends, and how to deal with stubborn school administrators who resist these programs.

Students at the conference taking in the latest propaganda and marching orders.

The Conference’s keynote speeches: Setting the tone for the kids

The opening session that morning included two keynote speeches, both directed at the students. In many ways, these set the tone for the rest of the day. A general message we got from both speeches was that there is no sense of truth, or reality, or of right and wrong. Any way you want to express yourself in life is fine.

The first keynote speaker was Eliza Byard, Executive Director of GLSEN, from their New York office. She told the kids about the necessity of being “out and proud.” She goes to a lot of schools, both here and overseas, and makes it a point to counsel kids and teachers to publicly “come out of the closet” and declare their homosexuality. And GLSEN will support you, she said. She’s also pushing the radical “pronoun” issue — taken from so-called Queer Theory and coming into schools — that people can decide for themselves whether they’re “he” or “she” or something else, and everyone else needs to adjust to that.

Eliza Byard, Executive Director of GLSEN, from New York, giving her keynote speech to the attendees.

The second speaker was a student from western Massachusetts. who talked about her experiences as a GLSEN activist in her high school. She talked about “creating change” in the school, and how she does that, working with both students and adults. Small groups can make change, she said. But she said that “space must be available” for that to happen – i.e., accommodating teachers and school officials and “guidance by adults who allow youth to express themselves and not stifle themselves.”

Then, a middle school student spoke about how she helped organize the “Day of Silence” in her school. One teacher balked at having posters put up because of parent conferences that evening, saying that parents might not be comfortable that. The girl labeled the teacher “ignorant” and “no longer working at the school” (which caused a cheer). She said she’s a bisexual (in middle school!) and that her sister is a lesbian.

These stickers were given out.

The workshops

Below are some of the workshops from this year’s conference. This is what they’re training teachers and administrators to do, as well as the activist students. In one way or another, this is what you can expect to see coming up in your schools. A few of the topics had been introduced in past GLSEN conferences and are being refined. But all of them are about changing the schools and the minds of children in some way.

1.1 The Trevor Project: Empowering Youth to Save Lives!

Wondering how you can make an impact? Learn about The Trevor Project! We’ll discuss language, stereotypes and how to respond to signs of suicide. [Note: The “Trevor Project” steers kids to books portraying “gay” sex. See our MassResistance report.]

Presenter(s): Kate McGravey, Manchester Essex Regional School District; Jaclyn Kinsman, North Reading Public Schools

1.5 When a Teacher Makes a Gender Transition

We will share the successful experience of a faculty member’s gender transition at Milton Academy, K-12, as well as communications strategies, documents and lessons learned.

Presenter(s): Marshall Carter & Sam Landau, Milton Academy

1.6 Strengthening Youth/Adult Collaboration

This workshop will provide participants with helpful tips for achieving healthy, successful collaborations between youth and adults in school and community based settings. [Note: The “youth and adult” connection in the homosexual movement is particularly disturbing.]

Presenter(s): Jessica Flaherty & Giftson Joseph, BAGLY, Inc.

1. 7 Teaching “Out”

This workshop is a space for LGBTQ people to discuss the personal, professional, and political impact of being an LGBTQ teacher, particularly in a K-12 setting.[Note that this starts in Kindergarten!]

Presenter(s): Ryan Ambuter, Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School

2.1 Supporting Transgender Youth in Schools

This workshop will serve as both a Trans* 101 and a resource for those looking for more knowledge about the rights of transgender students in schools.

Presenter(s): Ryan Ambuter, Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School

2.2 When They Jump to Conclusions: Education on LGBTQ Topics

LGBTQ youth are often approached as “experts” on LGBTQ topics, by their parents and peers. Join QSA students in this engaging discussion on this multi-layered issue.

Presenter(s): Boston Area Homeschoolers’ QSA

2.5 Reversing the Erasure of LGBT History

Using Los Angeles Unified School District and Lowell School District as case studies, this workshop examines strategies for introducing vital LGBT inclusive history curriculum into schools. [Note: The concept of “LGBT History” is an important psychological tool for legitimizing it to kids. It also introduces deviant figures such as Harvey Milk and NAMBLA activist Harry Hay as worthy of admiration.]

Presenter(s): Debra Fowler, Debbie Costello & Erin Kehoe, Lowell High School

3.1 Starting a Middle School GSA: A Sustainable, Grassroots Approach

Practical advice and encouragement for students, staff, parents and community members who would like to establish a sustainable GSA in their local middle school.

Presenter(s): Anna Watson, Friends of the Ottoson Middle School GSA

3.2 Queering the Classroom: Providing a Safe Learning Environment for All

Providing a safe environment for GLBTQ youth promotes a more comfortable, creative environment for all students. Resources and discussion will address your classroom needs.

Presenter(s): Marie Caradonna, WAGLY (West Suburban Alliance of GLBTQ Youth)

3.3 Coming out to Parents

Coming out to parents as LGBTQ is a big decision. Learn what to expect and get support. Interactive workshop and resources for participants.

Presenter(s): Pam Garramone, Greater Boston PFLAG

3.4 Responding to LGBTQ Partner Abuse In Black & Latin@ Communities

This workshop will define partner abuse, the tactics of abuse, and discuss overcoming challenges for seeking support. The workshop will focus on Black/Latin@ LGBTQ communities. [Note: Abuse and violence in homosexual relationships has become such a problem in Massachusetts that it’s even discussed in “gay club” settings for kids and at “Youth Pride” activities.]

Presenter(s): Ricky Granderson & Corey Yarbrough, Hispanic Black Gay Coalition

3.6 Changing the Game: The GLSEN Sports Project

Participation in sports and Physical Education has positive effects health, self-esteem, sense of school belonging and academics. Unfortunately, some research suggests that LGBT students may not have access to these and they may be less likely than their non-LGBT peers to attend Physical Education classes or play sports teams. This session focuses on developing strategies to create inclusive conditions where all students can benefit from participation and learning. Note: This is the national homosexual movement introducing strategies for “queering” high school sports.]

Presenter(s): Jenny Betz, GLSEN National

Coming up

Unfortunately, most people – and especially most parents – have no idea the extent of the radical homosexual and transgender psychological propaganda being pushed at children in their schools, much less what’s going on behind the scenes. We hope to begin to remedy that.

We’ve just scratched the surface on this Conference. In upcoming emails, we will be reporting in greater detail what took place in some of the workshops, as well as posting some of the handouts.

Pamphlet handed out to kids at the Conference reveals the new “upgraded” name for state-funded radical group:Massachusetts Commission on Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer/Questioning (not well defined yet) Youth. They keep adding letters.