Muda69

School Choice Could Have Stopped Battle Over Holocaust-Denial at a Florida High School: https://reason.com/2019/07/11/school-choice-could-have-stopped-battle-over-holocaust-denial-at-a-florida-high-school/ And so began a running battle that culminated, just days ago, in Latson's reassignment to a school district position that allows the professional educator to apply his slippery grasp of history and eccentric punctuation in a less public way. The debate over what to teach kids at Spanish River High School echoes similar controversies around the country over lessons about events past and present. It varies from other such incidents primarily in that it represents a mushy failure to take any position rather than the triumph of one ideological approach or interpretation over another. "Americans are diverse—ethnically, religiously, ideologically—but all must pay for public schools. The intention is good: to bring people together and foster social harmony," the Cato Institute notes on its Public Schooling Battle Map, which tracks education disagreements nationwide. "But rather than build bridges, public schooling often forces people into wrenching conflict." In Michigan over the past year, conservatives and liberals squabbled over whether the U.S. is a "republic" or a "democracy"—and that's just where the disagreement begins. Lessons over the Alamo, the causes of the Civil War, and states rights set off similar fights in Texas. Curriculum battles have been common in government-run schools, since they offer an opportunity for victors to "correctly" teach children while suppressing the alleged errors of the opposition. But modern curriculum battles occur in a country where intolerance of disagreement is widespread and on the rise (82 percent of polled likely voters said last year that they think Americans are less tolerant of each other's opinions). Education doesn't help, either: Better educated people are less understanding of opponents' beliefs. That makes conflicts more intractable than ever. How do public school administrators and teachers keep their "customers" happy when tweaking lesson plans to please one faction means alienating another? Almost certainly, they can't. In this environment, William Latson very likely tried and failed to walk an unwalkable line by refusing to commit to fundamental historical facts so he wouldn't anger anybody. And Latson didn't confine his bureaucratic slipperiness to this one issue—it seems to be his guiding philosophy. "I do the same with information about slavery," Latson told the mother in an email. "I don't take a position but allow for the information to be presented and parents to be parents and educate their students accordingly." "The mother, who asked not to be named to protect her child's identity, said in an interview that she did not believe Latson was anti-Semitic but worried that he feared confronting parents who deny the Holocaust's reality," reported The Palm Beach Post. Ultimately, refusing to take a position in a futile bid at inoffensiveness bred as big a controversy as the sort of curriculum battle Latson hoped to avoid. Ironically, Florida is actually pretty good when it comes to educational choice, offering charter schools, scholarships, relatively easy homeschooling, and virtual schools. But traditional public schools remain the default choice for most students. Certainly, the families that currently use Spanish River High School should more thoroughly consider their education options and look for something better; voting with your feet now must be an improvement over waiting a year-plus for a bad administrator to be replaced. At the very least, they might consider charters, which have a good track record in Florida, don't charge tuition, and offer a variety of educational approaches. Improving access to education options and encouraging people to choose schools that work for them would replace curriculum battles with self-selection toward people's preferred offerings. In doing so, it could enhance the "social harmony" that public schools try and fail to generate. Graduating adults might even get along better if more families chose their kids' educations. "Greater exposure to private schooling is not associated with any more or less political tolerance" than sending kids to public schools, wrote Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas's Department of Education Reform in a 2014 paper published in the Journal of School Choice. Even more interesting, "students with greater exposure to homeschooling tend to be more politically tolerant—a finding contrary to the claims of many political theorists." That makes sense, given that the public schools that are supposed to bring Americans together have done so only in the sense that the Colosseum brought together Christians and lions. Sure, it's a shared experience—but not necessarily a positive one. Ultimately, curriculum battles are inevitable in schools that people are forced to fund with their taxes and which many children have to attend because of government restrictions on alternatives, including regulation of private education. Even for families with means, that can leave little from which to choose. So, we can continue our endless battles over what our kids are taught, or we could enhance social harmony by replacing struggles for control of shared institutions with choices that prevent conflicts from occurring. There are choices to be made either way; either we make them for ourselves, or they'll be made for us.

Then I suggest they approach private charity for assistance. Lots of church buses out there that could provide transportation as a community outreach/service. Government should not be the first answer to every problem.

Cathedral, Brebeuf teachers targeted by archdiocese are married to each other, lawyer says: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2019/07/10/cathedral-teacher-fired-same-sex-marriage-sues-indianapolis-archdiocese-identifies-himself/1694669001/ Any speculation on what will happen with this lawsuit?

Trump Administration Threatens Veto Over Defense Bill That Only Spends $733 Billion: https://reason.com/2019/07/10/trump-administration-threatens-veto-over-defense-bill-that-only-spends-733-billion/ The United States of America cannot be the world's cop. We cannot afford it.

Then let the free market provide for-hire transportation services to/from government schools. Problem solved.

As gonzo eludes to, why shouldn't parents be responsible for their children's school transportation in the first place? I don't recall transportation to/from a government school being enumerated in the Indiana State Constitution.

They shouldn't, as they shouldn't be paying for education of any kind. But as a solutions oriented individual, and realizing that removing the entire government education edifice cannot be done in a day, simply offered my short term opinion on the matter.

Please elaborate. It appears the Carmel Clay schools have made reasonable attempts to attract bus drivers, a part time positions. FTA: Are you saying Carmel Clay school should extend medical and other benefits to its school bus drivers?

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/education/2019/07/10/carmel-schools-teachers-drive-school-buses-shortage-continues/1641146001/ A good way to make some extra $.

http://www.quebecoislibre.org/08/080815-2.htm

I like the way you think.

No, the uni-party not so much.

Sorry for the typo. Thanks for finding it TD.

So freeing millions of slaves, while surely a virtuous and just act, automatically covers Mr. Lincoln's other anti-freedom actions and policies. Got it. Can you please post a picture of your coloring book Lincoln? Surely your mother preserved something so precious created by his little boy.

The free market in action. For almost any product/service there is a willing buyer.

So you agree that the late Mr. Lincoln was no saint, and disagree with the defacto deification of him in most American government school history texts?

I don't think much "goes over well" with middle schoolers.

I'm gonna say Pastafarianism.

Purdue University being one of them: https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/07/amy-coney-barrett-strikes-a-blow-against-campus-kangaroo-courts/ To put it bluntly, Judge Barrett’s opinion is a warning shot to campuses in her federal circuit — and, through persuasive authority, to campuses across the nation. Universities mix ideology and adjudication at their own peril. Yet mixing ideology and adjudication is the virtual mission statement of campus Title IX offices. Plaintiffs hunting for evidence of official hostility against men will find a target-rich environment. The Obama administration’s mandatory rejection of due process — and the academy’s wholesale embrace of fundamentally anti-male ideology — has resulted in one of the more dispiriting illiberal chapters in recent American history. But judicial defense of due process has been heartening to see. In fact, the judicial response to college misconduct is even more consequential than the Trump administration’s (admirable) rejection of Obama’s guidance. After all, judicial opinions endure through any change in administrations and will bind universities long after Trump is gone. And now one of the judiciary’s brightest new stars has made her own contribution to the constitutional order. Plaintiffs should seize this opportunity to bury campus bias once and for all. Good decision by Mrs. Coney-Barrett. And thanks Obama.

Whatever happened to government high school teachers calling their students primarily by their last name using the honorific "Mr." or "Ms."? It is straightforward, to the point, and respectful. Probably 75% of my government high school teachers used this method and I don't recall myself or other students feeling disrespected. I guess if you wanted not to offend (there is that "feeling" thing again) anybody if this nanny day and age you could use one of the gender-neutral titles. Key word for today's youth is "feeling", all else appears to be subordinate.

14-Year-Old Posts Picture of Airsoft Gun on Snapchat, School Suspends Him for 3 Weeks: https://reason.com/2019/07/05/airsoft-gun-suspend-school-zero-tolerance/ Safetyism indeed. Today's parents and the educational institutions can't allow children to fail nor can they allow them to feel uncomfortable. Why has doing so now become a kind of cardinal sin?

I choose not to have a twitter account. Never understood the need or usefulness of it, frankly.

https://www.cato.org/blog/are-cbps-filthy-inhumane-immigrant-detention-camps-necessary People seeking a better life in the United States of America being punished for the attempt. Happy Fourth of July everyone. Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Happy Fourth of July to President Trump:

Not a human being, I know. But it stings nonetheless: Mad Magazine Is Dead: https://reason.com/2019/07/04/mad-magazine-is-dead/