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(Please scroll down to see current news articles of interest to Parents.) |
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Parental Advocacy
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Where does Educational Policy come from? For more information, please click on the Flow Chart Link.
Flow Chart
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Some excellent references for parents:
“Who Should Decide How Children are Educated”, by Jack Klenk and can be purchased through the Family Research Council at www.frc.org, or call 1-800-225-4008. The following is from the booklet.
“The old education system is a monopoly that is not suited to the realities of modern life. As with other monopolies, it gives disproportionate weight to itself and special interests, and not enough to the customers, the parents and children, whom it is suppose to serve. Furthermore , it resists competition. …. Any new system of education for the public must leave behind the mindset that only government schools can serve the public.”
“Shifting Roles”, by Ann Landell, Ph.D. A copy of this booklet can be received by contacting CEO at (412) 967-9691.
“It is legitimate to ask if some of the new education programs are having unintended, negative effects on children. Perhaps these unintended effects could have been predicted, and therefore avoided, if prejudice had not interfered with a free and thorough analysis of these programs when they were proposals rather than realities in our schools.”
“Why Gender Matters; What Parents and Teachers Need to Know About the Emerging Science of Sex Differences”, by Dr. Leonard Sax. (This book can be purchased online through sites such as Amazon).
“An avalanche of research over the past twenty years has shown that sex differences are more significant and profound than anybody guessed. Sex differences are real, biologically programmed, and important to how children are raised, disciplined, and educated.”
Some thoughts on Parents and Schools from “Making the Best of Our Schools: A Handbook for Parents, Teachers and Policymakers” by Jeannie Oakes and Martin Lipton.
“Schools and policymakers increasingly call for home/school partnerships. Everyone likes the idea, but few schools and parents accomplish it. Most schools tend to go about their business with parents watching from the sidelines. Mismatches between what children and families need or want, and what schools do may require tricky negotiations.”
Parents need to show that they are interested in what their children and schools are doing by attending open houses, conferences, and as many school related events as possible. Schools and school staff sometime react very differently when they know parents are visible and involved. If parents have time to volunteer to participate in committees, or schools organizations then that is even better. Many times this gives parents an opportunity to build and develop positive relationships with school staff, which helps when issues or problems develop.
“Many administrators are not adept at drumming up parent support and often prefer to keep a low profile. They don’t want to risk stirring up a band of frequent objectors.” Parents want to trust the schools their children attend, but sometimes there are conflicts and the issue becomes how to handle those situations as parents. First of all remember parents are their child’s best advocate, and parents are taxpayers and voters whose funds support the school through local, state and federal taxes. Keep that in mind, but also remember there is a right way to approach a school on an issue. It is called the chain of command. Always try to develop a relationship with your child’s teacher. If there is a question, call the teacher directly and ask pointed and civil questions. Emails work, and it is often good to have things in writing, if questions are not answered or situations are not resolved.
The next step in the chain of command is the school principal, or vice principal. Some schools have the vice principals deal with parent and students issues. Again remain calm, and very specific about your concerns or questions. Make sure the principal is aware you went to the teacher first, and gave the teacher several opportunities to respond to your questions, or concerns. Provide any written documentation to clarify what you asked the teacher. Again make sure you document your discussion with the principal, or principals. BE PATIENT! It may take time to resolve the situation, or to get the information necessary to get back to you with an answer.
If parents find they are not getting answers or results by dealing with school level staff and administration then the next step is to move to the district administration. Many times there are assistant superintendents or other administrative staff people who deal with issues related to curriculum and policies. Go through the same process with them as you did with the school level staff. Again it is critical to keep copies of emails and correspondences related to the issues or questions you have. Always emphasize you are working through the school district chain of command giving everyone a chance to address your concerns.
From that level the next step is the superintendent of the district, and if that step does not work there is your elected officials, the school board members. They are there to represent the taxpayer and voters. The school board members can be contacted through letters and emails. If necessary the issues may have to be brought to a public meeting of the school board if you are not receiving the results you are seeking. This is specifically a good approach if the issues involve more than one student and other parents may have the same concerns. Always bring a group of organized parents with well thought out information and research to board meetings. Try to give the board a time frame, because you have gone through all appropriate channels and have not gotten the result you are seeking.
After having gone through all of these steps first, never leave out the Pennsylvania Department of Education. If the issue involves special education, the department can be contacted at 1-800-879-2301. For regular education questions contact 1-717-787-4860.
Depending on the issue and the type of concerns being expressed by parents, it may be necessary to take those concerns to the community by writing letters to the editor and working with local community groups. Parents can always run for their local school boards in an effort to promote change.
Unfortunately, school districts are guilty of using a technique called delphi. This is something that is used if the issue being debated is heated, and the district is trying to keep control of the discussion or direction of an issue. The delphi technique can be found online, and it is something parents and taxpayers need to understand. (more on delphi technique)
*Delphi Technique: The Playbook Exposed
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The following is a School Board approved Language Arts Curriculum being used in our area at local middle schools.
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| News articles of interest for parents: |
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*November 16, 2012
USING JUST 10% OF YOUR BRAIN? THINK AGAIN
"Popular 'neuromyths' about how we learn are creating confusion in the classroom" Here are three of them:
1. We use only 10% of our brain.
2. Environments rich in stimuli improve the brains of preschool children.
3. Individuals learn better when they receive information in their preferred learning style, whether auditory, visual or kinesthetic.
>>read more>> |
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*November 12, 2012
STRUGGLE FOR SMARTS? HOW EASTERN AND WESTERN CULTURES TACKLE LEARNING
"In Eastern cultures, Stigler says, it's just assumed that struggle is a predictable part of the learning process. Everyone is expected to struggle in the process of learning, and so struggling becomes a chance to show that you, the student, have what it takes emotionally to resolve the problem by persisting through that struggle."
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*November 8, 2012
WHY KIDS SHOULD LEARN CURSIVE (AND MATH FACTS AND WORD ROOTS)
"Kail was in for a surprise — as is anyone who takes a look at a raft of recent studies supporting the effectiveness of “old school” methods like memorizing math facts, reading aloud, practicing handwriting and teaching argumentation (activities that once went by the names drill, recitation,penmanship and rhetoric). While the education world is all abuzz about so-called 21st century skills like collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking, this research suggests that we might do well to add a strong dose of the 19th century to our children’s schooling."
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*November 8, 2012
SCHOOL CHILDREN TAUGHT ABOUT GAY FOREPLAY
"A school district in Maine is apologizing after middle school students learned about homosexual foreplay during what was supposed to be a “Diversity Day” presentation."
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*Winter
A DOUBLE DOSE OF ALGEBRA
"This double-dose strategy has become an increasingly popular way to aid students struggling in mathematics. Today, nearly half of large urban districts in the United States report double math instruction as the most common form of support for students with lower skills. The central concern of urban school districts is that algebra may be a gateway for later academic success, so early high-school failure in math may have large effects on subsequent academic achievement and graduation rates. With the current policy environment calling for “algebra for all” in 9th grade or earlier, effective and proactive intervention is particularly critical for those who lack foundational mathematical skills. A successful early intervention may be the best way to boost students’ long-term academic success."
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October 30th, 2012 was declared "Mix It Up". Find out more about this event & if your child's school is on the list.
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October 25, 2012
ADULTS ONLY
“My view is that without student academic work, all the buildings, bond issues, budgets, school boards, teacher unions, superintendent and teacher training programs, Broad/Gates/WalMart grants, local-state-federal education departments, NCLB, RTT, CC, CCSSO, Schools of Education, standards projects, legislation, regulations, and all the rest of the Adults Only paraphernalia surrounding education in this country these days are just a waste of money and time.”
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October 13, 2012
IN DEFENSE OF VERTICAL MULTIPLICATION: REFORM METHODS STUMBLE OVER DECIMALS
"Until the de facto federal takeover of public education manages to block all escape, parents can still walk away from reform math by finding different schools, by hiring tutors, or by homeschooling. The children get one shot at a good K-12 education. At some point, the rubber must meet the road. At some point, the students need that
math. Parents must make sure their children have it."
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October 10, 2012
STATE PRESCHOOL SHOULD BE VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED
"Government sponsored preschool is just the next excuse for government to remove the influence of parents from their children at earlier ages before a child imprints the Judeo-Christian values of their parents...We can’t afford adding another grade level to education, and we really can’t afford the further erosion of the family. I pray that responsible citizens and officers of government will find ways to protect and preserve the family as the fundamental unit of society, not secondary to compulsory education which is the largest social engineering experiment propagated on the family."
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Editorial note: CEO is not in support of this. We are posting for your information only. Parents beware.
(We also oppose the idea that if only they could spend more money, the problem would be solved.)
*October 9, 2012
ATTENTION DISORDER OR NOT, PILLS TO HELP IN SCHOOL
"Several educators contacted for this article considered the subject of A.D.H.D. so controversial — the diagnosis was misused at times, they said, but for many children it is a serious learning disability — that they declined to comment. "
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October 8, 2012
HELLO COMMON CORE, GOODBYE 'HUCK FINN'
"As parents file into PTO meetings across the state this fall to hear about the implementation of Common Core, they should do so with a keen awareness of just what their children will be losing."
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October 5, 2012
EMPOWERING PA'S PARENTS
"Those still advancing the claim that more dollars make more scholars need look no further than the Harrisburg School District. Despite a price tag of more than $18,000 a year per student, the district failed to meet minimum standards for the 10th consecutive year, with 7 out of 10 students unable to show proficiency in reading and math."
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*September 26, 2012
WHY THIRD GRADE IS SO IMPORTANT: THE MATTHEW EFFECT
"What makes success in third grade so significant? It’s the year that students move from learning to read — decoding words using their knowledge of the alphabet — to reading to learn. The books children are expected to master are no longer simple primers but fact-filled texts."
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Fall 2012
MEASURED APPROACH OR MAGICAL ELIXIR? HOW TO TELL GOOD SCIENCE FROM BAD
"in education, there are no federal or state laws protecting consumers from bad educational practices. And education researchers have never united as a field to agree on methods or curricula or practices that have sound scientific backing. That makes it very difficult for the nonexpert simply to look to a panel
of experts for the state of the art in education research. There are no universally acknowledged experts. Every parent, administrator, and teacher is on his or her own.
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September 10, 2012
PUTTING THE PUNCH IN PARENT POWER
“The growing ability of parents to choose which school their students go to, by using vouchers for example, may have lessened a parent's desire to be more active in school reform. This is because parents are typically satisfied with the schools they choose and don't have to worry about their child's education. But on the flipside, parents that opt to move their students into another one are, in effect, organizing against the school they are leaving, which prompts reform to try and retain students.”
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September 2012
Q&A WITH WILL FITZHUGH, RESEARCH PAPER ADVOCATE
“Will Fitzhugh is a great believer in the educational power of the high school research paper. In fact, he’s such a fan that he founded The Concord Review in 1987 to publish student research papers and highlight the academic quality of their work. But his mission is a bit tougher these days. In 2002, he conducted a study of high school history teachers and discovered that, although nearly all of them said a term paper was a good idea, 62 percent never assigned a 12-page paper -- and 27 percent never assigned an eight-page paper.”
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August 29, 2012
Survey: AMERICANS RATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS THE WORST PLACE TO EDUCATE CHILDREN
“In the national survey conducted Aug. 9-12, private independent schools, parochial and church-related schools, charter schools and home-schooling all rated higher than public schools.”
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August 29, 2012
A WORKSHEET FOR MATH-PHOBIC PARENTS
“Parents who hate math often fear raising kids who will feel the same….Ongoing research is shedding new light on the importance of math to children's success. Math skill at kindergarten entry is an even stronger predictor of later school achievement than reading skills or the ability to pay attention.”
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August 27th, 2012
PARENTS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT STUDENT DATA PRIVACY
"J. R. Wilson explains that student data is being used in a host of ways that parents don’t know about — and the data is seldom secure."
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July 27, 2012
CYBER SCHOOLS UNDER UNFAIR ATTACK
“While cyber schools are similar to school districts in both size and age groups served, they are assessed at a higher standard than school districts because of a flaw in Pennsylvania's education assessment system. To make adequate yearly progress, districts need to meet performance goals for only one age group, whether elementary, middle or high school. In contrast, individual schools including cyber schools must meet AYP standards overall, or they fail.”
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July 12, 2012
WHY ‘WHAT’ IS WHERE IT’S AT
“When did facts become so disgusting to us? Theoretical inquiry is likely appropriate for most high school students — though I still have my doubts given this statistic---but hardly without the substantive support of the elementary and middle school years. Further, not everyone comes from the same background — it used to be assumed that the purpose of public education was the achievement of a common, essential knowledge. Where did that get lost?”
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March 12, 2012
REDUCING ACADEMIC PRESSURE MAY HELP CHILDREN SUCCEED
"Children may perform better in school and feel more confident about themselves if they are told that failure is a normal part of learning, rather than being pressured to succeed at all costs."
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June 15, 2012
DANGEROUS FEDERAL FERPA CHANGES
“Districts … are revising their local FERPA policies to allow more of student’s personal information to be given without parental consent. This allows for children to be tracked and national databases to be created… You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that the federal government is in the business of control and not education.”
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May 7, 2012
DUMBING DOWN THE GPA: IT’S THE UNSOPHISTICATED BRIGHT KID WHO SUFFERS
“Left unsaid is the fact that students are being misled when told every course counts the same.”
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April 30, 2012
HERITAGE FOUNDATION'S JENNIFER MARSHALL CALLS FOR PARENT CHOICE IN EDUCATION
"Choice is critically important as an accountability mechanism and as a finance reform. We need to think about different kinds of financing than the way that education is happening right now. Money should follow the students. Right now we are more worried about funding buildings and that’s ridiculous. That is why I began with the nature of what education is. If it’s a fundamentally relational endeavor and it’s about the whole child, well the dollars should be following the child, not the system or the school."
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April 27, 2012
4 COMMON-SENSE PROPOSALS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION REFORM
"Today's mandates for special-needs students set schools up for lawsuits, conflict with No Child Left Behind requirements, and waste taxpayers' money...The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA) is an example of a statute that has achieved its noble mission but now urgently needs to be fixed in order to address its unintended consequences."
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April 2012
WRITING TIPS FOR GIFTED STUDENTS
'Perhaps the first caution to note on this subject is that when giving advice to the gifted, it is wise to remember that they are gifted, and should not be loaded up with unnecessary advice. In fact, my own first preference in encouraging gifted students to do academic expository writing...is to give them the papers of other gifted students to read. This way the goal becomes clear in a way that it often does not when one starts with buckets and bags of technical advice on 'How To Write a Paper.' "
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April 19, 2012
SHOULD TEACHERS AND STUDENTS BY FACEBOOK FRIENDS?
"Should students and teachers ever be friends on Facebook? School districts across the country, including the nation's largest, are weighing that question as they seek to balance the risks of inappropriate contact with the academic benefits of social networking."
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Thanks to WORLD Magazine for this article:
April 7, 2012
THE TRADES ALTERNATIVE
“Parents are reluctant to hear it, but college may no longer offer the best path of opportunity for a great many young people …nearly a half million trade jobs are out there for the taking across the United States. That sets up a huge dichotomy in a struggling economy: People can't find jobs, and yet, good jobs can't find qualified people.”
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March 29, 2012
AGAINST CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: HOW WE ARE RAISING A GENERATION OF ILLITERATES
"American high school students are reading at a fifth grade level, according to a new report that analyzes the complexity of the works they complete both in the classroom and outside it. "
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March 27, 2012
UK STUDY: PARENTS, NOT TEACHERS, KEY TO EDUCATION
"A study by the Royal Economic Society...finds that parental effect on test results is five times that of teachers’ influence. This comes in the wake of warnings by Sir Michael Wilshaw last week that teachers were unable to properly do their own jobs because parents were expecting them to cover their own parenting skill shortfalls and to become surrogate family for the students."
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March 27, 2012
TWO EDUCATION PHILOSOPHIES WITH TWO DIFFERENT GOALS
"In education there are basically two different philosophies of education, and each type has a different end goal.
Type #1’s end goal is academic achievement. Type #2’s end goal is the indoctrination and manipulation of students’ minds."
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March 23, 2012
CONSENSUS BUILDING OR PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE?
“Whenever a school district gets the directive to become an ‘agent of change’ for a ‘higher purpose’, they may have trouble convincing wary teachers, parents, and the community at large of the validity or need for new methods and philosophies that are about to be employed in their district’s classrooms. This is often the case especially when these new ways of doing things seem to defy common sense by being at odds with what has been successful in the past.”
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March 8, 2012
CAN PARENTS TAKE OVER SCHOOLS?
“As the father of school-aged children, it’s hard for me to oppose the parent trigger, and I don’t. But I do see school choice as a more sustainable way to give parents options and control in the long run. If my own children’s school was failing, my wife and I would pull them out and send them somewhere else. But too few families have that ability, and the resulting desperation many parents – particularly poor parents – are experiencing is a national travesty.”
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This is an older article but still very timely when it comes to what is STILL happening in schools. I thought it might be useful to parents.
April 2002
IF IT QUACKS LIKE A DUCK, IT’S PROBABLY BALONEY
“For the past thirty or so years, education professors, education gurus, and education organizations…have managed to establish and sustain dominion over public
education—dominion over what is taught, how it is taught, how instruction will be evaluated, what education means, and what a good teacher is. This would be just fine if their ideas had anything to do with reality, if their instructional methods were tested and validated by scientific research, and if the curricula that they teach…actually worked. But they don’t.”
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2012
REPORT CARD ON AMERICAN EDUCATION: RANKING STATE K-12 EDUCATION, PROGRESS & REFORM
ALEC’s 17th edition of the Report Card on American Education contains a comprehensive overview of educational achievement levels (performance and gains for low-income students) for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Report Card details what education policies states currently have in place and provides a road map for legislators to follow to bring about educational excellence in their state.
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February 17, 2012
AFRAID OF YOUR CHILD'S MATH BOOK? YOU SHOULD BE
"There may be a reason you can’t figure out some of those math problems in your son or daughter’s math text and it might have nothing at all to do with you. That math homework you're trying to help your child muddle through might include problems with no possible solution. It could be that key information or steps are missing, that the problem involves a concept your child hasn’t yet been introduced to, or that the math problem is structurally unsound for a host of other reasons."
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February 16, 2012
9 WAYS TO PICK A GREAT SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD
"Strangers often ask me how to pick a good school. They are transferring into the area or moving from one local neighborhood with struggling schools to a place they hope will be better. Choosing a school is often as much about taste as judgment (see item 9 below). Here is a list of what a parent can do to get the best sense of the differences among the various places they might send their children."
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February 9, 2012
SCHOOLS ATTACH 'FAT MONITORS' TO STUDENTS
“This is another sign of public schools encroaching on the purview of the parents,” said Lisa Snell, Reason Foundation’s director of education and child welfare. “The sentiments are in the right place, but it seems highly inappropriate as official school policy. It crosses the line.”
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February 9, 2012
YOUR KID IS NOT SPECIAL
"Numerous studies have shown that while American students are among the most confident in the world, they are well toward the back of the pack when it comes to most assessments — especially when it comes to their much more modest counterparts in Asia. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 34% of eighth-graders in this nation can read at a competent level. We have a shortage of engineers — but an abundance of egocentric children. What parents and teachers who promote the above falsities don’t understand is that without failure, there is no success."
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January 31, 2012
HOW AMERICA MADE ITS CHILDREN CRAZY
"Now we know that computers don't help children learn and that drugs don't help them concentrate, because the establishment mandarins who sold us the computers and drugs have conceded failure.”
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January 26, 2012
HOW MY CHILD WENT FROM HOME SCHOOL TO HARVARD AND YOURS CAN, TOO
"The American Dream of automatically doing better than the past generation has been relegated to the dust-bin of history because of our education crisis. This is our national disgrace."
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January 25, 2012
DISGUSTED PARENTS 'OCCUPY' THE CLASSROOM
"(Some parents are) focused on protecting their children’s innocence and instilling their moral and religious values by resisting the so-called comprehensive sexuality agenda and its full-on mandate to normalize homosexuality and transgenderism, regardless of the religious beliefs of public school students. A few really radical parents actually are protesting — by way of engaging with their local school boards — the watered-down math and science programs that result in abysmal test scores and uneducated graduates. Sheesh. Talk about nerve!"
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January 24, 2012
SHOULD PARENTS CONTROL WHAT KIDS LEARN AT SCHOOL?
"New Hampshire schools are now required to create alternatives to any lesson that a parent dislikes — whether it’s about the Holocaust, contraception, gravity or anything else. Does this “à la carte” approach turn school into a private right instead of a public good? Do such accommodations benefit students?"
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January 20, 2012
THE THIRD RAIL OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY MOVEMENT
"Whenever the subject of failing schools arises, the usual suspects are rounded up. I don't doubt for a second that teachers should be at the head of the list. After all, they are the most important in-school factor in learning. But what about students? Aren't they also responsible for their education?"
>>read more>>
Related article:
January 20, 2012
THIRD RAIL
"As long as we put all the onus on adults in our education systems, we deprive our students of all kinds of the challenges they need, as we try to disguise from them the fact that their achievement will always in life depend mostly on their own efforts for which they alone have to take the responsibility."
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January 19, 2012
WHO SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS?
"Personal information, including test scores, economic status, grades, and even disciplinary problems and student pregnancies, are tracked and stored in a kind of virtual “permanent record” for each student... Privacy experts say the problem is that states collect far more information than parents expect, and it can be shared with more than just a student’s teacher or principal.'When you have a system that’s secret [from parents] and you can put whatever you want into it, you can have things going in that’ll be very damaging,' says Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center."
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January 11, 2012
ADVICE TO PARENTS: EXPLORE NON-COLLEGE OPTIONS
"I'm not at all suggesting that those called to be lawyers, doctors, professors, etc., should not go to college. I am suggesting that work as an electrician, landscaper, or X-ray technician, or in hundreds of other occupations that don't require a four-year college degree, also glorifies God and should be honored by all of us. Many high-school graduates should spend their time that way instead of incurring huge loans for the opportunity to be unemployed and resentful."
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January 11, 2012
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEARNS LESSON IN PARENTAL RIGHTS
"(T)he New Hampshire legislature overturned a gubernatorial veto of a bill that will allow parents to object to material being taught in school and further empowers them to find and pay for suitable, educationally acceptable alternatives to the curricula being foisted on their children."
>>read more>>
Related article:
January 5, 2012
NEW HAMPSHIRE LAWMAKERS PASS LAW ALLOWING PARENTAL OBJECTIONS TO CURRICULUM
"Hoell stressed the new law could allow parents to address both moral and academic objections to parts of the curriculum. The lawmaker said he could imagine the provision being utilized by parents who disagree with the "whole language" approach to reading education or the Everyday Math program. ‘What if a school chooses to use whole language and the parent likes phonics, which is a better long-term way to teach kids to read?’ Hoell said to HuffPost."
>>read more>>
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January 8, 2012
THE BENEFITS OF FAILURE
"As adults, we should share our stories of struggling and failure with our students so they understand that it is a part of life. The resiliency students can gain and the lessons they can learn from failing will help them find success in the future."
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Friday, December 02 2011
CALCULATOR BAN ON YOUNG PUPILS (United Kingdom)
"Children are to be banned from using calculators in the early years of primary school to tackle a nationwide crisis in basic maths skills."
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December 1, 2011
QUICK, WRITE THIS DOWN…CURSIVE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK
It appears that the Common Core Standards do not include cursive writing.
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2007
"Why Minimally Guided Instruction Does not Work"
“There is no theoretical reason to suppose or empirical evidence to support the notion that constructivist teaching procedures based on the manner in which humans acquire biologically primary information will be effective in acquiring the biologically secondary information required by the citizens of an intellectually advanced society. That information requires direct, explicit instruction.”
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October 24, 2011
PARENT FUROR AT BAWDY SEX ED
“Sex ed, which becomes mandatory in city middle and high schools next year, is meant to stem unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases among teens. But parents may be shocked by parts of the Department of Education’s “recommended” curriculum.”
>>read more>>
Related article: October 18, 2011
DOES SEX ED UNDERMINE PARENTAL RIGHTS?
Should the government force parents — at least those not rich enough to afford private schooling — to send their children to classes that may contradict their moral and religious values on matters of intimacy and personal conduct? Liberals and conservatives alike should say no. Such policies violate parents’ rights, whether they are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or of no religion at all. To see why, we need to think carefully about the parent-child relationship that gives rise to the duties that parental rights serve and protect.
>>read more>>
Click to Read “Sex Education in NYC Schools” on their own website.
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October 21, 2011
HAVEN’T I JUST PAID TEACHER TO DO THIS?
“The elementary school just sent a letter home saying I need to teach my child math. I have to teach her the multiplication tables for 10-plus minutes every night until she learns them. There hasn’t been enough time for this in class. Not in first, second, third or fourth grade. I was balancing my checkbook when I read it. My school tax bill was a budget buster so I thought, ‘Haven’t I just paid teachers to do this?’”
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October 14, 2011
ARE CHARACTER STRENGTHS ENOUGH?
“Schools, traditionally, have had a dual mission: knowledge transmission and moral development. Socrates said it best: education should make us both smart and good. Since the Second World War, in the United States and many parts of the developed world the school’s role of transmitting a moral code been given scant attention. In a crazy bit of ‘democratic logic’ the question, “Whose moral values can I teach?” has paralyzed educators.”
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October 13, 2011
EDUCATION GLOBAL WARMING BOOK FOR SEVENTH-GRADERS RECALLED BY MICHIGAN MATH AND SCIENCE CENTER
“A progressive children’s book lauding Al Gore as an ‘eco-hero,’ and offers kids suggestions on global warming activism, has been recalled by the Battle Creek Area Math and Science Center ... the review of A Hot Planet revealed that, although ‘this book has some wonderful things in it, it also has some things in it that are not appropriate. There are some other pieces in there that are not based on fact.’ “
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October 10, 2011
CULTURE-WAR HEROINE GETS HER DUE
“If parents think their schools are safe, they’re whistling in the dark….In the name of ‘tolerance,’ the left is working hard to indoctrinate children.”
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October 2, 2011
SOLAR ENERGY CURRICULUM
Sub-title: Biased lesson plans for middle- and high-school students are disguised as math and science curricula
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September 28, 2011
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION ANYWAY
"Barely enough time has passed for bologna sandwiches to begin rotting in school lockers, yet the 2011-2012 school year is shaping up to be one of the stinkiest ever, if we’re measuring in episodes of putrid political correctness and radicalism."
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September 24, 2011
CAIR/HAMAS SPREADS ISLAMIC PROPAGANDA IN FL ENGLISH TEXTBOOK
“While Islamic Indoctrination in America’s public school textbooks has been detailed in reports by groups like ACT for America, American Textbook Council, and most recently a report by Citizens For National Security (CFNS) which cites over 200 false or misleading excerpts in (27) twenty seven of Florida’s approved History and Social Studies textbooks, this is the first time to our knowledge of Islamic propaganda being reported in an English textbook.”
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September 26, 2011
GEORGIA MIDDLE SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT DEPICTS ‘POSITIVE’ ASPECTS OF SHARIAH LAW
“A Georgia middle school adjusted its lessons after a father complained that his daughter’s homework assignment promoted Shariah law.”
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Related article:
September 22, 2011
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: KEY SITE FOR 'SOFT JIHAD'
"If children are not taught the true meaning of "jihad" they will not be equipped to oppose it, and in fact may even become unwitting proponents of the ideology of political domination that is rooted within the religion itself."
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September 23, 2011
MOM STOPS SCHOOL SEX SURVEY
"When Tessitore (the parent) complained to school officials, she was told that they hadn’t received her consent form, and if parental consent forms weren’t returned to the school, consent was assumed. They called it 'passive consent.' But Tessitore said she never received such a form in the first place."
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September 16, 2011
A PARENT’S HORRID NIGHTMARE: COMING SOON TO YOUR STATE?
"Informed consent is especially important when it comes to vaccination, because there is no way for you or your physician to predict if your child will be one of the children who has a devastating vaccine reaction, such as brain inflammation, immune dysregulation, or even death."
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September 15, 2011
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE IS ANTI-US CONSTITUTION
“The goal of the International Baccalaureate Organization is to impose global education standards and curriculum. This course of study is to produce global citizens, not citizens of America who are loyal to the principles of our founding documents: the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.”
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September 13, 2011
BOOK REVIEW: THE GOOD SCHOOL, HOW SMART PARENTS GET THEIR KIDS THE EDUCATION THEY DESERVE
"The purpose of this book is key — to help you recognize that, just because the realtors or the neighbors or folklore says so, even your great school isn’t necessarily that good. So, do the work you need to do before you find your child is not surrounded by excellent teachers, getting a solid foundation, a well-rounded environment and an enthusiastic, energetic confidence in learning. Oh, and don’t forget that talking with your child — and knowing how critical it is that he have such communication from the early years until graduation — is critical to his success."
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September 10, 2011
THE TROUBLE WITH HOMEWORK
The quality of homework matters more than the quantity.
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September 6, 2011
WHAT TEACHERS REALLY WANT TO TELL PARENTS
"We know you love your children. We love them, too. We just ask -- and beg of you -- to trust us, support us and work with the system, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve. Lift us up and make us feel appreciated, and we will work even harder to give your child the best education possible."
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August 25, 2011
BRAINWASHING U
"Parents sending children off to college for the first time, beware: Their “freshman orientation” is all too likely to include being herded through a “tunnel of oppression” to learn about the evils of “white privilege,” being lectured about how they’re part of a “rape culture” or being forced to discuss their sexual identities with complete strangers -- before they even meet their first professor."
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August 24, 2011
IDEOLOGICAL BATTLES TAKING PLACE OVER TEXTBOOKS IN TWO STATES
Several different states deal with issues that are of special concern to many parents.
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August 19, 2011
ADF RESPONDS TO ADDITIONAL ACLU DEMANDS THAT SCHOOLCHILDREN BE EXPOSED TO PORN
"The Alliance Defense Fund has sent letters to seven public school districts across the country that urge them to reject the American Civil Liberties Union’s demand that they deactivate various Web filters that block student access to websites with sexually explicit material just because some of the sites blocked belong to homosexual activist groups. ADF assured the districts that they are well within their legal rights to retain their filters. The letters provide the districts with a list of sites that display pornographic images and sexual advice that would be accessible to students if the districts give in to the ACLU’s demands."
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August 17, 2011
BACK TO SCHOOL
“It’s easy to go too far one way or the other. If we over-protect our children, we create fearful adults. If we react to online immorality by banning internet use, we foster ignorance. If we over-react to bad movies and music by forbidding most watching and listening, we create rebellion. But if we’re too loose, children lose.”
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August 3, 2011
ON TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
“The school did not take a hard and fast stance on the issue; the point was that all of us were encouraged to think about what we were doing and to use common sense concerning our online interactions with students.”
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August 2, 2011
U.S. EDUCATION DEPARTMENT PUSHES MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING, SAVING THE EARTH AS CHILDREN’S READING
"During a July event at the U.S. Department of Education, children from D.C. schools and day care centers were treated to free books, including two featuring Nickelodeon characters as part of the media organization’s “The Big Green Help” Series. One of the books promotes the idea that global warming is man made and the second book talks about what kids can do to save the Earth."
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Summer 2011
HIGH SCHOOLERS IN COLLEGE
“A century ago, often under pressure from labor unions, states passed seat-time and mandatory-attendance laws that compelled youngsters to stay in school, and out of the competition for jobs. The laws haven’t changed much today, but kids have, and by their midteens, many of them—bored with high school or academically beyond it—are ready for the next step.”
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July 7, 2011
SIZING UP CLASSROOMS:
IT’S TIME TO EXPOSE THE “SMALLER-IS-BETTER” MYTH
“Teachers like smaller classes, and understandably so. The advantages include fewer papers to grade, students to manage, and parents to deal with. The teachers’ unions like smaller classes, too. Smaller classes mean more teachers—and more union dues….continuing to insist on smaller classes is foolhardy. In fact, bigger classes could benefit some children and the economy.”
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July 1, 2011
AMERICAN AMNESIA
"We live in a time marked by anxieties over many perceived threats to our way of life—terrorism, economic collapse, and climate change, to mention just a few of the widespread fears making our headlines these days. But there is a looming crisis closer at hand that poses every bit as grave a threat to the future of our way of life: the very real possibility that our democracy will be left in the hands of a citizenry unprepared to govern it and unwilling the make the sacrifices needed to preserve it. A free society requires an informed and virtuous citizenry. "
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June 2011
SCHOOL FLOUTS PARENTAL CONSENT
“Memorial Middle School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts recently conducted a survey asking students intrusive questions about sex, suicide, and illegal drugs without written permission from their parents. Arlene Tessitore has two daughters enrolled at the Fitchburg school in the seventh and eighth grades who were made to complete the survey. She was upset about the survey's probing and inappropriate contents and that she was given no notice that her children would be told to complete it, and so she contacted the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties organization, for legal help.”
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June 2011
‘ADVANCED’ IN NAME ONLY
“More students than ever are earning credits for advanced classes, according to a Department of Education study released in April. The Department's National Center for Education Statistics examined nearly 38,000 high school transcripts and found that the proportion of graduates completing rigorous coursework rose from 5% in 1990 to 13% in 2009. Good news on the education front, you say? Not so fast. Despite taking more challenging-sounding coursework, 17-year-olds aren't scoring any higher on federal standardized tests than they did in 1973. SAT scores have flat-lined since 2000, offering further evidence that kids aren't learning more now.”
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June 30, 2011
TEACHING GRAMMAR DOESN’T STIFLE CREATIVITY; IT ENHANCES CREATIVE WRITING
“Although the rules of the English language are constantly changing and transforming, teaching grammar has great value in the school system because it gives students the background that they need to understand their language and use it effectively both in and out of the academic world. By teaching grammar, educators provide students with the building blocks of language. When students understand each of the building blocks behind their language, they have a greater ability to communicate not only in their native tongue but also in other languages which employ similar building blocks, albeit in a different order.”
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June 27, 2011
L.A. UNIFIED’S NEW HOMEWORK POLICY GIVES STUDENTS A BREAK
“Though they make up just 2 percent of CalSTRS pensions, six-figure payouts are a focus of pension reform discussions under way at the Capitol. Six-figure retirees eat 7 percent of CalSTRS benefits and can ultimately get millions more than they put into the system.... The number of six-figure pensions will likely continue to rise as more highly paid baby boomers reach the end of their careers.”
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Editor’s note: this really doesn’t help out those low performing students. It only makes sense that the more homework they have the better their chances are of improving their grades if they struggle with passing tests.
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June 24, 2011
SCHOOL BOARD RESISTS ‘COMING OUT’ VIDEO
“School board members received multiple emails opposing it—and the board listened. ‘It’s about sexuality. We got sold on it as something more about bullying,’ one board member who voted against it told the local newspaper. “This does little on the harassment and bullying component … It’s not the bulk of the video,’ said another.”
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June 22, 2011
PARENTS SEE POLITICAL SLANT IN 3rd-GRADE TEXTBOOK
“Some Frederick County parents are upset over a third-grade textbook that they say promotes such ideas as government-sponsored child care and universal health care.”
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June 2011
MEET THE SUBURBAN PARENTS
“Teachers unions are widely regarded as the most serious obstacle to the reform of public education, but history suggests a second critical, though less obvious, impediment. It was the muckraker Upton Sinclair who in 1919 conceded -- and, as a socialist, with no great pleasure -- that the success of any reform movement in the United States depends on the active support of the upper-middle class.”
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August 5, 2008
REMEDIAL INSTRUCTION REWIRES DYSLEXIC BRAINS, PROVIDES LASTING RESULTS, STUDY SHOWS
"Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists investigated the changes in a number of cortical regions located in the parietotemporal area, which is responsible for decoding the sounds of written language and assembling them into words and phrases that make up a sentence."
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Winter 2005/2006
HOW SPELLING SUPPORTS READING
And Why it Is More Regular and Predictable Than You May Think
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