Illinois Government Continues War Against Religion

October 11, 2011 | Filed Under Catholicism, Children, Christianity, Democrats/Leftists, Free Speech, Freedom, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Liberals, Pat Quinn, Religion, Warner Todd Huston | 4 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the first week of August the Thomas Moore Society filed an emergency injunction to prevent the State of Illinois from taking away the foster children that are currently under Catholic Charities’ care during the appeal currently underway.

Shockingly, the government of the State of Illinois has determined that religious people are ill-suited to being allowed to be foster parents for at risk children to to help place such children in safe and loving homes. And so, in his infinite wisdom, Governor Pat Quinn and his irreligious cohorts want to make it illegal for groups such as Catholic Charities to deal with child services.

The state has decided that Catholic Charities and other religious-based organizations that deal with children should not be allowed to observe their own religious principles in the doing. In other words, the State of Illinois is refusing to allow these Christians to follow their freedom of religion.
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Finger-Waving, Child-Like Protestors Refuse to Allow Left-Wing Congressman to Address Crowd

October 8, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Children, Civil Rights Act, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Georgia, Government, Government, Corruption, House of Representatives, Liberals, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

This is the funniest thing I have ever…

This is the funniest thing I’ve ever….

Seen in my life.

A bunch of child-like protesters in Atlanta, Georgia refused left-wing Congressman John Lewis — a civil rights icon to many — to be allowed to address the crowd this weekend. The whole scene is reminiscent of the worst, hackneyed, new agie-styled preschool program devised for 5-year-olds by one of the most idiotic leftists imaginable. But it makes for hilarious video entertainment.

Apparently these people decided that their “assembly” would employ pure democracy. But if there was ever a more annoying way to do it, I’ve never seen it.

A scraggly, bearded, hippie wannabe playing the part of the crowd’s conscience spoke to those gathered over a megaphone system. He would say a few words and the crowd would, like five-year-olds in a preschool class, repeat his words verbatim.

It went something like this:

Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy: “We have someone here…”
Dirty, Ground-Sitting Hippie Crowd in Unison: “We have someone here…”
Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy: “Who would like to address the assembly…”
Dirty, Ground-Sitting Hippie Crowd in Unison: “Who would like to address the assembly…”

So, Anorexic Hippie Megaphone Guy explains to the crowd that they don’t “use clapping” in their “assembly” because clapping can “prevent someone else who is addressing the assembly from being heard.” So, to “signal approval” the crowd is instructed to raise their hands and wiggle their fingers. I swear I saw this on Barney the Dinosaur show.
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Obama’s Texas School Visit: Hi Kids, Let’s Read a Story About Me!

October 6, 2011 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Liberals, President, Texas, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Can anyone be this arrogant? President Obama visited with some school children in Texas on Wednesday and read a nice little story book to the kiddies. Guess who the star of the book was? You guessed it, himself.

Obama was visiting an early education program Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas and chose to read a book about presidential first dog Bo to a small group of three to five-year-old children. Naturally, the book features a double page spread drawing of the president himself.

Yep, once again it’s all about me, me, me with this president.
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Ga. Middle School: Muslim Polygamy Is Normal, Burkas Good For Women

September 24, 2011 | Filed Under 9/11, Anti-Americanism, Children, Christianity, Civil Rights, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Georgia, Government, Corruption, History, Islam, Islamofascism, Koran, Liberals, Patriotism, PCism, Religion, Society/Culture, Terrorism, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

A middle school in Smyrna, Georgia included in an assignment material that essentially shows 7th grade children that Islamic polygamy is a perfectly legitimate concept and that there is nothing wrong with the strict dress codes used to oppress Muslim women the world over.

The material was presented to the 7th graders at Campbell Middle School as part of a discussion of the school’s dress codes, apparently meant to use the ideas of Islamic culture for women’s clothing as some sort of example to compare how the school regulates clothing for its students in Georgia.

The concepts were presented in the lesson as a letter from a fictional 20-year-old Muslim woman named “Ahlima.” In this letter “Ahlima” tells readers that she wouldn’t mind if her husband took a second wife and also extolled the virtues of the burkha. She claims that American women are “horribly immodest” in the way they dress.

As to polygamy, the fictional Ahlima says, “I understand that some Westerners condemn our practice of polygamy, but I also know they are wrong.”
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Launch of Choice Media — Education News Service

September 22, 2011 | Filed Under Children, Education, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

ChoiceMedia.tv to Serve as Nation’s ‘Education Reform Homepage’

NEW YORK, NY, September 19, 2011 — Choice Media launches today, a non-profit news service devoted to covering all facets of K-12 education quality and reform.

“Education remains the most under-reported facet of American life by the traditional news media,” said Bob Bowdon, founder of Choice Media. “The coverage it does receive is often shallow and scandal-focused, with too little attention paid to the intractable systemic failures of a broken education model. Choice Media will attempt to reddress this imbalance.”
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Obama, Teachers Unions and Tax Evasion

September 19, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Barack Obama, Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Los Angeles, President, Taxes | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

President Obama has talked a good education reform game, but when push comes to threats, he is above all a good union man.

On August 25th, AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka uttered a few words that seemed to resonate with President Obama. He said, “The AFL-CIO has not yet decided if it will participate in next year’s Democratic National Convention, as labor union members ponder whether President Obama has earned their support.…” He said the major economic speech the president has planned for early next month will tell union members what they need to know about whether he will be worth supporting.”

Trumka has a history of following through on his threats. As president of the United Mine Workers in the spring of 1993, he wanted to ensure that no one would be able to find employment as a miner without paying union dues to the UMW. Accordingly, he proceeded to order more than 17,000 mine workers to walk off their jobs, and told the striking miners to “kick the sh– out of every last one” of their fellow employees and mine operators who resisted union demands. UMW thugs dutifully responded by vandalizing homes, firing gunshots into management’s offices, and cutting off the power supply to another mine, temporarily trapping 93 miners underground.
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When Love Was a Warm Toy Gun

September 17, 2011 | Filed Under Children, Democrats/Leftists, Guns, Liberals, Nanny State, PCism, Regulation, Selwyn Duke, Society/Culture, TV, Western Civilization | 1 Comment

-By Selwyn Duke

In a way, commercials can tell you more about how we’ve changed than history books. The other day I came across the above 1960s TV commercial on YouTube; it’s for a toy set called the “Gung Ho Commando Outfit” by Marx. And it’s a perfect snapshot of the America that, sadly, no longer exists.

Despite this fact, watching it is hilarious. It is unabashedly politically incorrect, featuring a group of young boys running around playing war games, all decked out in the most authentic military gear a 10-year-old could imagine. It’s enough to make any suburban soccer mom’s head explode.
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Hollywood’s Next Rape Fantasy: 13-Year-Old Raped, Held As Sex Slave in New Film

September 14, 2011 | Filed Under Children, Crime, Entertainment, Hollywood, Liberals, Movies, Sex Offenders/Rape, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It looks like Hollywood has not learned the lesson that a graphic rape of a teen girl is not the best recipe for box office sales as this year, yet another rape fantasy film has emerged from the muck and mire of Hollywood in the hopes to assault audiences everywhere.

You may remember back in 2007 when upcoming actress, then a 13-year-old Dakota Fanning, starred in Hounddog, a film in which her character was raped. When the film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, the rape scene elicited actual boos from the audience. Still, the scene was not explicit and the rape itself was not shown on film.

This time, however, Hollywood went from the implied rape of a 13-year-old Dakota Fanning, to the graphic rape, bondage, and enslavement of a 13-year-old Chloe Grace Moretz in a new film hitting Sundance titled Hick.
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New Federal Policy Hinders Fight Against Human Trafficking Penalizes Faith-Based Groups Over Abortion Stance

September 12, 2011 | Filed Under Abortion, Children, Crime, Lake County Right To Life, Sex Offenders/Rape, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

From Lake County Right to Life…

(Grayslake, IL—September 7, 2011) Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, where immigrants are forced into prostitution or slave labor. Since 2000, with the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the Department of Health and Human Services has operated anti-trafficking programs, providing them through nonprofit partner organizations. From the beginning, faith-based organizations were in the forefront of these efforts, instrumental in developing ATIP (Anti-trafficking in Persons Program) and providing a large percentage of services. Now changes in HHS grant requirements will exclude some of these very organizations from participating in the programs.

Between 14,500 and 17,500 victims are trafficked in the U.S. annually, about 1/3 of them children. Coalition partners identify victims, raise public awareness and provide services such as food, shelter, legal assistance, income assistance, mental health services, English language training, employment assistance and health care.
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Former Union Boss to Become Charter School Operator

September 10, 2011 | Filed Under California, Children, Education, Larry Sand, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Once a rabid anti-reformer, termed out United Teachers of Los Angeles President A.J. Duffy has become a union apostate…maybe.

On September 1st, Los Angeles Times writer Howard Blume wrote what at first glance appeared to be satire. He reported that A.J. Duffy is starting his own charter school. For those of you who live a peaceful life outside the realm of the education wars, Duffy is the crusty and cantankerous, raspy and rabid former president of the United Teachers of Los Angeles – a man who never met a charter school or any education reform that he liked. And when he didn’t like something, he made sure you knew about it.

But it’s a new day and Duffy indeed will be soon become the executive director of Apple Academy Charter Public Schools, a new organization that hopes to open one or more schools by the fall of 2012.

To show how bizarre all this is, let’s take a step back a couple of years. In 2009, when the Los Angeles Unified School District wanted to expand the number of charter schools in the district, Duffy, then UTLA President said,

“All the data says charter schools do not do better than public schools. This is bureaucracy putting in a top-down plan which hasn’t worked before.”

Now he says he has a vision, and while his schools will be unionized, it will not be at the expense of sacrificing his new ideas about how a school should operate.
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Is Society Breaking Down? Or Are Kids Just Being Kids?

September 8, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Liberals, PCism, RightPundits.com, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Society is breaking down all across the western world. Unfortunately, it is bands of youths doing the breaking, literally. So, what should be done? How do we regain a level of respect for others, a respect of the rule of law and private property in our increasingly out of control youth? And what and or who is at fault?

A recent attack of a store clerk in Dallas, Texas reveals a disrespect for the law, an immediate resort to violence, and a hatred of simple civility that too many young Americans are mired in these days. Similarly, in Europe we’ve seen for several years, now, a series of riots by young people (or Yobs, as the Brits call them) variously over Muslim issues, implementation of austerity measures, and simple thuggery. All of these “reasons” utterly illegitimate…

Read the rest at RightPundits.com.

Israel’s Terrible Choices

September 8, 2011 | Filed Under Alan Caruba, Anti-Semitism, Children, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Foreign Policy, Government, Corruption, Israel, Liberals | Comments Off

-By Alan Caruba

I was eleven years old when Israel declared its independence and sovereignty in 1948 with the blessing of the United Nations. World War Two and the Holocaust were over barely three years and many of Europe’s Jews needed a state of their own to rebuild their lives. Jews from throughout the Middle East were forced to flee nations in which they had lived for centuries. Over time Israel would absorb Russian Jews and others from around the world.

Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon attacked Israel days after its formal establishment. They were defeated. They would attack again in 1967 and 1973. In the course of these wars, the Arabs that had been living in Palestine, as Israel was known due to the post World War One British mandate, fled or were displaced.

They would become the world’s oldest refugee group and the only one to which a UN agency would be solely devoted, absorbing U.S. and other funding to maintain their status as opposed to helping them assimilate into neighboring Arab nations.
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Teachers Unions Happy to Say Goodbye to August

September 3, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, NEA, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

The Dog Days of summer are making teachers unions sweat as they get caught being, well, teachers unions

August has been a bad month for teachers unions. And looking at things objectively, it would appear that every one of their hot flashes has been well deserved. In no particular order:

The SOS March was a dud. It was supposed to be a teacher-led event, but the unions were really behind it. The small turnout had its share of angry, mostly leftist teachers whining and shouting about this and that. No one paid much attention. The speakers were just what you’d expect. Jonathan Kozol, forty years later, is still railing about poverty causing ignorance. (No, actually ignorance causes poverty.) Then the marchers were treated to former reformer and current union mouthpiece Diane Ravitch who chirped about how wonderful they all were. And then the big gun, Matt Damon, who if nothing else showed what a great actor he is. The guy who played a convincing genius in Good Will Hunting demonstrates that without a good script he’s about as sharp as a marble.

Children Better Behaved Than Union Thugs in Wisconsin

August 30, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, NEA, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

The MacIver Institute of Wisconsin has been doing stellar work on the situation between the unions and the rest of Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker first entered the Governor’s mansion. The Institute has really shown the thuggery that is the unions again and again, revealing them for what they are.

Well, MacIver has done it again… or rather the unions have done it again.

Governor Walker had planned a visit to the Messmer Preparatory School in Milwaukee, a school that exemplifies what good education is. After all, 85% of the students that graduate from Messmer end up graduating from college.
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Are Blacks Oblivious to Their Obvious Problem?

August 16, 2011 | Filed Under Abortion, Children, Ethics, Kevin Roeten, Morals/Sex, Planned Parenthood, Roe v. Wade | 1 Comment

Many Blacks don’t even think about their biggest problem. Many continue to send Democrats to Washington. But others know what is taking place, and refuse to bow down to dramatic culling, genocide, certain annihilation. They already see their population percentage decreasing in the America. Their numbers hacked away each year. They already know the culprits, the instigators, and the villains.

The National Black Prolife Coalition exposes the number one killer of Blacks: Planned Parenthood and urban abortion clinics. This coalition knows these organizations are responsible for abortions in the Black community that outnumber all other causes of death combined. This includes heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, homicides, and HIV/AIDS. Abortion is responsible for 363,705 black deaths per year. All the major causes above total 289,366 black deaths per year.

A talk show host in San Francisco spelled it out for all radical Blacks. Sharon Hughes — African Americans the Target of Planned …Parenthood, explains her views by revealing a black baby is 5 times more likely to be killed in the womb than a white baby.

The CDC even found Black mothers get abortions at a 300 percent higher per capita rate than other races. The pro-life Blacks and the public knows their tax dollars are feeding PP’s coffers and others for this attack, but they are temporarily helpless against this onslaught.

MLKJr never would have stood up to this unsurpassed forced death. No clear-thinking American could do this. Most Americans wouldn’t have allowed this to happen in another country, much less ours. So many are hardened to the killing of life, and it is commonplace to value pleasure far over life. Something not written in the Constitution.

But this radical group of Blacks continue to vote for those who foster abortions. Democrats are still elected every election who continue to demand funding PP, continue to push Roe vs Wade, and continue to incorrectly advocate any abortion and/or contraception as legal and safe.

The American Life League was shocked that “America’s first black president drew a bizarre line in the sand declaring he would shut down the government of the United States to keep federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the organization that aborts over 125,000 black children nationwide each year.”

Obama’s close relationship with PP is obvious on YouTube – Barack Obama Addresses Planned Parenthood.

“When will our black leaders take an honest look at these numbers, become outraged and do something to stop the abortion deaths of our beautiful black babies?” asked Rev. Arnold M. Culbreath [Protecting Black Life]. “The numbers don’t lie. Abortion takes a tremendous toll on our women, our men, our families and our future.”

The Case Against Abortion: Abortion and Race, shows how abortion and race are intertwined. Why have pro-abortion individuals linked the two? Some political figures are on-board for a major disparity in killing Blacks. Those include figures such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and (president) Barack Obama. We hope and pray that their skewed opinions will change, and more black citizens will be allowed to live.

We fervently hope that the black views of Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby, Condolezza Rice, Justice Clarence Thomas, Walter Williams, Rev. Clenard Childress (BlackGenocide.org), Herman Cain (presidential nominee), Booker T. Washington, Shelby Steele, Allen West (House), Tim Scott (House), Alan Keyes, Lynn Swann, Larry Elder (columnist), Ward Connerly, Joseph C. Phillips (columnist), Karl Malone (basketball), Star Parker, Ken Hamblin, Don King (fight promoter), Alveda King (niece of MLKJr), etc., etc., will no longer go unheeded.

No doubt, some White, Latino, and other non-Black voters will also continue to vote for Obama the next presidential election. Much can be said about those who do not fear killing fellow Americans, and are happy if others vote that way. These people want pleasure, but no responsibility.

The next presidential election will be more telling about the American public than most realize. It will dictate the fall of the greatest nation on earth, or the rise of an insurmountable swelling of the greatest nation on earth.

For many, a famous quote seen on a passing bumper sticker seems quite applicable to the above arguments: “Voting for someone because he’s Black, is as racist as voting against someone because he’s Black.”

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Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net.

Unions Lose BIG In Wisconsin Recall Efforts

August 10, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Budget, Business, Capitalism, Children, Conservatives, Democracy, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Elections, GOP, Government, Government, Corruption, Jobs, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Republicans, Scott Walker, SEIU, Senate, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the union thugs in Wisconsin will certainly try to act as if winning a mere two of the six recall elections of the Republican State Senators in the Cheese State was a big win… but it wasn’t. In fact, this recall nonsense shows that the union issues were a huge failure. After all, they even shied from using the union issues to push the recall efforts after they got going because they were looking like a losing issue.

In fact, the two Republicans that lost their effort to beat the recall were the two that were a bit odd as it is, so beating them doesn’t seem to be such a great triumph. And even at that the margins of defeat were not great. David Fredosso of the Washington Examiner puts it well:

In the end, the union-backed Democrats picked up only two state Senate seats in Wisconsin last night, at a staggering cost in time, effort, and of course money. One of the seats was solidly Democratic, held by a Republican due to an apparent fluke of nature. The other was held by an alleged adulterer who had moved outside his district to live with his young mistress, and whose wife was supporting his recall.

A Pyrrhic victory, there, for sure.

Unions and left-wing Democrat operative told us that the people of Wisconsin were furious at Governor Scott Walker and his GOP partners. We were told that “the people” would swarm to the recall election polls and throw the rascals out. But aside from the two problem children above, none of the elections were even close.
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Pro-Lifers Get a Win in Illinois

August 9, 2011 | Filed Under Abortion, Children, Crime, Government, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Planned Parenthood, Sex Offenders/Rape, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois pro-lifers have this year been pursuing several new bills in Springfield and at least with one initiative they have won the day.

Students for Life of Illinois reports that on August 4th, Governor Quinn signed HB2093 into law to become Public Act 97-0254.

This Act extends the list of persons required to report child abuse or neglect to include any physician, physician’s assistant, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, medical technician, certified nursing assistant, social worker, or licensed professional counselor of any office, clinic or physical location that provides abortions, abortion referrals or contraceptives. (Planned Parenthood and ACLU originally lobbied against this bill, btw)

This provides more protection to young girls who are victims of sexual abuse and whose abusers are using abortion to cover up their crime. The bill was inspired by the fact that Planned Parenthood has been shown to routinely cover-up sexual abuse of minors.

There are many more battles to fight, of course, but at least in this dismal state one bright spot has emerged. So, congrats to the supporters of the DCFS child neglect reporting changes.
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Bad Signs at the SOS March

August 6, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

“Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire.” - William Butler Yeats
“You can’t light a fire in an empty bucket” – Larry Sand

The Save Our Schools March, Rally and Pity Party went off as planned in D.C. this past weekend, although on a smaller scale than the organizers had anticipated. They thought they could attract 5-10,000 people, but according to Education Week, only 3,000 showed up. Of those 3,000, it is unknown how many were teachers.

Many of the protesters carried signs which pretty much captured their reason for supporting the event. Essentially, the messages can be broken down into two basic areas. The first were in the political-economical realm:
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Another Tale of Our Anti-Parent DCFS Establishment

July 28, 2011 | Filed Under Children, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Nanny State, Rights, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

It is a sad truth that from coast to coast our departments of children and family service (DCFS) agencies are in disarray. All too often they ill serve the children they are supposed to be helping and they almost always step on the rights of parents without much bothering to give a good reading of the situation before action is taken. The travails of 13-year-old Chloe Faulkner is another such story. Taken from her parents, isolated in a world of faceless bureaucrats, used as a cash cow for state aide, abused, repeatedly raped, and eventually impregnated without her loving parents being given a chance to be heard, this tale is another DCFS/State intervention horror story.

In 2009 Chloe was a 13-year-old, home schooled, bright-eyed girl who had been diagnosed with the serious medical condition of Type 1 diabetes. Like many 13-year-olds she was in a rebellious stage, pushing back at a world of parental rules and the constrictions that her medical condition unfairly imposed upon her. And, like many rebelling teens, Chloe ran away one day, refusing to return home.

Her worried, loving parents involved the police because they feared that young Chloe’s medical condition would make her running away far more dangerous than it might for the average teen. The police found Chloe and brought her home with no incident.
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National Teachers Unions Intensify War on Reformers

July 21, 2011 | Filed Under California, Children, Education, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

NEA and AFT ramp up attacks on non-existent teacher bashers, while vilifying those who are trying to reform a failing system

In her address last week at the American Federation of Teachers TEACH conference, AFT President Randi Weingarten came out swinging. In an emotional speech to the faithful, she said that education reform should come from teachers and their communities, rather than from people â€œwho blame teachers for everything.â€ While the teachers unions have been hammering away at this â€œblame the teacherâ€ myth for some time now, the rants seem to be intensifying.

Invariably, what is labeled â€œteacher bashingâ€ is nothing more than anger at the teachers unions for blocking every type of education reform imaginable, as well as the unions doing their level best to block school districtsâ€™ attempts to fire bad and even criminal teachers. So to be more specific, these phenomena should be called â€œteacher union bashingâ€ and â€œbad teacher bashing.â€

Education writer RiShawn Biddle does an excellent job of poking holes in the teacher bashing argument, claiming, among other things, that Weingarten â€œis just using a rhetorical trick often deployed by teachers unions and other education traditionalists to oppose school reform. They declare that any criticism of the unions and any effort to overhaul teacher quality are forms of â€˜teacher bashing.â€™ And such proclamations end up forcing reformers onto their heels when they should actually take these critics to the woodshed.â€
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Michigan Public School Illegally Uses Robocall System Against GOP Governor

July 20, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Children, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Elections, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Michigan, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

News has emerged that a Michigan public school illegally used its automatic phone calling system to call the homes of every student to urge parents to join the recall effort against Republican Governor Rick Snyder last month. To imagine that they can illegally use public school facilities for a partisan, left-wing political effort, this is the arrogance of left-wingers in our mis-educational system writ large.

It is certainly illegal for a school to put it’s telephone alert system for partisan political use, but that is what happened nonetheless. Here is what the message said:

This is a message from the Lawrence Public Schools (inaudible) alert system. This is an informational item and not directly associated with the school. Concerned parents interested in cuts to education . . . we’re here to inform you that there is information about the problem. Also, be advised that there is a petition to recall Governor Snyder. If you want, stop by Chuck Moden’s house right by the school June 7th/8th between 3:30 and 4:00 pm. Thank you. Goodbye.

(To hear a recording of the message, click here.)
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AB 114: A Blatant Attack on Californiaâ€™s Schools

July 14, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Education, Larry Sand, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

The California Teachers Association and Democrats in the legislature join forces to victimize school districts, children and taxpayers

In Sacramento, on Tuesday night, June 28, school districts, children and taxpayers were essentially mugged by a gang of Democrat legislators at the behest of their bosses in the California Teachers Association. Governor Jerry Brown, also in the pockets of CTA, was a willing accomplice.

AB 114, a one hundred page monstrosity, was rammed through both houses of the state legislature late on the 28th and was not published until the following morning. Governor Brown signed it into law the next day. As the Sacramento Bee reported, there were no committee hearings and no chance for the public to scrutinize the bill, which became public less than an hour before it was approved for passage.

AB 114 does several things, all of which imperil local school districts by imposing a mandate upon them that many will not be able to carry out. Educated Guess writer John Fensterwald says there are three ways that AB 114 steals power away from the local district.
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Sizing Up Classrooms

July 12, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Los Angeles, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand (Originally posted at City Journal)

It’s time to expose the “smaller-is-better” myth

Summer is in full swing, and teachers’ unions are going on the offensive. Perhaps hoping to build on the public-relations bonanza that was California’s “State of Emergency,” union activists and their progressive allies plan to rally in Washington, D.C. and around the country later this month as part of the “Save Our Schools March and Call to Action.” The public will hear from writers like Jonathan Kozol and Diane Ravitch about the indignities schools have purportedly been forced to endure in the wake of the economic downturn. One of their key themes will be the “class-size crisis.”

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. And parents like smaller classes because they believe that their children benefit from more individual attention. Everyone agrees that smaller classes are better, right?

In a word: no. Much of the rhetoric supporting small classes is demagogic and runs afoul of the research. Let’s begin with the oft-heard union claim that classes are getting larger. Not quite. A U.S. Department of Labor chart, courtesy of teacher-union watchdog Mike Antonucci, tells the tale. Since the mid-1950s, the number of public-education employees — including teachers — has risen steadily and inexorably nationwide. Brief hiring disruptions occur only during recessionary times, which result in a minor diminution in personnel. Immediately following the downturn, however, the hiring resumes with gusto. The result is that since the mid-1950s, the U.S. student population has increased by 60 percent, while the number of public education workers, including teachers, administrators, and other non-certificated staff, has exploded by 300 percent. (For every new member in California, the union pockets more than $600 a year in dues.) Antonucci has reported on this phenomenon for years. When the economy inevitably contracts, the bellyaching and the hand-wringing about laying educators off begin anew.
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Why Does Sen. Durbin Think Illegal Aliens Can Become President?

July 1, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Congress, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Dick Durbin, DREAM Act, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Liberals, PCism, Regulation, Senate, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston, Western Civilization | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again we see a Democrat in Congress that is completely out of touch with, or unknowledgeable about, our U.S. Constitution, the law of the land. This time it’s Senator Dick Durbin that is so contemptuous of our immigration laws, so interested to pander to illegal immigrants, that he somehow imagines that an illegal alien could become president some day.

Durbin was once again advocating for the DREAM Act, a law that would give cash, education, and freebies to the children of illegal immigrants merely because they are illegals and he and his staff had stacked the audience in his hearing with illegal immigrants.

After pandering to the illegals in the audience at the Capitol (you know, those illegals so afraid of America that they have to “hide in the shadows”), Senator Durbin started his loving tribute to those bright, shinning faces in attendance…
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NBC Sports Removes ‘Under God’ From Kids Saying Pledge of Allegiance

June 20, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Censorship, Children, Christianity, Democrats/Leftists, Entertainment, Liberals, Liberty, Media, MSNBC, NBC, Patriotism, Religion, Sports, TV, TV News, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

In its intro to the 2011 U.S. Open golf tournament, NBC Sports had a heart stirring montage of Old Glory, school kids reciting the pledge of allegiance, all intercut with some of golf’s biggest contemporary stars. It had everything: resounding music, patriotism, and golf. But one thing it didn’t have… the whole pledge. It seems NBC sort of forgot the “under God” part of the pledge.

That’s right, NBC cut out the part where the kids say “under God,” as in “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

This was obviously done on purpose. The video of the kids saying the allegiance goes from “one nation” and skips ahead to “with liberty and justice for all.”
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Chicago Teachers Losing Their Raises

June 18, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Business, Capitalism, Chicago, Children, Cities, Congress, Cook County, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Government, Government, Corruption, Illinois, Illinois State Government, Jobs, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | Comments Off

-By Warner Todd Huston

As the Daley years wound down, Chicago’s public schools teachers were handed an automatic 4 percent raise across the board that was supposed to take effect next year. However, that largess from the taxpayers has just been rescinded by a unanimous vote of the Chicago Public Schools board.

Citing the $712 million budget deficit, the CPS announced that the automatic, meritless raise was simply unjustifiable.

In a statement, schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard said, “I have the utmost respect and admiration for teachers and all that they do for our children. But today’s board action was taken in response to the massive financial crisis facing our system. My team is now tasked with developing a balanced budget and presenting it to the Board and the public in August and our promise remains to minimize any impacts on the classroom and our kids.”
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The Consequences of Making your Privates Public

June 16, 2011 | Filed Under Children, Christianity, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Ethics, Government, Liberals, Morals/Sex, Nancy Salvato, PCism, Religion, Society/Culture, Western Civilization | Comments Off

-By Nancy Salvato

Sexting: When someone sends someone else a naked/nude pictures – Urban Dictionary #14

An individual who hasn’t heard the news reports on Anthony Weiner by now would have to be living under a rock. However, there may be large numbers of people unaware of what may be considered an epidemic in what has become known as sexting.

According to an article in Safety Web, Sexting 101 – Guide for Parents, “39% of teens and 59% of young adults have sent or posted sexually suggestive emails or text messages, and 20% of teens and 33% of young adults have sent/posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.” It doesn’t stop there, “38% teens and 46% of young adults say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.”
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No Respect: Unionistas Protest Gov. Walker at a Special Olympics Event

June 10, 2011 | Filed Under Budget, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Education, Ethics, Government, Government, Corruption, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Scott Walker, Socialism, Taxes, Teachers Unions, Unions, Warner Todd Huston, Wisconsin | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

No respect. No respect at all. That used to be a funny line of a comedian. Now it just brings to mind the ignorance and outrageous behavior of union thugs in Wisconsin. This week these creeps had the audacity to disrupt a kid’s event to protest Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s budget plan.

It isn’t just any kid’s event, either. It is a Special Olympics event! That’s right, these union thugs can’t even let a Special Olympics event pass without trying to use these special needs kids as political tools for their left-wing political purpose.

That takes some serious self-absorption, doesn’t it?

Union members should be ashamed of themselves in general, of course, but these thugs in Wisconsin deserve special recognition for their hateful behavior. After all, they are protesting in order to be able to steal more money from the people at a time when government is already over spent and in the red.
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Do You Really Know Who is Teaching Your Child?

June 8, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, California, Children, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Government, Corruption, Larry Sand, Liberals, Public Employees Unions, Teachers Unions, Unions | Comments Off

-By Larry Sand

Hookers plying their trade while government turns a blind eye.

Consequences for sexual perverts? No, the state doesn’t seem to care.

Whistle blower fired for exposing massive corruption.

Rampant nepotism in government jobs.

Private bureaucratic empire using public funds.

The above could probably pass as blurbs for a sequel to the movie Chinatown. But while Chinatown was a fictitious movie sprung from the fertile imagination of Robert Towne, the above statements apply to an agency in the executive branch of California state government called the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

This entity whose mission is to “ensure integrity and high quality in the preparation, conduct and professional growth of the educators who serve California’s public schools” is in fact a corrupt, callous and self-serving club that cares nothing at all about your kids.

What is turning into a major scandal first came to light with little fanfare from the press in early April when California State Auditor Elaine Howle released a report that blew the lid off what she referred to as “one of the ‘worst state run’ agencies in CA.’”

Here are the “highlights from the auditor’s report:
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Tying One On: ‘Green Ribbon Schools’ Defy Sobriety

June 4, 2011 | Filed Under Anti-Americanism, Children, Climate Change, Daniel Clark, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Environment, Global Warming, Government, Government, Corruption, Home Schooling, Liberals, Nanny State | Comments Off

-By Daniel Clark

Our federal Department of Education has got a lot to worry about, if it chooses to do so. American students now rank only 48th in math and science, according to the latest survey by the World Economic Forum. History textbooks are riddled with factual errors. Language skills, already suffering from decades of rot under “whole language” theory, must now contend with the corrosive influences of text messaging and social media.

High school education has grown so insufficient that remedial courses are now taught at many universities. Public schools are often unsafe, as well as ineffective, prompting parents to try to help their children escape with the help of school vouchers. Home schooling has become an attractive option to more and more people, who have generally produced superior academic performances to those of the government schools.

So what’s a man like Education Secretary Arne Duncan to do? Why, initiate a “Green Ribbon Schools” project “to recognize schools that are creating healthy and sustainable learning environments and teaching environmental literacy,” of course.
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