Education thread

[GoCubsGo]

More from the worst Education chief in the nation:

State-mandated hateful bigotry.

Indictment coming?

[Vrede too]

More from the worst Education chief in the nation:

State-mandated hateful bigotry.

Indictment coming?

We can dream.

https://x.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1971205692922175926

I hope that FN chyron is unintentional.

Full text:

Ed Krassenstein

Breaking: Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters has resigned.

This comes after a July 2025 scandal, when two members of the State Board of Education alleged that a TV in Walters’ office displayed images of naked women during a closed meeting.

Walters is the guy who directed public schools to incorporate the Christian Bible and Ten Commandments into instruction, which triggered lawsuits over church–state separation.

[Vrede too]

More RW disdain for the 1A and more repression of academia:

He said U.S. should be ‘overthrown.' Texas State's response: You're fired, again

Texas State University has again fired history professor Tom Alter for calling for the formation of a workers' party to "overthrow" the U.S. government in a socialist video conference, after a Hays County judge granted a temporary restraining order last month ordering his reinstatement....

"Without organization, how can anyone expect to overthrow the most bloodthirsty, profit-driven mad organization in the history of the world, that of the U.S. government?" Alter says in the video.

True. Notice the lack of call for violence.

... In a written statement Tuesday, Alter alleged that his firing was "part of a broader political attack being carried out by the authoritarian far-right to crush democracy and democratic institutions in the United States in general and Texas in particular," he said. "I have truth on my side and I look forward to my day in court."

Fascism is here.

... Alter has a right to appeal his termination, Damphousse said. Amanda Reichek, an attorney representing Alter, said in an email Tuesday that he plans to file that appeal. That process should take no longer than six weeks, she said.

Once he has exhausted that appeal, he will "proceed with litigation," she said. The lawsuit he filed last month remains active.

On Oct. 6, Reichek argued in a letter to Damphousse that Alter's statements were mischaracterized and he was fired for "speaking on matters of public concern, and in his personal capacity - in other words, First Amendment-protected speech," according to the letter, provided by Reichek.

RWers hate our Constitution.

Reichek is also representing Melissa McCoul, a former professor of English at Texas A&M University who was fired last month after a recording went viral of her teaching about gender identity and being confronted by a student who argued that the teaching was illegal after President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring that it is the policy of the United States to recognize only two sexes.

Last month, a coalition of union organizers, liberal activists and elected leaders rallied in support of Alter in downtown San Marcos.

The Texas State Employees Union CWA Local 6186, of which Alter is a member, issued a written statement calling Alter's latest termination a "deeply troubling move that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment."

"President Damphousse had an opportunity to uphold the first amendment," said Ilesa Daniels Ross, President of the Texas State Employees Union, in a statement. "Instead, he chose to send a chilling message to every faculty member and student who dares to speak out or stand up for their rights at Texas State."

True.

[O Really]

What he said sounded a lot like what repugs used to say about the damgummint when Obama/Biden was in office.

[GoCubsGo]

Didn't know really where to put this, but since he did put on a masterclass...



https://www.adammockler.com/

[Vrede too]

Didn't know really where to put this, but since he did put on a masterclass...

https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1978686852577050887

https://www.adammockler.com/

Adam Mockler – Biography, Age, Parents, Career

MeidasTouch 22-Year-Old Host Adam Mockler Is Crushing It!
Mockler Leads Major DC Panel on New Media
Dec 09, 2024

More from the worst Education chief in the nation:

State-mandated hateful bigotry.

Indictment coming?

https://x.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1971205692922175926

https://x.com/EdKrassen/status/1971199071541965128

Lindel Fields announces end to Ryan Walters' Oklahoma classroom Bible mandateOklahoma’s new State Superintendent of Public Instruction is ending his predecessor’s plan to distribute Bibles to every classroom.

... The Bible plan was slated to cost at least $3 million and appeared to be narrowly tailored to those endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

As for 500 Trump Bibles already purchased, right now state officials will “just let it be,” said Tara Thompson, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Thompson said at a later date the department may “issue guidance to schools on what to do with those.” ...

Ooh ooh, may I offer guidance, too?

[Vrede too]

Cornell University to pay $60M in deal with Trump administration to restore federal funding

Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million and accept the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws in order to restore federal funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.

Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced the agreement on Friday, saying it upholds the university’s academic freedom while restoring more than $250 million in research funding that the government withheld amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations. He said the government’s funding freeze had stalled research, upended careers and threatened the future of academic programs.

The university agreed to pay $30 million directly to the U.S. government along with another $30 million toward research that will support U.S. farmers.

The agreement is the latest struck between President Donald Trump's administration and elite colleges he has accused of tolerating antisemitism and promoting far-left ideas. Trump is still locked in a standoff with Harvard, the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, and lately has tried an incentive-based approach by offering preferential access to federal funding for other schools that sign onto his political agenda....

[O Really]

I saw this article where an English teacher's poor students suddenly became good writers - turned out the school-issued chrome books include Google Lens, which now rewards hovering over any pic or text and provides detailed information about it. A big upgrade from telling you plant names, which I thought was totally cool at the time. The students used Lens and got excellently written answers to classroom questions. c
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/te ... 82ea&ei=29

Lots of thoughty questions arise here: were the students cheating? I'd say no - they used tools the school had given them (even if the school hadn't paid attention). Is use of that type of tool detrimental to education? I'd say it depends on what you're trying to teach. But to me, the important question would be is the class even teaching things of most value? That is, how important is it now and in those students' futures, to know how to write essays and answers totally out of their own heads? Short of a complete tech crash, will there be a time when any issue or question those kids face will not be addressed with some level of AI assist? Reminds me of the math teachers who wouldn't let students use a calculator because "you won't always have a calculator around" Well, actually, you do. And for those rare occasions when you don't, you won't have used your long-ago math skills enough for them to do you any good.

Is requiring totally "original" writing the same as requiring the use of the card catalogue, or a hard-copy version of "Britannica"? Are they teaching already-obsolete skills, like tire-changing in a world with very few spare tires?

Not to say original writing doesn't have value - somebody has to do it, and some will do it well. But maybe teach that in the creative writing classes that students opt for and in other classes, teach real life practices.

[Vrede too]

Once they implant the chips there will be no difference between original writing and real life practices.

[Vrede too]

Many things may cause an elementary school lockdown:
Police pursuit
Neighborhood standoff/barricade
Chemical leak
Wildfire
Industrial fire
Rail accident
Active shooter
Severe storm/tornado
Bomb threat
And:

Spoiler:

ICE agents sighting near Oakland elementary school prompts lockdown

[O Really]

"14 classic novels that would spark controversy if written today"
Well here's what I think, even if no one asked - no, they wouldn't "spark controversy" because if written today, they would be written with current norms rather than the norms of the 1800's or whenever.

On the list are the usual suspects that somewhat accurately reflect the times in which they were written (does anybody really think Huck would have referred to Jim as an "African American"?) but get sanitized to today's standards. Can this reasonably be called "education"? Is there a plot to "To Kill a Mockingbird" if you clean up the racism? Would anybody seriously deny there was rampant racism in Alabama in 1935? What's wrong with saying "yes Johnny, people really did say "nigger" back then. It's not acceptable now, and that's a good thing, but that's the way it was then." Isn't it more education to use the book to show how things have changed than to portray what did not exist.

The traitor-supporters use the "erase history" argument to keep their confederate statues, but of course that's a different issue. I don't hear them complaining when a library bans a book - literally trying to erase history.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/14 ... 9c17&ei=14

[supesalemgr2]

"14 classic novels that would spark controversy if written today"
Well here's what I think, even if no one asked - no, they wouldn't "spark controversy" because if written today, they would be written with current norms rather than the norms of the 1800's or whenever.

On the list are the usual suspects that somewhat accurately reflect the times in which they were written (does anybody really think Huck would have referred to Jim as an "African American"?) but get sanitized to today's standards. Can this reasonably be called "education"? Is there a plot to "To Kill a Mockingbird" if you clean up the racism? Would anybody seriously deny there was rampant racism in Alabama in 1935? What's wrong with saying "yes Johnny, people really did say "nigger" back then. It's not acceptable now, and that's a good thing, but that's the way it was then." Isn't it more education to use the book to show how things have changed than to portray what did not exist.

The traitor-supporters use the "erase history" argument to keep their confederate statues, but of course that's a different issue. I don't hear them complaining when a library bans a book - literally trying to erase history.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/14 ... 9c17&ei=14

Reminds me of when I was about 6 years old. My best friend was a Black kid whose Mom cleaned our house. We lived at the end of a dead end street and the Black family lived down a dirt road behind us. One day I asked my Dad why Brother did not go to my school. His response was, "That is just the way it is now:.

[O Really]

Probably at that age, that was the best answer he could have given. I guess you learned more as you got older and realized racism and segregation were wrong and should be opposed.

[supesalemgr2]

Probably at that age, that was the best answer he could have given. I guess you learned more as you got older and realized racism and segregation were wrong and should be opposed.

As I look back that experience molded me to not support segregation. I went through high school in segregated schools in metro ATL. My entire family was Roosevelt democrats, not unusual in the South. However, I am grateful they never pushed racism. I even remember the KKK having parades in my town and my grandmother said they were just mean people.

[O Really]

Racism was (is) everywhere, it's just in the South it was more of the in-your-face variety. If Trump had been around in the late 50's - early 60's and had used the same bullying approach to integration as he used against "DEI" he would have had a lot better chance of getting stuff named for him.

[Vrede too]

Well, late 50's - early 60's racist DonOLD would be remembered much like Bull Connor or Orval Faubus is.

"14 classic novels that would spark controversy if written today"
Well here's what I think, even if no one asked - no, they wouldn't "spark controversy" because if written today, they would be written with current norms rather than the norms of the 1800's or whenever.

On the list are the usual suspects that somewhat accurately reflect the times in which they were written (does anybody really think Huck would have referred to Jim as an "African American"?) but get sanitized to today's standards. Can this reasonably be called "education"? Is there a plot to "To Kill a Mockingbird" if you clean up the racism? Would anybody seriously deny there was rampant racism in Alabama in 1935? What's wrong with saying "yes Johnny, people really did say "nigger" back then. It's not acceptable now, and that's a good thing, but that's the way it was then." Isn't it more education to use the book to show how things have changed than to portray what did not exist.

The traitor-supporters use the "erase history" argument to keep their confederate statues, but of course that's a different issue. I don't hear them complaining when a library bans a book - literally trying to erase history.


https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/14 ... s-AA1Ri41k

I'm fine with publishing books faithfully, and agree with teaching them with context and/or adding forwards to the books that place their period attitudes and language in context.

Yeah, they would burn "controversial" current and future topical books (LGBTQ, anyone?) at the bases of their remaining slaver/traitor statues.