One of the most basic things teachers must be able to do is understand the materials they’re presenting. No, they don’t have to be experts necessarily, but they do need to be able to read and comprehend the text and any supplemental materials they may have. Pretty straightforward, right? After all, you have to be a college graduate to teach in a public school.

Unfortunately for people in New York, if your child attends school, your “certified” teacher may soon be someone who can’t pass a basic reading test.

The Board of Regents on Monday eliminated a requirement that aspiring teachers in New York State pass a literacy test to become certified after the test proved controversial because black and Hispanic candidates passed it at significantly lower rates than white candidates. Continue reading →

Both the Senate and House have now passed a resolution aimed at undoing some of the controversial moves by former President Obama that conservatives argue undermined local control of schools.

The resolution undoes Obama-era regulations that that would have specified how school performance and teacher training are rated by the Department of Education. Lindsey Burke, an education analyst with The Heritage Foundation, summarizes the effect of the resolution.

“It looks at those Obama-era regulations that were promulgated on to the Every Student Succeeds Act,” she states, “and [it] rescinds those to enable [the Act] to work a little more like its congressional authors had intended.”
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John Taylor Gatto (born December 15, 1935) is an American retired school teacher of 29 years and 8 months and author of several books on education. Continue reading →

Teacher Wendy Bradshaw recently had her own kid, and it seems like holding a baby that might someday pass through America’s educational system lit a fire under her ass to speak out about how terrible that system has become. Bradshaw worked in Florida’s Polk County and specialized in younger children, infant through fifth grade. The strict standardization that higher grades have been subjected to for years has been making its way down, beginning to touch even pre-schooler with test-based learning. This forces teachers into narrower and narrower teaching plans that aren’t conducive to actual learning. After sending in her letter of resignation, Bradshaw posted it on Facebook where it has now been shared over 50,000 times.

The letter reads:
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Publisher’s NOTE: For those readers who have been familiar with me for some years, they are aware of my penchant for ‘fishing.’ My schedule has been quite perplexing for the past couple of weeks, and although I attempt to keep our various web-sites up to date – it is not always easy to do so – and hence – a fishing ‘trip’ was in order. We’ll be back to full attack mode in a few more days. Until then – join me at the river, won’t you?  Oh – and the piece posted below from March 2015 by Phil Power – is the PERFECT example of life’s analogies. ~ J.B.

I’m coming to a conclusion as I age: Mathematics, political behavior and plain common sense all demonstrate that extremes generally don’t accurately reflect long-term reality.

When you apply this notion to politics, it suggests that neither hard-right Tea Partiers nor flaming left liberals are likely to dominate our political system — or provide sensible answers. It’s the generally centrist “sanity caucus” that most times winds up calling the shots.

Nationally, we are apt to see people and candidates divide along these lines during next year’s presidential campaign. One example: As a rough generalization, right-wingers think people who fall behind in things like academic performance or income should be trying harder and doing better, and deserve punishment for not doing so. Those on the left generally think people on the bottom can’t be helped except by redistributing resources to them.

But centrists reason that the best way to help people and society as a whole is by investing in human capital — things like access to early childhood and university education — which increase individual opportunity for all… Continue reading →

In the last few weeks, there has been a spate of columns by writers on the left condemning the left-wing college students who riot, take over university buildings and shout down speakers with whom they differ.

These condemnations, coming about 50 years too late, should not be taken seriously.

Take New York Times columnist Frank Bruni. His latest column is filled with dismay over the way Middlebury College students attacked Charles Murray and a liberal woman professor who interviewed him (she was injured by the rioters).

I have no doubt that Bruni is sincere. However, sincerity is completely unrelated to wisdom or insight. Continue reading →

Today, one of parents’ greatest fears is making certain their kids receive a good education. It’s gotten so ridiculous in some sectors of society that expecting parents are interviewing and reserving space in the finest kindergarten long before the child is born, BUT… Continue reading →

On March 20, 1775, delegates gathered together at St. Johns Church in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss what measures they might take as tensions between the Colonies and Britain increased. Of those in attendance at this meeting were George Washington; who would be chosen to lead the, yet to be formed Continental Army, and Thomas Jefferson; who would later be asked to pen a declaration of independence.

After hearing the speeches of a few delegates, Patrick Henry rose from his seat in the third row of pews, and delivered a speech which has gone down into the history books as one of the greatest ever delivered by man. Continue reading →

Three Generations of Public Schools and Social Engineering leaves us with dumbed-down entitled snowflakes sharing their fashionable guilt, while totally ignorant of the values of entrepreneurship, innovation, risk & reward, self-reliance and volitional relationships within one’s real hierarchy of values.

Knowledge of the economics of choice, freedom, history, and western culture have given way to knowledge of celebrity gossip, fashion, and hand-held devices profiling and tracking ones thoughts and whereabouts for the benefit of the Deep State and their corporate and political clients. ~ R. Mish

Take a walk with Jay Leno out to the real America for much of the new generations…… Continue reading →

The nomination of Betsy DeVos was fraught with criticism from the left. She was derided for having “no experience with public education, no political experience, no government administrative experience,” and her support for school vouchers/charter schools, among many other things. Notably, most of the criticism came from educators, many of them members of the teachers’ unions, who have had many years and more than enough funding to fix failing public schools, with little (if any) success.

Which all begs the question – if your student is enrolled at a failing public institution, why should he/she be forced to remain enrolled there?
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Although we would like to remain non-political on this site, what follows is a bit of history, which we offer first, as continuation of our historical education and to show how the leanings of politics have changed over the past eight-plus decades. The decorum…

Gov. Alfred E. Smith

The following is a transcript of the speech given by Gov. Alfred E. Smith before an American Liberty League audience of 2000 and a national radio audience on January 25, 1936 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC,.

This is one of the greatest American political speeches. At the time it was considered the definitive analysis of the New Deal. Al Smith was the 1928 Democrat Presidential nominee, former governor of New York State and the leader of the Democrat Party until Roosevelt and the Communist wing took over in 1932. Smith was the person who gave Roosevelt his second chance in politics and therefore was responsible for FDR becoming President.

What has happened to the Party? ~ J.B.
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While college administrators and professors accept disgraceful behavior, we as taxpayers, donors and parents should not foot the bill. Let’s look at some of that behavior.

A University of Washington Tacoma Writing Center press release told students that expecting Americans to use proper grammar perpetuates racism. The University of Nebraska Omaha will host a workshop for “anti-racist allies” to develop “action plans” that confront America’s “foundation of systemic oppression” in the context of “the current political climate.” The workshop was inspired by professor Tammie Kennedy’s recent book, titled “Rhetorics of Whiteness.” She will lead a discussion on “taking action against white supremacy.” Continue reading →

What the heck does this have to do with teaching the 3 R’s? – J.B.

Indiana parents are furious after eighth graders at Lincoln Junior High School were exposed to a classroom lesson on sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity issues – without being notified in advance by the school district.

The 12-year-olds were required to watch a video titled, “LGBTQ: Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identities.” They were also required to answer a questionnaire with all sorts of probing questions. Continue reading →

Starting in the fall of 2015, all second graders in D.C. public schools were required to learn to ride in PE class.

Before the start of the new school year in Washington, D.C., as families were buying supplies and teachers were drafting their lesson plans, Miriam Kenyon was spending her days in a warehouse in the city’s Northeast quadrant, surrounded by bikes.

She and a group of volunteers were building them: Diamondback Vipers and Mini Vipers, 16- and 20-inch kids’ models. “They’re BMX bikes, so they’re really sturdy and they’re made for multiple uses,” explains Kenyon, the director of health and physical education at District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Continue reading →

Publisher’s NOTE: What you are about to read solidifies my mistrust of the lengthy four-part series, which we posted last week; Answering the Call: The History of National Education Association. I smell several rats, which tie both organizations just a bit too closely. Read and decide for yourself. ~ J.B.

President Dwight Eisenhower talked about integrating public schools and other issues in a meeting June 23, 1958, with civil rights leaders Lester Granger of the Urban League, far left; Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, second from left; Philip Randolph of the AFL-CIO, center; and, at far right, Roy Wilkins of the NAACP. (Photo: Everett Collection/Newscom)

Dear Daily Signal: I agree with Virginia Walden Ford’s commentary article. The NAACP has become useless because the leadership has devolved from their original goals of helping black people advance (“I’m a Black Woman Whose Relatives Fought for Civil Rights. I’m Disappointed in NAACP’s War on School Choice”).

The NAACP has become a political arm of the Democrats.
Education is the most important goal in bringing anyone out of their past and into a brighter future. I can attest to that goal, because my mother felt the same way. I am a native American from Alaska, and did experience hunger and poor conditions. Continue reading →

The following series was quite interesting to me, as it laid out the basis and beginning of what we now know as the National Education Association. It is my justified opinion that their intent was great in the beginning, but now act as nothing more than a major Lobby group for the benefit of their own Union members, all the while – taking their money then “donating” it to the political party of their choice… The Socialist Progressives – the Democrats. In the past two decades, our youth have been bombarded with Goals 2000, No Child Left Behind, and Common Core. Dare I say that each of these programs have further indoctrinated our youth and in fact – left all children behind.

A reader may not agree with my beliefs, but read Metropolis Café carefully, and watch how the NEA has evolved in this first of a four part series… and let us see if YOU see what I have seen in this historical journey. Let us know. ~ J.B.

The History of the National Education Association ~ Part 1

On a summer afternoon in 1857, 43 educators gathered in Philadelphia, answering a national call to unite as one voice in the cause of public education… Continue reading →

The following is a repost of a column by Gail Jarvis from 2014. It is important to be able to follow the direction of the education system in America. This was posted by Kettle Moraine Publications on one of our other sites, but felt that it has become important to intertwine these columns for review. ~ J.B.

We can expect the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the May 17, 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, to be conducted in the usual reverential manner.

The Brown decision was indeed a turning point in American history, but whether it was beneficial or detrimental is still being debated. Of course, many feel that any time the rights of states are usurped by the Federal government, it represents progress. Consequently, this decision is always portrayed as a momentous societal improvement that all Americans should celebrate. But some of us will be unable to celebrate, not because we believe in “separate but equal” schools, but because of how the case was conducted, and the long-range consequences that it has wrought upon our society. Continue reading →

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement, “The president’s decision to ask Betsy DeVos to run the Department of Education should offend every single American man, woman, and child who has benefitted from the public education system in this country.” Expressing similar sentiments, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond said, “I expect that Mrs. DeVos will have an incredibly harmful impact on public education and on black communities nationwide.” Those and many other criticisms of Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos could be dismissed as simply political posturing if we did not have an educational system that is mostly mediocre and is in advanced decay for most black students. Continue reading →

a Dev(i)o(u)s smile?

If cutting-edge educational technologies can scientifically maximize student learning, then why do so many Silicon Valley bigwigs at Google, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Yahoo! send their children to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, a school which bans computer technology from its classrooms? If high-tech computerization were such a fundamental enhancement to cognitive development, then why did Steve Jobs withhold iPads and other “screen-time” technologies from his children? Why would these tech gurus not practice for their own sons and daughters what they preach (and bankroll) for the public education system? These incongruences signal red flags that the real objective behind the accelerating push for personalized computer learning is not to boost academic outcomes, but to data-mine students for the purposes of corporate-fascist political-economic planning. Continue reading →