Republican Assault on Public Education (1 Viewer)

[MT15]

This probably needs its own thread. It ties in with a lot of different R culture wars: Attacks on universities, attacks on CRT and “woke”. Classifying teachers and librarians as “groomers”. Pushing vouchers to send tax money to private, often religious, schools. Betsy DeVos was an advocate for all these policies that will weaken public education, and there are several billionaires who also want to dismantle public education. Public education may have its faults, but it is responsible for an amazing amount of upward mobility. Kids from poor areas can still get a college prep education in a public school.

Vouchers (sometimes disguised as “school choice”) are a particular peeve of mine. Public money is diverted from poor schools to wealthy private schools, which aren’t required to offer accommodations for special needs or challenged students. Families with special needs kids are left out. Rural areas often suffer disproportionately because there are no private schools to attend, but their public schools still see the reduction in funding. Often the families who take advantage of the voucher money are upper class and the private schools simply raise tuition knowing the families are getting taxpayer money now.

Greg Abbot is being particularly vile in this area. No surprise. Voters will have to make a statement about public education. If we want to halt the growing divide in this country between the “haves” and “have-nots”, we need to pay attention to public education.

 

[Optimus Prime]

…….Four decades later, that fantasy world lives on and finds itself reckoning with the reality of a second Donald Trump administration hellbent on rolling back diversity programs and gutting the Department of Education.

On TikTok, the hashtag HillmanTok has become a free online space where Black scholars share their expertise in subjects that the administration is trying to excise from libraries and school curricula.

Anyone who scrolls to their content on TikTok and sticks around for the lesson is part of the class. “I’m mindful of the weight of this particular teaching and this particular time,” says Leah Barlow, a liberal studies professor at North Carolina A&T, the country’s largest HBCU. “Honestly, it feels a little ancestral.”

Last fall, Barlow posted an introductory two-minute TikTok video for her African studies class; 250,000 users subscribed to the class channel overnight and within a week it hit 4m views.

“I thought it was going to be a trend for a short time, and then we’d move on to the next thing,” says Barlow, who posted the video on the same day Trump retook office and rescinded a federal TikTok ban.

But then a sixth-grade math teacher named Cierra Hinton seized on the enthusiasm and started the hashtag HillmanTok. She encouraged Black educators to post instructional videos under the banner, and was inundated with hashtagged submissions.

Like Black Twitter and Black Lives Matter, another digital social justice movement was born – the world’s first crowd-sourced HBCU. In an emotional response video, Hinton took a measure of satisfaction in helping “people come together and build something that is bigger than we ever imagined, something that means so much”.

HillmanTok class subjects run the gamut from US history to mathematics to culinary arts. There are even electives on African American food studies and Stem careers. “I am finally about to post the syllabus,” Carlotta Berry says in the greeting for her Engineering 101 HillmanTok course. “You can learn asynchronously by watching any of my videos.”…….

This is all happening against the backdrop of a Black college enrollment gap in which Black men account for 26% of the student body. All the while Maga donors add insult to injury by trashing the value of HBCU education overall.

“Howard was not Harvard,” the billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel said in a dig at the former vice-president Kamala Harris’s scholarship at Howard University, the most prestigious HBCU. “You couldn’t even point this out [when she was running]. This is probably a racist thing to say.”

That’s just the start of the slights against HBCUs, which were founded to provide educational opportunities for Black students at a time when it was illegal or impossible to attend college in the US.

A 2023 investigation by the Biden administration found that HBCUs had missed out on more than $13bn in federal funding for more than three decades because state governors blocked the funds. North Carolina A&T, which has a 14,000-student enrollment, was owed more than $2bn alone.

HBCUs could well end up suffering more under Trump, who has made a U-turn from allocating $250m in funding to freezing educational grants and loans – which is how most HBCU students cover tuition.

Last month, he signed an executive order to close the Department of Education – a critical lifeline for HBCUs, which have a much harder time fundraising than predominantly white institutions……..

‘HillmanTok’: how The Cosby Show inspired resistance to Trump’s war on Black education

A riff on the university setting of A Different World, the world’s first crowd-sourced HBCU is expanding online

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Trump administration is considering placing Columbia University under a consent decree, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a dramatic escalation in the federal government’s crackdown on the Ivy League institution.

The university has already accepted a series of changes demanded by the administration as a precondition for restoring $400m in federal grants and contracts the government suspended last month over allegations that the school failed to protect students from antisemitism on campus.

A consent decree – a binding agreement approved by a federal judge – would be an extraordinary move by the Trump administration, which has threatened government funding as a way to force colleges and universities to comply with Donald Trump’s political objectives on a range of issues from campus protests to transgender women in sports and diversity and inclusion initiatives.


As a party to the consent decree, Columbia would have to agree to enter it – and the Journal report states that it is unclear whether such a plan has been discussed by the university board.……..

White House may seek legally binding control over Columbia through consent decree – report

Possible escalation comes after university already accepted changes as pre-condition for restoring $400m in grants

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Over 1,300 federal employees impacted by the Department of Education's March 11 reduction in force received their official separation notices Thursday, according to copies reviewed by ABC News.

"It is with great regret that I must inform you that your position is being abolished and you have been reached for reduction in force (RIF) action," the notices read, in part.

The RIF was one of the first major steps in massively reducing the Education Department after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to close the agency on March 20.

Both Trump and McMahon have suggested they will continue reducing the size of the agency and return education power and decisions to the states.

The president has said that the RIF'd employees either weren't showing up to work or they weren't good at their jobs. But the notices explained that the separation is not based on performance evaluations -- it is due to the "reduction in the number of positions" at the agency. The notices also said that employees have the right to appeal this reduction.

In addition, laying off people without going through the civil service protections is "illegal," according to NAACP Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs Patrice Willoughby.

"What they're doing is illegal," Willoughby told ABC News. "They know it's illegal. It creates damage to people. They're damaging not only what they say is the deep state — really dedicated federal workers who are working professionally on behalf of education families and young people but they're also damaging these families and these kids in these communities, many of them who voted for this administration and the constituents of these senators and representatives, who are saying nothing about it."

The letter sent on Thursday is a required 60-day notice alerting federal employees of their final days, according to a source familiar with the matter. Until those 60 days are up, the affected employees are on paid administrative leave. On June 10, they will no longer be employed.

"ED appreciates the service you have rendered," the notice said, adding, "We deeply regret that this decision affects you, and we recognize the difficulty of the moment."...............

'Your position is being abolished': Education Department staff get official reduction-in-force notices

Over 1,300 federal employees impacted by the Department of Education’s March 11 reduction in force received their official separation notices Thursday.

abcnews.go.com

 

[MT15]

The Trump administration is considering placing Columbia University under a consent decree, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a dramatic escalation in the federal government’s crackdown on the Ivy League institution.

The university has already accepted a series of changes demanded by the administration as a precondition for restoring $400m in federal grants and contracts the government suspended last month over allegations that the school failed to protect students from antisemitism on campus.

A consent decree – a binding agreement approved by a federal judge – would be an extraordinary move by the Trump administration, which has threatened government funding as a way to force colleges and universities to comply with Donald Trump’s political objectives on a range of issues from campus protests to transgender women in sports and diversity and inclusion initiatives.


As a party to the consent decree, Columbia would have to agree to enter it – and the Journal report states that it is unclear whether such a plan has been discussed by the university board.……..

White House may seek legally binding control over Columbia through consent decree – report

Possible escalation comes after university already accepted changes as pre-condition for restoring $400m in grants

www.theguardian.com

That’s what you get for cowering to a bully instead of standing up to them. I told my GOP senator, who knows better than any of this but went along with Trump’s asinine cabinet appointments, “ they’re going to primary you anyway, so you may as well do the right thing”. Columbia should have fought this tooth and nail.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has called for President Donald Trump to “defund” universities “across the board”.

“Higher education has fundamentally lost its way, it’s increasingly out of touch, and the tuition rates go higher and higher, so we need to defund across the board,” Stefanik told Fox News on Monday.

“There is so much opportunity across this country for the next generation, whether it’s in the workforce, whether it’s in this manufacturing renaissance that is going to happen under Donald J. Trump, whether it’s community college or trade schools, vocational programs—that is a pathway to success.”

The New York congresswoman was speaking after the Trump administration froze billions in funding for Harvard University in response to the Ivy League school rejecting its demands for sweeping reforms on Monday.

The White House had demanded Harvard eliminate diversity initiatives, prohibit mask-wearing, and pledge “full cooperation” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an ongoing investigation by the antisemitism task force.

It also wanted Harvard to revoke recognition of pro-Palestine student organizations, review its academic programs for ideological diversity, and expel students who were involved in a 2024 pro-Palestine protest-related altercation on the Harvard Business School campus...........

Elise Stefanik Doesn't Want to Stop at Harvard: ‘We Need to Defund Across the Board’

The Trump administration froze billions in funding after the Ivy League’s wealthiest school rejected the government’s demands.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Dragon]

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has called for President Donald Trump to “defund” universities “across the board”.

“Higher education has fundamentally lost its way, it’s increasingly out of touch, and the tuition rates go higher and higher, so we need to defund across the board,” Stefanik told Fox News on Monday.

“There is so much opportunity across this country for the next generation, whether it’s in the workforce, whether it’s in this manufacturing renaissance that is going to happen under Donald J. Trump, whether it’s community college or trade schools, vocational programs—that is a pathway to success.”

The New York congresswoman was speaking after the Trump administration froze billions in funding for Harvard University in response to the Ivy League school rejecting its demands for sweeping reforms on Monday.

The White House had demanded Harvard eliminate diversity initiatives, prohibit mask-wearing, and pledge “full cooperation” with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as part of an ongoing investigation by the antisemitism task force.

It also wanted Harvard to revoke recognition of pro-Palestine student organizations, review its academic programs for ideological diversity, and expel students who were involved in a 2024 pro-Palestine protest-related altercation on the Harvard Business School campus...........

Elise Stefanik Doesn't Want to Stop at Harvard: ‘We Need to Defund Across the Board’

The Trump administration froze billions in funding after the Ivy League’s wealthiest school rejected the government’s demands.

www.thedailybeast.com

Stefanik "Keep them poor and un-educated" so that they won't know their rights or god forbid - think that they are equals with the Oligarks and their offsprings. They should know their place as manual low paid labor.

"tuition rates go higher and higher, so we need to defund across the board" How is defunding education going to lower tuition. The only thing it does is ensuring that only the children of millionaires and Oligarks can afford a top notch education.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Not sure what thread to put this in
=================
New research by social psychologists at the University of Amsterdam, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, shows that America's conservatives distrust science to a far greater extent than previously understood.

The academics asked 7,800 Americans their opinions on 35 different scientific professions and examined their answers based on whether they identified as conservative or liberal.

They found that members of the public who described themselves as right-leaning were overwhelmingly more likely to distrust scientists, particularly those whose work in fields such as climate may not align with their political ideology.

More surprisingly, conservatives also proved to be highly skeptical about more technically-minded scientists like industrial chemists, whose findings might have a direct, positive impact on economic growth and prosperity, two areas typically associated with right-leaning people.

Republican respondents were further found to be particularly resistant to “interventions” made by the researchers as part of an attempt to influence their attitudes towards the disciplines under discussion more positively.

The findings have potentially profound consequences for tackling social problems that require a broad public consensus to resolve, such as reining in climate change and thwarting future pandemics.

“In America, but also in other countries, conservatives generally have lower trust in science,” said Bastiaan T. Rutjens, one of the researchers behind the study.……

Shocking extent to which American conservatives distrust science revealed in new poll

Right-leaning citizens more likely to be skeptical of scientists than their liberal counterparts and more resistant to revising their opinions, new study finds

www.independent.co.uk

 

[bird]

Not sure what thread to put this in
=================
New research by social psychologists at the University of Amsterdam, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, shows that America's conservatives distrust science to a far greater extent than previously understood.

The academics asked 7,800 Americans their opinions on 35 different scientific professions and examined their answers based on whether they identified as conservative or liberal.

They found that members of the public who described themselves as right-leaning were overwhelmingly more likely to distrust scientists, particularly those whose work in fields such as climate may not align with their political ideology.

More surprisingly, conservatives also proved to be highly skeptical about more technically-minded scientists like industrial chemists, whose findings might have a direct, positive impact on economic growth and prosperity, two areas typically associated with right-leaning people.

Republican respondents were further found to be particularly resistant to “interventions” made by the researchers as part of an attempt to influence their attitudes towards the disciplines under discussion more positively.

The findings have potentially profound consequences for tackling social problems that require a broad public consensus to resolve, such as reining in climate change and thwarting future pandemics.

“In America, but also in other countries, conservatives generally have lower trust in science,” said Bastiaan T. Rutjens, one of the researchers behind the study.……

Shocking extent to which American conservatives distrust science revealed in new poll

Right-leaning citizens more likely to be skeptical of scientists than their liberal counterparts and more resistant to revising their opinions, new study finds

www.independent.co.uk

I’m looking for my shocked face.

Can’t find it.

 

[Optimus Prime]

(CNN) — The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices.

A final decision on rescinding the university’s tax exemption is expected soon, the sources said.

The administration already has blocked more than $2 billion in funding from the nation’s oldest university, which is fighting the White House’s policy demands, citing the constitutional right of private universities to determine their own teaching practices.

President Donald Trump in recent days raised the idea of punishing the Ivy League university for not complying with what the administration has sought to portray as a campaign to fight antisemitism.

“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday……..

IRS making plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status | CNN Politics

The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its...

www.cnn.com

 

[MT15]

(CNN) — The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its demands to change its hiring and other practices.

A final decision on rescinding the university’s tax exemption is expected soon, the sources said.

The administration already has blocked more than $2 billion in funding from the nation’s oldest university, which is fighting the White House’s policy demands, citing the constitutional right of private universities to determine their own teaching practices.

President Donald Trump in recent days raised the idea of punishing the Ivy League university for not complying with what the administration has sought to portray as a campaign to fight antisemitism.

“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday……..

IRS making plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status | CNN Politics

The Internal Revenue Service is making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard University, according to two sources familiar with the matter, which would be an extraordinary step of retaliation as the Trump administration seeks to turn up pressure on the university that has defied its...

www.cnn.com

Now do churches.

 

[Ayo]

Got a text from a close friend and colleague back in Louisiana. She teaches middle school math and science at a Title-1 school in Calcasieu Parish. These schools NEED good teachers and she is amazing. She sent me a photo of a letter she got from a parent, the mother of a student she taught years ago.

The letter to her said this:

I haven't had a chance to walk over to the school to talk with you. You had Antonio [not his real name] and you were well aware of his struggles in math, so I wanted to give an update on where he is now.

Last week he called to tell me about his math class. Before one of the classes started, his professor asked to speak with him privately. Of course, his initial assumption was the worst case scenario, given his history and struggles with the subject. He thought things were going well, but worried that wasn't entirely correct. The professor ended up asking him if he could submit his name as a potential SI (Student Instructor) for the course next year at college. He would be paid to have study session hours to help other students with the classwork and help them prepare for tests. The professor stated that Antonio asks great questions, works hard, and he felt that he would be an asset to help the other students. I still think God every day for all the help that you gave him. I will be eternally grateful.

It's a nice letter, right? The achievement means a ton, but it also puts a little much needed money in his pocket.

I wish this text chain continued positively, but this was the next one from her to me:

"Stuff like this almost makes up for the shirtty pay. Almost. I'll probably only be teaching for another couple of years. My salary breaks down to $25/hour and the $2k/yr raise they have publicized is not a raise. We found out that they are subtracting the 2k from our November bonus and redistributing it across the year, so that it can be part of our salary which makes it look like a raise.

I've put a call into one of the (chemical) plant managers because he said he might be able to hook me up with a job in their purchasing department. The pay, hours, and benefits are much better."

Oh, and did I mention SHE HAS A SECOND JOB WORKING PART-TIME RETAIL right now, and it's still not enough. She is single and when she complains about her situation, the most common solution or advice offered: "You gotta get married."

Pardon my French, but the state of Louisiana (and other similar red states) are forking our kids over with the embarrassing and negligent state of teacher compensation and career incentivization.

I teach high school and my wife teaches primary school. We have excellent benefits. Our pension is one of the best in the entire world and owns stakes in everything from real estate to retail malls to NHL, NBA, and MLB franchises.

Now, my job is a bit of a hybrid of teaching and research and my pay reflects that, so it's not entirely accurate to say "high school teacher" salary probably, but still... our dual incomes put us in the top 10% of household incomes in the country.

Neighboring countries, the same job - not even remotely the same compensation.

What a disgusting joke.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Not sure what thread to put this in
=================
New research by social psychologists at the University of Amsterdam, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, shows that America's conservatives distrust science to a far greater extent than previously understood.

Yet they use it every forkong day.

 

[Dragon]

Yet they use it every forkong day.

Let’s stop pretending this is a mystery — the growing distrust in science among conservatives isn’t accidental.

I believe it ultimately comes down to two key factors: education and religion. When individuals lack even a basic understanding of how science works — and are simultaneously exposed to ultra-conservative religious narratives — the likelihood of becoming skeptical of science increases significantly.

Many fundamentalist religious leaders actively promote literal interpretations of the Bible, even when scientific evidence contradicts those views. A classic example is the Book of Genesis, which is often cited in debates over evolution and the age of the Earth.

When science and religion are in direct conflict, religion tends to win — especially among those who haven't been equipped with scientific literacy.

At the core of this issue is why certain political groups, particularly Republicans, attack public education: because an educated, enlightened population is far less susceptible to misinformation, and far more likely to question and challenge their rhetoric.

In the end, it’s not a war between science and religion — it’s a war between power and truth

 

[zztop]

Looks like Republicans also want to destroy PBS and NPR

Kennedy, R-Madisonville filed a bill in February to abolish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service. He wants the measure included in the budget bill that Congress is about to consider

 

[bird]

Looks like Republicans also want to destroy PBS and NPR

Kennedy, R-Madisonville filed a bill in February to abolish the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service. He wants the measure included in the budget bill that Congress is about to consider

Kennedy is a complete and total idiot. His cornpone act has worn thin.

 

[longtime lurker]

White House proposes eliminating Head Start funding as part of sweeping budget cuts

The Trump administration is asking Congress to eliminate funding for Head Start, a move that would cut early education for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children and child care for their families. The proposal is tucked in a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Dragon]

White House proposes eliminating Head Start funding as part of sweeping budget cuts

The Trump administration is asking Congress to eliminate funding for Head Start, a move that would cut early education for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children and child care for their families. The proposal is tucked in a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by...

www.yahoo.com

So much for the Republican claims of wanting to improve education in the U.S.
Targeting Head Start — a program that has helped millions of children from low-income families get a fair start in life — is not about reform. It’s about reinforcing inequality.

Study after study shows that early childhood education improves school readiness, increases graduation rates, and even lowers crime and incarceration rates long-term. Cutting Head Start doesn’t just hurt children — it weakens families, communities, and the future workforce.

Let’s be clear: removing support from the kids who need it most is a deliberate choice. It's a way to ensure that the children of low-income families remain locked out of higher education and well-paying jobs — making sure they don’t compete with the privileged few.

If you really care about the future of this country, you don’t pull the ladder up behind you.

 

[MT15]

Head Start and Meals on Wheels are examples of programs that actually save far more money than they cost.

This is extremely stupid, pointless and cruel.