College Prep

Officials in Key Largo, Florida were apparently living by the old adage of “going the extra mile”(Matthew 5:41). In January, two Gideons were arrested for distributing Bibles on a public sidewalk outside a local elementary school.

Atheists are no longer getting the special treatment, in certain schools anyway. Allah is “what’s up” now.

Wherever he is, long-deceased underground filmmaker Ed Wood must feel vindicated. When he was alive, Wood’s arena—transexualism—was considered outside the mainstream. Now, it is the mainstream, at least in public schools.

The Khalil Gibran International Academy, a secondary public school with an Arabic-based curriculum, will open its doors this fall despite an outcry from local taxpayers.

It turns out that the Supreme Court, at least lately, has been poring over more facts in studying race and education than most public school officials have.

Sir Winston Churchill may have been voted the best Briton ever, but if a national curriculum proposal is approved the former Prime Minister will be relegated to the dust bin of history as he will be removed from a list of figures that secondary school children must learn about in Great Britain.

Last week, the Buffalo City Council passed a resolution criticizing the decision by the Diocese of Buffalo to close some schools and churches.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has released a report on how a number of “comprehensive” sexual education (CSE) programs being promoted to our youth are heavy on sex and light on education.

California Teachers Association (CTA) president Barbara Kerr says that her powerful union opposes second-grade testing so that “teachers have the time to help our youngest students achieve the knowledge and skills required to meet the state’s rigorous academic content standards — instead of wasting time preparing children for age-inappropriate tests.” Yet, the effective practices of high-performing schools and the bulk of empirical research show that testing young students is exactly what ensures their acquisition of standards-based knowledge and skills.

Locke High School principal Frank Wells is fed up: “The more you fail, the more money they throw at you. We’re filthy rich; I don’t want any more of your money. Send me quality teachers.”

Along with supposedly beneficial small class sizes, another constant refrain of American education officials is that there is a teacher shortage in the United States.

Claims that big spending on government preschool programs result in wide long-term societal benefits are built on evidential quicksand.