The Houston Chronicle reports that the Texas State Board of Education has tentatively decided drop its 20-year-old requirement mandating that science teachers address both “strengths and weaknesses” of the scientific theory originated by Charles Darwin in the 19th century, capping a heated debate on the topic. In Texas, the theory of evolution now has no…
Category: Education
Sex, Drugs, Teenagers, Teachers, and Money
Looking like a lurid "All Nude" sign, today’s Houston Chronicle’s headline screams, "Wash. court: Sex between teachers, 18-year-olds OK". In fact, the Washington Court of Appeals said no such thing. Rather, the court ruled that sex between consenting adults is not a legal matter, regardless of a student/teacher relationship. Not the same thing at all….
PC Librarians Ban Christmas at UNC
What could be more American than a Christmas tree in December? Apple pie in July, perhaps. But politically correct librarians and at least one mid-level bureaucrat in administration at the University of North Carolina don’t seem to think that Christmas is something to celebrate and have banned the university’s decades-old tradition of displaying Christmas trees…
Gays, Books, Tolerance and Equality
Joe Windish says that he’s got to give Focus on the Family credit for their demonstration of public high school library’s intolerance for Christian literature – credit for doing something wrong: As a gay man, I don’t want tolerance. I want “equality and justice for all.” … Their stunt is a good one. But it’s…
Environmentalists, Progress, and Fantasies
I enjoyed Jim’s letter to the Bryan/College Station Eagle so much I had to re-print it here: Power to the people The environmentalists claim the electric car is the answer to "saving our world." Let’s see, they have stopped construction of new coal fired plants for electric generation. Nuclear powered generation has been tied up…
The Internet->Stupidity Connection
Nick Carr says that the Internet is making us a stupid society incapable of – or unwilling to – focusing on the internalization of large bodies of information. He blames the web and its many instantaneous answers to questions we have. “We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at…
News Crew Attacked at Islamic School
A news crew from KSTP, ABC channel 5 in Minneapolis, was assaulted today during a visit to Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy. Two men confronted the journalists who had gone to the school to obtain a comment from the school about a state Department of Education finding against the school. In an attempt to report about…
Schlafly Honored, Hundreds Turn Away
The University of Washington honored one of its own when Phyllis Schlafly was presented with an honorary doctorate degree at today’s commencement. Unfortunately, the ceremony was marred by students and faculty who turned their backs to her while the award was being presented. Some applauded while Schlafly was hooded. But about a third of the…
Truant’s Dad Out of Jail
In Ohio, parents are responsible for forcing their children to attend school, even to the point of doing actual jail time should a repeat truant continue to defy their authority. In a victory of sorts, Brian Gegner has been sprung from jail after serving 9 days because of his now 18-year-old daughter’s pitiful attendance record. …
Why American Education Stinks
Despite spending vast amounts on our primary education system, the United States is getting only moderate return on that investment. In primary education, on a per-pupil basis, the United States spent 66 percent more than Germany, 56 percent more than France, 27 percent more than Japan, 80 percent more than the United Kingdom, 62 percent…