WND: Kagan’s Notes Blasted Homeschoolers

Worldnetdaily reports on Elena Kagan’s hostility to home educators as written in her own notes:

Elena Kagan, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court likely will be before the full U.S. Senate for a vote soon, has suggested state regulations are “little” burden for homeschoolers, according to notes she made on a case while she was clerking for Justice Thurgood Marshall.

According to documentation uncovered by the Home School Legal Defense Association, Kagan advised Powell during the 1980s when a court case developed in Ohio in which a Christian family decided to homeschool their child.

The parents were convicted of not getting the superintendent’s permission, and the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose justices refused to intervene.

As part of that work, Kagan reviewed the arguments for Marshall and suggested an outcome.

“[Petitioners] are self-described born-again Christians who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible and have little sympathy with the secular world,” she wrote. Read the full story here at Worldnetdaily.com.

ALL: Montana Kindergarten Sex Ed Will Hurt Children

Washington, DC (13 July 2010) – Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League, issued the following statement concerning the proposal to teach comprehensive sex education in grades K through 12 in the Helena, Montana, public schools:

“Parents in Helena are right to be upset about these proposed sex courses in their schools. Sex education is a value-laden subject, and information must be conveyed to each child at a level consistent with his or her mental maturity. Supporters of such classroom programs typically talk about presenting material that is ‘age-appropriate.’ But that criterion does not apply in this context.

“Because children mature at widely differing rates, one child may be ready for a great deal of information at 11 years of age or earlier, while another child, even in the same family, might not be ready for the same information until he or she is 14-years-old.

“School classrooms group children by the same chronological age, but they will each be at varying stages of mental maturity. In fact, the lower the grade level, the greater the disparity is among the children. It is impossible to design a classroom sex education course that is appropriate for all of the children in the class.

“As Dr. Melvin Anchell has pointed out for decades, the consequences of teaching sex education in elementary school are harmful and far-ranging. By introducing the subject of sex during this period of a child’s maturity process, we interfere with his natural learning abilities and his development of social qualities such as compassion.

The children who are unfortunate enough to be thrust into this kind of curriculum will suffer in countless ways, both academically and socially.

“American Life League encourages parents in Helena to continue to oppose these programs and demand that their public schools stop these social engineering schemes and instead use teachers’ limited and valuable time to return to teaching basic academic subjects.”

James W. Sedlak, M.S., is a former high school physics teacher and author of the book Parent Power!! How Parents Can Gain Control of the School Systems that Educate Their Children. In 1993, he was identified by Planned Parenthood Federation of America as one of the 15 “most active” fighters against its sex education programs. He currently serves as vice president of American Life League and has been a consultant to parents’ groups nationwide in their fights against classroom sex education programs.

More information from Fox News.

California Poised to Punish Free Speech at Schools

It seems that California’s teetering on the brink of bankruptcy has been no deterrent to passing a bill that is guaranteed to end up in the courts. There must be extra money lying around specially earmarked for legal fees. While ACR 82 finishes up the final hurdles before being passed into law, civil liberties attorneys like Randy Thomasson are warning that this bill will effectively outlaw free speech in California schools.

In a Save California letter to lawmakers, Thomasson cited a number of statements that could be punished if the resolution passes, including:

Being bisexual is not genetic

It’s wrong not to abstain from sex until marriage

Going outside the Bible’s standards on sexuality is sin

Marriage is only between a man and a woman

Homosexuality is the primary transmission mode for HIV/AIDS
“This is a severe attack upon free speech, specifically the moral beliefs of children, teachers and even parents who step foot on campus,” he said.

He said the proposal is expected to be given final approval as early as Monday. Although it remains a “resolution” at this point, it has the weight of the legislature behind it.

Thomasson said it will be the newest tool for homosexual-rights activists to pressure schools to claim “discrimination-free” status and “corral the children more into their agenda and brainwashing.”

In a state choked with Christian megachurches, this bill still sailed through the legislature. In that most evangelical Christians continue to send their children to public schools, some parents are in for a rude surprise.

Rabid Crowd Shuts Down Coulter Speech in Canada

Several thousand hate-filled bigots at the University of Ottawa shut down a speech by Ann Coulter on campus. The irony of chanting and screaming obscenities at someone because of her conservative political views (which they deem “hate”) is lost on this generation of PC-brainwashed idiots. The geniuses at the University had already warned Coulter that she shouldn’t run afoul of Canada’s “hate crimes” laws in her speech. It looks like the tenured buffoons at this institution need to worry about their own bunch on campus before concerning themselves with Coulter. Hate cuts both ways. Here’s more on the story from a Canadian paper.

Liberals Find Out What Balance Feels Like

Amity Shales’ column at Bloomberg.com addresses the uproar over textbooks in Texas. At long last, a few conservative ideas are trickling into the textbooks. Long the bastion of leftist social tinkering, the realm of textbooks is long overdue for change, and true to form, Texas is leading the way to some good changes. Amity writes:

March 17 (Bloomberg) — Lack of balance is the charge being levied against the Texas State Board of Education after it inserted changes to new standards in social studies programs in public schools. The Associated Press said in an article that a “far-right faction” of the board had succeeded “in injecting conservative ideals” into the curriculum.

The Texas flap matters because Texas is so big. Publishers will revise textbooks to win the prize Texas contract. But the debate also reminds us that our current definition of balance is distorted. After all, what’s wrong with “injecting conservative ideals” into a curriculum, as long as they aren’t the only ideals?

At its most devilishly aggressive — and whatever lines it inserts about church, state, hip-hop or the Alamo — the board will not restore true balance. It will merely manage to make the curriculum a little less skewed to the left. Read the column here.

Parental Rights Amendment Reaches Another Milestone

March 11, 2010 // Washington, DC –
A Constitutional Amendment introduced by U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Michigan, to
protect the parent-child relationship has reached 130 co-sponsors in the House.

“Members of Congress and their constituents are increasingly seeing the potential for
interference into the parent-child relationship from judges, government and international
organizations,” Hoekstra said. “Nothing – aside from cases of abuse and neglect – should
insert itself between parents and their children.”

The Parents’ Rights Amendment (H.J.Res.42) would state explicitly in the U.S.
Constitution that parents have a fundamental right to raise their children as they see fit
while protecting against abuse and neglect. Threats to the parent-child relationship
include potential Senate ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“At a time when many are wondering if Congress is even listening, it is encouraging to
see 130 congressional representatives standing up for a principle that limits government
intrusion into our lives,” says constitutional lawyer Michael Farris, president of
ParentalRights.org. “Like the vast majority of Americans, these 130 representatives
recognize the vital role parents play in protecting and providing for children. Parental
rights must be preserved against encroachments of international law and changes in
Supreme Court ideology, both of which are very real concerns today.”

More information on the Parents’ Rights Amendment and the list of co-sponsors can be
viewed at www.parentalrights.org.

The Student Loan Problem by Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

You may have seen the recent story about the 41-year-old doctor who graduated from medical school in 2003 with student-loan indebtedness of $250,000 that has since swelled to more than $555,000. She is now scheduled to pay $990 per month until she is 70 years old. Ouch!
This is an extreme example of a widespread problem. Only 40 percent of the $730 billion of outstanding student loans are actively being repaid. This isn’t healthy for financial institutions and it isn’t healthy for many young Americans. Just as was the case with the ongoing mortgage fiasco, there is plenty of blame to go around for this sorry state of affairs.

It’s easy to say that those who borrow to pursue their post-secondary education bear the primary responsibility. The first rule of survival in a market economy is caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”). Nobody forced anyone to go into debt.

Still, it is significant that almost all student loans are taken out by Americans too young to know what it takes to pay their bills and make a living on their own. Undoubtedly, some unscrupulous students will borrow money with every intention of avoiding repayment; however, I believe that most borrowers sincerely intend to fully repay their debt. The problem is—due to their lack of maturity and, yes, intellectual development—they literally have no idea how hard it can be to repay $50,000 or $100,000 of debt.

My wife and I recently entertained two of her former college students—intelligent, talented young ladies laden with considerable debt. The one owes over $100,000 and has a bachelor’s degree in theatre. She has an entry-level position with a business, and no realistic prospect of repaying her debt before she turns 40. Much wiser now at age 23, she realizes the gravity of her predicament. She most emphatically wouldn’t have sustained such debt if she had known then what she knows now, but now she’s stuck.

Like many young adults in her position, the price for her indebtedness is more than monetary. There are very few young men out there who are willing to marry somebody with a six-figure debt chained to her ankle. (Apologies to all the romantics out there, but that’s the way it is.) Here you have someone whose strongest desire is to be a wife and a mother, but her student-loan debt makes her a leper to most men in the marriage market. Sad.

I have heard people suggest that colleges and universities provide debt counseling to students so they don’t get in too deep. My employer, Grove City College, requires students to attend debt management seminars as a requirement for participating in its privately-funded loan program. That is a wonderful program, but the reality is that colleges are businesses and, like all businesses, are hungry for revenue. Expecting them to counsel students to drop out or transfer to an inexpensive junior college is like expecting a fox to warn chickens not to go into foxholes because they might be eaten. It just isn’t the nature of the beast.

That leaves the lenders. As was the case with defaulted mortgages, lenders protest that they explained the dollars and cents of the student loans thoroughly. And again, it is safe to assume that some of them really did, just as some of them really did not alert starry-eyed, naïve youngsters to the pitfalls inherent in taking on large debts. Let’s face it, if loan officers profit from issuing loans, they have every incentive to write as many as they can.

Normally, I would say there is nothing objectionable about that, but in this case, I believe that public policy once again is guilty of having altered normal market incentives. I refer to laws that make it almost impossible for student loans to be erased through bankruptcy.

Now don’t get me wrong—I believe strongly that debts should be repaid. A society that makes it too easy for individuals to walk away from their financial obligations does not sufficiently uphold the foundation of economic progress—property rights—and consequently jeopardizes economic progress. But in the student-loan market, government has created moral hazard: Knowing that government will take extraordinary measures (even garnishing unemployment checks) to see that student loans are repaid, issuers of student loans feel bulletproof, and proceed to crank out as many loans as they can. If they knew that they might lose their loans through normal bankruptcy proceedings, they would do what prudent lenders always should do: Assess risk very carefully and issue fewer loans to starry-eyed kids who want to pay $30,000 per year for a degree with minimal market value.

I don’t pretend to know how to get out of the current mess. It would have been much preferable had we never gotten into it. I do believe, though, that it isn’t right for financially incompetent young Americans to be penalized for decades because no adult who knew better stopped them from making a foolish financial mistake. Let’s have some mercy here.

— Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member, economist, and contributing scholar with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.

Destroying America from Inside the Classroom by Tom DeWeese

I have reported many times in the pages of the DeWeese Report about how public school classrooms are being used, not for the teaching of academic knowledge, but for behavior modification to change the student’s attitudes, values and beliefs. Barack Obama is now driving to control classroom curriculum based on United Nation’s Globalism. Many parents want to deny this is happening. “Not in my child’s school,” they tell me. If you still don’t believe it’s happening in EVERY school that takes public money, then read below, open your eyes, and know the truth about what happens to your child in the schools you send them to every day.

Public Schools Face Financial Meltdown

Things are not good for government education as states are facing catastrophic budget shortfalls. Some districts have dumped music and art, added to class sizes and cut special education, guidance counseling and summer school, and things are reportedly about to get worse.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The nation’s public schools are falling under severe financial stress as states slash education spending and drain federal stimulus money that staved off deep classroom cuts and widespread job losses.
School districts have already suffered big budget cuts since the recession began two years ago, but experts say the cash crunch will get a lot worse as states run out of stimulus dollars.

The result in many hard-hit districts: more teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, smaller paychecks, fewer electives and extracurricular activities, and decimated summer school programs.
The situation is particularly ugly in California, where school districts are preparing for mass layoffs and swelling class sizes as the state grapples with another massive budget shortfall.

The crisis concerns parents like Michelle Parker in San Francisco, where the school district is preparing to lay off hundreds of school employees and raise class sizes because it faces a $113 million budget deficit over next two years.
“I’m worried they’re not going to have the quality education that’s going to make them competitive in a global society,” said Parker, who has three kids in district elementary schools. Read the full story here from AP.

Huge Victory for N.H. Homeschoolers

PURCELLVILLE, Va., Jan. 13 /Christian Newswire/ — Today, the New Hampshire House of Representatives resoundingly rejected a draconian homeschool proposal by voting 324-34 to maintain the current law. “Winning by such a significant margin is welcome relief for New Hampshire homeschool families,” said Mike Donnelly, staff attorney for HSLDA.

Rank and file Democrats joined Republicans to support homeschoolers when Democratic leaders did not oppose Education Chair Emma Rouse (D) and Representative Judith Day (D) from using House procedures to bring a vote to the floor of the whole house.

A bi-partisan legislative study committee had already rejected the proposed new homeschool regulations by a vote of 14-6. The rejected proposal would have required that every homeschooled student be tested every year and a portfolio review be conducted for every student. Test scores would have been sent annually to the New Hampshire Department of Education who would also have been granted sweeping rule making authority.

“It was a real surprise when Democratic leaders collaborated to bring these major changes to the floor for a vote, especially since the very same proposal had already been soundly rejected by their own committee,” said Donnelly.

The victory was made possible by thousands of homeschool families from all over New Hampshire working diligently alongside HSLDA and Christian Home Educators of New Hampshire to educate their representatives about the threat to homeschool freedom.

Homeschool families participated in rallies, called their legislators, wrote letters, as well as walked the corridors of the state house to show their opposition.

“Thankfully, New Hampshire homeschoolers responded to the threat. It was an incredible effort by an amazing group of people,” said Donnelly.

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a 27-year-old, 85,000 member non-profit organization and the preeminent association advocating the legal right of parents to homeschool their children.

Christian Newswire