As Republican states move towards more school choice, don’t forget to hire more teachers

By Robert Romano

Republican-led states including Florida and Utah are moving towards private schools to accommodate growing demand among conservatives, libertarians and Republicans for an alternative to public education systems that have long been dominated by the cultural left and Democrats.

It is little wonder.

A 2016 survey by Education Week found that only 27 percent of teachers were Republicans versus 41 percent Democrat and 30 percent independents. In higher education, the advantage is more like 10 to 1. And the situation is only worsening.

Lack of Republican representation in these professions is nothing new. And it is hardly confined to education. In civil service positions, the Democrats’ advantage is 2 to 1. Democrats have a 3 to 1 advantage in publishing and information technology and 4 to 1 in media production.

George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley noted in a recent oped to The Hill: “For elementary, middle and high schools, voucher programs may allow parents to speak with their feet. I hope we do not come to that — but the opposition to vouchers is telling. The alarm is based on the recognition that, given a choice, many families would not choose what public schools are offering. This includes many minority families who want to escape from a cycle of education that leaves many students barely literate and lost. They likely would prefer an alternative to a system like Baltimore’s, where a student failed all but three classes and still graduated in the top half of his class.”

Such dominance has reached a breaking point. At the school level, parents have had enough of “diverse and inclusive”, equity-based, critical race programs that have traded away traditional American values like freedom of speech but also equality, color-blindness and civil rights in the tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. who taught us to treat each other not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.

But after Covid public school lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 and repeated instances of parents being openly attacked at school board meetings and even having Justice Department investigations of parents arising as a result, now Republican states are springing into action with a renewed push for private education—with public funds, whether in the form of tax credits or vouchers.

But who’s going to teach at these new center-right schools?

College admissions are breaking almost 2 to 1 female, with further breakdowns on partisan affiliation as women tend to vote Democratic and men tend to vote Republican, on the margins. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, in 2020-2021 the breakdown was 59.5 percent female, and 40.5 percent male. And it’s not because of discrimination.

There is a pervasive “no college” message among conservatives that apparently has gotten through loud and clear in recent years, but what it means is that the next generation of jobs including in education but also health, law and the sciences, that require a degree will be more left-wing than ever.

Anecdotally, I was once on track to be an art teacher before the political bug bit in the early 2000s and I changed my major to political science. Just what the world needed, another conservative pundit! But at a younger age, was I impacted by conservative messaging that suggested public schools were dominated by the left? I cannot say with certainty. But I was definitely one less Republican teacher. I still regret it.

Republicans actually need young people to take their places in these institutions, and hopefully achieve more balanced perspectives in education. Men, who disproportionately vote Republican, generally would still need to go to college to get a degree in education to teach in order to get the job at these schools. But fewer men are going to college and may not value the need for education to build the schools conservatives say they want in the future.

Why is there no push in Republican states to become educators? We can do vouchers or tax credits all day long, but if we want balanced education, at least a few of us have to become teachers.

If schools are not good in red states, either, that’s on Republican governors and legislatures for not recruiting better talent and urging at least a few of their kids to get into the profession.

The truth is Republicans have been blasting the quality of K-12 public education for more than 40 years, and yet despite demand for more alternatives, private school enrollment is actually lower today than it was in 1995 even as public school enrollment has steadily risen to more than 50 million. Parents who homeschool are making a sacrifice but it might not be the most efficient solution.

85 percent of Americans, which include Republicans, still depend on public schools, and in charter school cities like New York City, they must resort to lotteries because of limited availability of seats.

So, whether red states opt for public or private school options, the fact is somebody still has to work there. As Republican states rightly pursue these alternatives, they must be aware that they will still have to train and recruit new teachers—and go outside the education degrees as necessary to fill in the gaps—whether they’ll be working in brand new center-right private schools, or we just take back what is ours.

https://dailytorch.com/2023/02/as-republican-states-move-towards-more-school-choice-dont-forget-to-hire-more-teachers

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Enraged residents slam 'fraud and corruption' as Baltimore schools hit shocking new low

Days after Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., declared education a top priority for his tenure, Baltimore reported that zero students in 23 different public schools are proficient in math. Also, 93% of third through eighth graders tested below grade level in the same subject.

Baltimore residents responded by blasting school officials and lawmakers for "fraud and corruption" which they claim is to blame for the low numbers.

"I lay the blame in two places," U.S. Army veteran and Baltimore resident Evie Harris said on "Fox & Friends First" Friday. "I would start with the board of schools commissioners or the Board of School Administrators. And I'm going to also add in some parents… We've been having these results for decades. I am not shocked because we've been having these results. I am angry, and I would lay the blame majorly at [CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools] Sonja Santelises and the Baltimore City School administrators who are absolutely dismissive and arrogant at the results we are seeing here in Baltimore."

First vice chair of the Baltimore County Republican Central Committee Kyna "K.J." McKenzie also weighed in on the report. "I'm shocked. I am frustrated and angry about it. As a parent, I'm a parent. I live in Baltimore City and we've been dealing with this for decades," she said. "And these results are very frustrating."

"Frustrating because we're not able to get to the root cause of what's happening, because everyone the leadership here blames it on racism. We've had Democratic leadership for decades. The people here in power look like me and everything's blamed on racism."

The report came from the Maryland State Department of Education's 2022 state test results known as MCAP, Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program. Data concerning math scores and proficiency came from across various elementary, middle and secondary schools.

On February 1, Gov. Moore touted his administration's investment in public education, noting it is the largest investment in the state's history.

"We can no longer separate our vision for economic prosperity from the duty to make Maryland's public schools the best in the nation," he said during a speech earlier this month.

McKenzie noted that despite the governor's comments, his policies are creating a "prison pipeline," hurting Maryland residents.

"The governor has just put forward a budget and he's cut spending for school choice options for Baltimore City's people, for Marylanders. And that's that hurts us," she explained. "We don't even have the option of taking the money that they pour into these students and money that we're given through this budget to go to other places for better education. And so what we have here is an education to prison pipeline."

"They have two choices here in Baltimore City for kids: You're either going to prison or you're going to take them away in a body bag. You know, this is a real crisis we have here."

Harris argued that school officials are refusing to seek out actual solutions in order to stay "in power."

"They don't want to because not solving the problem keeps them in power. And it also keeps their emotionalism, their guilt tripping and keeps parents ignorant to a degree and keeps parents fearful and not knowing what to do," Harris told host Todd Piro.

In addition to Baltimore education officials, Harris called out Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott for what she argues is failing to hold the city's school board officials accountable.

"There is none. There is not [accountability]," Harris said. "There's only, again, the attitude, the elitism and the constant failure of our children."

Harris argued one practical solution for Baltimore residents is to pull children from the public schools and consider homeschooling or enrolling kids in private schools.

She noted, however, that one "very successful" charter school is under attack from the school board which is trying to shut down the school over a paperwork technicality. She argues this proves officials are more focused on retaining "power and control" than bettering education for children.

"Enough is enough. Parents, we encourage parents to wake up, fight back and tell them, 'no, these are our children. They have meaning and they have a purpose. And you don't get to ruin their lives.'"

https://www.foxnews.com/media/enraged-residents-slam-fraud-corruption-baltimore-schools-hit-shocking-new-low

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Inside the University of Pennsylvania's Precedent-Setting Effort To Revoke Tenure From Its Most Controversial Professor

On September 16, 2019, students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School hosted a town hall with law school dean Theodore Ruger to discuss the "issues" surrounding Amy Wax.

A tenured professor at the law school, Wax had sparked outrage earlier that year when she argued, in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference, that the United States should favor immigrants from countries with similar values to its own. Since those nations "remain mostly white for now," Wax said, her approach implied that "our country will be better off with more whites and fewer non-whites"—even though, she stipulated, the policy "doesn't rely on race at all."

In audio of the town hall obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, Ruger told students that Wax's comments were "racist" and had caused "harm." He also suggested they could be grounds to fire her: It "sucks" that Wax "still works here," Ruger said, adding that the "only way to get rid of a tenured professor" is a "process" that is "gonna take months."

The town hall set the stage for a protracted battle over academic freedom. Since January 2022, Penn has been trying to sanction Wax—potentially by revoking her tenure and dismissing her—for statements the law school alleges violate its anti-discrimination policies. The case is testing the argument, aired by one of Wax's colleagues, that a professor's academic views can be so "offensive" that they "undercut" her ability to teach students and provide a "good case for termination."

Wax's views are undeniably controversial. She said in a 2017 interview that black law students "rarely" finish in the top half of their class. She has argued that black poverty is self-inflicted and, in the context of immigration policy, expressed a preference for "fewer Asians," citing their "indifference to liberty" and "overwhelming" support for Democrats. She even invited Jared Taylor, a self-described "white identity" advocate, to speak to her class on conservative thought, saying his views were "well within the subject matter of the course."

But tenure is intended to protect provocative speech. It came about in the 1920s after many professors were fired for endorsing then-controversial ideas like evolution, atheism, and free love. Robust job security meant academics could speak and teach freely about charged subjects, even if doing so was considered blasphemous.

That's why Wax's case has raised alarm about the future of academic freedom and the power of tenure to protect it. Unlike Princeton University's Joshua Katz, whom the school sacked ostensibly over his consensual relationship with a former student, Wax is under the microscope only for what she's said. Her dismissal would set a new precedent, signaling that tenured professors can be booted for airing views that students or administrators deem offensive.

"This is a game-changer, because it's a pure case of speech," Wax told the Free Beacon. "If they succeed in punishing me for that, it will eviscerate academic freedom as we know it."

Faculty across the political spectrum echo that warning. Wax's defenders include the conservative Princeton professor Robert George and the liberal Harvard Law professor Janet Halley, both of whom say Penn is playing with fire. "Statements on issues of law and public policy"—and the act of "inviting a controversial speaker" to class—are "unquestionably protected by academic freedom," Halley wrote in July on behalf of the Academic Freedom Alliance, a nonprofit that defends faculty speech rights.

George, who cofounded the alliance, said that punishing Wax for either would have a chilling effect. "The message to faculty and students alike will be clear," he said. "You had better not defy the campus orthodoxies, because if you do, the consequences could be severe."

The law school has maintained the case is about fairness rather than free speech. Ruger told Penn's faculty Senate in June that Wax's comments had led "reasonable students" to conclude that she would grade them "based on their race"—despite the law school's blind grading policy—and implied she had sabotaged the job prospects of minority students. She therefore deserved "major sanctions," a term defined by Penn's faculty handbook to include suspension and termination.

With that statement, Ruger triggered a disciplinary process that has been used just a handful of times in the university's history: The last time Penn axed a tenured faculty member, it was because he killed his wife.

This report—based on emails, memos, and recorded meetings—provides a window into Penn's efforts to oust its most controversial professor. It sheds light on tactics that, if successful, are likely to be employed against other tenured dissidents, including the concealment of evidence and the use of surreptitious probes. Penn, for example, ignored the results of an outside investigation that found "no evidence" Wax had treated students unfairly—then launched a second investigation, without disclosing it to Wax, and kept the results of both probes secret for months.

The opacity has alarmed the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, another free speech watchdog defending Wax, which told the Free Beacon that it would compound the case's chilling effect. "Anything less than total transparency," said Alex Morey, the group's director of campus advocacy, "sends the message that administrators will find a way to punish controversial academics at any cost."

Ruger, the dean of the law school, did not respond to a request for comment.

Penn's crusade against Wax is something of an about-face for the university, which as recently as 2015 awarded her its top teaching prize. But Wax, who holds Ivy League degrees in law, biophysics, and neuroscience, has always been an intellectual bomb-thrower: Her most explosive position may be that racial disparities have more to do with group differences in IQ than with racism, a belief she has defended in books, law review articles, and popular essays,

That view set the stage for an official complaint against Wax, filed in April 2021 by eight law school alumni, alleging that her "derogatory remarks" had harmed students. The complaint seized on her 2017 statement that black students rarely finish in the top half of their class, which, it said, had caused minority students to "reasonably assume" she had violated the school's anonymous grading policy.

Rather than adjudicate the complaint internally, Penn asked Daniel Rodriguez, a professor and former dean at Northwestern University law school, to serve as an outside investigator and determine whether there was any merit to the complaint. In August 2021, Rodriguez presented Penn general counsel Wendy White with a 45-page summary of his findings, based on interviews with 26 alumni.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by the Free Beacon, found that the most serious charges against Wax were baseless. There was "no evidence" she had "breach[ed] the anonymity of exams," "graded minority students differently," "denied them access to professional opportunities," or "singled them out for special ridicule," Rodriguez wrote.

Rodriguez did find that Wax made a number of off-the-cuff remarks—such as telling a black student she was admitted "because of affirmative action" and saying "Hispanic people don't seem to mind" loud neighborhoods—that were "harmful" or "derogatory." (Wax denies having made the comment about affirmative action.) But he also found that students had omitted the context of other remarks, making them sound worse than they really were. It seemed to be "the content and shape of her very controversial views"—rather than any sort of discriminatory conduct—that had troubled alumni, he said.

If Penn does sanction Wax, she has indicated that she will file a lawsuit. Though as a private school Penn is not bound by the First Amendment, its official policies do promise faculty academic freedom—and Wax could sue for breach of contract.

The stakes of that lawsuit would be high. If Wax won, the resulting precedent would make it harder for all universities, not just Penn, to fire tenured dissidents. If she lost, it would give schools legal cover to axe them.

"Universities are just spoiling to purge dissidents like me," Wax said, "the few of us left who are standing in the way of a complete woke takeover. That's why this case is so important."

https://freebeacon.com/campus/inside-the-university-of-pennsylvanias-precedent-setting-effort-to-revoke-tenure-from-its-most-controversial-professor/

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http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

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