I remember how it was -- JR
Arizona School Board Bans Christian Student-Teachers
An Arizona public school district says they will no longer hire student-teachers from a Christian university.
The Washington Elementary School District voted unanimously to end a partnership with Arizona Christian University because of the school’s religious beliefs.
The school district said the university’s values posed a threat to LGBT students.
“We cannot continue to align ourselves with organizations that starkly contrasts our values, and say that we legitimately care about diversity, equity and inclusion and that we legitimately care about all of our families," said school district president Nikkie Gomez-Whaley.
Three board members identify as members of the LGBT community — including Tamillia Valenzuela. She wears cat ears and identifies as a bilingual, disabled, neurodivergent queer black Latina.
The school district released a statement defending its decision:
“The Washington Elementary School District (WESD) Governing Board is committed to creating a welcoming environment for all our students, families, and staff. While we recognize the right of individuals to practice their faith, public schools are secular institutions. To that end, the board unanimously voted to discontinue its partnership with Arizona Christian University (ACU) whose policies do not align with our commitment to create a safe place for our LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community. This is not a rejection of any particular faith as we remain open to partnering with faith-based organizations that share our commitment to equity & inclusion.”
Ms. Valenzuela says she has a problem with the university’s call for their students to be committed to Jesus Christ and to transform culture.
Arizona Christian has provided student teachers for the past 11 years without any issues.
But Board Member Kyle Clayton - who is also gay - says they don’t want educators to teach through a biblical lens.
In other words, Washington Elementary School District is openly discriminating against Christians.
“The school board's recent decision to ban ACU students from serving as student teachers was done for one reason only: our University's commitment to our Christian convictions," said Arizona Christian president Len Munsil. "That's wrong, it’s unlawful, and it will only hurt the district’s students. Religious liberty and freedom of conscience are bedrock American principles. We are exploring our options to defend the rights of our students.”
Munsil said the university has partnered with the school district for years and more than 100 students have served in the classroom.
"Administrators have time and again asked us to send more ACU students because of the quality of our students' work and their love and servant's hearts for all. The school board's recent decision to ban ACU students from serving as student teachers was done for one reason only: our University's commitment to our Christian convictions," he said.
It's flat-out discrimination.
Just consider how the nation would have reacted had the school district banished LGBT staffers from its classrooms.
If there's room for teachers who fly the rainbow flag, there must be room for teachers who fly the Christian flag.
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College Industrial Complex's Left-Wing Lies
Families saving for college and encouraging their kids to aim for the top are getting scammed by the left-wing college industrial complex. Colleges distort and outright lie about who gets accepted, education quality and what it costs. If they were selling auto loans and used the same deceptive tactics, they'd be in jail.
Columbia University announced last Wednesday that it is permanently eliminating SAT and ACT test scores as part of the undergraduate admissions process -- the first Ivy League school to go permanently test-optional. Columbia issued a slippery statement about making admissions "nuanced" and "respecting varied backgrounds, voices and experiences." Truth is, Columbia is ditching merit for diversity. Without admitting it, Columbia has replaced an academic mission -- providing a rigorous education to a group of prepared students -- with a new one: social engineering.
Expect other colleges to follow. Elon Musk commented Saturday that "very few Americans seem to realize the severity of the situation."
President Joe Biden made equity the mission of all federal agencies. On March 1, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona blasted the higher education industry's "unhealthy obsession with selectivity" and urged a focus on "upward mobility."
That's politics. But parents making the biggest investment of their lives, except buying a home, ought to know what they're paying for: a rigorous classroom experience for their youngster, or a bit part in a social experiment.
Colleges don't want the public to discern what's going on. That's why they're railing against U.S. News & World Report rankings, published annually. The rankings factor in, among other things, test scores, graduation rates (after six years), how much debt students have when they leave, class size and faculty credentials -- precisely the facts families need.
Nearly all colleges made SAT and ACT tests optional during the pandemic. And most institutions are sticking with that temporary policy for the current year. Not the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which already reinstated testing. Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill explains that it's "not all about who comes in the door but also who goes out." A quarter of students admitted to MIT in the fall of 2020 scored a perfect 800 on the math SAT, and none scored below 700. Schmill recalled that a decade earlier, when MIT admitted students with a wider range of scores, fewer made it to graduation.
The American Civil Liberties Union slams ACT and SAT tests as "unjustifiable barriers for historically underrepresented students of color." The issue is more complicated. The tests have been screened to prevent bias. But high schools in areas serving Black and Hispanic students tend to be lower quality and offer fewer advanced placement courses, leaving students unprepared.
Sadly, most colleges are more interested in being politically correct than ensuring their student body can do the work.
They're also apprehensive about a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, due in June, that is expected to curtail or outlaw considering race in admissions. In lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, test scores were used as evidence showing how these universities rejected high-scoring Asian and white applicants to promote diversity. After the June ruling, many institutions will likely eliminate testing to get rid of any evidence of racial favoritism. Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law predicts that institutions will find ways to prefer minorities "that can't be documented as violating the Constitution."
A majority of Americans consider it wrong to favor any racial group in admissions. But right versus wrong be damned. The left-wing higher education establishment will likely find ways to do it, and worse, cover it up.
Race isn't the only thing colleges lie about.
The U.S. Education Department's College Scoreboard lists colleges' graduation rates. But check the fine print. Graduation is defined as earning a diploma within eight years. Who has time or money for that?
A staggering 91% of colleges misrepresent their costs, according to a Government Accountability Office investigation.
Columbia confessed it falsified class sizes and faculty credentials to U.S. News & World Report.
Despite nonstop virtue signaling, the higher education establishment is anything but virtuous. Americans need to stand up to these liars.
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A U.S. High School Reportedly Collaborated With Chinese State Military-Affiliated Institution
One of the United State’s top public schools reportedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from groups affiliated with China’s military, The Washington Examiner reported.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), which is part of Fairfax County Public Schools, reportedly partnered with Tsinghua University High School (TUHS) in 2014 “to assist it and China generally with adopting the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and advanced lab research TJHSST is famous for,” the report noted. TUHS is affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing, considered by the U.S. government to be a Chinese military institution.
As a result, the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund (TJPF) received thousands of dollars of donations from Chinese interests, parental rights group Parents Defending Education revealed and shared with the outlet (via The Washington Examiner):
The Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund (TJPF) received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Tsinghua University as part of this agreement. TJPF also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation as well as the Chinese company Shirble, which were both led by men tied to China’s United Front Work Department, the Chinese government’s foreign influence campaign.
[...]
The Pentagon assessed in 2020 there were “Military-Civil Fusion linkages” with Tsinghua University, noting the school's "People's Liberation Army-affiliated labs." A report prepared for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) in 2022 noted the PLA Air Force “established the ‘Dual-Enrollment Program’ with Tsinghua University.”
[...]
TUHS says it is “attached” to Tsinghua University and is “directly under the Ministry of Education.” TUHS’s principal noted the school is “under the guidance” of the CCP, and leaders of the TUHS include CCP officials. TUHS International’s advisory board also includes Mao Daqing, part of the “United Front Work Department of CCP Central Committee.”
Jerry Dunleavy, who wrote the piece, said that the agreement was signed between the principles of Thomas Jefferson and TUHS at China’s embassy in the U.S.
According to PDE, a newsletter from TJPF in 2014 said that the relationship between TJHSST and TUHS will “help to fulfill a long-term goal of the school, that of sharing TJ’s uniquely successful approach to teaching science and technology with other schools in order to expand educational opportunities for students, no matter where they reside.”
The Examiner added that Ambright Education Group, which is connected to the Chinese government, helped establish “Thomas Schools of China” modeled off of TJHSST (via The Washington Examiner):
Ambright said the “Thomas Schools of China” came about through “collaboration" with TJHSST, and its 2019 recruitment flyer said it was “establishing Thomas Schools of China” in Shanghai, Hefei, Jinan, and Nanjing by incorporating “advanced school operations” from TJHSST.
The Thomas Schools emphasize they are “modeled after the curriculum” of TJHSST and aim to "support the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Its steering committee includes former Chinese government officials.
“We already knew the Chinese Communist Party infiltrated America’s colleges and universities through ‘Confucius Institute’ programs,” PDE President Nicki Neily told the Examiner. “However, it is frightening to discover the same problem occurring in K-12 schools.”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2023/03/07/high-school-china-ties-n2620299
***********************************My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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