News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
The House of Representatives just passed the Crucial Communism Teaching Act (H.R. 5349), which mandates public school instruction about the totalitarian dangers of communism. Given the history of McCarthyism, the passage of such boldly worded legislation condemning communist ideology would seem anachronistic if not for the growing popularity of Marxism among American youth. Yet the … Read more
The Valley News is a reliable member of the progressive handmaiden media. They toe the right lines and nurture the approved narratives. They also give voice to the troglodytes that, in most outlets of this shade, are a way to express the publisher’s political preference at someone else’s expense. One letter writer I stumbled across … Read more
In over 20 years of my research on public education, it’s easy to see how federal dollars are flushed down the toilet. There is plenty of money being spent by the federal government that does nothing to improve education, but also assists in its demise. DOGE is the new federal Department Of Government Efficiency that … Read more
No one should be surprised that U.S. Students continue to fall behind their international peers in Math and Science. The latest scores are in from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and it’s not good. According to: US students’ declining math scores are ‘sobering,’ expert says:“A new international study showing a significant … Read more
The following video features Sal Khan, creator of Kahn Academy, talking about his vision for the future of education. It’s six minutes long and worth watching. As mentioned in the video, Khan started an organization called SchoolHouse.world that has free online tutoring and supports group learning. His vision is to support the kind of interactive online teaching that … Read more
President-elect Trump has nominated former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. President-elect Trump promised that, if confirmed, Mrs. McMahon would “spearhead” the effort to “send education back to the states.” This has led some people to wonder if Linda McMahon may be the last Secretary of Education. The Constitution does not … Read more
As I have noted in past observations of the Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont, this collection of special interest group lobbyists has no real desire to solve the property tax/education finance crisis facing Vermonters today. Their objective, quite to the contrary, is to keep the money flowing unhindered and unquestioned into … Read more
Most readers already know what I think of our lame duck Senate quietly rubber-stamping the RTK tax (HB 1002) and advancing it to the Corner Office without any in-chamber discussion or roll call, but I’m here to discuss more of the upper chamber’s subversive antics. First, let’s look at today’s article on Ruth Ward by … Read more
Before we get into the meat of today’s topic, here’s a quick review of how property tax reform has gone down in Vermont since Act 60 became law in 1997: Property taxes go through the roof…. A critical mass of voters howl…. The Democrat-controlled legislature promises in public they’ll do something about it, but in … Read more
SEL is now infused throughout public education. SEL is found in math programs like Eureka2, which is used in many schools throughout New Hampshire. This means that less time will be spent learning math, and more time will be spent reshaping your child’s values, attitudes, and beliefs. The SEL model will now also be infused … Read more
The degradation of liberal education in America is anything but a niche public-policy concern. Like all rights-protecting democracies – and especially as a 21st-century great power with globe-spanning interests – the United States requires a host of highly-trained individuals to keep its government functioning, military operating, economy churning, and civil society thriving. Essential men and … Read more
The Commission on the Future of Public Education in VT’s subcommittee on Finance Reform met on September 4th (going back a bit, but the Commission has not been too punctual about posting its meeting recordings). It was their first meeting so, in fairness, expectations for any real substance were low. Still, some initial observations are worth … Read more
Well folks, primary season is over, and our candidates for NH General Court, Executive Council, and Governor are in. I voted in the primary, as I do in every election in Rochester. Many of my candidates did not win their primaries. I am still voting in the election, as boycotting any vote is against my … Read more
One of the few areas where liberty made gains in the COVID lockdown era was the increase in homeschooling. Many parents started homeschooling out of frustration with the failure of “virtual learning” to provide children with a quality education. Other parents withdrew their children from government schools when virtual learning allowed them to discover how … Read more
There’s more that can be done to make New Hampshire a freer state for education entrepreneurs looking to start small, decentralized, and unconventional educational environments, but so far the state is doing better than most. That’s according to the Education Entrepreneur Freedom Index released by the yes. every kid. foundation. Of 10 possible points that a … Read more
A few sentences into his recent piece in InDepthNH (and other places), Andru Volinsky demonstrates that he has no idea how the statewide education tax actually works, let alone how it should work. First, no one gets excused from paying anything. Every district collects the full SWEPT tax, spends it on adequacy, and applies … Read more
Education Options held our first two EdOpt Expos at the Richards Free Library in Newport in August. While there are many things for us to learn, we’re off to a good start. The best part was that all the attendees could point to something that they learned there. I know I was part of a … Read more
The Supreme Court Case between Jane Doe Vs Manchester School District was decided last week. In this case, a parent (Jane Doe) sued the Manchester Schools by challenging the district’s transgender policy. Within the policy, school officials were unable to share information with the parent after the parent questioned them about her child’s name change … Read more
In the landscape of political philosophy, the concept of the social contract plays a pivotal role in understanding the relationship between individuals and the state. Central to this theory are the ideas of positive and negative rights, each representing fundamentally different obligations of the individual, government, and society. While positive rights require the state to provide specific benefits … Read more
As mentioned in [Part 1], the most straightforward (and least Marxist) way to fund schools would be to use a uniform (per capita) tax. You take the budget, divide it by the number of taxpayers, and that’s the tax each one pays. But even that ends up implementing a sort of reverse Marxism, taking money … Read more