Kids have enough to deal with today without their schools being political battlegrounds. So when politicians condemn #PublicSchools, ban books and politicize history, who’s protecting the kids? Fight for what kids really need in schools: stability, honesty, intellectual curiosity–and inclusion

#TruthBrigade #democrats #BidenHarris2024

Friendly #Atheist Podcast
Ep. 495 - #Bremerton's #Praying Football Coach Quit

#Religion and #Politics
— A #California #megachurch took over #ChinoValley #publicschools, creating chaos once again.
— A #dinosaur denier interviewed a dinosaur liar. Now my head hurts.
— A #Christian group is blocking access to a #JerseyShore beach on #Sunday mornings.
— Christian liar #DavidBarton says #Democrats aren't "#God-fearing," so they cheat in #elections.
+ more
#ATHEISM

I am happy to report that we are now 2/3 of the way to our postcard stamp drive goal! Thanks to all who shared and supported us. 💙💙💙

#NewJersey #BOE #publicschools

From: @PamelaBarroway
https://mstdn.social/@PamelaBarroway/111014920968911965

Do these photos show #kids practicing #satanism in #publicschools? No, they’re #AIgenerated

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/sep/01/facebook-posts/do-these-photos-show-kids-practicing-satanism-in-p/
A digital creator made these photos using #artificialintelligence.

#christiannationalismisfascism #publicschools #education #secular Christians are organized & intent on hijacking the USA.
‘You will be removed in Jesus’s name!': Christian nationalist megachurch behind takeover of California school board - Raw Story https://www.rawstory.com/amp/jack-hibbs-2664884090

The California Megachurch Pushing Public Schools to the Far Right

https://www.thedailybeast.com/california-megachurch-pastor-jack-hibbs-and-his-acolytes-are-pushing-public-schools-to-the-far-right

#CaliforniaMegachurch #FarRight #PublicSchools #JackHibbs #Acolytes #Pushing #Politics #News

Some updates from #BaltimoreCounty :baltco: Councilmanic District 5 including:
- Message from Councilman Marks: 95 Percent of C.P. Crane Plant Demolished
- Fifth District #PublicSchools Welcome New Principals
- Councilman Marks Works to Preserve the Perry Hall Annex
- Sewer Project to Impact #PerryHall Neighborhoods
- Task Force Nears Completion of Recommendations for #WhiteMarsh Town Center
- County Begins Work on #BirdRiver #Watershed Action Plan

Virginia Handmaid's Tale: Christian Nationalists Defund Public Schools
https://thedemlabs.org/2023/09/02/virginia-handmaids-tale-christian-nationalists-defund-public-schools-ban-abortions-attack-lgbtq/
#Virginia #GlennYoungkin #ChristianNationalism #Fascism #publicschools

ACLU: Know your rights before going back to school: LGBTQ+ students should be protected, and their rights respected.
https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/know-your-rights-going-back-school
#ACLU #Maryland #PublicSchools #LGBTQ

From The Local News Network:

While the Local News Network’s “Contracted Out” project focuses on school expenses between fiscal years 2019 and 2022, one 2018 expenditure stood out In Baltimore County — where a $1.57 million payment went to an “unknown vendor.”

In other words, district officials don’t know exactly where $1.57 million went. Charles Herndon, a spokesman for the district, blamed it on a massive #ransomware attack that hit the school system’s computers in November 2020.

https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/some-school-expenses-big-and-small-remain-a-mystery/

#BaltimoreCounty #PublicSchools

I'm glad I'm a software developer and not a #journalist, this is hard work.

On Tuesday a bus driver and a parent at my kids' #BaltimoreCounty elementary school got in an altercation where the bus driver needed medical attention.

On Tuesday night the principal sent out a letter *only to the parents of the children on the bus* and vaguely alluded to "an incident" during the start Back to School night. My kids walk so I did not receive a copy of the letter directly.

Other parents started reaching out to me for info on text message since I've usually got my finger on the pulse of these things. I managed to get a screen shot of the letter from another parent who received it secondhand themselves.

I wrote to the principal and told her that rumors were going around that she ought to release a statement to all the parents in the school. She wrote back:

"Thank you for your email. We have provided letters to the families of those students who were on that particular school bus. BCPS is investigating the matter and will follow up as appropriate. We appreciate your concern and feedback on the matter. We will continue to work with transportation to ensure our students are safe coming and going."

Since BCPS was investigating, I reached out to their Office of Communications to see if they would tell me or the other parents anything about it before I shared the letter I had. I wrote to them with a one sentence email: "Will the district be releasing a general statement regarding the physical altercation between a bus driver and a parent at a bus...stop on the afternoon of August 29?"

Right before close of business one of the department's communication specialists replied to me saying "Thank you for your inquiry; a letter from [the principal] was sent to the parents of children on [the bus] advising them of this incident."

On further pressing this morning I finally got an email back from him simply saying "I am not aware of any plans to release a general statement about this incident. Thank you."

Bottom line, if there's a parent and bus driver fighting at or related to my kids' elementary school I believe the district has an obligation to communicate with me directly and not make me seek out this information and stonewall me when I do.

Actual coverage (sourced through my Facebook posts to the PTA) are up and circulating anyway, and now the rumors are flying about exactly what happened.

In an article this week, Baltimore County Public School Superintendent Myriam Yarbrough was quoted as saying, "Any time parents are surprised by something, you'll always hear me say that there's room for us to improve communication."

I couldn't agree more.

#Maryland #PublicSchools

https://perryhall.patch.com/g/perry-hall-md/n/212478/harford-hills-elementary-school-bus-driver-requires-medical-care-following

https://www.nottinghammd.com/2023/08/30/bcps-school-bus-driver-injured-following-altercation-with-parent-in-carney/

#Ohio #Republican lawmakers propose allowing #chaplains in #publicschools
https://flip.it/nuq4Q-

On August 29 a parent and a bus driver for my kids' elementary school were involved in a "physical altercation" at a bus stop that required the bus driver to receive medical care. The school's principal only released information on this incident to the parents of students on the bus and so far the county administration has not released an official statement. #BaltimoreCounty :baltco: #PublicSchools

A long read about a scheme to take the idea of "parental rights" to the Supreme Court in order to "take down the education system as we know it today".

"The Christian home-schooler who made ‘parental rights’ a GOP rallying cry
On a private call with Christian millionaires, home-schooling pioneer Michael Farris pushed for a strategy aimed at siphoning billions of tax dollars from public schools"

#ParentalRights #PublicSchools #Education #Christian #USpol

GIFT LINK:
https://wapo.st/3svRzn7

How #afterschoolclubs became a new battleground in the #SatanicTemple’s push to preserve #separationofchurchandstate

https://flip.it/AaYo8r
#SOCAS #publicschools

If you don’t like the curriculum in a public school, send your kids to a religious school.
https://medium.com/prismnpen/our-public-schools-are-not-your-church-433965b10be

#LGBTQ #Education #PublicSchools #Religion #BookBanning #CultureWar

(14 Aug) - Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire’s tax last year. Now every public school student is going to get free lunch. https://www.businessinsider.com/massachusetts-millionaire-tax-gets-kids-free-school-lunches-2023-8 #MassachusettsMillionairesTax #FreeSchoolLunches #PublicSchools #Education #IncomeInequality #SocialJustice #Politics #News https://mastodon.sdf.org/@uspolitics/110885282857428394

#Louisiana enacts law that requires ‘In #God We Trust’ motto to be displayed in every public #classroom
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/08/louisiana_enacts_law_that_requires_in_god_we_trust_motto_to_be_displayed_in_every_public_classroom.html
#theocracy #publicschools #mythology

Could this even be true? Are right-wing, conservative Christian parents really calling for an end to health care in public schools? What part of right-wing ideology, what part of the Christian ethos, calls for withholding care from children in need?
https://medium.com/prismnpen/no-health-care-in-school-anti-lgbtq-moms-sacrifice-children-to-ideology-57c35dc26ce8?sk=5b071c22c5c730e6d4238e8ffd30d5f5

#LGBTQ #USPolitics #MomsForLiberty #HealthCare #PublicSchools #Parenting

(Under Siew’s active advocacy, the Ontario Ministry of Education has decided to include examples and sample questions related to Chinese Exclusion Act and Chinese Head Tax into mandatory learning in elementary and secondary curriculum.)

https://www.yorkregion.com/news/reflection-from-100-years-later-learning-about-contributions-of-chinese-canadians-becoming-mandatory-part-of/article_d63f5134-763c-5763-9af8-3d5334d25e3c.html

#AsianMastodon #AsianCanadian #AntiAsianRacismEducation #Ontario #PublicEducation #PublicSchools #ChineseCanadian #ChineseExclusionAct #decolonization #ChineseInCanada #ChineseHeadTax #CanadianHistory #RacismInCanada #MandatoryEducation