Christian School Kids Meet Jesus Thanks to NRA

3 children and 3 adults are dead in a shooting at The Covenant School, a private religious school in Nashville, Tennessee. The now-deceased female gun enthusiast responsible carried two AR-15 assault-style rifles and a pistol, and was possibly an alumna. Tuition at the Presbyterian-affiliated school ranges from $10,250 to $16,500, plus fees. Almost all students are White.

15 million Americans, about 1 in 20, own an AR-15 assault-style weapon, and some own several. According to the national Gun Violence Archive, there have been 128 mass shootings in the U.S. this year so far.

More:

“Three children and three adults killed by female shooter at Nashville elementary school,” Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion

Related:

“We spent 7 months examining the AR-15’s role in America. Here’s what we learned.” Washington Post

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School Book Bans Are Rising

“From July 2021 to June 2022, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans lists 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, affecting 1,648 unique book titles.

The 1,648 titles are by 1,261 different authors, 290 illustrators, and 18 translators, impacting the literary, scholarly, and creative work of 1,553 people altogether.”

— “Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools,” Jonathan Friedman and Nadine Farid Johnson, PEN America

“While book bans have long been a part of America’s education fabric, the Pen report suggests they are now driven less by the complaints of individual parents and more by organized, ideological groups and overt pressure from politicians.

About 40% of the book bans in the past year have been connected to political pressure or legislation designed to restrict and reshape teaching, the report estimates.”

— “‘Rapid acceleration’ in US school book censorship leads to 2,500 bans in a year.” Oliver Milman, The Guardian

More:

“Who’s Behind the Escalating Push to Ban Books? A New Report Has Answers,” Eesha Pendharkar, Education Week

“Over 1,600 Books Were Banned During the Past School Year,” Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine

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Florida (of course): Give Teachers Guns

Florida’s “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission,” largely composed of Sunshine State political hacks, submitted a report urging the arming of public school teachers. What could possibly go wrong?

More:

“Parkland safety commission’s solution to prevent school shootings? More guns in schools.” Tess Owen, VICE News

“Parkland commission recommends teachers be allowed to carry guns,”Jamiles Lartey, The Guardian

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School Days

More:

“The Curse of America’s Illogical School-Day Schedule,” Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic

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Teaching in America

“I’ve had hungry students who couldn’t concentrate; I’ve filed tax returns for kids’ parents. You’re the only adult they trust – the only adult that talks to them like they’re a person.”

A Guardian video.

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Betsy’s Public School Experience

We’ve all been saying that the Trump Administration’s for-profit-school-loving Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has no experience in public schools, but that’s not exactly true. Working with a church group, Mrs. DeVos had her chauffeur drop her off at Burton Elementary School in Grand Rapids, where she tutored– “mentored” one student for one hour each week.

The public school, where 97.6% of students get free or reduced-price lunch, is 88% Latino, and many kids don’t speak English at home, so volunteers are appreciated. And billionaire Betsy DeVos did what any school volunteer would: hired the student’s mother as a maid and bought her a car. After a few years, Ms. DeVos subsidized the young girl’s transfer to a private Christian school.

So that’s how Betsy DeVos knows that school choice works. We look forward to new federal programs that provide jobs and cars to families of all poor students, nationwide.

 Radio producer Susan Burton explored Betsy DeVos’ public school experience for This American Life in an episode titled “Vouching Towards Bethlehem“:

Civil Rights Cases To Be Scaled Back Under Betsy DeVos

“The Department of Education is scaling back investigations into civil rights violations at the nation’s public schools and universities, easing off mandates imposed by the Obama administration that the new leadership says have bogged down the agency.

According to an internal memo issued by Candice E. Jackson, the acting head of the department’s office for civil rights, requirements that investigators broaden their inquiries to identify systemic issues and whole classes of victims will be scaled back. Also, regional offices will no longer be required to alert department officials in Washington of all highly sensitive complaints on issues such as the disproportionate disciplining of minority students and the mishandling of sexual assaults on college campuses.

The new directives are the first steps taken under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reshape her agency’s approach to civil rights enforcement, which was bolstered while President Barack Obama was in office. The efforts during Mr. Obama’s administration resulted in far-reaching investigations and resolutions that required schools and colleges to overhaul policies addressing a number of civil rights concerns.”

— “Education Dept. Says It Will Scale Back Civil Rights Investigations,” Eric L. Green, New York Times

Candice E. Jackson, appointed by Secretary DeVos to run Education’s Civil Rights office, first gained notoriety as a Stanford student when she complained that she had suffered discrimination because she is white. Who better to reverse Civil Rights progress than someone who claimed “reverse discrimination?”

Updates:

“Government Watchdog Will Investigate Trump Administration on Civil Rights,” Elena Gooray, Pacific Standard

“Betsy DeVos Faces Pushback After Scaling Back Investigations of Civil Rights complaints,” Annie Waldman, Pacific Standard

Related:

“Trump official apologizes for saying most campus sexual assault accusations come after drunken sex, breakups,” Katie Mettler, Washington Post

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Betsy DeVos Is Demolishing Public Education

“Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos’s proposed budget for the US Department of Education is a boon for privatization and a disaster for public schools and low-income college students. They want to cut federal spending on education by 13.6 percent. Some programs would be eliminated completely; others would face deep reductions. They want to cut $10.6 billion from existing programs and divert $1.4 billion to charter schools and to vouchers for private and religious schools. This budget reflects Trump and DeVos’s deep hostility to public education and their desire to shrink the Department of Education, with the ultimate goal of getting rid of it entirely.”

— “The Demolition of American Education,” Diane Ravitch, New York Review of Books

Ethiopia Shuts Down the Internet Over School Exam

“Ethiopia shut down the internet on Tuesday (May 30) ahead of a scheduled national examination that was due to take place in the country on Wednesday.

Social media users noted that the internet service was interrupted from around 7 pm on Tuesday—reportedly to prevent exam leaks. About 1.2 million students are taking the grade 10 national exams, with another 288,000 preparing for the grade 12 university entrance exams that will take place next week.”

— “Ethiopia shut down the country’s internet to beat exam cheats,” Abdi Latif Dahir, Quartz

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Hey Kids, Crappy School Lunches Are Back!

On Monday, new Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue got right behind the plow to solve America’s most pressing food problem, the deadly plague of healthy school lunches. The Trump administration has decided that kids should eat the traditional salty slop of their obese, constipated seniors. Chocolate milk is back! Veggies? Gone. Whole grains? Gone. Take that, Michelle Obama!

Official USDA press release: “Ag Secretary Perdue Moves to Make School Meals Great Again.”

More:

“The Trump administration’s tone deaf move on school lunches,” Julia Belluz, Vox

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