Christians—please reject further lockdowns and closing—for the children’s sake

At the K-12 level, the risk of Covid to children is low. The Wall St.  Journal’s Andrew Duehren and Alex Leary report today: The Trump administration is pressing the nation’s school systems to educate children in-person this fall, preparing to offer safety guidelines for reopening, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill search for an agreement to provide schools the federal aid they say they need to do so. Team Trump is encouraged by a recent statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics which notes the negative impact of lockdowns as well as the relatively small Covid risks faced by children. The organization says it “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school. The importance of in-person learning is well-documented, and there is already evidence of the negative impacts on children because of school closures in the spring of 2020.” The statement adds: Lengthy time away from school and associated interruption of supportive services often results in social isolation, making it difficult for schools to identify and address important learning deficits as well as child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation... Policy makers must also consider the mounting evidence regarding COVID-19 in children and adolescents...Although children and adolescents play a major role in amplifying influenza outbreaks, to date, this does not appear to be the case with SARS-CoV-2. Although many questions remain, the preponderance of evidence indicates that children and adolescents are less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition, children may be less likely to become infected and to spread infection. Policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within schools must be balanced with the known harms to children, adolescents, families, and the community by keeping children at home.

Were people voting against political correctness?

http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/09/trump-won-because-leftist-political-cor

Trump was not my first or 13th choice, and pulling down political correctness wasn’t the reason I voted for him. That said, people are sick of this phoniness.

As I’ve said before, I’m a one issue voter, and believed this was the last opportunity to save babies. However, words like diversity, inclusiveness and multiculturalism have become the opposite of their accepted meaning. They might as well be called first cousins of racism, bigotry and exclusiveness.

Just for laughs, read the mission statement of a private school where wealthy and powerful liberal politicians send their children. In a school that is already only for the tippy top 1% in wealth, connections and brains, they are proud to tell you about their diverse and inclusive student body, which from the photos appears to be children of Nigerian or Chinese ambassadors.

Private school diversity

Today I was browsing the web page of a private elementary/high school that costs about $30,000 a year and features the diversity of its students in its promotional material and websites as a selling point. It reports that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, national or ethnic origin, disability, or sexual orientation, and that 41% of its school population are "people of color." That's odd, the latest census reports that about 75% of the U.S. population is white, so how could this school not be selecting students on the basis of race? I'm not sure that the Columbus City Schools have that high a percentage of "diversity." There are lots of ways to recruit students, maybe they should be sending more mailings to white parents? Also, I wonder how many learning disabled children attend this school, or do they limit disabilities to those who can keep a very high grade point? Do they accept children who will not go on to college, but who will earn good livings servicing the automobiles of their graduates, or saving them when their home catches fire, or defend them at our borders? Just wondering about that word "diversity."

Pot to Kettle--Arne Duncan to investigate "for profit" education

Don't you just love it? With most of the failing students in the U.S.A., including here in Columbus where drop-out rates are deflated and graduation rates are inflated (only include those who started 12th grade) and even our local Columbus Dispatch doesn't really investigate the figures, Arne Duncan, Obama's Secretary of Education decides that for-profit schools need to show they are worthy of taxpayer money,

"These schools and their investors benefit from billions of dollars in taxpayers subsidies, and in return, taxpayers have a right to know that all of these programs are providing solid preparation for a job," Press Release, Sept. 24

Taxpayer dollars are going for all sorts of gimmicks and geegaws, Mr. Duncun, public school and teachers have to pay union dues whether or not they are union members. And NEA and AFT donated mega bucks for the Obama campaign. Considering this puff piece (do you hate teachers' unions, how old are your kids, do you see the President often), I don't expect much from our alert media now that there are no Bushes or Reagans in office.

And here's a press release about collusion collaboration between Arne Duncan and the AFT and NEA, to restore the public image of teachers' unions. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, as the saying goes.

At least Arne Duncan sends his children to Arlington (VA) schools and not to private school like most legislators, the president, and government high level employees. Arlington's schools are perfectly fine, so he's not making any sacrifice, but could he make this attack against for-profit education if his daughter were in private school?

Private vs Public School teachers assessment of their schools

Public school teachers have unions and all the perks. They are well paid and have terrific pensions awaiting them after 30 years, some in their 50s, young enough to start a new career or go back and teach. You can check at Buckeye Institute for your district (in Ohio). [I checked someone who teaches half time for $43,000 for 184 days, and her life time pension (based on 18 years average) is worth $638,400 at this point.] However, private school teachers seem to have in their schools more of what we want for our public schools according to a new AEI study on civics and citizenship.

•While just under half (45 percent) of public school teachers say social studies is considered an absolutely essential subject area in their district, two out of three private school teachers (68 percent) say this is true for them.

•Private school teachers are almost twice as likely to report having a great deal of control over what topics they choose to cover and how quickly or slowly they move through the curriculum (86 percent versus 45 percent).

•Private school teachers report significantly higher levels of confidence that most students in their high schools learn what they are supposed to before they graduate. This confidence differential is especially stark on items pertaining to the implicit curriculum, such as teaching good work habits and respect for authority. For example:

◦"To have good work habits such as being timely, persistent, and hardworking" garners 31 percent "very confident" responses among private school teachers, compared with 6 percent among public.

◦"To be tolerant of people and groups who are different from themselves" garners 43 percent "very confident" among private, compared with 19 percent among public.

•Private school teachers are also more likely to report an overall more positive school atmosphere for conveying the importance of citizenship:

◦Their high school has a community-service requirement for graduation (82 percent versus 37 percent).

◦Their administration maintains a school atmosphere where adults are respected (88 percent versus 65 percent).

◦Their high school encourages involvement in student government and other issues-oriented clubs (91 percent versus 73 percent).