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Governor Signs Bill Mandating Genocide Education in Schools (Associated Press, Dec. 4, 2021 USNews

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Governor Signs Bill Mandating Genocide Education in Schools (Associated Press, Dec. 4, 2021 USNews

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BOSTON (AP) — Middle and high school students in Massachusetts would learn about the history of genocide and human rights issues under a bill signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker this week.

The bill requires middle schools and high schools in the state to include instruction on the history of genocide. The legislation comes as incidences of hate and antisemitism are on the rise across the country, with several incidents reported in Massachusetts over the past year, according to supporters of the legislation.

Massachusetts has not required education on the Holocaust or other genocides as part of its classroom curriculum.

Lawmakers renewed the push for mandating education about the history of genocide earlier this year after a Duxbury high school football coach was fired following reports that the team used antisemitic language, including a mention of Auschwitz, in its on-field play calling.

This bill would create a Genocide Education Trust Fund to support the development of teaching materials and to provide professional development training for educators.

The legislation would also require school districts to annually file a description of their lesson plan and programs to educate students about genocides with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, as many as 17 states require Holocaust education as part of their secondary school curriculums.

My Thoughts
Teaching these subjects needs to be a part of the curriculum and I am glad, as a future social studies teacher, that it is becoming a requirement. I like to think that at some point there will be the availability for everyone to learn about all the smaller genocides we never hear about to show a global book from past to present of how humanity treats each other. We shouldn't be too strict about what should and should not be taught as long as it follows the standards. But certain things need to be covered and genocide, especially the holocaust, need to be covered.

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Education notebook: Holocaust survivor visiting Abilene Monday for chat with students (Timothy Chipp, Dec. 5, 2021 Abilene Reporter-News)

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Education notebook: Holocaust survivor visiting Abilene Monday for chat with students (Timothy Chipp, Dec. 5, 2021 Abilene Reporter-News)

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Paula Weissman, a Holocaust survivor, is about to impart some wisdom on a bunch of Abilene high school students from the city's three public high schools.

She'll address the students during a joint event at Wylie High's Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. Monday.

It's part of her "Me Go America" program. But Weissman has been addressing her life with students for years.

She's roughly the same age as Anne Frank, the literary face of Nazi Germany's cruel treatment of Jewish people in the region, would be if she'd.

Weissman will share stories of her early life, time in concentration camps and stories of her life over the past 70 years living in New York City after the war. It's impressive the celebrities and influential people she's met along her path.

Though it's lengthy, a video is available online of a recent conversation she had in a similar setting, where she tells her story. It can be viewed below or by visiting Youtube.com and searching for her name.

My Thoughts
Another shorter story, but no less impactful. This is someone who has experienced the cruelty of history firsthand and is willing to share her story. I believe that people like this are important to share with our current generation of students as we are becoming more and more removed from these past experiences. I look forward to a time where I can teach social studies without COVID restraints so that I can bring others into the forefront and share the events that have made our nation without even seeming like it. I also find it to be a way to network and make connections for students to find a career path. Speakers are more powerful than most people think, and that is something that I look forward to changing.

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Paula Weissman, a Holocaust survivor, is about to impart some wisdom on a bunch of Abilene high school students from the city's three public high schools.

She'll address the students during a joint event at Wylie High's Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. Monday.

It's part of her "Me Go America" program. But Weissman has been addressing her life with students for years.

She's roughly the same age as Anne Frank, the literary face of Nazi Germany's cruel treatment of Jewish people in the region, would be if she'd.

Weissman will share stories of her early life, time in concentration camps and stories of her life over the past 70 years living in New York City after the war. It's impressive the celebrities and influential people she's met along her path.

Though it's lengthy, a video is available online of a recent conversation she had in a similar setting, where she tells her story. It can be viewed below or by visiting Youtube.com and searching for her name.

Even more about her life is available on the Museum of Jewish Heritage website, mjhnyc.org.

Around town recently

A lot of fun images and videos have been shared in recent weeks of students doing great things in their communities.

From Abilene High School's FFA helping out at Mission: Thanksgiving collection to marching bands parading through downtown during the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season in the city, there has been a lot to see.

Have a look, courtesy of the organizations' social media:

Abilene High's FFA students volunteered to help collect donations at a recent Mission: Thanksgiving drop off.

Abilene ISD fine arts students sang and performed to joyous crowds as part of City Sidewalks, a return to normal after COVID-19 concerns led to last year's cancelation.

Wylie High School's FFA students in the Radio Broadcasting program qualified for the state contest last week and earned a proper sendoff from their peers. They finished the event as runnerup. Congratulations.

Abilene Christian School students enjoyed some treats, some books and a little quality time with the big guy.

Revolution Strings took their popular fiddlin' on the road to the Brookhollow and River Oaks area. Be sure to follow them to see when and where they may pop up next with a few Christmas tunes.

Decision time

Abilene Independent School District trustees are coming up against the clock regarding whether to split from the Teacher Retirement System's Active Care health plans for current employees or remain part of the program.

For the past two years, AISD has been able to operate both in and out of the plans thanks to rules set by previous legislators. But this past year, those rules were changed to eliminate having two options.

Currently, the district offers a private plan through Aetna along with the Active Care plans.

By the end of the calendar year, the trustees must decide whether to remain in the program. Trustees will meet for the final regular meeting of the year at 6 p.m. Monday at One AISD Center, 241 Pine St.

Leaving Active Care requires the district to be out of the system for five years before possibly rejoining. If that option is taken, the district could provide any number of plans through private insurers. But prices could be higher.

For more agenda items, go to abileneisd.org.
Timothy Chipp covers education and is general assignments reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

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Education notebook: Holocaust survivor visiting Abilene Monday for chat with students

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Paula Weissman, a Holocaust survivor, is about to impart some wisdom on a bunch of Abilene high school students from the city's three public high schools. She'll address the students during a joint event at Wylie High's Performing Arts Center at 10 a.m. Monday. It's part of her "Me Go America" program.

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Some in Cambridge push back against ruling on Indian imagery (Evan Lawrence, Dec 5, 2021 The Post-Star)

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Some in Cambridge push back against ruling on Indian imagery (Evan Lawrence, Dec 5, 2021 The Post-Star)

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CAMBRIDGE — The state education commissioner may have ruled, but the supporters of Cambridge Central School’s Indian nickname and emblem aren’t giving up, as evidenced by a “Restore the Pride” billboard that went up in recent days on state Route 22 south of the village.

“People are furious,” said Greg Woodcock, a Cambridge village resident who spoke at several school board meetings in defense of the Indian. “I plan to talk to the Board of Education as a constituent and taxpayer. I want them to appeal the decision and fight.”

On Nov. 29, state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa issued a ruling on a petition brought by four couples with children in the school district. As the petitioners requested, Rosa voided a school board vote of July 8 that reinstated the mascot and ordered the district to abide by a board vote on June 17 to retire it. She gave the district until July 1 to comply.

“Eighty to eighty-five percent of the district wants to retain the name and the ‘war chief’ logo,” Woodcock said. “We’re all up in arms about it.”

Rosa ruled, not solely on the Indian, but because the board reversed a previous vote without submitting any new information or findings that would justify a revote. The state Education Department frowns on boards overturning previous votes unless a board has received and discussed new information that would justify the about-face. Rosa cited cases where boards reversed votes on consolidating schools and assignment of sixth-grade students, and the commissioner voided those revotes.

The Cambridge board switched from a 3-2 majority in favor of retiring the mascot to a 3-2 majority in favor of keeping it when a newly elected board member was sworn in on July 1. The new member joined another new member who had filled a vacancy the night of the school board election.

Those board members “were elected overwhelmingly,” Woodcock said. “Overwhelmingly, the community said, ‘Retain the Indian name and the Indian’s face logo.’”

Woodcock was recently elected to the White Creek Town Board on the Republican ticket. He recommended “talking to some of the other GOP folks” in the heavily Republican area.

“I’m a little disappointed in the decision,” said Arthur Center, chairman of the White Creek Republican Committee. “There’s overwhelming support for keeping the mascot. I don’t see why the people who complained inappropriately would carry more weight than the rest of the community.”

He and Woodcock both said the issue crosses party lines, with Democrats and independents they knew also upset by the decision.

Woodcock and Center said they were perplexed at why Rosa had singled out Cambridge’s Indian.

“What about the Glens Falls Indians, the Corinth Tomahawks, the Lake George Warriors, the Stillwater Warriors?” Woodcock asked.

Center said the Cambridge nickname reflected “the Indian history here and the prevalence of artifacts.” He blamed the controversy on “a few activists who stirred up the community.”

“We have to contact the school board and find out what steps they have to take” to contest the ruling, Center said.

In her decision, Rosa pointed out that the state Education Department in 2001 had urged schools to replace Native American-themed nicknames and imagery “as soon as practical.” Research in the 20 years since then has established that race-based mascots harm children of all races by reinforcing stereotypes, she wrote.

“Commissioner Rosa’s decision is unequivocal, and speaks loudly to the value that NYSED places on logical evidence-based decision making in public education, an approach embodied in the June 17, 2021 CCS BOE resolution,” school board member Neil Gifford wrote in an email. Gifford cast one of the votes to retire the mascot, and he voted against reinstating it.

Gifford stressed that his comments represented only himself and not the position of the board.

“I also value (Rosa’s) references to supporting the social-emotional well-being of students and DASA (Dignity for All Students Act),” he wrote. “Her ruling, and the recent joint statements from the NYS School Boards Association, NYS Rural Schools Association, Conference of the Big 5 School Districts and the NYS Council of School Superintendents, makes it clear that we as leaders in public education have an imperative to advance a learning environment that fosters empathy for the dignity and humanity of all of our students. I respect the commissioner’s decision and her authority as the head of public education in New York state that governs all we do at CCS.”

Gifford noted that “the next steps are yet to be determined” since the school’s leadership team has not met to discuss the ruling, but “while change can be difficult, it can also be an exciting opportunity to forge a new path together.”

Board president Jessica Ziehm and board members Caleb Breault, Dillon Honyoust and Shay Price did not respond to an email request for comment. School Superintendent Douglas Silvernell’s office referred to a statement from the board on the school’s website, saying the board is “disappointed” with Rosa’s decision.

Members of Cambridge for Social Justice were among the eight people who petitioned Rosa, and the group has supported retiring the Indian.

“Central to the decision was the evidence of harm Native mascots do to all students; the CCS board failed to refute that,” read a post on the group’s Facebook page. “The decision impacts only the Cambridge Central School District, but may set precedent for future decisions. This is an important step in the effort to create a safe and supportive environment for all students at CCS. Let’s all work together toward that goal.”

The board’s next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday in the school’s elementary gymnasium, COVID permitting. There will also be a remote viewing option.

My Thoughts
Honestly this topic is one that we've faced time and time again with major pushback from people across the country. We've mostly recently seen the changes to the Washington football team and removal of Cherokee from jeep's lineup. However, looking across Midwest states is a patchwork of communities with native mascots and even more people backing them up. The issue with removing these names for many is that it is taking away from the heritage that they represent. Others will point to the same argument as made in this paper that it reinforces stereotypes and produces a negative outlook on native peoples and other minorities. I see that this neighborhood overwhelmingly wants to keep the name, and I have to say stick with the people on this one. I personally think the best way to tackle this issue is on a case-by-case basis and openly considering what is truly happening here.

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CAMBRIDGE - The state education commissioner may have ruled, but the supporters of Cambridge Central School's Indian nickname and emblem aren't giving up, as evidenced by a "Restore the Pride" billboard that went up in recent days on state Route 22 south of the village.

"People are furious," said Greg Woodcock, a Cambridge village resident who spoke at several school board meetings in defense of the Indian. "I plan to talk to the Board of Education as a constituent and taxpayer. I want them to appeal the decision and fight."

On Nov. 29, state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa issued a ruling on a petition brought by four couples with children in the school district. As the petitioners requested, Rosa voided a school board vote of July 8 that reinstated the mascot and ordered the district to abide by a board vote on June 17 to retire it. She gave the district until July 1 to comply.

"Eighty to eighty-five percent of the district wants to retain the name and the 'war chief' logo," Woodcock said. "We're all up in arms about it."

Rosa ruled, not solely on the Indian, but because the board reversed a previous vote without submitting any new information or findings that would justify a revote. The state Education Department frowns on boards overturning previous votes unless a board has received and discussed new information that would justify the about-face. Rosa cited cases where boards reversed votes on consolidating schools and assignment of sixth-grade students, and the commissioner voided those revotes.

The Cambridge board switched from a 3-2 majority in favor of retiring the mascot to a 3-2 majority in favor of keeping it when a newly elected board member was sworn in on July 1. The new member joined another new member who had filled a vacancy the night of the school board election.

Those board members "were elected overwhelmingly," Woodcock said. "Overwhelmingly, the community said, 'Retain the Indian name and the Indian's face logo.'"

Woodcock was recently elected to the White Creek Town Board on the Republican ticket. He recommended "talking to some of the other GOP folks" in the heavily Republican area.

"I'm a little disappointed in the decision," said Arthur Center, chairman of the White Creek Republican Committee. "There's overwhelming support for keeping the mascot. I don't see why the people who complained inappropriately would carry more weight than the rest of the community."

He and Woodcock both said the issue crosses party lines, with Democrats and independents they knew also upset by the decision.

Woodcock and Center said they were perplexed at why Rosa had singled out Cambridge's Indian.

"What about the Glens Falls Indians, the Corinth Tomahawks, the Lake George Warriors, the Stillwater Warriors?" Woodcock asked.

Center said the Cambridge nickname reflected "the Indian history here and the prevalence of artifacts." He blamed the controversy on "a few activists who stirred up the community."

"We have to contact the school board and find out what steps they have to take" to contest the ruling, Center said.

In her decision, Rosa pointed out that the state Education Department in 2001 had urged schools to replace Native American-themed nicknames and imagery "as soon as practical." Research in the 20 years since then has established that race-based mascots harm children of all races by reinforcing stereotypes, she wrote.

"Commissioner Rosa's decision is unequivocal, and speaks loudly to the value that NYSED places on logical evidence-based decision making in public education, an approach embodied in the June 17, 2021 CCS BOE resolution," school board member Neil Gifford wrote in an email. Gifford cast one of the votes to retire the mascot, and he voted against reinstating it.

Gifford stressed that his comments represented only himself and not the position of the board.

"I also value (Rosa's) references to supporting the social-emotional well-being of students and DASA (Dignity for All Students Act)," he wrote. "Her ruling, and the recent joint statements from the NYS School Boards Association, NYS Rural Schools Association, Conference of the Big 5 School Districts and the NYS Council of School Superintendents, makes it clear that we as leaders in public education have an imperative to advance a learning environment that fosters empathy for the dignity and humanity of all of our students. I respect the commissioner's decision and her authority as the head of public education in New York state that governs all we do at CCS."

Gifford noted that "the next steps are yet to be determined" since the school's leadership team has not met to discuss the ruling, but "while change can be difficult, it can also be an exciting opportunity to forge a new path together."

Board president Jessica Ziehm and board members Caleb Breault, Dillon Honyoust and Shay Price did not respond to an email request for comment. School Superintendent Douglas Silvernell's office referred to a statement from the board on the school's website, saying the board is "disappointed" with Rosa's decision.

Members of Cambridge for Social Justice were among the eight people who petitioned Rosa, and the group has supported retiring the Indian.

"Central to the decision was the evidence of harm Native mascots do to all students; the CCS board failed to refute that," read a post on the group's Facebook page. "The decision impacts only the Cambridge Central School District, but may set precedent for future decisions. This is an important step in the effort to create a safe and supportive environment for all students at CCS. Let's all work together toward that goal."

The board's next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday in the school's elementary gymnasium, COVID permitting. There will also be a remote viewing option.

Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.

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Some in Cambridge push back against ruling on Indian imagery

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CAMBRIDGE - The state education commissioner may have ruled, but the supporters of Cambridge Central School's Indian nickname and emblem aren't giving up, as evidenced by a "Restore the Pride" billboard that went up in recent days on state Route 22 south of the village.

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NJ school district using one of its ’emergency days’ so students can ‘take a breath’ (Aliza Chasan,  Dec 5, 2021 PIX 11)

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NJ school district using one of its ’emergency days’ so students can ‘take a breath’ (Aliza Chasan,  Dec 5, 2021 PIX 11)

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ROXBURY, NJ — Students in Roxbury will get a long weekend so they can relax.

District officials decided to use an emergency day on Dec. 10 so that students will have a long weekend.

“It is our sincere hope that our families will be able to use this gift of time to take a moment to enjoy the season, take a breath, and enjoy a long weekend amidst the bustle,” Superintendent of Schools Lorett Radulic wrote to parents.

Roxbury isn’t the only district shaking things up for students. The superintendent of the Wayne School District announced several no homework weekends.

“Wellness weekends represent a break away from school responsibilities,” he wrote. “During each of the three wellness weekends, students do not have any obligations to the school district, which means no homework, no tests or quizzes, and no due dates scheduled directly before or after a wellness weekend. We hope this will lead to healthier students, employees and families.”

My Thoughts
Living in Lincoln my entire life has led to the usage of many "snow days". These days are built into the curriculum so that in the case of a day we are unable to come into class, we don't have to add another day or so onto the end of the year. However, many years we never used all of our snow days and that led to a lot of frustration for students because they obviously want time off of school. I believe that using these days in this manner can actually relieve a lot of stress on students when there is longs periods of time between breaks, or when staff tend to struggle to keep up with their work. This relief could be similar to others done where giving extra breaks to relieve that buildup or tension can promote productivity and reinstate motivation. I don't think that this should be built into the schedule solely for the use in this way, but I am not opposed to using them if they are already there.

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by: Aliza Chasan

Posted: / Updated:

School classroom with blackboard

ROXBURY, NJ - Students in Roxbury will get a long weekend so they can relax.

District officials decided to use an emergency day on Dec. 10 so that students will have a long weekend.

"It is our sincere hope that our families will be able to use this gift of time to take a moment to enjoy the season, take a breath, and enjoy a long weekend amidst the bustle," Superintendent of Schools Lorett Radulic wrote to parents.

Roxbury isn't the only district shaking things up for students. The superintendent of the Wayne School District announced several no homework weekends.

"Wellness weekends represent a break away from school responsibilities," he wrote. "During each of the three wellness weekends, students do not have any obligations to the school district, which means no homework, no tests or quizzes, and no due dates scheduled directly before or after a wellness weekend. We hope this will lead to healthier students, employees and families."

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NJ school district using one of its 'emergency days' so students can 'take a breath'

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ROXBURY, NJ - Students in Roxbury will get a long weekend so they can relax. District officials decided to use an emergency day on Dec. 10 so that students will have a long weekend. "It is our sincere hope that our families will be able to use this gift of time to take a moment [...]

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A California middle school removed a history teacher who told her students that Trump is still president (Yelena Dzhanova Nov 7, 2021 Business Insider)

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A California middle school removed a history teacher who told her students that Trump is still president (Yelena Dzhanova Nov 7, 2021 Business Insider)

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A history teacher in California has been removed from her job after she told her students that Donald Trump is still president.

The teacher, who has not been identified by name, also made claims about President Joe Biden's son Hunter and the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Hunter Biden, for example, is doing deals with China and Ukraine where he was funneling money illegally. He also had child pornography on his laptop. He was having sexual intercourse with his own niece," the teacher, who worked for Anacapa Middle School, said on the recording, according to CBS New York.

"If you have a baby in the hospital, they don't want to give it back if you're not vaccinated," the teacher said on the recording. "This is a complete power control threat."

The teacher is still employed by Ventura Unified, the district that oversees Anacapa, according to district spokesperson Marieanne Quiroz.

An eighth-grade student told his mother after class with the history teacher that he'd never be vaccinated against the coronavirus, CBS New York reported. Then he asked her if she knew that Trump was still president of the United States.

"I mean, why? Why does that need to be said in this classroom full of children," the mother asked, according to CBS New York. "I trusted her to teach him the facts about history and she went off on this rant like a preacher on a pulpit."

In a statement to Insider, a district spokesperson said the school launched an investigation into the incident after receiving the recording of the teacher on October 18.

Spokesperson Quiroz told Insider the district "does not condone the non-instructionally related discussion" in the classroom.

The teacher has expressed "deep remorse" for the remarks she made in class, Quiroz said.

"The Ventura Unified School District will work closely with staff to ensure that this does not happen again," Quiroz added.

But parents say that's not enough. The mother of the eighth-grader who now fears getting vaccinated against the coronavirus says her child and her husband have a damaged relationship because of the teacher's comments.

His father questioned what the eighth-grader learned in school, and the son said he believed his teacher. "When he first got in the car and said, 'Dad, teachers know everything. She's right, dad. You're wrong.' He's damaged. He's hurt. He's scared. He doesn't trust his parents now. He thinks we lied to him," the mom told CBS New York.

My thoughts
First off, this teacher should be reviewed and taken out of the classroom, if not worse. The main thing that you notice is her words used to spread false claims on a controversial and political topic in a class that otherwise doesn't need it. This puts her in a place where she deserves a severe punishment. In addition, this has already left its lasting impact on the students, which clearly isn't a good one. The idea that as an educator you can spread your ideas and beliefs is false and needs to be seen this way. If it influences your teaching philosophy that is one thing, but to outright use it to push an agenda is another. I also do not believe this because of a political stance. For me I don't believe there should be any direct influence on a political stance of the students unless used for educational purposes that aren't considered to be fact. Hopefully this will b a wakeup call to those out there that we need to understand and enforce our code of ethics for teachers. Otherwise we may end up seeing more cases like this.

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A middle school in California removed a history teacher who said Donald Trump is still president.

The teacher also claimed President Joe Biden's son Hunter "was having sexual intercourse with his own niece."

The teacher has expressed "deep remorse" for the remarks she made in class, the VC Star reported.

A history teacher in California has been removed from her job after she told her students that Donald Trump is still president.

The teacher, who has not been identified by name, also made claims about President Joe Biden's son Hunter and the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Hunter Biden, for example, is doing deals with China and Ukraine where he was funneling money illegally. He also had child pornography on his laptop. He was having sexual intercourse with his own niece," the teacher, who worked for Anacapa Middle School, said on the recording, according to CBS New York.

"If you have a baby in the hospital, they don't want to give it back if you're not vaccinated," the teacher said on the recording. "This is a complete power control threat."

The teacher is still employed by Ventura Unified, the district that oversees Anacapa, according to district spokesperson Marieanne Quiroz.

An eighth-grade student told his mother after class with the history teacher that he'd never be vaccinated against the coronavirus, CBS New York reported. Then he asked her if she knew that Trump was still president of the United States.

"I mean, why? Why does that need to be said in this classroom full of children," the mother asked, according to CBS New York. "I trusted her to teach him the facts about history and she went off on this rant like a preacher on a pulpit."

In a statement to Insider, a district spokesperson said the school launched an investigation into the incident after receiving the recording of the teacher on October 18.

Spokesperson Quiroz told Insider the district "does not condone the non-instructionally related discussion" in the classroom.

The teacher has expressed "deep remorse" for the remarks she made in class, Quiroz said.

"The Ventura Unified School District will work closely with staff to ensure that this does not happen again," Quiroz added.

But parents say that's not enough. The mother of the eighth-grader who now fears getting vaccinated against the coronavirus says her child and her husband have a damaged relationship because of the teacher's comments.

His father questioned what the eighth-grader learned in school, and the son said he believed his teacher. "When he first got in the car and said, 'Dad, teachers know everything. She's right, dad. You're wrong.' He's damaged. He's hurt. He's scared. He doesn't trust his parents now. He thinks we lied to him," the mom told CBS New York.

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A California middle school removed a history teacher who told her students that Trump is still president

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A middle school in California removed a history teacher who said Donald Trump is still president. The teacher also claimed President Joe Biden's son Hunter "was having sexual intercourse with his own niece." The teacher has expressed "deep remorse" for the remarks she made in class, the VC Star reported.

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Dads on Duty: Louisiana fathers fan out at school to prevent violence, mentor kids (Mackenzie Boucher, October 30, 2021 USAToday)

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Dads on Duty: Louisiana fathers fan out at school to prevent violence, mentor kids (Mackenzie Boucher, October 30, 2021 USAToday)

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SHREVEPORT, La. – An effort that started with one father's mission to stem violence at Southwood High School is morphing into a movement that dads plan to replicate on other area campuses and perhaps across America.

The resulting "Dads on Duty" message has gone viral on social platforms and national media outlets.

“We are coming out of concern, and out of love,” said Southwood High School dad Michael LaFitte.

Dads on Duty was formed in response to several fights at Southwood High School in September that ultimately left 23 students incarcerated.

"The city was overwhelmed by the number of fights that were taking place at Southwood High School, and these men stepped up to the plate and said this is something that we need to do," Shreveport City Councilwoman Tabitha Taylor said.

After a fight Sept. 17 at Southwood, LaFitte and fellow parents met to form a strategy to combat the violence.

“I decided to call a group of parents that I know who are active at the school and said, 'Hey, what can we do to get in front of this?” said LaFitte, who is also the president of the Shreveport NAACP.

In a meeting that was expected to take 45 minutes, the group came up with a plan four hours later.

“At the end of the meeting there was a group of fathers who decided to just go to the school and patrol and walk around and show a strong male presence on the campus,” LaFitte said.

“I don't care how old you are or what size you are, it's something about seeing a man, a positive male figure, a father, your daddy or whatever you want to call them, at the school. It will make you straighten up and fly right.”

The group of more than 40 fathers began its journey at Southwood before the bell at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 20.

Since then Dads on Duty have showed up every day at 7:30 a.m. to usher in students. LaFitte said they've tried to take on the persona of "cool uncles" to the students.

“We are dealing with high-schoolers, and high-schoolers want to have fun," he said. "So at the end of the day if we're looking to get something done for them, the easiest way to do it is by making them laugh.

“One of the issues that we have a lot of times with correcting children is we are not listening. We have to respect them on that level, to listen to them, because once we listen to them, they will take instruction.”

Since the arrival of Dads on Duty – they typically wear matching colored T-shirts with Dads on Duty logos – there have been no fights, LaFitte said.

He said students want approval from the dads. "They say: 'Look, Mr. LaFitte, I have a belt on today,"' he said.

“It's just the little things," LaFitte said. "We're talking to them about life skills, about grooming, about self-respect. We're listening to our young people.”

Dads on Duty have extended their patrol and are at Southwood High School in the morning, during lunch and after school, balancing work schedules with a higher calling. "Our job is to parent," Lafitte said.

"This is one of the most effective mentoring programs that I have seen up close and personal," said Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins. "We would like to help you all see this vision through expanding this program, not just here in Caddo Parish, but giving a strong foundation to expand all over the country."

The Dads on Duty project has attracted attention from across the U.S. CBS News covered their story last month.  Since then, "Good Morning America,"The Washington Post and People magazine have done stories.

The group has launched a GoFundMe page, and it hopes to find fathers to cover every school in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport and several other cities, by the end of the school year, partnering with the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office and schools Superintendent Lamar Goree.

"There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scene," Southwood Principal Kim Pendleton said. "These wonderful men are just a forefront. There is a lot of work that happens with them, a lot of conversations that we have, conversations within the community.

"The women are behind them; I am one of them. The main thing we all have in common is that we believe in the whole child."

My thoughts
I believe this is going to be a major turning point and influencer for schools across the United States. I personally went to an elementary school that had a club that was similar to this program and it made a huge difference in the lives of my peers. Providing that influencer, assistant and listening ear can be the one thing that keeps a student from dropping out and getting involved in something they most certainly shouldn't. I also believe that pushing for this kind of program will influence greater changes in the education field and create more jobs for people across the nation. This is the type of change that takes time and requires everyone's support to actually make a difference in more than one or two schools.

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SHREVEPORT, La. - An effort that started with one father's mission to stem violence at Southwood High School is morphing into a movement that dads plan to replicate on other area campuses and perhaps across America.

The resulting "Dads on Duty" message has gone viral on social platforms and national media outlets.

"We are coming out of concern, and out of love," said Southwood High School dad Michael LaFitte.

Dads on Duty was formed in response to several fights at Southwood High School in September that ultimately left 23 students incarcerated.

"The city was overwhelmed by the number of fights that were taking place at Southwood High School, and these men stepped up to the plate and said this is something that we need to do," Shreveport City Councilwoman Tabitha Taylor said.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Flu shots: Drug stores turning away walk-ins because of pharmacist shortage They pulled out 63,000 pounds of trash, but that's just the start
After a fight Sept. 17 at Southwood, LaFitte and fellow parents met to form a strategy to combat the violence.

"I decided to call a group of parents that I know who are active at the school and said, 'Hey, what can we do to get in front of this?" said LaFitte, who is also the president of the Shreveport NAACP.

In a meeting that was expected to take 45 minutes, the group came up with a plan four hours later.

"At the end of the meeting there was a group of fathers who decided to just go to the school and patrol and walk around and show a strong male presence on the campus," LaFitte said.

"I don't care how old you are or what size you are, it's something about seeing a man, a positive male figure, a father, your daddy or whatever you want to call them, at the school. It will make you straighten up and fly right."

The group of more than 40 fathers began its journey at Southwood before the bell at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 20.

Since then Dads on Duty have showed up every day at 7:30 a.m. to usher in students. LaFitte said they've tried to take on the persona of "cool uncles" to the students.

"We are dealing with high-schoolers, and high-schoolers want to have fun," he said. "So at the end of the day if we're looking to get something done for them, the easiest way to do it is by making them laugh.

"One of the issues that we have a lot of times with correcting children is we are not listening. We have to respect them on that level, to listen to them, because once we listen to them, they will take instruction."

Since the arrival of Dads on Duty - they typically wear matching colored T-shirts with Dads on Duty logos - there have been no fights, LaFitte said.

He said students want approval from the dads. "They say: 'Look, Mr. LaFitte, I have a belt on today,"' he said.

"It's just the little things," LaFitte said. "We're talking to them about life skills, about grooming, about self-respect. We're listening to our young people."

Dads on Duty have extended their patrol and are at Southwood High School in the morning, during lunch and after school, balancing work schedules with a higher calling. "Our job is to parent," Lafitte said.

"This is one of the most effective mentoring programs that I have seen up close and personal," said Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins. "We would like to help you all see this vision through expanding this program, not just here in Caddo Parish, but giving a strong foundation to expand all over the country."

The Dads on Duty project has attracted attention from across the U.S. CBS News covered their story last month. Since then, "Good Morning America,"The Washington Post and People magazine have done stories.

The group has launched a GoFundMe page, and it hopes to find fathers to cover every school in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport and several other cities, by the end of the school year, partnering with the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office and schools Superintendent Lamar Goree.
Contributing: Mike Snider
"There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scene," Southwood Principal Kim Pendleton said. "These wonderful men are just a forefront. There is a lot of work that happens with them, a lot of conversations that we have, conversations within the community.

"The women are behind them; I am one of them. The main thing we all have in common is that we believe in the whole child."

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Dads on Duty: Louisiana fathers fan out at school to prevent violence, mentor kids

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SHREVEPORT, La. - An effort that started with one father's mission to stem violence at Southwood High School is morphing into a movement that dads plan to replicate on other area campuses and perhaps across America. The resulting "Dads on Duty" message has gone viral on social platforms and national media outlets.

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Parents asking for transparency from Indiana school districts regarding explicit material (Fanchon Stinger, October28, 2021 Fox59)

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Parents asking for transparency from Indiana school districts regarding explicit material (Fanchon Stinger, October28, 2021 Fox59)

# data[].attributes.body
Indianapolis — Most parents remember their sexual education lesson in school on the birds and the bees.

Today more districts use a different approach to sex education called comprehensive sexuality education, incorporating sexual education into various subject discussions, classroom assignments, and school libraries.

Some parents say these lessons are going too far and they are calling for more transparency and accountability from districts.

You may remember, during a Carmel Clay school board meeting in July, parents read from books they say are inappropriate for their children and it set off a firestorm.  Parents in other districts around the state started checking the content of their children’s sex education curriculum. They are also looking at books available in the library that could be associated with class assignments.

Some parents, like Ben Orr who will be representing parents in Washington, D.C. at Parents Defending Education, said they had no idea students in elementary, middle, and high schools are being exposed to this kind of material.  Orr has children in 5th and 7th grade. “I’ll be the first to say we should have been paying more attention for a long time.” Orr went on to say, “This has nothing to do with health class or biology or reproduction or any of these things. It really comes back to where did the academics go? Where is the focus on academics.”

A former teacher, Jennifer McWilliams, is joining parents in demanding transparency from school districts. She said, “They are desensitizing children to this sexual lifestyle.”

Purple for Parents educates parents and advocates for the protection of children when it comes to sex education and sexual grooming. Rhonda Miller is working with parents in Hamilton County and across the state, along with Diane Eaton a former Hamilton Southeastern school board member. Eaton is currently leading Fishers One. The two are part of what they call a growing awareness across Indiana including in Avon, Danville, Brownsburg, Greenfield, Greenwood, all calling for increased transparency and accountability when it comes to obscenity in school material.

Eaton says, “The lack of parent involvement and oversight is what’s happening. Parents need to ask to be on committees to review books.  We believe they are coming through the media specialists. In most of the libraries they are the ones who select the books. Many schools do not have a process or policy for selecting books.”

Indiana schools are required to teach abstinence outside of marriage as sex education. However, parents who contacted FOX59 say some districts mention abstinence, and then teach other various sexual behavior as an alternative to abstinence at all grade levels.

According to Indiana code IC 35-49-3-3 distributing obscenity and pornography to minors is illegal, and in some cases could lead to a level 6 felony charge. However, Indiana is 1 of at least 43 states with an exemption to the obscenity code.

IC 35-49-3-4  provides a defense for prosecution for public schools and libraries. That means material parents are finding in some classrooms and libraries, can be distributed to your children as long as it’s done in a school or library as part of an education curriculum, like comprehensive sexuality education. Outside those parameters it’s a crime, according to Indiana law.

Parents like Ben Orr say they are not against sex education. They just want transparency and a seat at the table when decisions are being made about books and curriculum.

State Senator Jim Tomes wrote legislation challenging the obscenity exemption in Indiana last session. It made it out of the education committee, but didn’t go farther. Parents have been meeting with State Sen. Tomes and other legislators. State Sen. Tomes plans to introduce a bill during this upcoming session now that more parents are speaking out.

State Sen. Tomes says, “An unsuspecting parent would not know perhaps that their children are being exposed to this. They wouldn’t want them on the internet seeing this. Why wouldn’t they be upset that behind their back this is taking place in their schools or public libraries. If you do this kind of activity, if you expose our kids to this kind of stuff you will answer for it.”

We reached out to several school districts:

Noblesville

We are legally required to notify parents prior to any sexual education program. Parents are able to review sexual education curriculum and, if they choose, opt their children out of this programming.

Regarding library materials, we use a comprehensive process to evaluate new materials and also to review existing materials if a concern is raised. The process can be found on our website. Per this process, we encourage parents who have concerns about specific library materials to contact their library media specialist and/or principal.

Center Grove

Center Grove is responsive to our families and community regarding concerns with book availability in our building and digital libraries. We are in a continual review process for which books are available across elementary, middle, and high schools, as appropriateness should be reviewed not only by reading level but also for students’ age and maturity.  Additionally, our district has expanded our book hold system to support families in ensuring their children are checking out books which parents feel are appropriate for their children.

ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF TEACHING & LEARNING, NORA HOOVER, PH.D.:

Hamilton Southeastern

Hamilton Southeastern Schools adheres to Indiana Academic Standards and recommendations regarding Health and Wellness education.

The eight standards that are taught PK-12 are as follows:

Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.

Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products, and services to enhance health.

Standard 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

Standard 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.

Standard 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.

Standard 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice strategies and skills to enhance personal health and reduce health risks.

Standard 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

In addition, our high school students take a required Health class that also follows State Standards.

My thoughts
Like all other major controversial topics this one is a tough one to form answers for. The issue of what to teach and what not to teach is hard in this case. Whether its the extent or the material itself you can make arguments about how to teach it or who to teach it to. In my personal opinion it is important to teach this in schools and that it should be allowed to be exempt in schools as long as it is used for educational purposes. But I do understand the concern for younger audiences. The idea that parents should be part of the decision making process gives them that step into being involved with their kids. As we talked in class, this involvement could be a big step forward with parents and students connection in education. That is something I believe everyone could get behind.

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Indianapolis - Most parents remember their sexual education lesson in school on the birds and the bees.

Today more districts use a different approach to sex education called comprehensive sexuality education, incorporating sexual education into various subject discussions, classroom assignments, and school libraries.

Some parents say these lessons are going too far and they are calling for more transparency and accountability from districts.

You may remember, during a Carmel Clay school board meeting in July, parents read from books they say are inappropriate for their children and it set off a firestorm. Parents in other districts around the state started checking the content of their children's sex education curriculum. They are also looking at books available in the library that could be associated with class assignments.

Some parents, like Ben Orr who will be representing parents in Washington, D.C. at Parents Defending Education, said they had no idea students in elementary, middle, and high schools are being exposed to this kind of material. Orr has children in 5 th and 7 th grade. "I'll be the first to say we should have been paying more attention for a long time." Orr went on to say, "This has nothing to do with health class or biology or reproduction or any of these things. It really comes back to where did the academics go? Where is the focus on academics."

A former teacher, Jennifer McWilliams, is joining parents in demanding transparency from school districts. She said, "They are desensitizing children to this sexual lifestyle."

Purple for Parents educates parents and advocates for the protection of children when it comes to sex education and sexual grooming. Rhonda Miller is working with parents in Hamilton County and across the state, along with Diane Eaton a former Hamilton Southeastern school board member. Eaton is currently leading Fishers One. The two are part of what they call a growing awareness across Indiana including in Avon, Danville, Brownsburg, Greenfield, Greenwood, all calling for increased transparency and accountability when it comes to obscenity in school material.

Eaton says, "The lack of parent involvement and oversight is what's happening. Parents need to ask to be on committees to review books. We believe they are coming through the media specialists. In most of the libraries they are the ones who select the books. Many schools do not have a process or policy for selecting books."

Indiana schools are required to teach abstinence outside of marriage as sex education. However, parents who contacted FOX59 say some districts mention abstinence, and then teach other various sexual behavior as an alternative to abstinence at all grade levels.

According to Indiana code IC 35-49-3-3 distributing obscenity and pornography to minors is illegal, and in some cases could lead to a level 6 felony charge. However, Indiana is 1 of at least 43 states with an exemption to the obscenity code.

IC 35-49-3-4  provides a defense for prosecution for public schools and libraries. That means material parents are finding in some classrooms and libraries, can be distributed to your children as long as it's done in a school or library as part of an education curriculum, like comprehensive sexuality education. Outside those parameters it's a crime, according to Indiana law.

Parents like Ben Orr say they are not against sex education. They just want transparency and a seat at the table when decisions are being made about books and curriculum.

State Senator Jim Tomes wrote legislation challenging the obscenity exemption in Indiana last session. It made it out of the education committee, but didn't go farther. Parents have been meeting with State Sen. Tomes and other legislators. State Sen. Tomes plans to introduce a bill during this upcoming session now that more parents are speaking out.

State Sen. Tomes says, "An unsuspecting parent would not know perhaps that their children are being exposed to this.  They wouldn't want them on the internet seeing this. Why wouldn't they be upset that behind their back this is taking place in their schools or public libraries. If you do this kind of activity, if you expose our kids to this kind of stuff you will answer for it."

We reached out to several school districts:

Noblesville

We are legally required to notify parents prior to any sexual education program. Parents are able to review sexual education curriculum and, if they choose, opt their children out of this programming.

Regarding library materials, we use a comprehensive process to evaluate new materials and also to review existing materials if a concern is raised. The process can be found on our website. Per this process, we encourage parents who have concerns about specific library materials to contact their library media specialist and/or principal.

Center Grove

Center Grove is responsive to our families and community regarding concerns with book availability in our building and digital libraries. We are in a continual review process for which books are available across elementary, middle, and high schools, as appropriateness should be reviewed not only by reading level but also for students' age and maturity. Additionally, our district has expanded our book hold system to support families in ensuring their children are checking out books which parents feel are appropriate for their children.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning, Nora Hoover, Ph.D.:

Hamilton Southeastern

Hamilton Southeastern Schools adheres to Indiana Academic Standards and recommendations regarding Health and Wellness education.

The eight standards that are taught PK-12 are as follows:

Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.

Standard 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products, and services to enhance health.

Standard 4: Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

Standard 5: Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.

Standard 6: Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health.

Standard 7: Students will demonstrate the ability to practice strategies and skills to enhance personal health and reduce health risks.

Standard 8: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

In addition, our high school students take a required Health class that also follows State Standards.

You can learn more about the standards, here: https://www.doe.in.gov/standards/health-and-wellness

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Parents asking for transparency from Indiana school districts regarding explicit material

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Indianapolis - Most parents remember their sexual education lesson in school on the birds and the bees. Today more districts use a different approach to sex education called comprehensive sexuality education, incorporating sexual education into various subject discussions, classroom assignments, and school libraries.  Some parents say these lessons are going too far and they are calling for more transparency and accountability from districts.

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Failure is not an option at Twin Cities middle school (Nick Ferraro, October 22, 2021 The Indiana Gazette)

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Failure is not an option at Twin Cities middle school (Nick Ferraro, October 22, 2021 The Indiana Gazette)

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WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. — Under a new grading system at a White Bear Lake middle school, students no longer will be given an F grade — no matter how bad they did on an assignment or test or if it was turned in late or not at all.

Instead, the grading system that began last month at Sunrise Park Middle School will start out at 50 percent, with nothing below that for assignments, tests, quizzes and projects. School officials say the approach, which one teacher described as “equitable grading” and a districtwide initiative, is aimed at ensuring that grades accurately reflect how well the students know the material and take out behavioral factors.

But some parents say White Bear Lake’s new approach won’t motivate kids to excel and get work done on time, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

The new method is among several efforts to change the way schools grade students, especially during the pandemic. For the 2020-21 school year, the Minnesota Department of Education urged schools to maintain a “do-no-harm” philosophy. Students, the department said, should get to choose the option of receiving a letter grade if it’s going to help their grade-point average, or a pass/fail grade if it won’t.

In a video to parents, Sunrise Principal Christina Pierre explained their thinking by offering up a common situation from the past, when an F grade was classified as an I, or incomplete. Say a student received a B on one test, a C on another and then missed a third, which resulted in an incomplete test grade, or zero percentage points toward the overall grade. Taking all three grades into account, the student’s grade would also be an incomplete.

“That doesn’t seem fair, if two of the three grades are already passing grades, and only one of them, the student missed,” she said. “They shouldn’t have an overall grade of an ‘I.’”

So, the “solution,” she said, is to treat the incomplete grade the same as the B and the C by giving it a 50 percent, instead of zero.

Pierre said that students would still get an overall grade of incomplete in the class if they score less than 60 percent.

Students will be given 10 days to retake or revise tests and quizzes and projects to better their scores. That window will allow teachers to work with students so they can learn the material, instead of just taking them as soon as possible when perhaps they are not ready, she said.

“We realize that not every kid gets it the first time,” she said. “Some students need more time to learn something than others.”

Also as part of the new system, Sunrise is now going to include in overall grades “exactly what the student knows based on what we want them to learn,” she said, and therefore grades no longer will include behavior, attitude, tardiness and whether an assignment was turned in late.

“There’s other ways that we can communicate those things to parents, and so they’re not going to be included in grades,” she said. “We recognize that this is really increasing the rigor of grades, we’re insisting that students make sure that they learn the material.”

Rebekah Bradfield, a Sunrise parent and candidate for the White Bear Lake School Board, said she first was told about the new grading system from her seventh-grade daughter’s language arts teacher about a week into the school year. In the email, which Bradfield forwarded to the Pioneer Press, the teacher explains that it was implemented schoolwide this year “as we move forward with more equitable grading practices throughout the district.”

Pierre said the term “equitable grading” is “just another word for standards-based grading, which has been been around for 20 to 30 years. Standards-based grading is just about making sure that the grades communicate exactly what the student knows and is able to do.”

When asked about whether “equitable grading” involves addressing racial disparities in education, Pierre said, “I wouldn’t say it has nothing to do with it, but I wouldn’t say that it has everything to do with it. With everything we do, we need to be cognizant of how it impacts all of our students and our sub-populations.”

Bradfield said she dug into the goals of the district’s equity policies and they have a lot to do with grading. According to the district’s latest workforce and achievement and integration progress report, which was presented to the school board last month, the district wants enrollment in advanced high school courses to mirror the general student population in terms of race and family income.

Bradfield also pointed to a recent news release on the district’s website announcing that Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak was named this year’s “Superintendent of the Year” by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. It states the district has conducted an equity audit and, “in light of the killing of George Floyd and how conversations across the nation have evolved during this past year,” the district is “positioned to develop and implement both meaningful and actionable equity strategies, including through grading.”

“Grading can be one of the largest areas in which systemic racism and inequities are perpetuated,” the release states. “Kazmierczak and WBLAS believe grades should be a measure of what a student knows and has mastered in a given course. Grading should not be a behavior punishment and should not be a measure of how well a student can survive stress at home. Under Dr. Kazmierczak’s leadership and in line with the district’s strategic plan and commitment to eliminating systemic racism, the district began tackling grading disparities a year ago when they dramatically changed their grading practices.”

Pierre said other secondary schools in the district are also doing some aspects of the new strategy, but was unsure to what extent.

“As a district, as any functional organization should, we are always reviewing our policies and our procedures and our systems to make sure we’re functioning as well as possible,” she said. “And so we should always be updating and improving what we do, and so this is just part of it.”

But Bradfield said the new grading system gives students little to no incentive to do the work on time — and she is not alone. She said she’s heard concerns from parents and has read them in parent Facebook groups.

“They have very similar concerns as I do,” she said, “where they’re saying that it’s going to look good on paper, but the kids are not going to be ready for real life.”

My thoughts
Honestly this is a mixed bag for me. I understand the idea behind this course but I also see the many problems with this plan of attack. I believe that there should be a type of behavior grading around attendance and other factors like showing up tardy and skipping class. However, I also agree that it shouldn't be such a factor that someone can completely fail the class off of it (at this level). The idea that students can't fail seems like a bad idea, especially in the type of advanced society we live in. Going from failing to never getting lower than a fifty percent could be a big negative for the communities surrounding the areas and even negatively impact the requirements for all students across the United States. Pushing the base grade to a fifty percent in some school districts may lead to grades, GPA requirements and test scores on things like the ACT and SAT to dramatically increase even though there isn't a change nationwide. I would have to say it should be important that students are in class and that we support schedule and respecting deadlines. This is even more important if students plan on attending college so that there isn't even more of a culture shock than there currently is.

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WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. - Under a new grading system at a White Bear Lake middle school, students no longer will be given an F grade - no matter how bad they did on an assignment or test or if it was turned in late or not at all.

Instead, the grading system that began last month at Sunrise Park Middle School will start out at 50 percent, with nothing below that for assignments, tests, quizzes and projects. School officials say the approach, which one teacher described as "equitable grading" and a districtwide initiative, is aimed at ensuring that grades accurately reflect how well the students know the material and take out behavioral factors.

But some parents say White Bear Lake's new approach won't motivate kids to excel and get work done on time, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

The new method is among several efforts to change the way schools grade students, especially during the pandemic. For the 2020-21 school year, the Minnesota Department of Education urged schools to maintain a "do-no-harm" philosophy. Students, the department said, should get to choose the option of receiving a letter grade if it's going to help their grade-point average, or a pass/fail grade if it won't.

In a video to parents, Sunrise Principal Christina Pierre explained their thinking by offering up a common situation from the past, when an F grade was classified as an I, or incomplete. Say a student received a B on one test, a C on another and then missed a third, which resulted in an incomplete test grade, or zero percentage points toward the overall grade. Taking all three grades into account, the student's grade would also be an incomplete.

"That doesn't seem fair, if two of the three grades are already passing grades, and only one of them, the student missed," she said. "They shouldn't have an overall grade of an 'I.'"

So, the "solution," she said, is to treat the incomplete grade the same as the B and the C by giving it a 50 percent, instead of zero.

Pierre said that students would still get an overall grade of incomplete in the class if they score less than 60 percent.

Students will be given 10 days to retake or revise tests and quizzes and projects to better their scores. That window will allow teachers to work with students so they can learn the material, instead of just taking them as soon as possible when perhaps they are not ready, she said.

"We realize that not every kid gets it the first time," she said. "Some students need more time to learn something than others."

Also as part of the new system, Sunrise is now going to include in overall grades "exactly what the student knows based on what we want them to learn," she said, and therefore grades no longer will include behavior, attitude, tardiness and whether an assignment was turned in late.

"There's other ways that we can communicate those things to parents, and so they're not going to be included in grades," she said. "We recognize that this is really increasing the rigor of grades, we're insisting that students make sure that they learn the material."

Rebekah Bradfield, a Sunrise parent and candidate for the White Bear Lake School Board, said she first was told about the new grading system from her seventh-grade daughter's language arts teacher about a week into the school year. In the email, which Bradfield forwarded to the Pioneer Press, the teacher explains that it was implemented schoolwide this year "as we move forward with more equitable grading practices throughout the district."

Pierre said the term "equitable grading" is "just another word for standards-based grading, which has been been around for 20 to 30 years. Standards-based grading is just about making sure that the grades communicate exactly what the student knows and is able to do."

When asked about whether "equitable grading" involves addressing racial disparities in education, Pierre said, "I wouldn't say it has nothing to do with it, but I wouldn't say that it has everything to do with it. With everything we do, we need to be cognizant of how it impacts all of our students and our sub-populations."

Bradfield said she dug into the goals of the district's equity policies and they have a lot to do with grading. According to the district's latest workforce and achievement and integration progress report, which was presented to the school board last month, the district wants enrollment in advanced high school courses to mirror the general student population in terms of race and family income.

Bradfield also pointed to a recent news release on the district's website announcing that Superintendent Wayne Kazmierczak was named this year's "Superintendent of the Year" by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators. It states the district has conducted an equity audit and, "in light of the killing of George Floyd and how conversations across the nation have evolved during this past year," the district is "positioned to develop and implement both meaningful and actionable equity strategies, including through grading."

"Grading can be one of the largest areas in which systemic racism and inequities are perpetuated," the release states. "Kazmierczak and WBLAS believe grades should be a measure of what a student knows and has mastered in a given course. Grading should not be a behavior punishment and should not be a measure of how well a student can survive stress at home. Under Dr. Kazmierczak's leadership and in line with the district's strategic plan and commitment to eliminating systemic racism, the district began tackling grading disparities a year ago when they dramatically changed their grading practices."

Pierre said other secondary schools in the district are also doing some aspects of the new strategy, but was unsure to what extent.

"As a district, as any functional organization should, we are always reviewing our policies and our procedures and our systems to make sure we're functioning as well as possible," she said. "And so we should always be updating and improving what we do, and so this is just part of it."

But Bradfield said the new grading system gives students little to no incentive to do the work on time - and she is not alone. She said she's heard concerns from parents and has read them in parent Facebook groups.

"They have very similar concerns as I do," she said, "where they're saying that it's going to look good on paper, but the kids are not going to be ready for real life."

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Failure is not an option at Twin Cities middle school

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WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. - Under a new grading system at a White Bear Lake middle school, students no longer will be given an F grade - no matter how bad they did on an assignment or test or if it was turned in late or not at all.

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Teacher placed on leave after video shows her wearing makeshift headdress and mimicking Native American dance during class (Li Cohen, October 23, 2021. CBS News)

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Teacher placed on leave after video shows her wearing makeshift headdress and mimicking Native American dance during class (Li Cohen, October 23, 2021. CBS News)

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A high school teacher from Riverside, California has been placed on leave after viral videos show her mocking Indigenous cultures during a math class this week. The teacher, wearing what appears to be a plastic headband with paper cutout feathers to look like a headdress, is seen in videos jumping around the room screeching "SoCahToa," a shortened phrase for teaching trigonometry functions, and "tomahawk chopping."

Indigenous woman and business owner Akalei Brown posted the videos on Thursday, which she says she received from an Indigenous student who filmed the incident in his math class. The student allegedly told Brown that he "felt that violence was being committed against him and he had the right to record," according to her Instagram post.

The footage shows the teacher dancing around the room, jumping on tables, screaming, and screeching "SohCahToa" while also doing what is supposed to resemble a "tomahawk chop." "SohCahToa" is a controversial shortened phrase commonly used to teach trigonometry functions sine, cosine and tangent.

While the teacher was doing the dance, she had drawings pulled up on the class projector of stick figures with headdresses, rocks and teepees. The teacher then sat on top of her desk at the front of the classroom and pretended to pray to a water goddess.

"Water goddess, again I ask you, please tell me the secret Indian chant," she says in the video, before laughing. "Because obviously this is ridiculous."

She also made comments about a "rock god," saying he "spit out" several rocks that she used during her demonstration.

"The rock god did this," she told her students. "Thank you, rock god."

In a statement published Thursday, the Riverside Unified School District said the teacher is one of their own and that her "behaviors are completely unacceptable and an offensive depiction of the vast and expansive Native American cultures and practices."

The teacher, who remained unnamed, has been placed on leave while the school district investigates the incident, the district said. At a board meeting that day, the district's superintendent Renee Hill said the teacher's "words and actions, done during class time, were highly insulting and marginalizing to Native American and Indigenous cultures, among others."

"This has our full attention and it will be addressed expeditiously," Hill said.

Brown posted a video of the board meeting, during which a young Indigenous girl confronted board members about the video. Brown, an Indigenous woman who serves as a Native history and culture consultant, has said she is the official spokesperson for the family, as they do not want to be identified for safety reasons.

"When I saw that video of her, I just thought that I just was going to explode," the young girl says. "...She's racist and that just makes me so mad. Me and my people, we don't have our rights still. ... I always feel so sad. I don't like how people are treating us. They treat us bad, they bully us."

John Wesley North High School posted a photo of the district's original statement, saying the teacher in question is one of their own.

"Her actions were marginalizing, especially to Native Americans," the school wrote on Instagram. "This behavior is not condoned or tolerated... It goes against our core values and beliefs and values of equity and well-being."

The incident sparked massive backlash online. Popular Indigenous TikToker Lance Tsosie, who is known for their "hey colonizer" videos, posted the footage, saying the video is "racist, ignorant and disgusting."

"This behavior is not a good representation for your school," Tsosie said, encouraging followers to contact the school and hold the teacher accountable, but also enforce diversity and equity trainings for teachers.

My thoughts
At this point in the United States acceptance and development the vast majority of people are open to change and progress. This case is the polar opposite and part of the minority. The thought that using this kind of action in the classroom is allowed is disgusting. All that can really be said is that she should be held accountable for her actions and that due process must take its proper course. I don't think that we should target her personally because doing that gives her the attention she cried for when acting like this. I hope this is eye opening for all educators and staff members of school districts across the country and even around the globe. Prime examples like this are sad to see but it goes to show that there are people like this out there and that our attention to it can prevent teachers or staff members from pushing out these kinds of opinions, biases, and actions before they happen or have a lasting impact like this.

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A high school teacher from Riverside, California has been placed on leave after viral videos show her mocking Indigenous cultures during a math class this week. The teacher, wearing what appears to be a plastic headband with paper cutout feathers to look like a headdress, is seen in videos jumping around the room screeching "SoCahToa," a shortened phrase for teaching trigonometry functions, and "tomahawk chopping."

Indigenous woman and business owner Akalei Brown posted the videos on Thursday, which she says she received from an Indigenous student who filmed the incident in his math class. The student allegedly told Brown that he "felt that violence was being committed against him and he had the right to record," according to her Instagram post.

The footage shows the teacher dancing around the room, jumping on tables, screaming, and screeching "SohCahToa" while also doing what is supposed to resemble a "tomahawk chop." "SohCahToa" is a controversial shortened phrase commonly used to teach trigonometry functions sine, cosine and tangent.

While the teacher was doing the dance, she had drawings pulled up on the class projector of stick figures with headdresses, rocks and teepees. The teacher then sat on top of her desk at the front of the classroom and pretended to pray to a water goddess.

"Water goddess, again I ask you, please tell me the secret Indian chant," she says in the video, before laughing. "Because obviously this is ridiculous."

She also made comments about a "rock god," saying he "spit out" several rocks that she used during her demonstration.

"The rock god did this," she told her students. "Thank you, rock god."

In a statement published Thursday, the Riverside Unified School District said the teacher is one of their own and that her "behaviors are completely unacceptable and an offensive depiction of the vast and expansive Native American cultures and practices."

The teacher, who remained unnamed, has been placed on leave while the school district investigates the incident, the district said. At a board meeting that day, the district's superintendent Renee Hill said the teacher's "words and actions, done during class time, were highly insulting and marginalizing to Native American and Indigenous cultures, among others."

"This has our full attention and it will be addressed expeditiously," Hill said.

Brown posted a video of the board meeting, during which a young Indigenous girl confronted board members about the video. Brown, an Indigenous woman who serves as a Native history and culture consultant, has said she is the official spokesperson for the family, as they do not want to be identified for safety reasons.

"When I saw that video of her, I just thought that I just was going to explode," the young girl says. "...She's racist and that just makes me so mad. Me and my people, we don't have our rights still. ... I always feel so sad. I don't like how people are treating us. They treat us bad, they bully us."

John Wesley North High School posted a photo of the district's original statement, saying the teacher in question is one of their own.

"Her actions were marginalizing, especially to Native Americans," the school wrote on Instagram. "This behavior is not condoned or tolerated... It goes against our core values and beliefs and values of equity and well-being."

The incident sparked massive backlash online. Popular Indigenous TikToker Lance Tsosie, who is known for their "hey colonizer" videos, posted the footage, saying the video is "racist, ignorant and disgusting."

"This behavior is not a good representation for your school," Tsosie said, encouraging followers to contact the school and hold the teacher accountable, but also enforce diversity and equity trainings for teachers.

Trending News

Li Cohen

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Teacher placed on leave after video shows her wearing makeshift headdress and mimicking Native American dance during class

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Viral videos show the teacher wearing a headdress seemingly made of paper cutout feathers while she dances during what was supposed to be a trigonometry lesson.

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Southlake school leader tells teachers to balance Holocaust books with 'opposing' views (Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton, October 14, 2021)

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Southlake school leader tells teachers to balance Holocaust books with 'opposing' views (Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia Hylton, October 14, 2021)

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SOUTHLAKE, Texas — A top administrator with the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake advised teachers last week that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also offer students access to a book from an “opposing” perspective, according to an audio recording obtained by NBC News.

Gina Peddy, the Carroll school district’s executive director of curriculum and instruction, made the comment Friday afternoon during a training session on which books teachers can have in classroom libraries. The training came four days after the Carroll school board, responding to a parent’s complaint, voted to reprimand a fourth grade teacher who had kept an anti-racism book in her classroom.

A Carroll staff member secretly recorded the Friday training and shared the audio with NBC News.

“Just try to remember the concepts of [House Bill] 3979,” Peddy said in the recording, referring to a new Texas law that requires teachers to present multiple perspectives when discussing “widely debated and currently controversial” issues. “And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust,” Peddy continued, “that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives.”

“How do you oppose the Holocaust?” one teacher said in response.

“Believe me,” Peddy said. “That’s come up.”

Another teacher wondered aloud if she would have to pull down “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry, or other historical novels that tell the story of the Holocaust from the perspective of victims. It’s not clear if Peddy heard the question in the commotion or if she answered.

Peddy did not respond to messages requesting comment. In a written response to a question about Peddy’s remarks, Carroll spokeswoman Karen Fitzgerald said the district is trying to help teachers comply with the new state law and an updated version that will go into effect in December, Texas Senate Bill 3.

“Our district recognizes that all Texas teachers are in a precarious position with the latest legal requirements,” Fitzgerald wrote, noting that the district’s interpretation of the new Texas law requires teachers to provide balanced perspectives not just during classroom instruction, but in the books that are available to students in class during free time. “Our purpose is to support our teachers in ensuring they have all of the professional development, resources and materials needed. Our district has not and will not mandate books be removed nor will we mandate that classroom libraries be unavailable.”

Fitzgerald said that teachers who are unsure about a specific book “should visit with their campus principal, campus team and curriculum coordinators about appropriate next steps.”

Clay Robison, a spokesman for the Texas State Teachers Association, a union representing educators, said there’s nothing in the new Texas law explicitly dealing with classroom libraries. Robison said the book guidelines at Carroll, a suburban school district near Fort Worth, are an “overreaction” and a “misinterpretation” of the law. Three other Texas education policy experts agreed.

“We find it reprehensible for an educator to require a Holocaust denier to get equal treatment with the facts of history,” Robison said. “That’s absurd. It’s worse than absurd. And this law does not require it.”

State Sen. Bryan Hughes, an East Texas Republican who wrote Senate Bill 3, denied that the law requires teachers to provide opposing views on what he called matters of “good and evil” or to get rid of books that offer only one perspective on the Holocaust.

“That’s not what the bill says,” Hughes said in an interview Wednesday when asked about the Carroll book guidelines. “I’m glad we can have this discussion to help elucidate what the bill says, because that’s not what the bill says.”

Six Carroll teachers — including four who were in the room to hear Peddy’s remarks — spoke to NBC News on the condition of anonymity, worried that they would be punished for discussing their concerns publicly. They said district leaders have sent mixed messages about which books are appropriate in classrooms and what actions they should be taking.

“Teachers are literally afraid that we’re going to be punished for having books in our classes,” an elementary school teacher said. “There are no children’s books that show the ‘opposing perspective’ of the Holocaust or the ‘opposing perspective’ of slavery. Are we supposed to get rid of all of the books on those subjects?”

After this article was published, Carroll ISD posted a statement on Facebook from Superintendent Lane Ledbetter saying that Peddy’s advice to teachers was “in no way to convey that the Holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history.”

“Additionally, we recognize there are not two sides of the Holocaust,” he wrote in the post. “As we continue to work through implementation of HB [House Bill] 3979, we also understand this bill does not require an opposing viewpoint on historical facts,” he added, referring to the new Texas law.

Ledbetter said that the district would work to add clarity to its expectations for teachers.

The debate in Southlake over which books should be allowed in schools is part of a broader national movement led by parents opposed to lessons on racism, history and LGBTQ issues that some conservatives have falsely branded as critical race theory. A group of Southlake parents has been fighting for more than a year to block new diversity and inclusion programs at Carroll, one of the top-ranked school districts in Texas.

Late last year, one of those parents complained when her daughter brought home a copy of “This Book Is Anti-Racist” by Tiffany Jewell from her fourth grade teacher’s class library. The mother also complained about how the teacher responded to her concerns.

Carroll administrators investigated and decided against disciplining the teacher. But last week, on Oct. 4, the Carroll school board voted 3-2 to overturn the district’s decision and formally reprimanded the teacher, setting off unease among Carroll teachers who said they fear the board won’t protect them if a parent complains about a book in their class.

Teachers grew more concerned last Thursday, Oct. 7, when Carroll administrators sent an email directing them to close their classroom libraries “until they can be vetted by the teacher.” Another email sent to teachers that day included a rubric that asked them to grade books based on whether they provide multiple perspectives and to set aside any that present singular, dominant narratives “in such a way that it ... may be considered offensive.”

In a statement, Fitzgerald, the district spokeswoman, said the training session was planned weeks ago in response to the new Texas law and was not related to the school board’s vote to reprimand a teacher. Fitzgerald acknowledged that the timing of the board’s disciplinary vote and the release of new class library guidelines caused “confusion and worry” among teachers.

But the district’s inconsistent messaging to staff members and parents since then has also caused confusion, teachers said.

Last Friday, after NBC News published an article detailing the district’s book instructions and plans for staff training that afternoon, Carroll Superintendent Ledbetter sent an email to parents denying that the district was asking teachers to remove books — even though the district had instructed teachers a day earlier to close their classroom libraries until every book could be vetted.

“I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight,” Ledbetter wrote in the Friday note to parents. “The district has not mandated that any book be removed from teachers’ classroom libraries. Additionally, the district has not provided any training on removing books.

About an hour before Ledbetter’s note went out on Friday afternoon, Carroll teachers were receiving a different message, according to the audio of the training session recorded by a staff member and shared with NBC News.

“The information we have right now is that classroom libraries cannot be used until they have been vetted,” an assistant principal can be heard telling a group of elementary school teachers, instructing them to use the rubric sent by the district to determine which books are appropriate. “So you do need to go back to school and separate the books that have been vetted, and those books need to be available to students. The other ones do not need to be available to students until they have been vetted.”

A teacher can be heard arguing that the guidelines shared by the district for determining the appropriateness of classroom books are too subjective. Another said she didn’t feel safe keeping any books in her classroom following the school board’s vote to reprimand one of her colleagues.

After 30 minutes, Peddy, the district’s director of curriculum and instruction, arrived at the training and tried to reassure the teachers. She told them not to worry and that district leaders supported them.

“We are in the middle of a political mess,” Peddy said in the recording, acknowledging that teachers are afraid. “And you are in the middle of a political mess. And so we just have to do the best that we can.”

Peddy then told the teachers to hold off on closing their class libraries, according to the recording. She said she was expecting Fitzgerald, the district spokeswoman, to send out a statement in response to the NBC News article from that morning.

“There’s a general statement coming out from the district,” Peddy said in the recording. “I have no idea what it’s going to say. And so I think we need to wait and see what that says, and then we come back and determine how and what your library classrooms are going to look like.”

After several teachers complained in the recording about the changing messages, Peddy told them she was going to step aside to call another district leader, Deputy Superintendent Courtney Carpenter, to ask for clarification.

Peddy returned a few minutes later, according to teachers who were there. In the audio, Peddy explained that teachers should be working to ensure that the books in their classes present opposing viewpoints — and offered the Holocaust as an example. Based on her call with Carpenter, Peddy said, teachers should disregard the earlier instructions to close their class libraries as they worked to read through all of the books, which she acknowledged could take weeks.

Carpenter did not respond to a message requesting comment. Fitzgerald said the Holocaust example given by Peddy did not come from Carpenter.

“I do know that you feel like it’s putting you at risk,” Peddy told teachers on the recording. “I do know that. But I also know that we’re going to do what’s best for our kids. And we’re going to stand behind you on this.”

The recorder was still running a few minutes later, after the session had ended, as a group of teachers gathered in a hallway and discussed what they had just heard.

“I am offended as hell by somebody who says I should have an opposing view to the Holocaust in my library,” a teacher said, her voice quavering.

Another replied: “They don’t understand what they have done. And they are going to lose incredible teachers, myself potentially being with them.”

My thoughts
When I first read the title I had no idea what I was getting into. The story just goes to show how our world as educators is everchanging, and that doesn't always mean for the better. The difficulty with wanting to be unbiased is that you need that bias in some cases. The other big deal is that teachers don't push their biases in the classroom by use of spoken and written word. There will always be those who get offended and want to have a dramatic change, but we should be willing to understand certain decisions such as keeping biased books on the holocaust. The final quote in the article really shows a side of educators that could negatively affect the workforce for teachers. When these changes are made and forced upon teachers they will push back and leave a void where it is currently needed most. I believe that this needs to be thought out better and reimplemented for certain subjects or topics that need to be unbiased. Because, as an aspiring historian, there are just some events you cannot be biased about.

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Books on Holocaust should be balanced with ‘opposing’ views, Southlake school leader tells teachers

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Teachers in the Carroll school district say they fear being punished for stocking classrooms with books dealing with racism, slavery and now the Holocaust.

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Education culture war finds a new target: Pride flags in classrooms (Matt Lavietes, October 3, 2021. NBC news)

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Education culture war finds a new target: Pride flags in classrooms (Matt Lavietes, October 3, 2021. NBC news)

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Pride flags, which were created to promote unity, are being called political and divisive in some schools across the country. A recent example: An Oregon school board on Tuesday banned educators from displaying the flags.

“We don’t pay our teachers to push their political views on our students. That’s not their place,” a school board member in Newberg, Brian Shannon, the policy’s author, said at a recorded board meeting.

Several other school officials and students around the country have targeted LGBTQ symbols. A teacher resigned in Missouri last month after he was told to remove a rainbow flag from his classroom and that he couldn’t discuss “sexual preference” at school. Students at a high school near Jacksonville, Florida, were accused several weeks ago of harassing classmates in a Gay Straight Alliance club and stomping on pride flags. And in August, pride symbols were targeted at a high school near Dallas, where rainbow stickers were ordered to be scraped off classroom doors.

In most cases, administrators have said the LGBTQ emblems are divisive and “political.” LGBTQ students, parents and teachers affected by the bans contend that the new rules harm a vulnerable group of young people.

“Feeling safe should not be political,” said Victor Frausto, 16, a student at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, just outside Dallas.

“For me, when a teacher put up that sticker, it basically conveyed the message that ‘when you come in here, you will not be hated for who you love or what you identify as,’” said Frausto, who is gay.

The decision to ban the rainbow pride stickers sent a very different message, Frausto said.

“By seeing how those stickers were removed, you get the message that ‘I do not fit in here, I should not be here,’” he said.

Frausto, who is the president of his school’s Gay Straight Alliance, or GSA, said the rainbow stickers were removed overnight without warning.

He and other GSA members took it to the attention of their GSA sponsors, a group of teachers who had already received an email from the school district about the matter.

“While we appreciate the sentiment of reaching out to students who may not previously always had such support, we want to set a different tone this year,” read the email, which a teacher shared with NBC News.

The educators reassured the group that they would push for an explanation and fight to get the stickers back on classroom doors, Frausto said. But within the next several days, two teachers were escorted off campus, he said.

A spokesperson for the Irving School District declined to identify the teachers and, when asked about their alleged removals, told NBC News that the district “does not comment on employee-related matters.”

In response to the sticker removal, hundreds of students staged a class walkout last week. In a video posted Wednesday by the community-based journalism platform Smash Da Topic, students can be heard shouting, “Bring our stickers back!”

After the protest, the district defended the move in a statement as a way “to ensure that all students feel safe regardless of background or identity” by maintaining political impartiality.

Newberg administrators also cited political neutrality in defending their policy. After having come under fierce criticism for prohibiting pride and Black Lives Matter flags specifically, school board members broadened a ban last month to block educators from displaying all symbols that the board deemed “political, quasi-political or controversial.”

“Their place is to teach the approved curriculum, and that’s all this policy does, is ensure that’s happening in our schools,” Shannon, one of the seven school board members who spearheaded the policy, said at a livestreamed board meeting Tuesday night.

The Newberg City Council and the Newberg Education Association, a union representing 280 educators and staff members in the district, have denounced the policy, and the Oregon State Board of Education has asked for it to be revoked. Community members have also petitioned to recall Shannon.

“As a gay man with no children and no real desire to have children, I feel like I should never know the names of the people on the school board, let alone have to stand up against them,” said Zachary Goff of Newberg, who launched the petition, which has gotten over 1,000 signatures.

“I think I speak for a lot of people in my community, but we can’t sit here and let this happen,” Goff added. “They picked a really bad town to be the guinea pig.”

Chelsea Shotts, 29, who is bisexual and works at an elementary school as a behavioral interventionist in the school district, said her mental health has deteriorated since the district introduced the policy over the summer.

“If I only cared about myself, I would just quit — like, easily quit and leave,” Shotts said. “But the thing is I’m in Newberg and I’m in Dundee because I love these students, and they deserve everything.

“I would rather be able to stay here and keep doing the work instead of being attacked by a culture war that four board members started,” Shotts added.

School administrators aren’t the only people who have gone after pride flags and LGBTQ symbols this school year.

Police in Blacksburg, Virginia, are investigating several thefts of pride flags outside a Virginia Tech religious center. In one case, the LGBTQ symbols were replaced with two Confederate flags. And in Georgia, a high schooler was charged last month with attacking another student draped in a pride flag in a school cafeteria.

Advocates have long been warning educators about the disproportionate rates of bullying, harassment and mental health issues plaguing LGBTQ youths.

A survey this year by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, found that 42 percent of the nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youths who were surveyed seriously considered suicide within the last year. More than half of transgender and nonbinary youths who were surveyed seriously considered suicide, it also found.

A separate survey conducted by The Trevor Project last year found that LGBTQ youths who reported having at least one LGBTQ-affirming space also reported lower rates of attempting suicide.

Beth Woolsy, who is bisexual and has two LGBTQ children who attend school in Newberg, said the harrowing numbers weigh on her as she sends her kids back to school every day.

“When we understand that it’s truly life and death that we’re talking about as we send our kids to school, and then they’ve taken away the safety of knowing who they can go to and who they can expect to advocate for them, it is really scary,” she said.

My thoughts
This has become a big thing in teaching and will surely be part of our careers. The argument whether these symbols should be aloud in schools or not is a messy one with arguments that have great traction on both sides. I would have to say that it is important for teachers to show who they are in a classroom but they cannot allow their political or controversial beliefs be the central scene. These images also give a target for people looking to cause trouble as shown in the article. The other major thing that comes to mind for me is the line between teacher and friend. We should be there to support and help our students but we can't be getting too close or involved because that can cross that line. These are only two parts of an argument and its hard to really dive into them all because it is so important to so many people. I believe that as long as the school district changes things we will be victim to that but we need to accept it and challenge it professionally.

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Pride flags, created to promote unity, are now being called political and divisive in some schools across America. In just one recent example, an Oregon school board on Tuesday banned educators from displaying the flags.

"We don't pay our teachers to push their political views on our students. That's not their place," a school board member in Newberg and the policy's author, Brian Shannon, said at a recorded board meeting.

Several other instances have occurred of school officials and students around the country targeting LGBTQ symbols. A Missouri teacher resigned last month after he was told to remove a rainbow flag from his classroom and that he couldn't discuss "sexual preference" at school. Students at a high school near Jacksonville, Florida, were accused several weeks ago of harassing classmates in a Gay Straight Alliance club and stomping on Pride flags. And in August, Pride symbols were targeted at a high school near Dallas, where rainbow stickers were ordered to be scraped off of classroom doors.

In most of the cases where school officials are targeting the symbols themselves, administrators have defended their actions by saying that the LGBTQ emblems are divisive and " political." But LGBTQ students, parents and teachers affected by the bans contend that the new rules are causing harm to a vulnerable group of young people.

"Feeling safe should not be political," said Victor Frausto, 16, who is gay and a student at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, just outside Dallas. "For me, when a teacher put up that sticker, it basically conveyed the message that, 'When you come in here, you will not be hated for who you love or what you identify as.'"

The decision by school officials to ban the rainbow Pride stickers sent a very different message, Frausto added.

"By seeing how those stickers were removed, you get the message that 'I do not fit in here, I should not be here,'" he said.

Frausto, who is the president of his school's Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), said that the rainbow stickers were removed overnight without warning.

When he and other GSA student members noticed, they brought it to the attention of their GSA sponsors, a group of teachers who had already received an email from the school district concerning the matter.

"While we appreciate the sentiment of reaching out to students who may not previously always had such support, we want to set a different tone this year," read the email, which a teacher shared with NBC News.

The educators reassured the group that they would push for an explanation and fight to get the stickers back on classroom doors, Frausto said. But within the next several days, two teachers were escorted off campus, according to Frausto.

A spokesperson for the Irving School District declined to identify the teachers and, when asked about their alleged removals, told NBC News that the district "does not comment on employee-related matters."

In response to the sticker removal, hundreds of students staged a class walkout last week. In a video posted Wednesday by the community-based journalism platform Smash Da Topic, students can be heard shouting, "Bring our stickers back!"

Following the protest, the district, in a statement, defended the move as a way "to ensure that all students feel safe regardless of background or identity" by maintaining political impartiality.

In Newberg, administrators also cited political neutrality in defending their policy. After fierce criticism for prohibiting Pride and Black Lives Matter flags specifically, school board members broadened a ban in September to block educators from displaying all symbols the board deemed "political, quasi-political or controversial."

"Their place is to teach the approved curriculum, and that's all this policy does is ensure that's happening in our schools," Shannon, one of the seven Newberg School District board members who spearheaded the policy, said at a livestreamed board meeting Tuesday night.

The Newberg City Council and the Newberg Education Association, a union representing 280 educators and staff in the District, have denounced the policy, and the Oregon State Board of Education has asked for it to be revoked. Newberg community members have also petitioned to recall Shannon.

"As a gay man with no children and no real desire to have children, I feel like I should never know the names of the people on the school board, let alone have to stand up against them," said Zachary Goff, a Newberg resident who launched the petition, which has received over 1,000 signatures.

"I think I speak for a lot of people in my community, but we can't sit here and let this happen," Goff added. "They picked a really bad town to be the guinea pig."

Chelsea Shotts, 29, who is bisexual and works at an elementary school as a behavioral interventionist within the Newberg School District, said her mental health has deteriorated since the district's policy was introduced over the summer.

"If I only cared about myself, I would just quit - like easily quit and leave," Shotts said. "But the thing is, I'm in Newberg and I'm in Dundee because I love these students and they deserve everything."

"I would rather be able to stay here and keep doing the work instead of being attacked by a culture war that four board members started," Shotts added.

School administrators are not the only ones who have gone after Pride flags and LGBTQ symbols this school year.

Police in Blacksburg, Virginia, are currently investigating several incidents of stolen Pride flags from outside a Virginia Tech religious center. In one case, the LGBTQ symbols were replaced with two Confederate flags. And in Georgia, a high schooler was charged last month for attacking another student draped in a Pride flag in a school cafeteria.

Advocates have long been warning educators of the disproportionate rates of bullying, harassment and mental health issues plaguing LGBTQ youth.

A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, found that 42 percent of the nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youth surveyed seriously considered suicide within the last year. More than half of transgender and nonbinary youth surveyed seriously considered suicide, it also found.

A separate survey conducted by The Trevor Project in 2020 found that LGBTQ youth who reported having at least one LGBTQ-affirming space reported lower rates of attempting suicide.

Beth Woolsy, who is bisexual and has two LGBTQ children who attend school in Newberg, said the harrowing numbers continue to weigh on her as she sends her kids back to school each day.

"When we understand that it's truly life and death that we're talking about as we send our kids to school, and then they've taken away the safety of knowing who they can go to and who they can expect to advocate for them, it is really scary," she said.

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Education culture war finds a new target: Pride flags in classrooms

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Pride flags, created to promote unity, are now being called political and divisive in some schools across America. In just one recent example, an Oregon school board on Tuesday banned educators from displaying the flags. "We don't pay our teachers to push their political views on our students.

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Nebraska school officials vow 'zero tolerance' for latest TikTok challenge (Zack Hammack, October 8, 2021. Lincoln Journal Star)

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Nebraska school officials vow 'zero tolerance' for latest TikTok challenge (Zack Hammack, October 8, 2021. Lincoln Journal Star)

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In the wake of a social media craze that left school bathrooms across the country vandalized, state education officials are sounding the alarm over yet another challenge circulating on the video-streaming app TikTok.

This time, teachers are the target.

The "slap a teacher" challenge on TikTok, which dares students to hit their teachers, appears to be latest in a string of monthly challenges planned over the course of the school year.

In September, the challenge encouraged students to steal items from their school's bathrooms — like soap dispensers, paper towel rolls and even toilet seats — and post their spoils with the devious licks hashtag on TikTok.

The hooliganism forced many Lincoln high schools and middle schools to close off bathrooms, enact tighter supervision and replace stolen supplies.

“There is zero humor in these so-called challenges," said Mike Dulaney, executive director of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, in a news release Friday. "This is criminal behavior. Vandalism is criminal behavior. Slapping another human being is criminal behavior."

Jenni Benson, president of the state's teachers union, said there will be "zero tolerance" for attacks on teachers.

"We are calling on parents to talk with their children and let them know that threatening and engaging in physical harm is not a joke," Benson said in a statement. "Such action is and will be treated as an assault." Lincoln Public Schools sent a message to teachers and families Friday, warning them of October's challenge and more possibly to come in the following months.

"We want to make it clear — any student who participates in these 'challenges' that are contrary to our Student Code of Conduct could face serious consequences ... not only at school, but possibly legally as we will work in collaboration with local law enforcement on anything that causes a safety concern," the district said in the message.

An LPS spokesperson said there were no reports of students engaging in the challenge Friday.

TikTok cracked down on the "devious licks" challenge last month, but had not taken action on the new hashtag as of Friday afternoon.

My thoughts
We have come to point in our society where we are finding humor in the most concerning of places. To ignore these "trends" and claim they could be anything other than harmful to everyone involved is almost and criminal as the acts themselves. The actions that have been taken to prevent this new "challenge" set the standard and keep any confusion in check.  Several stories have come forth discussing this topic and it has even made national news on several mainstream newspapers. I personally believe that stopping the problem before it starts is the right action to do with what we call the "slap your teacher challenge" and hope it'll set the standard for future problems involving our educators.

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In the wake of a social media craze that left school bathrooms across the country vandalized, state education officials are sounding the alarm over yet another challenge circulating on the video-streaming app TikTok.

This time, teachers are the target.

The "slap a teacher" challenge on TikTok, which dares students to hit their teachers, appears to be latest in a string of monthly challenges planned over the course of the school year.

In September, the challenge encouraged students to steal items from their school's bathrooms - like soap dispensers, paper towel rolls and even toilet seats - and post their spoils with the devious licks hashtag on TikTok.

The hooliganism forced many Lincoln high schools and middle schools to close off bathrooms, enact tighter supervision and replace stolen supplies.

"There is zero humor in these so-called challenges," said Mike Dulaney, executive director of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, in a news release Friday. "This is criminal behavior. Vandalism is criminal behavior. Slapping another human being is criminal behavior."

Jenni Benson, president of the state's teachers union, said there will be "zero tolerance" for attacks on teachers.

"We are calling on parents to talk with their children and let them know that threatening and engaging in physical harm is not a joke," Benson said in a statement. "Such action is and will be treated as an assault."

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Nebraska school officials vow 'zero tolerance' for latest TikTok challenge

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In the wake of a social media craze that left school bathrooms across the country vandalized, state education officials are sounding the alarm over yet another challenge circulating on the video-streaming app TikTok. This time, teachers are the target.