Education

A toy school bus

Bell chimes in on education to distract from plain reality.

By Justin Katz | November 27, 2021 |

Progressive Democrat state senator Sam Bell is fascinating to watch. Some years ago, he was a participant in a debate I helped organize, and he made a perplexing statement about the number of tax cuts Rhode Island government had enacted.  Even watching such things closely, I had to go home and research what he might…

A pencil with eraser

School administrators and teachers should be aware that society is self-healing.

By Justin Katz | November 27, 2021 |

Of course, anybody who has known someone who refused to see a doctor about a broken bone knows that self-healing doesn’t always mean a desirable condition.  Sometimes bodily and social healing mechanisms render appendages less useful, or even liabilities. Anyway, the lesson comes to mind after reading Erika Sanzi’s concerns that school administrators and teachers…

Abuse during the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Yes, “equity audits” and “anti-racism” are critical race theory (CRT) in action.

By Justin Katz | November 26, 2021 |

Perhaps it feels redundant or like beating a dead horse for me to direct readers to Mike Gonzalez’s list of “The Five Lies of CRT,” but I have a feeling it’s a topic to which we have to return with reinforcements constantly.  The attempted gaslighting from radicals is simply too dogged.  Complacency is an enemy.…

Bob Walsh talks on A Lively Experiment 11/12/21

Walsh gives away the game for the local media and his union.

By Justin Katz | November 26, 2021 |

Referring to an appearance by National Education Association of Rhode Island director Bob Walsh on A Lively Experiment, Erika Sanzi plainly describes a reality of local media. Walsh’s offending claim was that Nicole Solas shouldn’t call herself a “stay-at-home mom” when she’s “in a different community at a different school committee meeting screaming at the top…

A water drop and ripples

When they think they’re among friends, they’ll admit that CRT, equity, and anti-racism are all one thing.

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2021 |

I’ve found it very strange.  Simply, plainly things like “equity audits” in our public schools are exercises of critical race theory (CRT).  It’s just a straightforward observation, as far as I can see. Nonetheless, people will object, even people I thought were relatively conservative and relatively clear of thought.  They’ll insist they are not the…

A water drop and ripples

Biden chooses union support over protecting children.

By Justin Katz | November 24, 2021 |

Stephen Green refers to this policy change as “the Pedophile Protection Act”: Joe Biden’s Department of Education is seeking to roll back a Trump-era effort to collect data on teacher-on-student sex crimes. “The department’s Office for Civil Rights will not ask school districts questions regarding teacher-on-student sexual assault allegations as part of its 2021-2022 Civil…

A water drop and ripples

At what point of domination do headlines stop pretending women are just catching up?

By Justin Katz | November 23, 2021 |

So, ho hum, 32 American students were chosen to study at the University of Oxford via Rhodes Scholarships, and surprise, surprise, the AP report amplifies the progressive stories within the story.  But at what point do the headlines stop promoting the disproportionate distribution of prestigious awards to females? The class of U.S. Rhodes scholars for…

A man with a mirror mask

Politics This Week with John DePetro: A Revealing Week

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

John and Justin cover lots of ground in this content-rich discussion of political news in the Ocean State.

A man fuels his car

RI dodged a notch of the progressive ratchet with the collapse of TCI.

By Justin Katz | November 22, 2021 |

I’ve been engaging in a back-and-forth discussion with a childhood acquaintance concerning the costs of public schools, trying to convey that the system is set up like a ratchet. When operating costs go up — for electricity, say — school districts insist that they cannot absorb the hit and pass it along to taxpayers.  It’s…

A toy school bus

Don’t doubt that the education establishment is moving forward with critical race theory.

By Justin Katz | November 19, 2021 |

In the course of my inquiries about the Equity Institute’s activities in the Portsmouth school system, I received this statement from Superintendent Thomas Kenworthy: The Portsmouth School Department contracted with the Equity Institute last spring to conduct a third-party analysis that we can use to inform our work around equity. We have a Strategic Plan…