on March 11, 2018

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Did Tim Klobuchar Lie to a Senate Committee?

Last Thursday, the Senate's E-12 Education Policy Committee held a hearing on proposed legislation that would require public schools to strive for academic balance when teaching controversial political subjects. I wrote about the proposed legislation and the hearing here. Several students and parents in the Edina public school system testified in favor of the proposal, along with the Center's Katherine Kersten. Tim Klobuchar, an Edina High School teacher, was one of those who testified against the legislation. In his testimony on Thursday, Klobuchar talked about events at Edina High School on the day after the November 2016 election. President Trump's victory...

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on March 10, 2018

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Middle School Experiential Learning Program Exposes Students to Different Career Field Every Month

Written by Catrin Wigfall

in Education

Metier is an experiential learning program that teaches students in grades 5 through 8 to build a life and career around “flow,” defined as the happiest state wherein you feel and perform your best. It achieves significant impact by bringing in community, colleges, organizations, and individuals to share education and career paths so students can sample 15 career fields over two years....

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on March 09, 2018

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Should Academic Balance Be Required in Public Schools?

Written by John Hinderaker

in Education

Yesterday, the Minnesota Senate's E-12 Finance Committee held a three-hour hearing on proposed legislation to require academic balance in the public schools. The push for this legislation arises out of the Center's exposure of political indoctrination and bullying in the Edina school system. American Experiment's Katherine Kersten testified in favor of the legislation, along with students from Edina High School. [caption id="attachment_9617" align="aligncenter" width="450"] Kersten is second from left[/caption] What would the proposed legislation do? This is the language of the bill, SF 2487: Section 1. [120B.25] ACADEMIC BALANCE POLICY. Subdivision 1. Policy required. A school board must adopt a written academic balance policy...

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on March 08, 2018

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Why Are Schools Busing Students to Protests?

Written by John Hinderaker

in Education

Today the Star Tribune reported that hundreds of students "walked out" of their schools to protest against guns and school shootings at the Capitol in St. Paul: The article itself repeats the "walk out" characterization, and otherwise implies that the students were at the Capitol on their own initiative: An idea that started with a little more than a dozen students ballooned into a huge crowd. Organizers of Wednesday’s protest said they turned to social media to mobilize students from different schools, urging them to wear their student colors and bring their loud voices. Similar walkouts are planned for other dates in March...

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on March 07, 2018

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Should Teachers Have the Right to Strike? A Look at West Virginia and the Twin Cities.

Written by Kim Crockett

in Education

Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom of allowing public employees to legally strike, especially when union members are sitting on the school board. If strikes are illegal, as we saw in West Virginia, it does not mean that teachers cannot strike. The chances of being fired are close to zero, whether the state is right to work or not....

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on March 05, 2018

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An Edina High School Student Writes

Written by John Hinderaker

in Education

Many Edina students, parents, teachers and staff have expressed their appreciation for our efforts to reform the politicized Edina school system. This email, from an Edina High School student, is typical: Mr. Hinderaker, I’m a student at Edina High School. Recently, my high school has been very divided. This may not be a new issue, but it is a constant distraction from learning. Students' views clash with the views of other students and even teachers. I believe that it’s very important to value other people’s opinions. In an education environment, I believe there should be a free-market of ideas, where people can...

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on March 02, 2018

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“School Discipline Gaps” in Minnesota: Are They Really a Mystery?

Written by John Hinderaker

in Education

This brief Associated Press article is a classic of the genre, on an increasingly important subject: A new study highlighting wide gaps in school discipline between Minnesota's white and minority students is raising concerns among state human rights leaders. Some would say that it should be raising concerns among leaders of minority groups whose students are behaving badly, so as to incur discipline. The report released Friday found students of color were twice as likely to be suspended or expelled as their white peers, despite making up a smaller share of students. The phrase "students of color" is telling. I will try to track...

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on March 01, 2018

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Word of Edina’s School Decline Is Spreading

Written by John Hinderaker

in Education

Our exposure of left-wing indoctrination, politically-motivated bullying and declining academic performance in the Edina public schools continues to reverberate. The story has gone national, with the Weekly Standard and the Drudge Report, among others, picking up on it. Here is another indication of the broad interest that the Edina story has generated. A YouTuber named Sean Fitzerald has produced an 11-minute video on "the complete failure that is the SJW [Social Justice Warrior] take over of the Edina school district." The video is based on Katherine Kersten's work, and he quotes liberally from our reports. You can tell Fitzgerald isn't from...

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on February 22, 2018

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U of M Faces Potential Lawsuit Over Barring Shapiro From Main Campus

Written by Tom Steward

in Education

The University of Minnesota continues to go out of its way to marginalize conservatives on campus. Perhaps the Republican-run Minnesota Legislature will find a way to make the bloated ranks of U of M administrators pay during the 2018 legislative session just underway. But a national foundation may beat them to it with a potential lawsuit over the school's foolish decision to banish Ben Shapiro, one of the most popular conservative speakers in the country, to the farm campus in St. Paul. Reports in the Star Tribune and other media note the U of M claims Shapiro represents a supposed security...

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on February 19, 2018

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Teachers Challenge Duluth Schools on Censoring ‘Mockingbird’ and ‘Huck Finn’

Written by Tom Steward

in Education

Duluth Public Schools' decision to remove two classic American novels from the district's curriculum has been ripped nationally. But now the de facto classroom censorship of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" finally seems to have struck a nerve locally, as well. The process by which administrators' reached their controversial decision has been questioned and criticized by a group of concerned citizens and educators in the Duluth News Tribune. The Arrowhead Reading Council, a professional organization that counts several current and former Duluth district teachers as members, sent a letter to School Board members and administration asking for...

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