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on November 14, 2017
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Video: Edina High School Students Refuse to Stand for Veterans

Written by Tom Steward
in Education

This video shows how extremely disrespectful some students at Edina High School were towards veterans at a school assembly to commemorate Veterans Day last Friday. In a message to Edina parents as tensions mounted over the incident yesterday, Superintendent John Schultz praised the students who refused to stand during the ceremony. During one of the EHS assemblies, a small group of students chose to peacefully protest during the playing of the national anthem. Since the event, EHS administration engaged in multiple conversations both with the students who protested and with others who expressed their concerns about the protests. In addition to discussions of...

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on November 14, 2017
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How “Creepy” is Video Targeting Edina High School Conservative Students?

Written by Tom Steward
in Education

Members of the Youth Conservatives Club at Edina High School were targeted yesterday by a threatening YouTube video. The video was apparently posted by an anonymous student wearing a Guy Fawkes mask under the YouTube account of Antifa EHS. The controversy erupted after a group of students refused to stand for the national anthem and playing of Taps last Friday at a Veterans Day school assembly. Edina Superintendent John Schultz characterized the video as "inflammatory and creepy" yet not an apparent threat to students' safety. But the Star Tribune reports the leader of the Edina YCC left school yesterday out of concern for...

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on November 13, 2017
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Ongoing Turmoil at Edina High School as Police Investigate Video [Updated]

Written by Tom Steward
in Education

The meltdown in Edina public schools has taken a turn for the worse. The Edina Police Department is now investigating a threatening online video posted by an anonymous group called EHS Anti-fascists, targeting members of the Youth Conservatives Club at Edina High School. The individual on the video was wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and could not be identified. But from the sound of it, the real fascists appear to be the apparent students behind the video. Over the years we have been watching you, your inability to condemn racism, your corruption of the EHS administration, your sanctioning of hate-speech towards innocent...

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on November 07, 2017
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Do mandatory fees trap students into supporting groups they don’t agree with?

Written by Catrin Wigfall
in Education

Mandatory student fees to support campus groups are a common practice at many colleges and universities. But lawmakers in Wisconsin and Minnesota want to give students the right to “opt out of required fees that go to clubs and causes with which they disagree,” as reported by the Washington Post. They [lawmakers] say their proposals would give students the right to vote their consciences when choosing how their money is divided up—and would slow the growth of student fees. [caption id="attachment_8291" align="aligncenter" width="510"] Source: Minnesota Daily[/caption] University of Minnesota Twin Cities students pay $436.60 in Student Service Fees per semester if they are registered...

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on November 06, 2017
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Parental Choice is Working: Why are the teachers’ union and Hollywood attacking charter schools?

Written by Kim Crockett
in Education

Charter schools are the “polite cousins of segregation,” in the words of Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Last year the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for a moratorium on charters. Film festivals are screening “Backpack Full of Cash,” a pro-union documentary narrated by Matt Damon that portrays charters as separate and unequal institutions....

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on October 31, 2017
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Teacher Reveals Required English Course Aims to Eradicate White Privilege at Edina High

Written by Katherine Kersten
in Education

As controversy swirls around the debate over the Edina public schools that Center of the American Experiment has launched, some charge the Center with exaggerating the political indoctrination going on in the district’s schools. They also say we fail to draw a connection between Edina district leaders’ embrace of an agenda based on racial identity politics and the district’s declining academic performance. Those who read Edina English teacher Jackie Roehl’s account of the hidden agenda of the high school’s notorious “Pre-AP English 10” course—written in an unguarded moment—can judge for themselves. The account is linked here. “Welcome to Pre-AP English 10, an...

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on October 30, 2017
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What Counts as a “Crisis” at the Teachers’ Pension Funds?

Written by Kim Crockett
in Education, Unions

TRA admits to a $30.7 billion liability but only has $21.2 billion to cover those promised pensions. TRA says based on the 2017 valuation, it only has $0.69 on the dollar to pay pensions to teachers. If there are no changes, it will only have 50% of funds in 2046. TRA used 2017 numbers because the markets were up—a lot. If it uses the 2016 valuation, the fund is expected to have only 37% of the needed funds in 2046. Why isn’t this a crisis? ...

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on October 26, 2017
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Edina Schools’ Equity Trainer Says Whites Must Change “From the Cells Out”

Written by Catrin Wigfall
in Education

The Center recently wrote about white privilege training Edina school bus drivers and custodians were forced to attend in 2012. The “training” program, led by Dr. Heather Hackman, focused on diversity, cultural competency, oppression, racism, and whiteness. The Center's post prompted a reader to confirm the district’s obsessive focus on racial equity is pushed on other Edina Public Schools (EPS) employees, as well: Heather Hackman operates Hackman Consulting Group—a consulting agency in Minneapolis—and consults nationally on “issues of deep diversity, equity and social justice and has focused most of her recent training work on issues of racism and white privilege, gender oppression,...

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on October 26, 2017
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Are Edina Public Schools Giving Taxpayer Money to the ACLU? [UPDATED]

Written by Katherine Kersten
in Education

Everyone in Edina has seen the “All Are Welcome Here” lawn signs that began popping up after the 2016 election. The signs were a response to—and a public repudiation of—Donald Trump’s victory. “All Are Welcome Here” signs, custom printed in Hornet green and white, are posted around Edina High School and at other Edina public schools. How did they get there? Who paid for them? Where are the profits from their purchase going? This Instagram post answers the first question. The signs were delivered by All Are Welcome Here, LLC, a start-up formed by several Twin Cities artists in the wake of...

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