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Students Told: ‘If You’re Christian, Confess to Be Atheist; If You’re Straight, Confess to Be Gay’

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One of the ways in which a Spanish teacher at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill teaches students the language is by using a provocative assignment called “the confession,” The College Fix has learned.

The Spanish 350 assignment in Dr. Michael “Raúl” Brown’s class asked students to confess some sort of pretend secret to loved ones, and suggested writing prompts included “if you’re Christian or of a Christian family, confess to be atheist” and “if you’re straight, confess to be gay.”

One student who took the “Advanced Conversation and Composition” class last fall told The College Fix they were offended by the assignment.

“I can’t tell you the level of discomfort that took over me as I wrote it,” the student said in an interview last month. “It still makes me cringe.”

The student ended up transferring out of the class, citing the assignment and other concerns with the course, and telling the department chair in an email obtained by The College Fix: “Yesterday, we were assigned to write an essay/letter to our parents pretending to be homosexual and essentially had to ‘come out’ to our parents in said fake letter. While there were other options for the essay given (pretending to tell your parents you’ve decided to be atheist, or pretending you are homosexual and telling your parents RaulBrownyou were just confused for a period of time), I find this assignment extremely inappropriate and not relevant to the class whatsoever.” (Read more from “Students Told: ‘If You’re Christian, Confess to Be Atheist; If You’re Straight, Confess to Be Gay'” HERE)

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Left-Wing Activists Wage War on Parental Rights

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Here are the key provisions that have drawn the most attention:

1) First, SB 89 requires local school boards to adopt policies that recognize a parent’s inherent authority to withdraw their children from tests or assessments that they find objectionable; and to allow parents to withdraw their child from any activity, class or program that instructs on human reproduction or sexual matters, or which inquires into personal or private family affairs of the student that are not a matter of public record.

2) Second, if a school plans to offer instruction dealing with human reproduction or sexual matters (i.e., sex education courses), then the parent must be provided at least two weeks notice, and the signed consent of the parent is required before the student may participate in such instruction.

3) Third, SB 89 states that an “abortion services provider” may not offer course materials or teach sex education programs in the public schools.

Planned Parenthood is lobbying furiously against the bill, arguing that SB 89 is designed to “target” them specifically, and further arguing that it will prevent students from receiving sex education. In reality, the bill’s language speaks for itself: entities that are making money by performing abortions ought not to be given a free, taxpayer-funded venue for promoting their services in front of impressionable young people. That applies not only to Planned Parenthood, but also to other abortion facilities and their employees. As Senator Dunleavy put it, “We’re not outlawing abortion service providers; we’re saying, ‘Take it out of the school.’”

For most of us, that’s just common sense. But Planned Parenthood, which makes more money from doing abortions than any other entity in the world, apparently has a sense of entitlement. Planned Parenthood thinks they’re entitled to be teaching your child about sex, and peddling their “services” to your child, in the public school that you pay for. Here’s reality: there are dozens of options that schools have for teaching about human sexuality that don’t involve giving free advertising to America’s No. 1 abortion business. There is nothing in SB 89 that disallows schools from offering sex education programs – provided they have the permission of parents to do so.

But Planned Parenthood isn’t the only entity opposing this bill. The public school bureaucracy is also launching salvos against SB 89. They claim it would just be way too burdensome to obtain the parent’s written consent before students can participate in a sex education class. This is nonsense. Schools obtain parental consent for all sorts of things – most notably field trips. As just one example, click here to see the parental consent form that Alaska’s largest school district requires before students can go on a field trip.

Guess how many times this form is filled out every year and collected by school staff? Well, the Anchorage School District website says that, “The Transportation Department dispatches approximately 6,000 field and activity trips annually.” You do the math – how many students on average attend each field trip, and then multiply that by thousands. The notion that this couldn’t easily be done for the infrequent sex education class is ludicrous. Let’s translate what the public school bureaucracy is really saying: “We don’t want to lift a finger to help protect the rights of the parents – the same parents who happen to pay our salaries.” If you’re not infuriated by that attitude, you should be.

Click HERE to see what Planned Parenthood is already teaching your kids. Caution – It’s a graphic but eye opening look at what the largest abortion provider in America is doing in public schools today.

My friends, it’s time to saddle up and defend Senate Bill 89. Senator Dunleavy has shown tremendous leadership in advancing this idea, but now the progressive left has simply come unhinged. Don’t let them get away with their “Indiana-style tactics” for demonizing a perfectly reasonable, perfectly common sense bill.

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Students Stand on, Flip off American Flag in Class

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Officials at a Pennsylvania high school are on the defensive after two students took pictures of themselves proudly desecrating the American flag in class.

Johnstown parents want to know how it was possible for students at Richland Township High School to stand on the American flag during school hours, brag about it by raising a middle finger to the camera, and then share it on social-media platforms.

“After you teach your students the history of America and everything that flag represents, feel free to offer them the option to move to any other country in the world that they feel would fit their needs. I know over 30,000 Navy veterans that would probably be happy to provide them with a one way ticket,” Marie Ellsworth wrote on the school’s Facebook page on Sunday.

“Disgusting. Insulting to those who gave their life for our country. Spoiled brats. Welcome them to go to another country,” said Sharon Fetterman Fiala . . .

“The message this picture sends is not justification to punish the students so the school needs to tread very carefully here,” ACLU of Pennsylvania legal director Witold Walczak told the NBC affiliate. He said it would “probably” be feasible to punish the students for vandalizing school property. (Read more from “Students Stand on, Flip off American Flag in Class” HERE)

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US Schools Get Failing Grade for Financial Literacy Education

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The number of states that require high school students to complete a course in economics has dropped over the last two years, and mandates for personal finance education in the upper grades remain stagnant, a new survey shows.

The biennial Survey of the States by the Council for Economic Education, released exclusively to CNBC.com, found 20 states currently mandate that high school students take economics — two fewer than in 2014.

There has been no change since then in the number of states that require standardized testing of economic concepts. Currently, 16 states require testing, which is down significantly from 25 in 1998.

At the same time, the Council for Economic Education survey found the number of states that require high school students to take a course in personal finance has remained unchanged at 17 since 2014 . . .

Yet from a historical perspective, some progress has been made. Forty-five states now include personal finance in their K–12 standards, up from 21 in 1998. (Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming and the District of Columbia still do not.) (Read more from “US Schools Get Failing Grade for Financial Literacy Education” HERE)

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Obama and GOP Unleash ‘Community Schools’ to Replace Parents

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Parents, beware — Big Brother is coming for your kids. Buried deep inside the mammoth “bipartisan” so-called “education” legislation approved last month, dubbed the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA), is a radical expansion of what the statute refers to as “full-service community schools.” The controversial institutions, more accurately described as parental replacement centers, seek to oversee every aspect of your child’s life, ranging from their “mental health” and “well being” to nutrition and even dentistry. You are in the crosshairs, too, as the Obama administration defines parents as “equal partners” in child rearing. And those are just some of the many unconstitutional provisions in the bill and beyond that aim to turn government schools into parents, and parents into pariahs.

In short, an increasingly out-of-control Uncle Sam — with support from the leadership of both major political parties — wants to raise your child. And with the support of virtually every education-related special interest group you can think of, the latest federal education statute, passed by the GOP Congress and cheerfully signed as a “miracle” by Obama last month, is among the primary means by which the feds plan to further undermine and attack your role as parents. The implications of the accelerating assaults on families, parental rights, constitutionally limited government, the future of America’s children, and the future of the nation itself cannot be overstated.

Consider, for example, that these community schools are supposed to provide what the legislation refers to as “pipeline services.” The statute defines it like this: “The term ‘pipeline services’ means a continuum of coordinated supports, services, and opportunities for children from birth through entry into and success in post-secondary education, and career attainment.” Those “services” must include, at a minimum: “early childhood education;” school and out-of-school programs and “strategies”; support for children’s “transitions”; family “supports,” including “at home”; career counseling; “Social, health, nutrition, and mental health services and supports”; “crime prevention and rehabilitation programs”; and much more. In other words, everything that families once provided for children will become the responsibility of “community schools.” All that is missing now is hugs and bedtime stories from Big Brother.

Students will not be the only ones targeted, however. In a section dealing with what the statute describes as “promise neighborhoods” targeted for additional federally funded “services,” the statute calls for the targeting of everyone with these “pipeline services.” Bureaucrats and institutions, including government schools funded under the scheme, will be charged with providing “social, health, nutrition, and mental health services and supports, for children, family members, and community members.” Family members and community members, in other words, will be targeted for government intervention, up to and including “mental health services.” That means you. Language calling for home visitations appears to have been removed from the bill prior to final passage, but that hardly means it will not be pursued anyway. (Read more from “Obama and GOP Unleash ‘Community Schools’ to Replace Parents” HERE)

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You’ll Never Guess What Word a School Just Banned

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[The word ‘please’ is now banned.] That’s what Druid Hills Academy in Charlotte, North Carolina, has instituted. It’s getting a lot of attention because teachers at the school no longer say please. But there’s a lot more to No-Nonsense Nurturing than dropping the magic word.

Teachers, who are trained in the method, provide kids with concise, clear instructions in an M.V.P. (movement, voice and participation) format that gives students zero room for misbehavior. As children follow the teacher’s commands, they are distinguished in front of their peers. For example:

“Madison is sitting with her legs crossed on the carpet. Alex has joined us on the carpet and is sitting quietly. Jessica has put her book away and is walking to the carpet without speaking,” the teacher narrates.

This positive-reinforcement provides something missing in many classrooms, the chance for students who are following the rules to be recognized. All too often well-behaved students are ignored while teachers focus on reprimanding children who are not. The cycle of negative attention, thus, is broken. Teachers do not negotiate, and they don’t ask “please,” either.

The lack of using the word “please” while instructing children has struck a chord of discontent with some. Yet proponents of the method believe removing “please” lets children know that following instructions is not an option, and that students are not doing the teacher any favors by doing as they are told. (Read more from “You’ll Never Guess What Word a School Just Banned” HERE)

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This Horrible Thing Just Happened to the Praying Football Coach

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Coach Joe Kennedy has been booted from the locker room at Bremerton High School in Washington State, Fox News has learned exclusively.

Superintendent Aaron Leavell placed the longtime coach on administrative leave after he refused to stop his post-game prayers.

“Effective immediately, pending further District review of your conduct, you are placed on paid administrative leave from your position as an assistant coach with the Bremerton High School football program,” Level wrote to the coach in an Oct. 28th letter. “You may not participate, in any capacity, in BHS football program activities.”

Kennedy, who is a devout Christian, had been under investigation since September after someone complained about his post-game prayers at the 50-yard-line.

He was directed to cease and desist those prayers on Sept. 17th. He was also ordered to avoid kneeling, bowing his head or doing anything that could remotely be seen as religious. (Read more from “This Horrible Thing Just Happened to the Praying Football Coach” HERE)

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Child Says TX Teacher Forced Students to Deny God Is Real, or Have This Happen

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A Texas seventh-grader is standing up for her religious beliefs after she alleges her teacher forced students to deny that God is real, and threatened them with failing grades if they don’t agree.

Jordan Wooley, a seventh grade student at West Memorial Junior High School in the Katy Independent School District, testified at a school board meeting last night about an assignment in her reading class that caused a serious controversy, and expressed frustration about her teacher’s atheist indoctrination.

“Today I was given an assignment in school that questioned my faith and told me that God was not real. Our teacher had started off saying that the assignment had been giving problems all day. We were asked to take a poll to say whether God is fact, opinion or a myth and she told anyone who said fact or opinion was wrong and God was only a myth,” Wooley told board members.

Students immediately objected, Wooley said, but the teacher refused to consider their position.

The teacher, “started telling kids they were completely wrong and that when kids argued we were told we would get in trouble. When I tried to argue, she told me to prove it, and I tried to reference things such as the Bible and stories I have read before from people who have died and went to heaven but came back and told their stories, and she told me both were just things people were doing to get attention. (Read more from “Child Says TX Teacher Forced Students to Deny God Is Real, or Have This Happen” HERE)

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You’ll Never Guess Where ‘Clock Boy’ Ahmed Mohamed Is Moving

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A Texas teenager who gained national attention after he was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school is moving to Qatar with his family to continue his education.

Ahmed Mohamed has accepted a scholarship from Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, or QF, his family said.

They thanked all the people and places that reached out in support after the “unfortunate incident of Ahmed’s arrest.” The family visited QF this month.

“Qatar was a cool place to visit. I loved the city of Doha because it’s so modern. I saw so many amazing schools there, many of them campuses of famous American universities. The teachers were great. I think I will learn a lot and have fun, too,” Ahmed said in the statement . . .

In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Ahmed said he was pulled out of class at MacArthur High School by his principal and five police officers and taken to a room where he was questioned for about an hour and a half. (Read more from “You’ll Never Guess Where ‘Clock Boy’ Ahmed Mohamed Is Moving” HERE)

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Twin Daughters of Air Force Vet Barred From Wearing Jackets With Logo to School

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By J.D. Miles. From the flag outside their Providence Village home to the photos inside, the Rolens are a proud military family.

Eleven-year-old twins Kaidence and Abigail were even born on an Air Force base.

So the new fall jackets they bought to wear to Aubrey Middle School shouldn’t be a surprise.

But the girls didn’t expect the reaction they got from teachers once they stepped into their classrooms.

“She yelled at me and said that’s out of the dress code and that she would get me in trouble if I wore something out of dress code,” says Kaidence. (Read more from “Twin Daughters of Air Force Vet Barred From Wearing Jackets With Logo to School” HERE)

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School Says Air Force Logo Violates Dress Code

By Todd Starnes. A Texas school district threatened to punish two patriotic sisters who refused to remove hoodie-style jackets emblazoned with the U.S. Air Force logo . . .

[These] twin daughters were told that the Air Force logo violated the dress code policy of the Aubrey Independent School District. The 11-year-old girls were told they could face disciplinary action if they wore the jackets on school property.

“These girls were born on an Air Force base so you can imagine my reaction,” Mr. Rolen told me. “It’s absurd” . . .

In a statement to the NBC television affiliate in Dallas the school district defended itself against accusations they were being unpatriotic.

“Aubrey ISD has a student dress code to follow, just as our military personnel are expected to wear uniforms,” Superintendent Debby Sanders said in the statement. “The dress code, which has been in place for over a decade, instills pride, discipline and levels the playing field for students to allow them to focus on learning.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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