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Education

Trump’s War On Education

March 12, 2025 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , , , ,
The attacks on colleges and universities — Donald Trump’s administration has warned some 60 colleges that they could lose federal money if they fail to make campuses safe for Jewish students and is already pulling $400 million from Columbia University — has nothing to do with fighting antisemitism. Antisemitism is a smoke screen, a cover for a much broader and more insidious agenda. The goal, which includes plans to abolish the Department of Education and terminate all programs of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), is to turn the educational system, from kindergarten to graduate school, into an indoctrination machine.

Trump Denies Student Loan Relief To Nonprofit Workers

March 11, 2025 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
Trump signed an executive order on Friday, March 7, which directs the Education Department to exclude student loan forgiveness for workers at certain organizations which “engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose,” appearing to target some nonprofit groups at odds with his political agenda. Under the new order, workers would be disqualified from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program if the Trump administration deems that their employers violated federal immigration laws, supported “terrorism”, or engaged in so-called “child abuse,” which includes “the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents” – a clear attack on organizations that may support transgender rights.

The US Has Never Been More Divided On Climate

March 8, 2025 Dr.Renée Lertzman, DeSmog. , , ,
In the autumn of 2014, I was sitting in a tiny shed at a writing residency in Point Reyes, Northern California. I was there to write my book about the psychology of facing planetary crises. One particularly warm afternoon, I was looking out at Tomales Bay, teeming with bird life, when my phone rang with an unknown Washington DC number. Grateful for any distraction, I took the call. The fast-talking man on the other end of the line introduced himself as a senior advisor to the Republican Party. Let’s call him “Bob” (not his real name).

California Teachers Fight Palestine Censorship

March 5, 2025 Marcy Winograd, Counter Punch. , , , , ,
As the Trump administration engages in a frontal assault on the teaching of race and ethnicity at the K-12 level, a quieter but no less important battle is shaping up in deep blue California. Communities of color are mobilizing statewide to defeat AB 1468, the latest bill to emerge from the CA Legislative Jewish Caucus (LJC) in its campaign to censor Palestinian voices in ethnic studies classes, and police all ethnic studies content along with it. Although the words “Gaza,” “Palestine” and “Israel” are nowhere to be found in the proposed legislation, the language of AB 1468 restricts the discipline to the “domestic experience” of “marginalized people” to discourage teachers from developing lessons on the impact of Israeli settler colonialism on Palestinian American and Muslim communities.

We Want To Build Communities Of Readers

February 21, 2025 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , , ,
There are days when the dusk of events settles heavily on me, and I try to find a way to retreat into a quiet corner and throw myself into the world of a book. It does not matter if it is a novel or a history book, as long as the author is able to conjure up a world that transports me from the flood of brutalities to an island of imagination. In recent months, I have been reading more and more novels – including Japanese crime fiction, a notable favourite – and finding in them characters with whom I can sometimes laugh and sometimes frown in bewilderment. Madness is not new to our world. It has been there before.

Teaching Without Fear

February 14, 2025 Jim Mamer, Scheer Post. , , ,
More than four years ago I wrote a piece entitled “Patriotic History is Fake History,” in which I reported that then-President Donald Trump had insisted that we must teach our children “that they are the citizens of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.” At the same time, he signed an executive order to establish a “national commission to promote patriotic education” calling it the “1776 Commission.” It would be based on the 1776 Report that was  released by the commission to promote “patriotic education.”

Trump’s Reign Of Terror On Schools And How We Fight Back

February 4, 2025 Eve L. Ewing, In These Times. , , , ,
The new presidential administration is enacting an education agenda the same way it is doing everything else: in a blitzkrieg, implementing sweeping measures as hastily as possible with little regard to their legality or feasibility. This rapid-fire assault — on trans youth who need gender-affirming care, on teachers who convey the basic facts of American history, on Head Start educators who need to make payroll—has a devastating material impact on countless individuals’ ability to teach, learn and feel safe in schools. Beyond these tangible consequences, the hailstorm of actions has a broader effect.

More Than Jobs At Stake In Attack On Pro-Palestinian Campus Speech

February 2, 2025 Andrea Brower, LA Progressive. , , , , ,
For months before U.S. President Donald Trump took office, nearly daily reports rolled in of students and professors on trial for their activism for Palestinian life. New York University suspended 11 students who were part of a peaceful flyer distribution and sit-in, including students who simply sat in the library lobby in solidarity. Eleven students at Swarthmore College faced expulsion on assault charges for using a bullhorn. Emerson College laid off 10 staff members, blaming protests for Palestine as a cause for low enrollment, and then using layoffs to target pro-Palestine employees.

Hundreds Of Students Walk Out To Protest ICE Operations

February 1, 2025 Drusie Kazanova, Fight Back! News. , , , ,
San Jose, CA – Several hundred people protested in East San Jose on Monday, January 28, against recent arrests made by ICE in the predominantly Chicano neighborhood. The protest began when hundreds of students organized a walkout from Overfelt High School and marched to the King and Story Road intersection. King and Story is an historic location in the Chicano and immigrant rights movement, and was the starting place for past mega-marches. Protesters waved Mexican flags and held signs with slogans such as, “Legalization for all,” “No somos criminales” and “Immigrant rights are civil rights.”

A Teacher’s Approach On How To Fight Back Against ICE

January 27, 2025 Emma Lee, Left Voice. , , , , , , ,
The Trump administration’s racist, anti-immigrant offensive is targeting sanctuary cities and the few remaining spaces where undocumented immigrants can feel safe — even where they go to learn and receive healthcare. As a teacher in New York City, this is a direct attack on my students, their families, and my coworkers. A new directive from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to raid schools, hospitals, and religious institutions like churches and mosques — locations previously designated as “sensitive areas” under a 2011 policy.

Trump’s Education Agenda For Teachers

January 26, 2025 Jesse Hagopian, Truthout. , , , ,
“Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it’s also a matter of national survival,” Donald Trump railed at a rally in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. “We have no choice, the fate of any nation ultimately depends upon the willingness of its citizens to lay down — and they must do this — lay down their very lives to defend their country.” This is more than political theater — it’s a clarion call to enforce, by any means necessary, what can only be called “post-truth schooling,” a system where ideological conformity replace inquiry and objective truth as the foundation of education.

Community Group Provides Education On How To Respond To ICE Raids

January 21, 2025 Alan Mitchell, Fight Back! News. , , , ,
Grand Rapids, Michigan – On Saturday, January 18, community members took refuge from the freezing weather outside to attend a discussion and group training on how to take action against the threat of heightened ICE activity. The event took place in the crowded social hall in Fountain Street Church, with nearly 100 participants. The organization putting on the event, Grand Rapids Rapid Response to ICE, provided the audience with plenty of context as to the urgency of the action. Kent County is home to a total of three ICE offices and it has been active in the area since the George W. Bush administration.

How Vouchers Harm Public Schools

January 2, 2025 Hilary Wething, Economic Policy Institute. , , , ,
Voucher programs for schools are rapidly expanding across the country. Under these programs, public budgets provide funding to parents to either send their children to private school or homeschool them. These programs’ growing popularity raises the question of whether letting public money leave the public school system and subsidize private forms of schooling is a way to improve children’s access to an excellent education. EPI’s analysis shows that vouchers harm public schools. To illustrate the damage, EPI has developed a tool that estimates fiscal externalities—the dollar costs to school districts from students leaving public schools with a voucher.

Teachers Turn To Study Groups For Anti-Racist Learning

December 31, 2024 Jesse Hagopian and Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, Truthout. , , ,
It is hard to overstate the burdens public school educators have been asked to carry over the last several years. There are the perennial stressors: inadequate funding, crumbling infrastructure, the inundation of schools with standardized testing, and too little time to plan, grade and collaborate with colleagues. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic: isolation, building closures, remote teaching, reopenings and severe staff shortages. Wielding the cudgel of “learning loss,” elites laid the blame for the traumatic impacts of a pandemic at the feet of teachers and public schools.

This Argentine Prison Cooperative Ended Recidivism

December 31, 2024 David Flier, Grassroots Economic Organizing. , , , ,
One man bakes bread while a couple of others prepare pizzas for lunch. Nearby, a large farm buzzes with activity as many men cultivate leafy greens while others tend to chickens. Adjacent to the kitchen lies a soccer field, surrounded by lush plants and a pond teeming with fish. Just meters away stands a library where several men either watch an educational program on television or immerse themselves in books. In a nearby carpentry workshop, three men work on furniture and model ships, while another room serves as a textile workshop.
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