Exceptional exposé of agenda-driven public/government schools

Columbia University Law Professor Philip Hamburger has written a stellar assessment of America’s public school system, titled “Is the Public School System Constitutional?” It was posted as a commentary in the Wall Street Journal.

His summery includes these words: “Education consists mostly in speech, and parents have a right under the First Amendment to exercise authority over what their children hear.”

The WSJ requires a subscription, so the link may not work. Tap “Read Article” in the WSJ’s pop-up box. It’s important reading. If the first paragraph link doesn’t work, SRAZ located the commentary on the Fry Electronics site, which advertises itself as “an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media.” The paragraphs are oddly spaced, but the content remains. One way or another, this is a must read.

NYC’s Mayor de Blasio punishes smart kids, promotes “racial equality”

More contemptible democrat lunacy invades American schools

Fox News reports Bill de Blasio is phasing out New York City’s Gifted and Talented program — bowing to critics who complain that the esteemed model is racist.

The term “racist” is the latest pungent pejorative. Hurl it and anyone in its path risks an irrevocable taint. The political left has now succeed in installing the Marxist ideology of Critical Race Theory in our schools, teaching children as young as kindergartners that whites are oppressors and minorities are victims.

The Daily Wire runs a revealing exposé, “Nation’s Largest Teachers Union Says It Will Teach Critical Race Theory In All 50 States, 14,000 School Districts. “ It’s definitely worth your time. The article reveals, “the NEA also vowed to team up with organizations such as Black Lives Matter at School and the Zinn Education Project — named after the anti-American and factually challenged historian Howard Zinn — to call for an October 14 rally in honor of George Floyd’s birthday “as a national day of action to teach lessons about structural racism and oppression.”

Open Secrets shows Teachers Unions have steadily increased their political involvement with the National Education Association (NEA and  the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) giving $millions to democrat state and national candidates. The unions have ramped up their political spending, increasing from $4.3 million in 2004 to $43.7 million in 2020. Just 2% of teachers union donations in the 2020 cycle went to Republicans.

Teachers unions’ political support for Biden has undeniably paid off as he took their side against reopening schools.

AZ Regent Karrin Kunasek Taylor Robson supports huge raises for overpaid university presidents

With Gov. Doug Ducey term-limited, the list of those from both parties eager to lead the state continues to grow. Most are inexperienced dolts

Today we focus on Karrin Kunasek Taylor Robson, not to endorse her, but to expose the fact that as a Doug Ducey appointed member of the Arizona Board of Regents (ARBOR), she was instrumental in gifting extraordinary salary hikes and numerous additional bonuses to the presidents of ASU and UofA and university coaches as the depressed Biden economy and surging prices are negatively impacting Arizona taxpayers. Robson was appointed by Gov. Ducey in 2017 to an eight-year term.

Focusing on ASU President Michael Crow, his new base salary is $771,282 up from $714,150. This is separate from the $70,000 housing allowance, $10,000 car allowance and an “18 to 21% contribution” to Crow’s retirement funds. All of that is in addition to another $50,000 for achieving some of the goals he set last year.

The cagily written press release can be read here.

The astronomical tuition and other fees at the 3 state universities not only make ASU President Michael Crow one of the highest paid state university presidents in the nation, while dinging parents and students with tuition that is beyond the reach of many. Yet Crow has long advocated for reduced rates (in-state tuition) for illegals who he welcomes with open arms.

Karrin Kunasek Taylor Robson, married to wealthy developer Ed Robson 35 years her senior, self identifies as the founder and president of Arizona Strategies, a land-use strategy company, an impressive title…unless your husband is a longtime, successful developer. She was instrumental in rubberstamping these astronomical pay and benefit increases. Now she has the nerve to run for governor? The U.K.’s Daily Mail even covered  Ducey ignoring a phone call from then-President Trump, when the distinctive incoming ring tone “Hail to the Chief” played, Ducey, a McCain toady silenced it, proceeding to certify the questionable Biden victory.

Karrin Kunasek Taylor Robson a prominent Republican donor, has never held or run for political office, is now a governor wannabe with nothing to recommend her for the state’s top job other than marrying Ed Robson who indulges and finances her whims. At 92, Ed Robson is older than her father. She spoke volumes when she was conveniently “out of town,” during President Trump’s July 24, 2021 “Rally To Protect Our Elections!”

She’s a Republican poser, undeserving of your vote for governor.

Matt Salmon still chasing AZ governor dream…when not backing China

Though his political time has come and gone, Matt Salmon hasn’t gotten the message. After losing a gubernatorial race to Obama-connected, open-border leftist Janet Napolitano in 2002 and later announcing his retirement from politics, Salmon, a former U.S. Rep. who left congress twice, is once again running for governor. In the intervening years, he’s reportedly earned $336,090 yearly as the chief lobbyist for Arizona State University, notably supporting the Confucius Institute. He was aided in his duties as a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker. He learned the language in preparation for his 1970’s church mission in Taiwan.

The Chinese Communist Party-linked Confucius Institutes are Beijing-run programs that ostensibly teach Chinese language and culture. Initially, more than 100 institutes simultaneously emerged at universities in the United States, plus Confucius Classrooms at the K-12 level. They’re directed by the Chinese Ministry of Education, employ teachers who are trained in China and teach government-approved versions of history, culture and current events to American students — few of whom have any relevant knowledge of either communism or China, as this disturbing Campus Reform article points out. This brief, but startling video provides an insight into the ignorance flourishing on liberal college campuses:

As of July 9, 2021, there are a total of 41 Confucius Institutes in the United States, down from over 100, as schools abandoned the propaganda programs thanks to pressure from the Trump administration amid growing concerns they have become indoctrination centers. This crucial report in the Washington Examiner reveals President Donald Trump’s proposed rule, “Establishing Requirement for Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certified Schools to Disclose Agreements with Confucius Institutes and Classrooms.” But before the rule made its way to the Federal Register or went into effect, the Biden administration withdrew it on Jan. 26, less than a week after Inauguration Day.

We’re all busy, but should never be too preoccupied to lose awareness of ubiquitous indoctrination programs intended to undermine our constitutional republic and using our younger generation to carry out the scheme.

“Systemic racism” fraud exposed by Catholic League President

The insidious Marxist farce known as ‘critical race theory’ has invaded America. It is served to us and our children by radically leftist educrats who have coined the phrase, “systemic racism,” which is calculated to divide us as oppressors and victims based solely on skin color. Integral to the scheme is reparations, monetary payments to atone for slavery which ended in 1865 with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in the aftermath of the four-year long Civil War. It was fought during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican U.S. President who was an ardent abolitionist.

The surge of immigrants through Ellis Island from its opening in 1892 to its closing in 1954 were often oppressed people themselves and neither they nor their descendants owned slaves, which is of no consequence to those with an agenda.

The local newspaper, which touts its commitment to diversity over competence, ran an irrational editorial on July 7, by a black University of Texas professor, under the headline, “Teaching critical race theory is patriotic, not divisive.”

Topping the most rational commentaries on the topic is this one written by Catholic League president Bill Donohue, titled, “MEET THE NEW RACISTS.” Regardless of how busy you are today, take time to read his wisdom. It’s a decision you won’t regret.

Leftist shrinks spew anti-white death threats, anti-Trump venom

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating people with mental illness. But where do they go when they are mentally disturbed themselves?

Dr. Aruna Khilanani and Dr. Bandy X. Lee both chose Yale University. 

The New York Post reports on Dr. Khilanani’s speech, ‘The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind,’ at the Yale School of Medicine, declaring that she had fantasies of “unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way…like I did the world a f**king favor.”

She spewed the bigoted and violence inciting remarks — in which she also said she’d walk away from the shooting “with a bounce in my step” and that white people “make my blood boil” and “are out of their minds and have been for a long time” — at the Ivy League institution’s Child Study Center on April 6, 2021.

Dr. Bandy X. Lee, who taught at Yale School of Medicine tweeted a comparison of then-President Donald Trump and Nazi genocidal mass murderer Adolph Hitler in which Hitler was judged superior. She wrote, “Donald Trump is not Adolph Hitler. At least Hitler improved the daily life of his followers, had discipline, and required more of himself to gain the respect of his followers. Even with the same pathology, there are varying degrees of competence.”

The tweet, covered at the time by Fox News, was removed, and she is no longer at Yale. Though she incites violence, Dr. Lee is listed as a “specialist in public health approaches to violence prevention.” She has appeared on CNN and MSNBC, both welcoming forums for provocative and irrational leftists.

Corporate America joins in training to marginalize white males

Lockheed Martin embraces diversity, melanin, and mea culpa philosophy

After watching a Fox News interview with Christopher Rufo explaining how Lockheed Martin Corporation, the nation’s largest defense contractor, sent white male executives on a three-day diversity-training program aimed at deconstructing their “white male culture” and encouraging them to atone for their “white male privilege,” it was not difficult to locate his timely report, “The Woke-Industrial Complex,” published in City Journal. This is not local or national news, but an insight into the cultural revisionism that is artificially dividing Americans from one another based on ethnicity and finding entrenching roots in corporations and institutions of higher learning. Sports are exempt since the majority of football and basketball star athletes are black. (70% in the NFL and 74.2% in the NBA according to Statista).

It was that same publication in 2002 where Victor Davis Hanson first predicted the coming of Mexifornia, which he referred to as being worse than he originally foresaw when he wrote, “Mexifornia, Five Years Later.” Mexifornia later expanded into a book.

Allowing our sovereign national border to become an easily breached sieve, high achieving students taking a backseat to others seeking university scholarships based solely on ethnicity, American history being rewritten and replaced with the fallacy of critical race theory where there are only oppressors and victims, along with corporations holding mea culpa training sessions, illustrate the foolishness calling itself “wokeness.”

The radically leftist Arizona Republic newspaper is dedicated to its commitment to diversity, not of thought or qualifications, but of ethnicity and skin pigment, matters over which the new hires have absolutely no control.

Your tax dollars and the AZ Board of Regents at work

“Diversity and inclusivity” reign supreme at University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is advertising for an open position: Director of Native American Student Affairs. It comes complete with “4+weeks of annual vacation, 88% of health benefits (including for domestic partners and their families) paid for by UArizona, and 6 weeks parental leave for both parents.” Check out the compensation and benefits.”

Not any applicant will do. They are specifically seeking someone with a Master’s degree in higher education, with a specific focus on Native American and Indigenous students and/or other student populations from marginalized groups…or equivalent work experience.

Topping the list, overseen by the shameless educrats and elitists on the Arizona Board of Regents, is “Experience in engendering and integrating the values of diversity, inclusion and teamwork across various groups. Experience working with and leading Native American and Indigenous students.

Experience partnering with Tribal Nations and Leadership. Previous experience working with intersectional identity groups (i.e., LGBTQ, gender identity, race and ethnicity, multiracial, disability, socioeconomic class).”

The selected candidate needs “previous experience in revenue generation and/or grant writing,” necessary to raise more funds from leftwing entities to keep bogus programs like this one going.

The notice goes on to state: “At the University of Arizona, we value our inclusive climate because we know that diversity in experiences and perspectives is vital to advancing innovation, critical thinking, solving complex problems, and creating an inclusive academic community. As a Hispanic-serving institution and a Native American/Alaska Native-serving institution, we translate these values into action by seeking individuals who have experience and expertise working with diverse students, colleagues, and constituencies. Because we seek a workforce with a wide range of perspectives and experiences, we provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information. As an Employer of National Service, we also welcome alumni of AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service programs and others who will help us advance our Inclusive Excellence initiative aimed at creating a university that values student, staff and faculty engagement in addressing issues of diversity and inclusiveness.”

Yearly tuition costs are steep, approximately $60,000 for a state university primarily known as a party school. UofA President Robert Robbins, whose base salary in FY 2019-20 (list of all UofA employees‘ salaries*) was nearly $900,000 excluding benefits and perks, yet was dwarfed by Sean Miller, the head basketball coach making a base of $2,400,000. Bouncing and running with a ball and shooting it into a basket is paramount.

Even more egregious is the fact that in 2018 UofA paid radical Hezbollah-supporting, Communist propagandist Noam Chomsky, 89, $750k to teach “politics.” Read this linked Seeing Red AZ post exposing the insanity.

*H/T The Daily Wildcat

Educrat equivocator Weingarten changes her tune

Despite a year of vigorous pushback against parents who want their children back in school, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is now all-in for in-person education.

Weingarten, a far left-winger who takes her marching orders from the democrat party, said in a speech to the AFT Thursday, “Given current circumstances, nothing should stand in the way of fully reopening our public schools this fall and keeping them open. The United States will not be fully back until we are fully back in school. And my union is all in.”

This would best be identified as a load of horse pucky, but SRAZ is too genteel to engage in such descriptive terms.

Referring to remote learning which the unions have advocated, Weingarten has done a complete turnaround. She now says. “Prolonged isolation is harmful. School is where children learn. It’s where they work together and play together.”

Make no mistake, the duplicitous union leader is responding to furious parents who are fed up with the public school systems that have been failing their children for years. Recent polling conducted by the union, which represents nearly 2 million members, found that 73% of parents are comfortable with in-person learning this fall. The number increases to 94% if the teachers union’s reopening plan is fully in place. Still, numerous teachers unions, whose members have continued to be paid, have dug in their heels opposing reopening schools. And though teachers sought and were given priority in receiving the vaccine, and children have been ruled out as COVID spreaders, they remain resistant to going back to the classroom.

Weingarten, who possesses rare psychic abilities, said she supports President Biden efforts to reopen public schools in his first 100 days in office. Facts tell a different story. He was inaugurated January 20, 2021 and schools have remained closed.

This Pew Research survey taken well before the pandemic, headlined  “U.S. students’ academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries,” exemplifies the dismal shape of the union-run public schools, as we are compared with “developed and developing counties.” Read the second paragraph in the link for sobering details.

While the nationwide debate over reopening schools has raged, teachers’ unions gave overwhelmingly to Democrat political candidates. These are the people who frequently spend more time influencing America’s children than their parents.  During the 2016 presidential election cycle, Weingarten, one of Hillary Clinton’s top education advisors, presented an award on behalf of the AFT to Clinton, submissively calling the chronic liar, “Our hero and champion.”

Whiteness morphs into insidious crime, as students taught self hatred

Critical Race Theory is a term we hear bandied about with increasing frequency, invading not only our culture, but our schools. It is anything but benign. Its main objective is to alienate Americans from one another, cast blame, and instill guilt, while elevating some by blaming others through insidious indoctrination. Taking pride in our country is regarded as the purview of racism. Voices raised to defund the police have become de rigueur.

At its core is the word “theory,” which is not a fact based premise, but rather a conjecture based on hypotheticals.  AZ Senate Bill 1532 has been introduced to address these overreaches in classrooms.

The bill’s wording mirrors that of Idaho’s recently passed landmark legislation HB 377 (Dignity and Non-discrimination in Public Education) that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brad Little. The Daily Wire headlines its report, “First In Nation: Idaho’s Republican Gov. Signs Bill Banning Critical Race Theory.” Arizona Gov. Ducey should do no less.

Victor Davis Hanson, a leading conservative historian has written, “Is Racism Moral Now?” posted on American Greatness. The left is attempting to silence us into submission. This is an important commentary that is definitely worth your time. As SRAZ has often reminded our readers, Knowledge is power. These are unprecedented times that require vigilance and solid responses to the deceptive madness that is endorsing repression as equality. Silence is acquiescence.