Education Reform

Don’t Buy into SEL

Don’t Buy into SEL

This article originally appeared in For Kids and Country.  Social Emotional Learning (SEL) was always a bad idea, and now that it is politicized, it’s a nightmare. As a longtime teacher, I have seen firsthand that education is a fad-filled field. Culturally responsive education, inventive spelling, new math, experiential learning, balanced literacy, etc. are educational...

By Larry Sand

The School Fiscal Officer’s Dilemma

The School Fiscal Officer’s Dilemma

Most California school districts and their labor unions have finally come to terms on COVID-19 protocols, reconciling federal and state funding and mandate issues with the funding given them in several relief packages. Now, a new round of labor unrest is percolating across the state as new compensation contracts are negotiated. Teachers expect sizable raises,...

By Mark Moses

TK is Not Okay

TK is Not Okay

This article was originally on For Kids and Country. In California, parents are abandoning the k-12 system, college enrollment is down, and now the state is trying to lure 4-year-olds to transitional kindergarten. According to just released data from the California Department of Education, the state has lost 110,000 students this school year, and has fewer...

By Larry Sand

Divorce California-Style: Following “parents are terrorists” campaign, Cal school boards group says it’s going directly to Washington, DC

Divorce California-Style: Following “parents are terrorists” campaign, Cal school boards group says it’s going directly to Washington, DC

The organization behind some of California’s most out-there education initiatives announced it’s splitting from the national group that helped it promote the “parents are terrorists” campaign. In a low-profile statement, the California School Boards Association says its leadership approved the divorce from the National School Boards Association on March 26. In the press release, the...

By California Policy Center

California School Exit

California School Exit

California’s traditional public schools are not doing their job, and parents are opting out. With sky-high taxes, a sieve-like southern border, and an ongoing flow of nutty regulations – one law targets cow flatulence, for example – California really doesn’t need any more bad news. But according to a recent report, the state now leads the...

By Larry Sand

Mask Theater Is Alive and Well in Los Angeles

Mask Theater Is Alive and Well in Los Angeles

Guess who’s leading the drive to keep children masked? This article was originally featured in FrontPageMag. State officials announced last week that as of March 12, California will no longer require school children to wear masks, and thankfully most California school districts are going along with the decision. Also, the Los Angeles County Department of Public...

By Larry Sand

School Transparency Wars

School Transparency Wars

This article was originally posted on For Kids & Country. As states and school boards battle over school curricula, the least we can do is keep parents informed about what their kids are learning. Bologna. The FDA insists that every last ingredient of the heavily processed food is listed on the package label. No one has an issue with...

By Larry Sand

Frisco Frolics

Frisco Frolics

The article with originally on FrontPageMag. A remarkably dysfunctional year for the San Francisco Unified school board. It started in January 2021, when the school board in San Francisco decided to rename 44 public schools, claiming their namesakes were “unworthy of the honor.” The names of such American icons as Abraham Lincoln, Paul Revere, Thomas...

By Larry Sand

The Sandstorm: Are Union Chickens Coming Home To Roost?

The Sandstorm: Are Union Chickens Coming Home To Roost?

Originally featured in For Kids & Country. America’s children are suffering greatly and teachers may be exiting the profession en masse. Just last week, the National Education Association released the results of a poll which finds that “55 percent of educators are thinking about leaving the profession earlier than they had planned.” The NEA claims this...

By Larry Sand

Homeschooling: What the Research Shows

Homeschooling: What the Research Shows

There are a lot of reasons for public school parents to be disappointed in their schools. The lack of an in-person option last school year, strict COVID mandates, and more have caused a growing number of parents to consider alternatives to public school education. Whatever the reason, more and more parents are considering homeschooling their...

By Brandon Ristoff

California’s public school establishment to parents: We know best, so step aside

California’s public school establishment to parents: We know best, so step aside

California parents are at last in on the joke. They’re seeing (perhaps for the first time) that our public schools are failing our children – practicing invasive therapy as if that’s teaching, carrying out political indoctrination as if that’s education, insisting on vaccine mandates and masking for a population that’s hardly at risk (see the California...

By California Policy Center

California is Rolling in Education Money

California is Rolling in Education Money

The governor of CA is about to go on a taxpayer-funded spending spree. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his education spending plan, which comes to $119 billion including local, state and federal sources. This would raise per-pupil spending to $20,855, and make California one of the highest spending states in the country. (That...

By Larry Sand

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Is Crippling Education

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Is Crippling Education

The damaging “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” racket needs to be extinguished. Researchers extraordinaire Jay Greene and James Paul have released a series of three carefully crafted studies on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that detail many aspects of the harmful scheme. In a nutshell, the authors find DEI to be “counterproductive and politically radical.” The part...

By Larry Sand

Happy Un-Woke Year!

Happy Un-Woke Year!

Here’s hoping that 2022 will see a halt to the spread of Critical Race Theory. Originally posted on FrontPageMag. Watching teachers unions, government school honchos, the media, etc., deny that Critical Race Theory (which makes race the prism through which its proponents analyze all aspects of American life, categorizing individuals into groups of oppressors and victims) is taught...

By Larry Sand