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The Great Renaming: Adios to DEI, hello to 'Belonging' bureaucrats
Is DEI dead -- or just disrupted? Texas' state colleges and universities were forced to close diversity, equity and inclusion offices...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 5, 20242 min read


You can't say that
Students don't have real discussions in his AP English class, writes 11th-grader Zach Gottlieb in the Los Angeles Times. Every one knows...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 12, 20232 min read


Shut up, they explained
Cancel culture -- "campaigns to get people fired, disinvited, deplatformed, or otherwise punished" for dissenting from orthodox views --...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 29, 20232 min read


'What’s the anti-racist perspective on the atomic mass of boron?'
California's 116 community colleges, open to all at very low cost, represent the best version of diversity, equity, and inclusion, ...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 15, 20232 min read


College kids turn away from free speech, tolerance for dissent
"Young Americans are turning their backs on basic American principles of free speech, tolerance and due process," writes Brad Polumbo of...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 14, 20232 min read


School bans 'only 2 genders' T shirt: There's only 1 acceptable opinion
A 12-year-old boy's free-speech rights to say "there are only two genders" on a T shirt is trumped by classmates' rights to feel...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 25, 20232 min read


Universities talk 'diversity,' demand conformity
Requiring would-be professors to swear allegiance to a political ideology is a free-speech violation, charges a lawsuit filed in May....

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 10, 20232 min read


No sex shows for kids in Texas: Why is this controversial?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign a bill that would ban staging "sexually explicit shows in front of children," reports William...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 6, 20231 min read


High school debate's decline: No arguing allowed
High school debate competitions no longer value debate, writes James Fishback, a debater turned debate coach, on The Free Press. Until...

Joanne Jacobs
May 27, 20232 min read


Was Anne Frank bisexual? Graphic novel -- with breasts! -- is out of school library
The Diary of Anne Frank remains in the Vero Beach High School library, but the Florida school has removed a retelling of the story, Anne...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 13, 20232 min read


Don't risk freedom, privacy to protect kids from social media
In their zeal to protect children from social media, Utah legislators are debating legislation that would usurp parents' rights and...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 12, 20232 min read


It's only Schoolhouse Rock (but I like it)
I'm so old I don't know the words to Conjunction Junction. Schoolhouse Rock, animated musical shorts on grammar, history, civics,...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 3, 20232 min read


Teach civics -- not activism
"Fixating on activism misses the point of civics education," write Frederick M. Hess, a former civics teacher now education policy...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 3, 20232 min read


AI is learning to censor social media, and your taxes are paying for it
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes half a million dollars for research in technology to detect and remove...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 23, 20221 min read


Mastering newspeak at Stanford
Will Stanford continue to award master's degrees? Will my daughter's major -- American Studies -- need a new name? Stanford's IT...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 23, 20223 min read


Diversity is skin deep at Harvard
Stanford discriminated against Jewish applicants in the early 1950's, admitted President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who issued an apology last...

Joanne Jacobs
Oct 16, 20222 min read


School can't ban Christian club, OK 'Satanic Temple'
You don't have to be Christian to join the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) at Pioneer High School in San Jose. You don't have to...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 3, 20222 min read


‘Proud Boys’ interrupt Pride event
Drag Queen Story Hour was starting at a Bay Area library when a group of men entered shouting homophobic and transphobic slurs, reports...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 14, 20221 min read


Teens back free speech for unpopular views
U.S. high school students and their teachers agree that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions, according to the Knight...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 7, 20222 min read
FIRE expands free-speech advocacy
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is renaming itself the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (still FIRE) as...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 6, 20223 min read
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