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To form a more perfect union, teach students to respect the Constitution
At Vertex Partnership Academies , a charter high school in the Bronx, students recite the Preamble to the Constitution every day, writes...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20241 min read


Is free speech just for nice speech? Students (and adults) need to know civics
Tim Walz, a former social studies teacher who hopes to be vice president, said, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or...

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20243 min read


Bible stories shouldn't be 'forbidden fruit'
Students won't understand what they read if they're not familiar with the Bible, mythology, history and literature.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 23, 20241 min read


Silicon Valley parents push back on ethnic studies
Parents want to know what will be taught in soon-to-be-mandatory ethnic studies class.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 2, 20242 min read


Proud to be Americans
When Bruno Manno was growing up in the '50s and '50s, his family would gather at his grandparents' Italian tavern, to eat, drink and...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 4, 20242 min read


A Bible in every classroom
Oklahoma's public school teachers have been ordered to use the Bible in lessons on "history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 29, 20241 min read


Bible stories should be cultural literacy, not forbidden fruit
Teaching students about religion is fine in public schools, writes Natalie Wexler. "Inculcating specific religious beliefs" is not....

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 21, 20242 min read


Thou shalt not establish a state religion
Louisiana's law requiring public schools and universities to post the Ten Commandments is unlikely to be deemed constitutional.

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 21, 20241 min read


It's time to dump 'ethnic studies' mandates
Ethnic studies will be offered in all California high schools by the 2025-26 school year, and will be a graduation requirement by 2030,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 20, 20242 min read


It's cultural literacy, not Bible lessons, say Texas educators
Texas will add Bible stories and religious history to its K-5 reading curriculum.

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 5, 20242 min read


Teachers should keep their politics to themselves, say parents
Parents overwhelmingly say teachers should keep their politics out of the classroom.

Joanne Jacobs
May 31, 20241 min read


Virtue signaling turns nasty at Stanford, silly at Vanderbilt
"Aggression and abuse" are now "an accepted part of campus activism," writes Theo Baker, a Stanford sophomore, in The Atlantic. When...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 28, 20242 min read


Teaching science and social studies improves reading (and math)
After a long battle to persuade educators they need to teach phonics, systematically and explicitly, the science of reading has moved on...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 12, 20242 min read


Minnesota adopts woke-centric social studies standards
Minnesota have approved "the most ideologically progressive and intellectually vapid social studies standards in America," writes Max...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 20242 min read


'Black Lives Matter' coloring book is light on black history
Brooklyn students got schooled on radical politics during Black History Month, reports Francesca Block on Free Press. Students at P.S....

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 26, 20241 min read


Teach old, 'problematic' books
Teach old books, argues Daniel Buck, author of author of What Is Wrong with Our Schools?, on Fordham's Flypaper blog. Yes the language...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 19, 20241 min read


'For All Mankind' celebrates courage, competence, resilience
I'm a fan of the Apple+ series For All Mankind, which imagines an alternative reality in which the Soviet Union reaches the moon first,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 29, 20242 min read


Teaching the Chinese Exclusion Act won't end anti-Asian bias
California students will learn more about Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) history in hopes of preventing racism and hate,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 12, 20241 min read


The young and the senseless
Ignorance rather than malice could why one fifth of young Americans think the Holocaust is a "myth," and another 30 percent aren't sure,...

Joanne Jacobs
Dec 11, 20232 min read


True or false? Credible or cockamamie?
California teachers are supposed to incorporate "media literacy" into lessons in history, English, science and math, reports Saleen...

Joanne Jacobs
Nov 30, 20232 min read
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