Education / Youth
Paging Civics Teachers
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Constitution, Education / Youth on August 23rd, 2010
Where are all the high-school civics teachers when you need them? During the past few weeks, we have been treated to an absolute bonanza of constitutional ineptitude: we’ve had Dr. Laura explaining her departure from radio as an effort to get her First Amendment rights back; continuation of the ugly, ginned-up controversy over Muslims building [...]
Continue reading...This Was a SCIENCE Teacher??!
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Education / Youth on January 6th, 2010
According to the New York Daily News, a Brooklyn principal has reprimanded a sixth-grade teacher for selling students a book that tells how to “recognize those serving Satan and bring them to Jesus.” Steven Arizmendi sold “He Came to Set the Captives Free” to four of his students at Junior High School 220 in Sunset [...]
Continue reading...A Perfect Storm
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Education / Youth on December 24th, 2009
Sometimes, a “perfect storm” of problems forces us to make much-needed changes that are politically impossible in normal times. Perhaps—just perhaps—this is one of those times when we can use a few of the fiscal lemons we are being handed to make policy lemonade. Storm number one is revenue. Indiana is in a world of [...]
Continue reading...The Big Question
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Education / Youth on October 19th, 2009
As usual, E.J. Dionne poses the critical political question: will the young people who voted overwhelmingly for Obama when he represented hope and change stay around to support him–and the Democratic party–now that the hard work of governing has highlighted philosophical and tactical differences of opinion on how best to proceed? Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, offered [...]
Continue reading...Evidence and Ideology
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Education / Youth on July 31st, 2006
Americans are absolutely smitten with detective shows where justice triumphs after a painstaking collection and analysis of all available evidence. The popularity of these shows reflects—accurately, I think— America’s pragmatic culture, our desire to “get to the bottom of things” and to base decisions on hard evidence. So how do we explain an American [...]
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