Let us now praise Tucson tea, education

by David Safier Tucson deserves tips of the hat from both of our most recent presidents (Obama with his left hand, Bush with his right, naturally). Counter to TUSD's generally held (and overstated) bad image, C.E. Rose, a TUSD K-8 school, was given a national ed award for excellence for, according to the Star, "a … Read more

UNIDOS Day of Action: Misinformation or pure propaganda?

by Pamela Powers Hannley Regardless of the cause, spreading misinformation to pump up emotions is not right. OK, call me a Pollyanna in a fact-free universe, but I still believe in telling the truth. UNIDOS, the high school/university student group that supports the revival of now-defunct Mexican American Studies Program in Tucson Unified School District … Read more

College students: the latest target for right wing demonization

by David Safier When the right wing wants to fundamentally destroy some part of the government, it launches a campaign of demonization. It's not enough to say there are problems with, say, traditional public school systems or Social Security or Medicare or public workers' unions, because it's possible to take reasonable measures to fix problems. … Read more

Charters of 6 St. Louis Imagine Schools revoked by state

by David Safier This is being called the largest charter school closing in the country. The Missouri Board of Education is revoking the charters of six Imagine Schools in St. Louis because "the educational needs of more than 3,800 children were not being met." The six schools are among the lowest performers in Missouri. This … Read more

Two overlooked points about the Bible in the Classroom bill

by David Safier A few points about Terri Proud's Bible in the Classroom bill should be noted. First, nothing has ever stopped a school from creating a course studying the Bible as literature as well as its place in history. In 1970, my high school English department in Oregon had quarter electives that fulfilled English … Read more