Outrage Over Plans To Build Library Next To Sarah Palin

Ken AshfordEducation, Election 2012Leave a Comment

Our British friends laugh at us: PLANS to build a state-of-the-art library next to Republican catastrophe Sarah Palin are causing outrage across mainstream America. Campaigners have described the project as insensitive and a deliberate act of provocation by people with brains. The issue is forming a dividing line in advance of November's mid-term congressional elections with candidates being forced to … Read More

Can Universities Expel Students For Their Anti-Homosexual Views?

Ken AshfordEducation, Godstuff2 Comments

The story is in the news this week not once, but twice. First, in Georgia: (July 27) When officials at Georgia's Augusta State University told counseling student Jennifer Keeton they were concerned her outspoken Christian views might affect her ability to work with gay, lesbian and transgender clients, they gave her a choice: participate in a remediation plan or leave … Read More

Funny Story

Ken AshfordEducation, Godstuff1 Comment

So it seems the Creation Research Graduate School wanted to offer a Masters of Science program and have it accredited.   So they decided to set up shop in Texas (moving from California). So the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which approves curricular programs for accreditation, looked at the CRGS Masters of Science program and said, "Uh, this isn't science.  This … Read More

Adventures in Homeschooling

Ken AshfordEducation, GodstuffLeave a Comment

In Paradise (California): Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz face one count of murder, one count of torture and one count of child abuse. The torture count alleges that the parents beat their 11-year-old adopted daughter so severely she ended up in the hospital with kidney failure. The child abuse charge is for bruising authorities reportedly found on the couple's 10-year-old biological … Read More

Who Would Jesus Turn Down?

Ken AshfordEducation, Godstuff, Sex/Morality/Family ValuesLeave a Comment

The Catholic Church keeps digging a hole for itself: BOSTON — A Roman Catholic school in Massachusetts has withdrawn its acceptance of an 8-year-old boy with lesbian parents, saying their relationship was "in discord" with church teachings, according to one of the boys' mothers. It's at least the second time in recent months that students have not been allowed to … Read More

Only In Alabama

Ken AshfordEducation, Election 2010, Godstuff, RepublicansLeave a Comment

In the Republican primaries for Alabama governor, the top Republican candidates are having a battle to show voters who is the more bonafide creationist. It all started with this attack ad: Ironically, the group behind that ad is called the True Conservative PAC, a political group that gets most of its money from the teachers' union — or, more accurately, … Read More

Alabama Thinking Hits Connecticut

Ken AshfordEducation, GodstuffLeave a Comment

Another story about teach Darwin in public schools.  It's not unusual to see this in a red state, but Connecticut? Mark Tangarone, who teaches third, fourth, and fifth grade students in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program at Weston Intermediate School, said he is retiring at the end of the current school year because of a clash with the school … Read More

Checking Back In With The Texas School Board

Ken AshfordEducationLeave a Comment

Yup, they're rewriting history: Teachers in Texas will be required to cover the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers, but not highlight the philosophical rationale for the separation of church and state. Curriculum standards also will describe the U.S. government as a “constitutional republic,” rather than “democratic,” and students will be required to study the decline in value of … Read More

Good News From The Texas Board Of Education

Ken AshfordEducation1 Comment

If you didn't know already, Texas has always played a vital role in textbooks used throughout the nation.  The reasons for this are economic: Texas is the nation’s second-largest textbook market and one of the few biggies where the state picks what books schools can buy rather than leaving it up to the whims of local districts.  This means that … Read More

Whither Higher Education?

Ken AshfordEducation2 Comments

I recently had a discussion with someone about the merits of higher education when it comes to future income.  And as if on cue, the Wall Street Journal today covers the same subject. There is a sense that a liberal arts degree doesn't really get you anything in terms of a career, and one would be better off with a … Read More