Briefly Noted: Recommended Reads 8/29/21

Yesterday I recommended an article by Paul Gottfried,  The Emerging One-Party State. Today Emerald Robinson has an article at her Substack (H/T Ray So-Cal) that offers a bit of a contrast:

How The GOP Committed Suicide Trying to Stop Trump

America Has Never Been Closer to Uni-Party Rule

As you can see, each perceives our traditional two party system--traditional, but never actually envisioned by the Founders--as in danger of giving way to One Party Rule under the form of two parties. Robinson focuses on the GOP leaders--McConnell and McCarthy--and understandably so. The picture she paints is dark, and that's also understandable. I accept that. Gottfried sees possibilities for moving past the situation we find ourselves in, and I accept that, too. I see hope, especially, in the House, where the Representatives are in closer contact with the People.

See what you think.

Matt Welch today hits on another topic that we covered yesterday in the same post referenced with regard to Paul Gottfried: Christian Schools Vastly Outperforming Public Schools During COVID-19, According to New Survey of Parents.

I won't repeat the data here, but I do recommend Welch's article, which is written specifically from a New York City perspective:

Families Are Fleeing Government-Run Schools

Brooklyn elementary loses one-third of its student population and eight teachers, as the first 2021–22 enrollment numbers straggle in.

America's Shame--But Is There Hope?

America's shame is it's re-education camps, as William Choslovsky writes today:

America’s 'Re-Education' Camps

We rightly criticize and condemn China for sending more than one million Uighurs – Muslims – to “re-education” camps. At the “camps” the Uighurs are “educated” in a process their Chinese elders describe as “washing brains, cleansing hearts, strengthening righteousness and eliminating evil.”

Again, this is sick and wrong, a human rights abuse, something that should disgust us all.

But we have our own ... “re-education” camps that indoctrinate, all for a supposed good, evolved cause. We call our re-education camps public schools.

It seems particularly "sick and wrong" that Americans do this to their children and young people, in multiple ways, and devote vast sums of money to the process. This is America's great shame. Choslovsky provides an example of this sickness, from the Evanston, IL, (home to Northwestern University) government schools:

The Dread Delta--The Excuse 'Teachers' Have Been Looking For?

Randi Weingarten let it slip--reopening 'schools' ain't a done deal:

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten was ripped after hedging on whether or not U.S. schools would reopen in the fall during a Wednesday interview on MSNBC.

While having previously recommended that fully vaccinated individuals are not required to wear masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed guidance following the spread of the new Delta variant of the virus, announcing that vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors and suggesting universal masking in schools.

Weingarten called the guidance a "curveball," before suggesting that school reopenings this fall are not a done deal.

"So the bottom line is, we're going to keep kids safe, we're going to keep our members safe, we're going to try to open up schools, and we're going to move through this political battlefield," Weingarten said.

Critics picked up on her comment about the reopening of schools because it sounded like backpedaling from when she argued in May that "we can and we must reopen schools in the fall."

You just knew--and I've been saying this--the government teachers would be looking for any excuse to keep government 'schools' closed.

In some areas there has been a significant migration of families to private schools. Meanwhile, reports are that home schooling is projected to double. Parents are fed up, kids probably are, too.

I'm in favor of shutting the government 'schools' down.

How To Tell Dems Are Feeling The Pressure?

Here's how. Just read the heading for this story at Fox:

Randi Weingarten, teachers union president, calls for full reopening of schools next academic year

With government teachers in the three biggest school districts in the country--NY, LA, and CG--still resisting, um, actual teaching, there's no possible way that Randi Weingarten made this statement except under extreme political duress. And there's only one possible source for political duress when you're talking about government teachers unions.

Revelations of government teachers pressuring the Zhou regime and the CDC to allow them to not teach while getting paid--while private school teachers teach without risk--obviously made a strongly negative impression on the public. Recent disastrous interviews and appearances by Randi Weingarten didn't help.

As of early May, Florida and Iowa are the only states in the country that have all of their schoolchildren back in classrooms, while every other state is still offering varying degrees of in-person and online instruction, the data shows. 

 

It remains to see whether the powerful locals will buckle. There is strong support from government teachers for not teaching.

There's a good overview of the CA situation this morning:

Science With the Union Label

Despite the reopening happy talk, more than half of all California’s K-12 students remain in distance learning.

Read the whole thing. Excerpts:

The Other Pandemic--Dropping Out

This pandemic of school dropouts is likely to be far more widespread and will likely have more long lasting effects--depending, of course, on how you run the statistics. No doubt the government will find a way to soft peddle this catastrophe.

Here's an article that goes into this. This is totally at the doorstep of Fauci, CDC, the government teachers unions--and the Dems:

Schools Fight To Keep Students Amid Fears Of A Dropout Surge

Uh, if "schools"--by which I assume the NPR authors mean government teachers and their unions--really wanted to "keep students", the obvious way to do so would be to keep the schools open. Or am I missing something? Catholic schools and many other private schools opened on schedule and stayed open and had no Covid problems. The response of the government teachers? Find a way to force private schools to close, too.

Despite the attempt to paint an even remotely encouraging picture in the article, that attempt falls totally flat. Of course, we know what's really going on here, but the only hint of it that you'll find in the article is in euphemisms like "students at risk". Codeword.

Excerpts:

UPDATED: Government Teachers' Unions Poised To Run Government Schools?

In a brief article--All Three of the Nation’s Largest School District Heads Have Resigned--Eric Lendrum observes:

The high-profile resignations reflect a rising sentiment across the country among American parents against school districts, education officials, and teachers’ unions amidst the ongoing pandemic. When the lockdowns first began in March of 2020, virtually all schools in the nation were shut down before eventually transitioning to online learning. But as the lockdowns for schools continued, often at the behest of teachers’ unions who forced districts to bend to their will, parents increasingly began protesting the continued lockdowns and demanding students be allowed to return to in-person learning.

The three districts, of course, are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Lendrum wants to put a positive gloss on this--the parents are having an effect. The reality may be very different. I read this as school administrators throwing up their hands and basically turning control of the schools over to the politicized unions.

I can't speak for NY and LA, but in Illinois the teachers unions have recently been given almost complete control over when and why they can decide to strike--who would want to run a huge school district in such circumstances. Already the teachers union is claiming that the School Board has failed to keep its bargain for reopening. The obvious threat in that claim is that the teachers will strike unless all those demands--and probably additional demands--are not met in full. The dirty not-so-secret fact is that school lockdowns have been very popular with the "teachers." This bodes very ill for the young people in our three largest cities--and therefore for the nation. Lockdowns and strikes are only one weapon in the union arsenals--they have a lot more going for them. But the Zhou regime has already made clear that they're with the teachers unions.

Meanwhile, here's an article I saw yesterday:

Catholic Schools Beat Public Schools in Reading and Math

No doubt other private schools can make the same claim, but Catholic schools run the most comprehensive alternate systems in most areas.

White Flight

Monica Showalter does a survey of the results of Covid on government schools--especially in the primary stages. What's happening, as we start to get some date is a Wokester apocalypse: Public school enrollment plunges in California -- and everywhere else.

Showalter focuses on California, but notes that much of what she's talking about can be seen to one degree or another in other localities:

it's actually happening all over. Detroit, New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Austin, Tucson, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Janesville, Wisconsin, Chautauqua County, upstate New York, plus the entire states of New Jersey, Iowa, Vermont, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Hawaii, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Washington, Virginia, and quite likely all of the others are reporting public school enrollment drops.

Yes, it is happening elsewhere. For example, in Chicago, which is one of the larger school districts in the country with one of the most radical government teachers unions.

The other thing that's happening in California and is certainly happening elsewhere is that the demographic that's fleeing government schools is Whites:

Briefly Noted: Guns And Education

I'm sure many or even most readers have seen the articles documenting the continued surge in gun sales--as measured by FBI background checks. It's an imperfect measure, but it probably gives a good general idea of the relative levels of firearm sales. Zerohedge (republished from Epoch Times) has a thorough review of the recent stats, which have set new records--FBI Gun Background Checks Soar To Record High In March Amid Gun Control Push. The all time record was a year ago March--2.3 million--but this year's March totals of 2 million wasn't far behind. Next month could be the month we break through to a new all time record.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so:

Briefly Noted: Tentative Signs Of Hope?

Will Leftist excesses finally make a difference? It's too early to tell, but there is an election coming up in the not too distant future, and the amount and degree of craziness on the Left shows no signs of abating or receding. Here are a few items that indicate that more and more people are taking notice.

Recently we ran a long post regarding the degree of wokeness being jammed down students' throats--even at expensive private schools. The wokeness is also being jammed down the parents' throats, and they're not all pleased. At The Atlantic Conor Friedersdorf expresses misgivings about what's going on, with specific reference to the most dominant form of wokeness:

What Happens When a Slogan Becomes the Curriculum?

A curriculum inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement is spreading, raising questions about the line between education and indoctrination.

Don Surber has a very nice examination of the article: BLM and the limits of propaganda, with long quotes from the article itself:

Follow Up: "Chicago schools face nightmare"

The eyes of people who care about government run education are on Illinois these days. The scheme to mandate a radical progressive remake of education in the State--transforming government teachers into tax supported community organizers and students into activists--will undoubtedly serve as a model for the rest of Blue America, if it passes (cf. Ultra-Woke Indoctrination In Government Schools Is Closer Than Most Realize). The vote was supposed to happen yesterday, but was moved to today. 

Fox has a powerful piece today on the situation, which focuses on Chicago's government schools. Those schools, which the radical progressive government teachers union has kept closed all year, are supposed to begin reopening in the lower grades, but Chicago government high schools will remain closed for the entire year. It was all done in the name of allowing government teachers to "feel safe" from Covid--an attitude that study after study has shown to be without any basis in scientific fact. Naturally, those who have been harmed the most by the lockdown of government schools--again, study after study shows it--are the children of the progressive Dem core constituencies, especially black Americans. Yes, those would be the same children who will supposedly benefit from mandated woke indoctrination, rather than learning the Three R's.

Ultra-Woke Indoctrination In Government Schools Is Closer Than Most Realize

As some of you may already be aware, Illinois is currently getting ready to pass radical new measures that will transform government schools into centers of 'woke', i.e., leftist prog, indoctrination. I know many think that's what they are already, and you're right if that's what you think. However don't kid yourself that we've reached the bottom of the slippery slope yet.

Stanley Kurtz has a lengthy article about what so far looks like will become law in Illinois--Ultra-Woke Illinois Mandates Are Top Threat to U.S. Education. Here's how he sets up his detailed analysis:

Kick 'Em While They're Down

That seems to be the emerging Liberal plan for education and their core constituency, as contained in the Covid "Stimulus" Bill. Who are we talking about? Well, most the few articles that address what's going on coyly speak of "lower income, working class, and special needs families". We all know that's code language. An article at The Hill today has the virtue of at least breaking out of the coded language, to the extent that it refers to "vulnerable children of poverty and color." In this day of BLM the more forthright way of saying it would be: black kids. Here's the story:

American education 2020: A tragically unreported catastrophe

The author begins by sketching the disgraceful Liberal method of taking advantage of the less advantaged:

Trump Prepares For The Campaign Season

It's been announced that President Trump has added Dr. Scott Atlas to the Covid Task Force. Follow that link for Atlas' impressive credentials. These details are telling:

In health policy work at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Atlas has been a leading researcher in health care systems. Atlas's research interests are domestic and global health care policy, particularly the role of government and the free market in pricing, quality, access, and technology innovation. He has written extensively on the evidence about single payer health care compared with the health care system of the United States, and how to reform the United States’ health care system to improve access and quality particularly for lower-income groups using a competition-based system to reduce costs, rather than an expansion of government programs. Most recently, Atlas has been a prominent voice in discussing the scientific issues and policy impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has authored more than 170 policy essays.

And this:

Atlas served as a senior advisor for health care to Republican presidential campaigns in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

It looks like Trump has settled on a heavyweight in the field, and one he can trust. Above all else, perhaps, Scott Atlas is no Anthony Fauci. Trump has, I'm quite sure, known for a long time that he needs to get the Fauci-monkey off his back, free himself from Fauci's dead weight. Atlas just may be the proxy who can accomplish that for Trump going forward on the Presidential campaign trail. Read more about that here: