Statehouse Republicans Work With Democrats To Make Florida Purple Again
The establishment’s revival in Florida threatens Republican victories in the state long-term and Florida’s policy leadership across the country.The establishment’s revival in Florida threatens Republican victories in the state long-term and Florida’s policy leadership across the country.Woke Virginia school district investigates boys uncomfortable with girl in their locker room: Report
The woke public school district in Loudoun County, Virginia, has for years been a key battleground in the war over gender ideology, the primary victims of which have been children. For instance, a skirt-wearing male who identified as "non-binary" took advantage of Loudoun County Public Schools' ideological capture in 2021, entered the girls' restroom, and raped a 15-year-old female student.
While students and parents have spoken out against the invasion of female spaces by opportunistic boys, gender-bending incursions in the district are not unidirectional.
A female transvestite has reportedly been using the boys' locker room at Stone Bridge High. Following a gym class in March, she allegedly videotaped three boys in the locker room who were discussing their discomfort over her presence.
In a bizarre twist, LCPS has launched a Title IX investigation into the boys for supposed sexual harassment, reported WJLA-TV.
'They're expressing their opinions, and now they're being targeted for expressing those opinions.'
"We're concerned," a father of one of the boys under investigation for supposed sexual harassment told WJLA. "He was questioning why there was a female in the males' locker room."
"And other boys were uncomfortable [with a female in the boys' locker room]," continued the father. "There were other boys asking the same question. They [LCPS] created a very uncomfortable situation. They're young; they're 15 years old. They're expressing their opinions, and now they're being targeted for expressing those opinions."
According to the father, the boys weren't directly interacting with the female student but were rather "having a conversation with their peer group."
"I don't think my son should be punished for expressing his First Amendment right and being able to ask questions," said the father. "If you were to get a sexual harassment charge on your record, even at a young age, I'm sure that's going to follow you around."
The father also questioned why the transvestic student isn't facing serious consequences for allegedly filming minors in a locker room, especially when LCPS policy explicitly prohibits photography, audio, or video recording in bathrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, and clinics.
"I have a daughter that's in high school as well, and if there was a male in there videotaping her in the locker room, I would have issues," the father told WJLA. "If it's my son and there's a female in the locker room videotaping, I have issues. Even if it was somebody of the same sex, I believe that this is an invasion of their privacy."
The father wants the woke district to drop its Title IX complaint against the boys and suggested it should also axe "Policy 8040: Rights of Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students," which the Loudoun County School Board approved on Aug. 11, 2021.
'Their policies run afoul of President Trump's January 29, 2025, executive order.'
"I think the policy itself creates an unsafe environment for all kids at all levels, from the elementary schools and middle school to the high school," said the father. "I think it creates an unsafe and unclear message for them. I think by not having clear policies in line with the presidential mandates that it has actually created these hostile environments and environments that these young boys and young girls do not feel comfortable in."
The district's policy not only requires schools to allow "gender-expansive or transgender students to use their chosen name and gender pronouns that reflect their consistently asserted gender identity without any substantiating evidence," but to also allow students to "use the facility that corresponds to their consistently asserted gender identity."
LCPS may not ultimately have a choice in whether it drops the policy.
On Feb. 3, America First Legal submitted a Title IX complaint to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights alleging that the "transgender" policies embraced by LCPS and other districts in Virginia "provide greater rights to students whose 'gender identity' does not match their biological sex than it does to students whose 'gender identity' matches their biological sex.'"
Ian Prior, senior adviser at AFL, added, "The policies of the five Northern Virginia public school systems have eliminated the protections that Title IX requires of K-12 institutions that accept federal funding, and their policies run afoul of President Trump's January 29, 2025, executive order."
The OCR responded a week later, indicating it would investigate the schools for possible Title IX violations.
This is not the only fight with the federal government the district has on its hands.
Loudoun County Superintendent Aaron Spence notified the Trump administration last month that LCPS would not submit a certification affirming that the district follows federal anti-discrimination law and regulations prohibiting discrimination based on race.
WJLA indicated that neither Spence nor any of the school board members have responded to its requests for comment regarding the investigation into the boys' apparent discomfort over the transvestite in their locker room.
'So open-minded their brain falls out.'
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) said in response to the woke district's investigation, "This is exactly why these schools should be adopting Governor Youngkin's model policies."
In July 2023, the Virginia Department of Education released its final Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia's Public Schools, which not only emphasize parents' rights "to make decisions with respect to their children," but require schools to use students' real names; refer to students with the pronouns in accordance with the sex indicated on their official record unless given a formal written request by parents; and require that students use sex-segregated school facilities that correspond with their biological sex.
"What you reported I find to be outrageous — that these young boys presumably felt uncomfortable," Miyares told WJLA. "They're 15 years old. We all were teenagers at one point. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have a member of the opposite sex in the locker room where people were obviously changing clothes and then later, on top of that, recording it."
"Even though they're the victims in this, somehow, they're being treated as perpetrators. I think this is an example, yet again, [of] a school district that tries to be so open-minded their brain falls out," added the state AG, borrowing a quote from the English author G.K. Chesterton.
"If this was 20 years ago, nobody in their right mind would think this was a smart policy. Yet here we are today," added Miyares.
The Virginia AG hinted there was little that either his or Governor Glenn Youngkin's offices presently could do about the matter — especially given the Virginia Human Rights Act's carve-out for educational institutions — and stressed that the Trump administration's investigation will be "critically important."
Miyares noted further that the new Loudoun County School Board should take a vote on Policy 8040 so that parents know where members stand when it comes to letting transvestites slip into the opposite sex's locker rooms and bathrooms.
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Blaze News original: When fed-up teachers fight back against students who cross the line and physically attack them
Quite a few Blaze News readers reacted with interest to a recent story of ours about a Georgia high school student who was caught on cellphone video punching a teacher in the face.
Sadly, that's not exactly a new phenomenon in our society any more, as more and more students appear emboldened not only to talk back to their teachers and verbally abuse them — but also to physically attack them.
'The sad part about it is that teachers are being treated like that every day. They're being assaulted, abused, and something needs to be said about it.'
Meanwhile, teachers have their hands tied. What can they do? Do the victimized teachers simply allow students to pummel them to pieces as they suffer busted-up faces, broken bones, and missed work time as well as ongoing mental and emotional trauma?
Or do they — literally — fight back?
That's what the teacher did in the recent Blaze News story noted above. As onlookers in the hallway in Martin Luther King Jr. High School let out an approving holler in unison after the student let the punch fly, the irate teacher was seen on video hitting his attacker with a punch of his own. Two of them, actually.
With that, two other males — one wearing a gray hoodie and the other wearing a white hoodie — go after the teacher and knock him to the floor. By this point, the frenzied students are behaving as if they're watching a UFC match. The teacher gets up again, and there's a little bit of pushing and shoving, but that's where the 45-second clip ends.
The DeKalb County School District said in a statement that several students reportedly initiated the physical fight with the teacher, and WXIA-TV reported that three students were charged with battery and disrupting public school while the teacher in question was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
In the aftermath, Superintendent Devon Horton said the trio of brawling students should not be "criminalized."
But what about the teacher? At present, his fate has not been made pubic.
The following are some examples of what happens when fed-up teachers fight back against students who cross the line and physically attack them.
14-year-old student hits 64-year-old teacher with basketball amid argument — and hits him with racial slurs, too. Teacher arrested after punching, beating on student. But a year later, DA has change of heart.
Marston Riley's last day teaching at Maywood Academy High School in the Los Angeles area was Nov. 2, 2018 — but Riley, then 64 years old, didn't depart by choice.
On that day, Riley — a music teacher — asked a 14-year-old male student to leave the classroom for not wearing a proper uniform. The student in question allegedly refused, KTLA-TV reported. Cellphone video shows the boy swearing at the teacher and repeatedly calling Riley, who is black, the N-word.
The student also is seen throwing a basketball at Riley, after which the station said Riley pulled out his cellphone to call for backup.
"C'mon, bro," the student is heard saying. "Walk the f**k back [N-word]." Riley does walk back, and video shows the student continue the verbal barrage, including calling Riley a "bitch" and challenging him: "I'm right here, bro. Everybody watching, my [N-word]. What's up?"
Riley warns the student several times, "You better leave" — and a minute and a half after video of the confrontation started, the teacher is seen suddenly punching the boy in the face. The student attempts to defend himself and moves backward to the far edge of the classroom as Riley delivers another blow and knocks him down. The student gets up, drops his backpack, and squares off. Riley then delivers what appear to be at least another dozen or so punches and goes after the kid again after others attempt to intervene.
Staff dragged away the boy who started the confrontation, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for moderate injuries and released, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing the sheriff’s department.
Riley was arrested Nov. 2 on suspicion of child abuse and causing great bodily injury on a child, KTLA reported, and he was released the next morning after posting $50,000 bail, the Times said. But all the students who spoke to the station hours after the fight were sympathetic to Riley and said the student in the video pushed him too far. In fact, one student told the station it was a setup: "Everything was planned out. There were students there who were already taking out their phones to record the incident. I don't think it's completely fair that they're just putting the blame all on [Riley], when I personally know that he's a good guy."
What's more, a GoFundMe page a fellow school district employee set up for Riley to assist with legal fees eventually topped $190,000.
In a 2020 interview, Riley told KCAL-TV he retired before the district handed down a punishment; the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office a year after the fight dismissed the case against Riley, NBC News said.
In the TV interview, Riley said people have to know about the continuous abuse teachers endure: "The sad part about it is that teachers are being treated like that every day. They're being assaulted, abused, and something needs to be said about it."
You can view a video report here that includes clips of Riley's fight with the student as well as the 2020 follow-up interview with Riley.
Angry student bumps teacher, steps on her foot. Teacher explodes, punches student — and gets charged and jailed. Not long after, however, authorities are singing a very different tune.
A Maryland high school teacher was charged and jailed in November 2019 after cellphone video recorded a fight between the teacher and an angry 17-year-old female student, who started things by bumping Vivian Noirie and stepping on her foot in a Largo High School classroom.
With that, Noirie started punching the student, who police said was angry at the teacher for contacting the student's parents the night before. Other school employees separated the teacher and the student, after which the student struck Noirie.
Noirie, 36, was charged with physical child abuse and second-degree assault and was locked up in the Prince George's County jail from Nov. 15 until Nov. 18. However, a lawyer for Noirie said students had assaulted the teacher three times already.
Prince George's County Education Association President Theresa Mitchell Dudley defended Noirie, saying that "what response comes from administration when you call the office and ask somebody to come up because a student is stalking you in your classroom, that's a whole other conversation that we need to have."
Dudley added in a later statement that "there is an issue of a lack of respect for educators. Verbal and physical assaults on educators are too common. There is a sense that as an educator we should continue to keep taking abuse, threats, and assaults from students, parents, and administrators because we are the adults in the room. ... Educators are human and need the same emotional and mental supports as students to ensure that situations are appropriately addressed. ..."
But by the following January, charges were dropped against Noirie, the Associated Press said. Dudley told the AP that cellphone video of the altercation shows the student was “clearly the aggressor” and that Noirie never should have been charged.
You can view a video report here about the incident, which includes blurred clips of the fight; the video report was published before charges against Noirie were dropped.
Substitute teacher's head left bloody in chair-throwing fight with middle schoolers caught on video. Official says students attacked first in classroom fracas.
A substitute teacher at a Dallas-area school was left bloody and required medical assistance after a chair-throwing fight with students caught on video in March 2022. The fight occurred at DeSoto West Middle School, police said, and a DeSoto ISD representative told WFAA-TV students attacked the teacher first.
Craig Miller — a school safety consultant and former Dallas ISD police chief — told KDFW-TV that legal action likely will be taken in this incident. "[The student will] face serious assault charges based upon the angle that I saw in the video," Miller added to the station. "It could very well be an aggravated assault, which also then could be enhanced, possibly because it happened to an educator in a school environment."
Miller also told KDFW the teacher in this case likely has the right to defend himself but that the video doesn't tell the entire story of what took place, particularly what led to the incident. You can view video of the fight here.
Battery warrants obtained for 3 high schoolers after video shows teacher getting physically attacked. Student actually throws chair at teacher, who fights back against student who repeatedly shoves him.
A fight between a Warren Easton Charter High School teacher and three students in early October 2023 was caught on video and soon went viral, WWL-TV reported. The teacher first approaches a student, after which the student pushes the teacher away three times, the station says.
With that, the teacher grabs the student, and the pair begin to fight. Then a second student hits the teacher with a chair and then throws the chair at the teacher.
Arrest warrants were obtained for three juveniles on charges of simple battery, the station said. You can view a report about the incident here.
Entitled student gets physical with substitute teacher who took her phone. But teacher fights back — and a knock-down, drag-out brawl ensues.
Video sent to WRAL-TV shows a North Carolina substitute teacher and a juvenile student arguing over the phone in a Rocky Mount High School classroom in April 2023. The student appeared to attempt to grab the phone from the teacher's hand, after which the teacher shoved the student away. With that, the student took a swing at the teacher with her right arm — and then the brawl began.
The teacher soon brought the student to the floor, threw a few punches, and pinned the screaming student while hollering for someone to get another teacher into the classroom. Soon after, the teacher and student both were charged with simple assault, WTVD-TV reported.
The teacher reportedly quit the profession in the aftermath and defended her actions; months later she reportedly was found guilty of misdemeanor simple assault. It isn't clear what happened to the student.
HS student who apparently believes he's invincible challenges substitute teacher, 'What's up, boy?' — and even gets in teacher's face while bumping, shoving him. Furious teacher finally has enough.
Cellphone video was rolling when a student began fighting a substitute teacher in a classroom at Golden Valley High School in Merced, California, in March 2023, KMPH-TV reported.
The station said video shows a student approaching the teacher and asking him, "What's up, boy?" and getting in the teacher's face and shoving him. Soon the teacher throws a clipboard at the student, the station said, after which the student begins throwing punches at the teacher. KMPH said it appears the teacher tried to hold the student in a headlock until the student surrendered.
Merced Union High School District told the station it has investigated the incident and can't provide further details due to privacy laws. You can view cellphone video here that shows the altercation.
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Our kids know TikTok stars — but not who freed the slaves
John and Abigail Adams envisioned an America with a school in every neighborhood and a well-informed citizenry that was adept in languages, literature, and music, as well as science, history, and religion. Their vision was practical until the ages recast it, little by little.
Then, sometime between Joseph McCarthy and Joan Baez, the status quo of the educational system came undone.
Only about 18% of colleges and universities nationwide require the study of history and government in their general education programs.
Students accustomed to a traditional 50/50 split between the humanities and the sciences were capsized academically by the surprise Sputnik launch in 1957. The space race sent higher education into a tizzy, leading to a fixation on improving science education above all. In the succeeding seven decades, resources have consistently risen for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which has been to our benefit. But this has come at an unnecessary cost: The humanities have been downplayed, devalued, and dodged.
That uneven ratio has bestowed an unfortunate historical illiteracy on three generations. Most people, for example, do not know the philosophical roots of the Declaration of Independence, their rights as laid out in the Constitution, or the civic virtues their teachers should have taught them. For these three reasons, many Americans do not vote in local, state, or national elections.
Universities drop the ball
Even amid this crisis of civic illiteracy, only about 18% of colleges and universities nationwide require the study of history and government in their general education programs. In years past, when the architecture of academe was different, a plethora of institutions, such as Harvard, Rice, Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins, and William & Mary, proffered requirements for focused classes in American history. But their phaseout — which began in the 1960s — was practically completed by 2000.
According to a report from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, at Columbia University:
Students must take at least nine courses to graduate with a B.A. in history. Of these courses, four must be in a chosen field of geographical, chronological, or thematic specialization, and three must be outside of the specialization, including one course removed in time and two courses removed in space.
In other words, the major requires exposure to a variety of histories — none of which need touch on America.
That gap in Columbia’s history major requirements is deeply troubling, though it at least has a contemporary civilization requirement in its signature core curriculum for undergraduates that addresses founding documents and key concepts of United States government. Meanwhile, at Colgate University, which has no such option in its general education requirements:
Students choose one of two pathways to graduate with a B.A. in history. Both require nine courses. The Field of Focus (FoF) Pathway requires one history workshop, seven electives. ... The FoF Pathway allows students to devise individualized, intellectually coherent specializations. Possible fields of focus include environmental history, gender and sexuality, and race and racism.
This reorientation away from the study of American history — even as a point of reference for students focusing their studies on other parts of the world — is now the norm in the American academy. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 18 of the top 25 public universities did not have a wide-ranging American history requirement for students seeking a B.A. in history in the major or core curriculum — nor did 24 of the 25 best national schools.
Even the legendary linchpins of the liberal arts — Amherst, Swarthmore, Vassar, Smith, Williams, and Pomona — fared poorly: 21 out of 25 colleges examined did not have an American history requirement.
The consequences of forgoing the study of American history have a powerful effect on the population. Much of what is not learned — or stays uncorrected — turns into the misinformation that is so damaging in a free and democratic society.
The civic literacy crisis
When eighth graders were asked in 2011 "to choose a ‘belief shared by most people of the United States,’ a majority (51%) picked ‘The government should guarantee everybody a job,’ and only a third chose the correct answer: ‘The government should be a democracy.’”
In 2015, 10% of college graduates believed Judy Sheindlin — TV’s “Judge Judy” — was a member of the Supreme Court.
In 2019, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni found that 18% of American adults thought Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was the architect of the New Deal — a package of programs President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced in 1933. Twenty-six percent believed Brett Kavanaugh was the current chief justice of the Supreme Court, along with another 14% who identified Antonin Scalia — even though he had been dead for two years at the time of the survey. Only 12% knew the 13th Amendment freed the slaves in the United States, and 30% thought the Equal Rights Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.
In 2024, an American Council of Trustees and Alumni survey of college students showed that fewer than half identified ideas like “free markets” and “rule of law” as core principles of American civic life. The survey also found that 60% of American college students failed to identify term lengths for members of Congress. A shocking 68% did not know that Congress is the branch that holds the power to declare war; 71% did not know when 18-year-olds gained the right to vote.
All of these results were based on multiple-choice questions. All the respondents had to do was select the correct option out of four possibilities.
Forget history, forgo your future
The late Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2001 to 2009, admonished, “Unlike a monarchy, a democracy is not automatically self-perpetuating. History and values have to be renewed from generation to generation.”
Our failure to educate future citizens for informed civic participation compromises the country. Institutions need to take the American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s findings to heart and, starting with their requirements for the history major, embrace their obligation to address the crisis in civic education.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPublicAffairs and made available via RealClearWire.
Advice For The Class Of 2025: Never Put Your Hope In Earthly Kingdoms
From newly minted college Marxists to MAGA social media, many of those who are investing their hearts and hopes in politics are looking for things that politics cannot give to them.Study: Private School Choice Makes Even Public Schoolers More Likely To Earn College Degrees
The effect of Ohio’s scholarship program reinforces why states should continue to expand school choice for all families.Education Department Cuts $1B In ‘Mental Health’ Grants Used To Advance DEI
The Department of Education cut $1 billion worth of “mental health” grants that were being used to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideology instead of mental health programs. The department confirmed the cuts to The Federalist, some of which were made to grants that advanced “diversity goals” that explicitly sought “non-white” counselors. The department […]Trump Admin Investigates Chicago Public Schools For Racial Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for alleged racial discrimination in its “Black Student Success Plan,” which reportedly only focuses on the academic achievement of black students. The Title VI investigation comes after education advocacy organization Defending Education filed a complaint with the department’s Office for Civil […]HS teacher wants Secret Service to 'take out' all those who support 'Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts': Report
The Maine Wire is calling out what it says is a Waterville teacher's social media post, which contains some disturbing content in reference to President Donald Trump.
The outlet posted a screenshot on X of the social media post in question. It indicates the teacher is JoAnna St. Germain. A Tuesday Facebook post from St. Germain mirrors the wording of the screenshot from the Maine Wire. It reads:
The Secret Service has the perfect opportunity, if they choose to step up and take it.
You are the ones with power.
Coordinate. Take out every single person who supports Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts. Look at the sycophants and give them what they’re asking for.
Every other country sees what’s happening and they are taking stands.
If you step up, we can avoid a civil war.
I’m not talking about assassinating a president.
A president is a person duly elected by the American people.
Tr*mp has shamelessly bragged openly about stealing the election. He is making plans to give himself a third term.
I’m talking about Americans recognizing a fascist dictatorship and standing against it.
Secret Service, you are Americans.
My beloved military, you are Americans.
We, the people, are counting on you.
If I had the skill set required, I would take them out myself.
I’m making this post public for a reason, I promise you.
Don’t waste time wondering if I’m okay. I’m not. If you’re okay, you’re lying to yourself.
On Wednesday morning, St. Germain posted a follow-up message:
My friends.
I am so sorry you took that post to mean that all Republicans should die.
I have no beef with Republicans. I have no beef with MAGA.
I meant that those in the room with Trump, who are permitting and approving his egregious actions, need to be held accountable.
I’ve been teaching history for so long, and it’s very difficult to watch things repeat in rhymes.
I love each and every one of you, and I understand why you’re angry with me.
I love your children. I love the disabled. I love the LGBTQ+ community. I love black and brown people. I love autistic people.
My love holds no quarter for people in power actively harming those I love.
St. Germain added other posts Wednesday morning. One reads, "I'm not backtracking, I am clarifying. Trump is an immoral dictator wannabe. He needs to have a conversation with Jesus." Another post actually goes beyond the scope of her initial post and says Trump himself "needs to die":
You illiterate bums, oh my gosh.
I posted knowing I’d likely lose my job and benefits.
I have zero shame about what I’ve said.
I’m not backtracking a single thing.
I believe Trump and every sycophant he has surrounded himself with (this is not you — if you’re reading this, this doesn’t apply to you. You are beneath his notice and mine) needs to die.
I believe this with the same forceful belief that Hitler and his sycophants needed to die, before they murdered 6 million innocent Jewish persons.
Waterville Senior High School lists St. Germain as part of the English department.
Blaze News asked Waterville Public Schools on Wednesday to comment on St. Germain's social media posts, but Blaze News didn't immediately hear back from the school district.
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