Big-city school district risks potential federal funding cuts to push trans ideology, DEI



Pennsylvania's largest school district is celebrating "Transgender Awareness Week," despite the Trump administration’s order prohibiting “radical indoctrination” in the nation’s public schools.

The School District of Philadelphia, which serves more than 100,000 students from pre-K through 12th grade, posted on its social media platforms on Thursday, recognizing the so-called "awareness week."

'Our policies ... accommodate name and gender requests, ensuring that our LGBTQIA+ students are respected and valued throughout their educational journey.'

“Happy #TransAwarenessWeek. This is a week to help raise visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face," the district wrote.

The post included a link to the activist group GLSEN's "Trans Action Kit," which described "Transgender Awareness Week" as running from November 13 to 19. It encouraged those seeking to celebrate it to host a "transgender and nonbinary student and staff panel," play a "film based on transgender issues," and "center[] trans and nonbinary voices."

Critics flooded the district's Facebook post.

“Thought it was April 1st?!” one user joked.

"Concentrate on academics," another responded.

"But, about those math and read[ing] scores," a third user wrote.

RELATED: Maryland school district allegedly indoctrinates 7th graders about gender: 'Girl, boy, both or neither'

Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images

Just 18% of students in the district are proficient in math, and only 36% in reading, according to Niche.

The district regularly voices support for the LGBT+ community and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

In June, the district shared a photo of staff members standing next to a Pride flag and rainbow balloons. "Pride doesn't end in June — we wear our hearts on our sleeves (and shirts!) all year long. We're proud to be educators, advocates, and allies — ensuring every SDP student knows they belong," the post read.

Another June post stated, "As we continue to pursue equity and inclusion, we will nurture classrooms and learning environments that embrace the diverse backgrounds and identities of our students, families, and staff."

RELATED: LGBTQ+ teacher posts meme apparently threatening violence over pronouns: Report

Photo by Mark Makela/Corbis via Getty Images

Last November, the district promoted a "Transgender Remembrance Coffee House & Open Mic Night," encouraging students, staff, and families to participate by sharing their "poetry, art, & other forms of expression that affirm and acknowledge the transgender experience."

The district's website includes a DEI page with a "cultural calendar," featuring "LGBTQIA+ History Month," "National Coming Out Day," "Trans Awareness Month," "Trans Day of Remembrance," "Trans Day of Visibility," "PRIDE Month," "Pulse Nightclub Remembrance," and the "Stonewall Riots Anniversary."

The website also features a "LGBTQIA+ Resources and Policies" webpage, which states that the district "celebrates the diverse experiences and affirms the unique identities of our LGBTQIA+ students."

"Our policies, such as Policy 252, accommodate name and gender requests, ensuring that our LGBTQIA+ students are respected and valued throughout their educational journey," it reads.

President Donald Trump issued an order in January to end the “radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling,” which included a threat to pull federal funding to any public institutions pushing the “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”

The Department of Education and the School District of Philadelphia did not respond to a request for comment.

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Down to the last penny: US Mint closes the books on producing one-cent coins



After more than two centuries, the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has put in its final two cents — sort of.

On Wednesday, at an event that included Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Treasurer Brandon Beach, the mint stamped the last two U.S. pennies that will ever be made after production costs and the rise in digital financial transactions made the one-cent coins wasteful and impractical.

'Let's rip the waste out of our great nation[']s budget, even if it's a penny at a time.'

Those lucky two pennies have been marked with what USA Today described as a "special omega mark" and will not enter into circulation.

The Philadelphia Mint first began stamping pennies in 1793, a year after Congress passed the Coinage Act. According to the New York Post, at the time, items that could be purchased for a penny included a biscuit, a candle, a piece of candy, and of course, a person's thoughts.

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Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

However, these days, the one-cent coins cost nearly four cents to make, and the decision to discontinue stamping them is expected to save the Treasury Department $56 million in materials annually.

"Ongoing increases in production costs and the evolution in consumer habits and technology have made its production financially untenable," a statement from the department said, according to USA Today.

The department further noted that the penny "remains legal tender and will retain its value indefinitely." Reports estimate that at least 250 billion pennies are currently in circulation.

President Donald Trump has railed against ongoing production of the penny for months, calling for it to end. "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" he posted on Truth Social back in February.

"I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nation[']s budget, even if it's a penny at a time."

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Exclusive: ICE busts pedophile, abuser, and fentanyl trafficker despite ongoing shutdown



The government shutdown has not hindered the Trump administration's federal agents from continuing nationwide immigration enforcement.

‘Nothing will slow us down from making America safe again — not even a government shutdown.’

On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens, including pedophiles, abusers, and drug traffickers, according to a Department of Homeland Security press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.

“The Democrats’ government shutdown will not stop DHS law enforcement from arresting and removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities. Just yesterday, ICE arrested pedophiles, abusers, violent assailants, and drug traffickers from America’s streets,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated.

“Nothing will slow us down from making America safe again — not even a government shutdown," McLaughlin added.

The DHS highlighted five of those arrests.

Elroy Smith, a Jamaican national, was previously convicted in Philadelphia of unlawful contact with a minor — sexual offenses and indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old. Court records show that he was sentenced in 2024 to a minimum of 11.5 months in jail.

RELATED: Major shake-up reportedly under way at DHS as Trump administration works to increase deportations

Elroy Smith. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE nabbed Joel Ocampo-Martinez, a Mexican national with a criminal record in Vernal, Utah, for attempted forcible sexual abuse.

Joel Ocampo-Martinez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Federal agents arrested Oscar Hernandez-Aguire, a Salvadoran national who was convicted in Los Angeles for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.

Oscar Hernandez-Aguire. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

Luis Mario Martinez-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was found guilty in El Paso County, Texas, for assault on a public servant.

Luis Mario Martinez-Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

ICE also captured Osiris Alexander Rodriguez-Guzman, a national from the Dominican Republic, who was convicted in Essex Superior Court in Massachusetts for trafficking 200 grams or more of fentanyl. Gov. Maura Healey’s administration announced Rodriguez-Guzman’s drug trafficking arrest in 2022 as part of a state and federal takedown operation that resulted in a dozen arrests.

RELATED: House Democrats' ICE 'tracker' will 'put our lives in danger': DHS agent

Osiris Alexander Rodriguez-Guzman. Image source: Department of Homeland Security

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White ex-state trooper files lawsuit over his firing after viral arrest of black LGBTQ leader



An ex-Pennsylvania state police trooper — who is white — is suing his former agency for firing him after his viral arrest of a black Philadelphia LGBTQ leader.

Andrew Zaborowski arrested Celena McLean — then Celena Morrison — and McLean's husband in a March 2024 traffic stop on the Schuylkill Expressway, WPVI-TV reported.

'It's cause I'm black.'

Zaborowski claims in his lawsuit that state police fired him because of his skin color and that he was falsely accused of racial profiling, the station said.

At the time of the traffic stop and arrest, McLean was Philadelphia's executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs, WPVI reported.

The station said it reached out to state police for comment but did not hear back.

RELATED: 9 arrested after transgender activists clash with police at 'Let Women Speak' event in NYC

As Blaze News previously reported, the March 2 incident — some of which was caught on video — took place on Interstate 76 near the downtown part of the city.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, citing state police, at the time reported that the trooper pulled over Celena Morrison for driving with an expired and suspended registration, driving without headlights activated in the rain, illegally tinted windows, and driving too close to another car.

After the traffic stop, Celena Morrison's husband, Darius McLean, pulled up behind them, the paper said, adding that state police said McLean “became verbally combative” and “refused multiple lawful orders" after the trooper approached him.

The trooper attempted to arrest McLean, and Morrison tried to intervene, the Inquirer said, adding that Morrison also was arrested.

In Morrison's video of the arrest, Morrison was heard yelling, “I work for the mayor! I work for the mayor!” as McLean was laying on the shoulder of the freeway, the paper said.

"Please, just stop. No! It's cause I'm black," McLean was heard saying, according to WPVI-TV.

"It's not 'cause you're black," the trooper replied, according to the station.

The trooper then told Morrison to "turn around" and "give me your hands, or you are getting tased," WPVI reported. At one point, Morrison was heard saying, “He just punched me," the Inquirer said.

More from the station:

"This was a simple traffic stop cause you didn't have your lights on. You're tailgating," the officer explains to the couple. "Then, I don't know who you are. I don't need somebody rolling up on me."

"There was no need at all," one person is heard saying.

"You were about to tase me. You pulled your gun on me," another voice says.

"You were fighting with me," says a third voice.

"No, I wasn't fighting you," someone responds.

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State police placed the trooper on restricted duty after the incident, the Inquirer reported.

In addition, while state police charged the couple with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct, and summary traffic citations, the paper said the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner declined the charges, and Celena Morrison and Darius McLean were released from custody on the evening of March 2.

Blaze News reported in January 2020 that then-Mayor Jim Kenney appointed Celena Morrison to run his Office of LGBT Affairs — and that Morrison was the first-ever trans-identifying individual of color to head up the agency.

"While Philadelphia is known as a progressive, LGBTQ-friendly city, we still have work to do," the far-left Kenney said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Celena to build a more inclusive city for our residents."

Morrison added to KYW-AM that being transgender and black will be an asset when it comes to the job's demands of dealing with issues of race and gender.

"Trans folks are not being accepted," Morrison told KYW. "They are not accepted within the LGBT community. They are also not accepted within the black community. That double marginalization calls for a different type of support."

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Top Philadelphia Public School Official Posts Tributes to Fugitive Cop-Killer Assata Shakur

The man in charge of the social studies curriculum for Philadelphia public schools has posted several online tributes to the convicted cop-killer Assata Shakur, even using her photo as his profile picture on social media.

The post Top Philadelphia Public School Official Posts Tributes to Fugitive Cop-Killer Assata Shakur appeared first on .

Dem House Candidate Used Funds Meant for Recovering Opioid Addicts To Transport Kids to an ‘LGBTQ+ Youth’ Center Offering ‘Medical Transition’ Seminars

Democratic House candidate Bob Harvie (Pa.), a county commissioner in Pennsylvania, oversees a local fund that distributes millions of dollars his county received as part of a settlement with opioid manufacturers. While the money is supposed to go toward "Prevention, Treatment and Recovery" services, Harvie used some of it to transport kids as young as 14 to an "LGBTQ-youth" center that offers "medical transition" seminars.

The post Dem House Candidate Used Funds Meant for Recovering Opioid Addicts To Transport Kids to an ‘LGBTQ+ Youth’ Center Offering ‘Medical Transition’ Seminars appeared first on .

Democratic Voters Blast 'Fractured' Party in WaPo Interviews: 'Right Now, There Is No Leader'

Democratic voters in Pennsylvania slammed their party's national leadership as "fractured," telling the Washington Post that the party lacks a "definitive message" and a figure to rally behind months into President Donald Trump's second term.

The post Democratic Voters Blast 'Fractured' Party in WaPo Interviews: 'Right Now, There Is No Leader' appeared first on .

UPenn-backed 'Black Doctors Directory' gets reality check after legal challenge



A directory connecting prospective patients to doctors of only one race has been rolled back after a lawsuit.

The lawsuit came from legal activist group Do No Harm, which sued WURD Radio, a Philadelphia radio station that promotes "Black Talk Media."

According to legal documents, WURD controlled a black doctors' directory with the support of the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Medicine department, along with a group called the Consortium of DEI Health Educators.

'... connecting you with Black doctors across major hospitals.'

The radio station promoted the directory on Facebook last year as a resource to bridge "Health Gaps in Philadelphia."

The post stated, "WURD Radio launches the Black Doctors Directory, connecting you with Black doctors across major hospitals."

As of this week, the Philadelphia-area physicians' directory has rolled back its requirement that the doctors listed be of a certain race, while also changing its name.

"The Black Doctors Directory is now the Community Health and Wellness Directory. Ability to participate in the Community Health and Wellness Directory is not determined on the basis of race," Do No Harm wrote in a press release.

The lawsuit noted the directory will have to make more concessions as well.

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Announcing the Black Doctors Directory: Bridging Health Gaps in Philadelphia Closing the healthcare gap in Philly!...
Posted by WURD Radio on Thursday, October 17, 2024

The radio station agreed to "only publicize the directory under [the new name] or an equally race-neutral name," and must consider "any licensed physician in the greater Philadelphia area" when adding to the directory.

However, according to the offer of judgment, one caveat to consider was that the licensed physician would have to demonstrate a "commitment to treating patients and communities historically and currently underserved," but that cannot include inquiring about or considering the physician's race.

Since the conclusion of the lawsuit became public, PhillyBlackDoctors.com has been taken down, and WURD's page promoting the directory (as linked through its Facebook post) also no longer appears to be live.

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Then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sits for a radio interview with WURD on November 8, 2022. Photo by Caroline Gutman/Washington Post/Getty Images

The original webpage had promoted finding black doctors in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey, while showcasing radio segments from WURD Radio that featured guests like the "Twin Sister Docs."

While the listenership for the radio segments is unknown, the online versions of the segments that were visible on the webpage garnered between eight and 32 plays.

"We are grateful that the directory is open to physicians of all races," said Stanley Goldfarb, M.D. and chairman of Do No Harm. "Do No Harm has long opposed 'racial concordance,' a thoroughly debunked theory that only breeds suspicion and prejudice."

Goldfarb added, "When medical providers prioritize expertise and high-quality care, patients will see better health outcomes."

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CAIR-Philadelphia, Whose Leader Blamed Israel For Oct. 7, Announces Partnership With Local Schools To Make Them 'More Inclusive'

The Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent anti-Israel group whose leader said he was "happy to see" Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack, announced this week that it is partnering with local schools to make them "more inclusive."

The post CAIR-Philadelphia, Whose Leader Blamed Israel For Oct. 7, Announces Partnership With Local Schools To Make Them 'More Inclusive' appeared first on .

‘Black Doctors Directory’ No Longer Just For Black Docs After Lawsuit

'Breeds suspicion and prejudice'