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Joanne Jacobs
Feb 223 min read
Is ethnic studies kaput in California?
Mandatory ethnic studies classes are under fire in California.
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jan 222 min read
How 'woke' are schools?
U.S. students are exposed to anti-racist messages, but most say their teachers welcome diverse viewpoints.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 26, 20241 min read
A black professor leaves academia: 'Critical thinking became critical feeling'
Erec Smith, formerly a professor of rhetoric and composition, got tired of colleagues calling him "inauthentically Black" because he...
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 24, 20242 min read
College students are young adults - not fragile children
Stop babying college students and teach them that they're living in a diverse, pluralistic democracy.
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 12, 20242 min read
Trump will make education great again -- and also leave it to the states
President Trump's education agenda calls for more federal say and more local control.
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Nov 3, 20241 min read
Teens say: America, meh
Young Americans are less patriotic than older generations.
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Joanne Jacobs
Nov 1, 20242 min read
Democrats take over school board, but books stay 'banned'
When a Pennsylvania school board flipped from Republican to Democratic control, some policies changed -- but many did not.
2 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 31, 20243 min read
Politics in the classroom: Can teachers teach the election without bias?
Should teachers teach about the election?
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Oct 7, 20242 min read
Just say 'no' to authority
Would-be regulators of "disinformation" are trying to punish deviation from their beliefs, charges journalist Matt Taibbi in The Free...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20241 min read
To form a more perfect union, teach students to respect the Constitution
At Vertex Partnership Academies , a charter high school in the Bronx, students recite the Preamble to the Constitution every day, writes...
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Joanne Jacobs
Sep 24, 20243 min read
Is free speech just for nice speech? Students (and adults) need to know civics
Tim Walz, a former social studies teacher who hopes to be vice president, said, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
Aug 17, 20241 min read
Teens can vote for school board in Oakland, Berkeley -- but will they?
Teenagers 16 and 17 year old will be able to vote for school board in Oakland and Berkeley.
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Aug 14, 20243 min read
Teaching the election: It's not a crusade
Social studies teachers are eager to discuss the election -- students might actually care! -- but also very nervous about...
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Joanne Jacobs
Aug 2, 20242 min read
Silicon Valley parents push back on ethnic studies
Parents want to know what will be taught in soon-to-be-mandatory ethnic studies class.
5 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jul 4, 20242 min read
Proud to be Americans
When Bruno Manno was growing up in the '50s and '50s, his family would gather at his grandparents' Italian tavern, to eat, drink and...
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Joanne Jacobs
Jun 1, 20241 min read
Young voters say: Politicians are corrupt, America is in decline
Young voters say politicians are corrupt and America is in decline in new poll.
4 comments

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 14, 20231 min read
Afraid to teach: 'It's safer to avoid current events'
Polarization is chilling classroom dialogue, according to a series of interviews with teachers by the Constructive Dialogue Institute...
6 comments


Joanne Jacobs
Jun 12, 20232 min read
Beyond basics: Schools must teach 'virtues and habits' of free people
"Back to basics" education isn't enough, writes Gillian Richards on The American Conservative. "Some conservatives have responded to...
4 comments


Joanne Jacobs
May 23, 20231 min read
Test reading and civics at the same time
Only 6 percent of eighth-graders can read Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech and identify two ideas from the Constitution or...
1 comment


Joanne Jacobs
May 6, 20232 min read
Texas limits 'action civics'
Civic activism can't be required in Texas public schools if it requires communicating with federal, state or local officials, reports...
4 comments
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