NHEG January-February 2023

Letter from our Director Pamela Clark

Dear Readers, Supporters, Families, and Wonderful Volunteers,

This has been one of the most challenging years I’ve ever faced personally and professionally, and it’s been hard on our organization as well. We are still struggling but fighting to survive the year. I want to say thank you to all of you. We would not have survived this year without our incredible volunteers, and it reconfirms that this is the people’s organization and not just mine.

NHEG is for anyone looking for a more successful life through education—real education, lifelong education—and a deep love for it. It’s for everyone, and I believe it is a human right.

I have been through a lot in my life, but surviving a serious car accident along with my husband is up there with the top challenges. It’s a miracle that we both walked away from a semi-truck trailer accident, yet due to the injuries we sustained the incident has dragged on and on. We are thankful, but continually deal with the repercussions. This has brought us to a point in our history when we require immediate funding so I can hire local and remote staff to help continue our work and cement our legacy in history. Most importantly, though, I’m writing this to thank those of you who have been behind the scenes making a difference this year. I’m in awe and so appreciate you and your belief in my dream to make education affordable and accessible to everyone through our a la carte learning programs.

THANK YOU.

NHEG MEDIA PACK

NHEG is going through some big changes this year and a lot of things will start to look different in the coming months To move forward with NHEG’s goals and dreams, we need funding for an annual budget. Pamela Clark can no longer run NHEG without a paid staff. What does this mean for volunteers and families in need of ser vices?

The website will become free and searchable NHEG will no longer take on new students for live lessons or tutoring We wil no longer answer phone calls for informational ser vices, and families will need to use the search tool on our websites to find the answers they need Most, if not all, of them w ll be on the site, and we will add any information that people might need. The website will stay intact and up to date as long as there is a volunteer to manage it and money to fund the hosting costs. Your donations are appreciated to help us keep it available

We hope the website will remain a valuable resource and blessing for those who need it and will honor the many hundreds of volunteers who have helped build the organization We want to make sure that the information and work of the last 16 years don't go to waste. Your donations are appreciated to help us keep it available. We ask that, if possib e, you donate at least $25 or more to help offset these costs We w ll be required to pay $705 per year for these basic expenses If we can’t raise these funds the site might go inactive by 2024

● NHEG wil no longer take on new students for live lessons or tutoring.

● All tutoring has come to an end, due to low funds and teacher/tutor shortages.

● NHEG’s pre-recorde d courses will all be available for free, but families will need to contact us by enrolling or emailing us for access to specific classes

● The website will become free and searchable, and it will stay intact and up to date as long as there is a volunteer to manage it and funds to cover the hosting fees.

● Our phone number will stay the same, but there may be longer response times. We ask that you searc h the site first before calling for information

● We will no longer answer phone calls for informational ser vices, and families wil need to use the search tool on our websites to find the answers they need Most, if not all, of them will be on the site, and we will add any information that people might need

● The comic book issue currently being worked on, once published, will be our last (unless f unding is acquired). All scripts that weren’t made into a comic book will be shared on our comic book page

● The rad o shows may or may not continue depending on circumstances out of our control

● The Reading Program will stay active and pre-recorded as long as a volunteer is available to run the program.

● Any offerings from program partners will be shared with those who are signed up for our email list

● The student leadership groups can still meet and plan for their future

● There will be no further Recognition Days, but all volunteers will receive annual certificates of appreciation and a letter from NHEG if they do a good job volunteering.

● We need help w th HR, as well as a cartoonist, professiona fundraisers, public sts, grant writers, social med a/marketing , graphic design, data compilation and organization/moving information to new systems, proofreading , and managing the radio show

● A complete list of open positions can be v ewed here.

https://NewHeightsEducation.org /volunteer-with-NHEG/NHEG-volunteer-opportunities/

● NHEG EDGuide wil continue as long as Marina Klimi and Pamela Clark can devote time to it

● We will no longer have a Research Department or review new products or programs

We are hoping that volunteers will stay on to organize and share NHEG information with families in need. NHEG’s pre-recorded courses will a l be ava lable for free, but families will need to contact us for access to specific classes. We ask that you don't share these classes; each person using them must request them by contacting he NewHeightsEducation@yahoo com email address or by enrolling to receive a specific course The reason for this is because we have paid for some curriculum from other companies for these classes, and we don't want to disrespect those companies in any way by openly offering their information for free.

If you want to advocate for our organizat on and its dream of a fair and equal education for all who are willing to work for it, then I ask that you contact the following and tell them you want and expect their support for our ser vices

Here is a script that you can use by phone or email, or to submit via online contact form: Hello, I’m contacting you as a [student, parent, volunteer, teacher/tutor] and I want to sh are my concern about the New Heights Educational Group The organizat on is falling dormant because it isn’t receiving the support it needs to stay active It would be a great loss to not only Defiance and the State of Ohio but also to the world to lose this organization and its ser vices It needs funding and media support, and we want you to make it happen. (Share what the organization has meant to you.)

● Ohio Governor Mike DeW ne: (614) 644-4357, https://governor.ohio. gov/contact

● Representative Craig Reidel’s office: (614) 644-5091, https://ohiohouse gov/members/craig-s-riedel/contact

● Representative Bob Latta's office: (419) 782-1996, https://latta house gov/contact/

● Defiance Mayor Mike McCann: (419) 784-2101, https://cityofdefiance.com/contact/

● Defiance Area Foundation: (419) 782-3130, https://defia nceareafoundation.org /contact-us/

Local Defiance leaders don’t believe that our ser vices are needed and think they duplicate what the public schools offer, although we do and want to offer an educational and affordable ser vice center ser ving all families regardless of school choice, a sensory room, a daycare for young parents, and our radio show. We would appreciate you sharing our information with an yone who can fund this dream. We can't continue to operate on a small to non-existent budget. Thank you for the blessing of allowing us to ser ve you for the last 16 years and helping us become the most awarded nonprofit on the planet.

New Heights Educational Group Named Best Children & Adults Literacy Group

New Heights Educational Group (NHEG) has been named a U.S. winner in Acquisition International’s 2022 Non-Profit Organisation Awards. NHEG was awarded Best Children & Adults Literacy Group – Ohio.

This is the second win for NHEG from Acquisition International, a monthly digital business magazine with global circulation published by AI Global Media Ltd, a publishing house based in the United Kingdom.

Pamela Clark, Founder/Executive Director of NHEG stated, “We extend a warm thank you to Acquisition International for recognizing the work of our organization and its many volunteers. We are thankful for and appreciate your continued support.”

More information about the NHEG award and other award winners is available via the links below:

• Directory listing - https://www.acquisition-international.com/winners-list/?award=98329-2022

• The official press release - https://www.acquisition-international.com/acquisition-international-is-proud-to-announce-thewinners-of-the-2022-non-profit-organisation-awards/

• New Heights Educational Group - New Heights Educational Group 2022 (acquisition-international.com)

FROM NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP

Internet Radio Show Spots now available

The New Heights Educational Group is now offering the opportunity for the public or businesses that promote education to purchase sponsor advertisement on our internet radio show.

All products, business and service advertisements will need to be reviewed by our research department and must be approved by NHEG home office.

All advertisements must be family friendly.

Those interested in purchasing packages can choose for our host to read the advertisement on their show or supply their own pre-recorded advertisement.

If interested, please visit our website for more details.

https://Radio.NewHeightsEducation.org/

The NHEG Radio Show is an internet radio program in which the hosts cover various topics of education for Home, Charter and Public School families in Ohio. These Communities include Paulding, Defiance, Van Wert, Delphos, Lima, Putnam County, Wauseon and Napoleon.

For an invitation to the live show, visit us on Facebook or Twitter to sign up, or email us at info@NewHeightsEducation.org

If you are looking to listen to past shows, please check out this document

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oW5gxFB7WNgtREowSsrJqWP9flz8bsulcgoR-QyvURE/edit#gid=529615429

NHEG

NHEG

NHEG Volunteers Reviews

Vlowery

Volunteer 09/24/2022

Rating: 5

I found New Heights to be a group of well-intentioned individuals doing great work.

Ninale

Volunteer 08/04/2022

Rating: 5

I am a volunteer at NHEG and after a year of being part of this amazing group, I have had an awesome experience, not only able to practice my interest, but also help others along the way. NHEG is a place to help or to be helped.

HOW TO EARN BOX TOPS MAKES IT EASY

PRESS RELEASE

NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP WINS SILVER AND BRONZE STEVIE® AWARDS IN 2022 STEVIE AWARDS FOR SALES & CUSTOMER SERVICE

STEVIE WINNER PROVIDES LITERACY AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TO ADULTS AND CHILDREN

Their Mission: Stevie Award winner New Heights Educational Group, Inc. promotes literacy for children and adults by offering a range of educational support services. Such services include assisting families in the selection of schools, organization of educational activities, a nd acquisition of materials. They promote a healthy learning environment and enrichment programs for families of preschool and school-age children, including children with special needs.

Award-winning organization New Heights Educational Group (NHEG) was formed in 2006 by Mrs. Pamela Clark. Mrs. Clark discovered that families needed to cooperate, especially in educating children with learning difficulties such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, autism, and neur ological disorders. NHEG has served over 350,000 students via online services and courses. Mrs. Clark leads a team of 92 volunteers who research advancements and provide training to teachers and tutors explor ing different learning styles.

Defiance, Ohio – March 2, 2022 – New Heights Educational Group ( NHEG)was presented with a Silver Stevie® Award in the Best Use of Thought Leadership in Customer Service category and a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Best Use of Thought Leadership in B usiness Development category in the 16th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world’s top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals. The Stevi e Awards organizes eight of the world’s leading business awards programs, also including the prestigious American Business Awards® and International Business Awards®.

Winners will be recognized during a virtual awards ceremony on May 11.

More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry, in 51 nations, were considered in this year’s competition. Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide on eight specialized judging commit tees. Entries were considered in more than 90 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; more than 60 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services, solution pro viders, and organizations’ and individuals’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New categories this year hon or excellence in thought leadership in customer service and sales.

Judges’ Comments

--Congratulations on an incredible and amazingly profound mission. Well done.

--Awesome to see enablement through education, developing support around kids for a better future

--Interesting method to meet the requirements and needs of the business

--Congratulations on your successful thought leadership focus on family education and those with special needs!

--Excellent initiative taken by the company. The company seems to have benefitted tremendously under Mrs. Pamela Clark’s leadership. Well done on promoting literacy through various educational programs.Worthy of acclaim!

--Supporting your clients every step along the way is the key to building trust. And since people do business with people they know, like, and trust, you can see how essential this is. You can also see how it’s the opposite of trying to SELL. It’s about guiding them to find the best solution for their problem …based on where they are in their Decision Journey.

--True general leadership growth opportunities in an equitable social application. This will impact and assist in true across the board growth in thought leadership

--Overall a good and innovative solution to a time tested problem.

--Congratulations NHEG on your valuable contributions to children’s education during the Covid crisis!

--New Heights Educational Group has a very fulfilling goal, whic h is to provide education to the children with learning difficulties. The increase in the number of course offerings is co mmendable. Their partnerships with various online course providers is a clear indication of their interest in the growth of the children.

Pamela Clark, Executive Director of NHEG, stated, “we are proud of our team of volunteers that work so hard to bring opportunities to families in need. We are honored by thes e awards.”

“The nominations we received for the 2022 competition illustrate that business development, customer service, and sales professionals worldwide, in all sorts of organization s, have continued to innovate, thrive, and meet customer expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stevi e Awards president Maggie Gallagher Miller. “The judges have recognized and rewarded their achievements, an d we join them in applauding this year’s winners for their continued success. We look forward to recognizin g them on May 11.”

Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

About NHEG

New Heights Educational Group, Inc., promotes literacy for chil dren and adults by offering a range of educational support services. Such services include the following: assisting families in the selection of schools; organization of educational activities; and acquisition of materials . We promote a healthy learning environment and various enrichment programs for families of preschool and school-age children, including children with special needs.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizati ons of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the wor kplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

NHEG WRITERS ARTICLES

Nelson Mandela

Peace often brings with it joy and pain. Joy in the relief that there are no longer racist governmental policies and pain in the attempt to overcome historically racist and prejudicial acts towards those whose skin color is different.

Mandela, you helped overthrow Apartheid. For this, the world thanks you.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela known throughout the world as a revolutionary and political leader who aided in the dismantling of Apartheid; Black South Africans whose lives were filled with fear due to the historical racist and prejudicial governmental policies of South Africa found their hero in Mandela. The world craved such a leader, as Black South Africans lives were filled with violence, fear and the struggle to end racism, and they were severely affected by policies enacted and intended to make them feel subservient and inferior to White South Africans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (/mænˈdɛlə/;[1] Xhosa: [xolíɬaɬa mandɛːla]; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. A Xhosa, Mandela was born into the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, Union of South Africa. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. There he became involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics, joining the ANC in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League in 1944. After the National Party’s white-only government established apartheid, a system of racial segregation that privileged whites, Mandela and the ANC committed themselves to its overthrow. He was appointed president of the ANC’s Transvaal branch, rising to prominence for his involvement in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People. He was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the 1956 Treason Trial. Influenced by Marxism, he secretly joined the banned South African Communist Party (SACP). Although initially committed to nonviolent protest, in association with the SACP he co-founded the militant uMkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 and led a sabotage campaign against the government. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1962, and, following the Rivonia Trial, was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state.

Mandela served 27 years in prison, split between Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. Amid growing domestic and international pressure and fears of racial civil war, President F. W. de Klerk released him in 1990. Mandela and de Klerk led efforts to negotiate an end to apartheid, which resulted in the 1994 multiracial general election in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became president. Leading a broad coalition government which promulgated a new constitution, Mandela emphasised reconciliation between the country’s racial groups and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. Economically, his administration retained its predecessor’s liberal framework despite his own socialist beliefs, also introducing measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty and expand healthcare services. Internationally, Mandela acted as mediator in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial and served as secretary-general of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999. He declined a second presidential term and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela became an elder statesman and focused on combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the charitable Nelson Mandela Foundation. Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. Although critics on the right denounced him as a communist terrorist and those on the far-left deemed him too eager to negotiate and reconcile with apartheid’s supporters, he gained international acclaim for his activism. Globally regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice, he received more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Thembu clan name, Madiba, and described as the “Father of the Nation”. https://www.un.org/en/events/mandeladay/assets/pdf/mandela100-booklet.pdf

“Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.” Those who are voteless cannot be expected to continue paying taxes to a government which is not responsible to them. People who live in poverty and starvation cannot be expected to pay exorbitant house rents to the government and local authorities. We furnish the sinews of agriculture and industry. We produce the work of the gold mines, the diamonds and the coal, of the farms and industry, in return for miserable wages.

Why should we continue enriching those who steal the products of our sweat and blood? Those who exploit us and refuse us the right to organise trade unions? ...

I am informed that a warrant for my arrest has been issued, and that the police are looking for me. ... Any serious politician will realise that under present-day conditions in this country, to seek for cheap martyrdom by handing myself to the police is naive and criminal. We have an important programme before us and it is important to carry it out very seriously and without delay. I have chosen this latter course, which is more difficult and which entails more risk and hardship than sitting in gaol. I have had to separate myself from my dear wife and children, from my mother and sisters, to live as an outlaw in my own land. I have had to close my business, to abandon my profession, and live in poverty and misery, as many of my people are doing. ... I shall fight the government side by side with you, inch by inch, and mile by mile, until victory is won. What are you going to do? Will you come along with us, or are you going to cooperate with the government in its efforts to suppress the claims and aspirations of your own people? Or are youv going to remain silent and neutral in a matter of life and death to my people, to our people? For my own part I have made my choice. I will not leave South Africa, nor will I surrender. Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.

“THE STRUGGLE IS MY LIFE,” PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED WHILE UNDERGROUND IN SOUTH AFRICA, 26 JUNE 1961”

NHEG WRITERS ARTICLES

In its proper meaning equality before the law means the right to participate in the making of the laws by which one is governed, a constitution which guarantees democratic rights to all sections of the population, the right to approach the court for protection or relief in the case of the violation of rights guaranteed in the constitution, and the right to take part in the administration of justice as judges, magistrates, attorneysgeneral, law advisers and similar positions. In the absence of these safeguards the phrase “equality before the law,” in so far as it is intended to apply to us, is meaningless and misleading. All the rights and privileges to which I have referred are monopolized by whites, and we enjoy none of them. (I)consider myself neither morally nor legally obliged to obey laws made by a parliament in which I am not represented. That the will of the people is the basis of “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society.... It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” The authority of government is a principle universally acknowledged as sacred throughout the civilised world, and constitutes the basic foundations of freedom and justice. It is understandable why citizens, who have the vote as well as the right to direct representation in the country’s governing bodies, should be morally and legally bound by the laws governing the country. It should be equally understandable why we, as Africans, should adopt the attitude that we are neither morally nor legally bound to obey laws which we have not made, nor can we be expected to have confidence in courts which enforce such laws. … I hate the practice of race discrimination, and in my hatred I am sustained by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind hate it equally. I hate the systematic inculcation of children with colour prejudice and I am sustained in that hatred by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind, here and abroad, are with me in that. I hate the racial arrogance which decrees that the good things of life shall be retained as the exclusive right of a minority of the population, and which reduces the majority of the population to a position of subservience and inferiority, and maintains them as voteless chattels to work where they are told and behave as they are told by the ruling minority. I am sustained in that hatred by the fact that the overwhelming majority of mankind both in this country and abroad are with me. Nothing that this court can do to me will change in any way that hatred in me, which can only be removed by the removal of the injustice and the inhumanity which I have sought to remove from the political and social life of this country.

COURT STATEMENT, PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA, 15 OCTOBER–7 NOVEMBER 1962 *****

Mandela, we love you for what you stood for

The right for equality

The right to end racism

The right to be human

The right for governmental policies to be just, and

The right to be free.

Endangered: The Mexican Grey Wolf

Written By: Erika Hanson

The word ‘wolf’ brings up images of a massive grey and white canid, prowling the forests and tundra of such states as Michigan, Wyoming, and Alaska, just to name a few. This subspecies of wolf is well-known.

It’s the one heard about in fairytales, seen on documentaries and in books. But the grey wolf is only one of many subspecies of wolves which roam the United States.

One such subspecies is the mexican grey wolf, typically seen in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Known as ‘el lobo’, this wolf can be found primarily in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas, as well as in parts of Mexico. The mexican grey wolf is smaller than its cousins to the north, standing at only 25-32 inches tall. Its coat is a mixture of grey, buff, rust and black, and they can have very distinctive markings. They have long legs and can run up to 40 miles (65KM) an hour.

As previously mentioned, these wolves reside in the mountainous regions of the southwestern United States, as well as Mexico. They live and hunt in a pack, with a complex social structure consisting of a mated pair of alpha wolves and their offspring. In captivity, mexican grey wolves can live up to fifteen years. It is estimated that they live roughly ten years in the wild.

Biodiversity continues to be an issue, as today’s population is decended from only five wolves: four males and one pregnant female. In the years between 1977 and 1980, these wolves were bred as the basis for a new generation. Although this saved the species from extinction, it provided conservationists with a limited gene pool.

Currently, there are 196 mexican grey wolves in the wild. It is estimated that over a thousand mexican wolves roamed the southwest during the 1900’s, but the population has since been decimated by human predation. Due to increasingly low numbers of elk, mule deer, and other prey in the wild, wolves have been forced to find food elsewhere, typically on cattle ranches. From the early twentieth century until 1976 (when the mexican wolf was declared to be an endangered species), they were shot or poisoned either by private individuals protecting their cattle or by government agents, in accordance with legislation current at the time.

In the 1970’s, the mexican grey wolf was considered extinct in the wild, and a binational conservation effort began. By breeding the wolves in captivity, zoologists were able to release a small population of mexican grey wolves back into their natural habitat. This population continues to grow, but slowly. Conservation efforts continue, with new legislation being introduced as recently as 2022. With the right resources and patience, the number of mexican grey wolves will continue to grow.

NHEG WRITERS ARTICLES

The Beautiful One Has Come

Written By: Erika S. Hanson

One of the most iconic images of Ancient Egypt is the bust of Queen Nefertiti. The sculpture is a beautiful piece of art. The queen has a long neck and defined cheekbones. The statue’s single remaining eye is brown glass, the other having been long since lost to time. However, even this blemish does not lessen the air of grace, power and poise of the ancient royal.

Queen Nefertiti appears in the 14th century B.C.E. Little is known of her life before her marriage to the heretic king, Akhenaten. Her name, Nefret-iti, means “the beautiful woman has come.” But from where? Was she a foreign princess, sent from what is now Syria, in the hope of cementing an alliance with a powerful new pharaoh? Or was she a court noblewoman, whose father, Ay, used the marriage as a way to cement his connection to the throne? Either could be true, or not. The evidence for both theories is circumstantial, at best. We do know that Nefertiti had a sister, Mutnodjmet, whose parentage is also unknown.

Whatever her origins, Nefertiti first appears as Akhenaten’s “Great Royal Wife”, the Egyptian term for queen—her image is carved into the tomb of Ramose, the king’s vizier. She is shown alongside her husband, offering gifts to the god Aten. Reliefs at Karnak show her performing the duties of a priestess. Others show her in the act of smiting Egypt’s enemies, a role typically reserved for the pharaoh. Additionally, Nefertiti is often depicted standing beside her husband, rather than behind. This has led Egyptologists to speculate that Nefertiti may have acted as a co-regent to Akhenaten, as well as his consort.

The royal couple spent the first few years of Akhenaten’s reign in Thebes, or modern day Luxor. There are indications that the pharaoh found Thebes to be hostile to his new religion, so the family moved the capitol to the newly built Akhetaten, or modern day Amarna. Because of this, artifacts from Akhenaten’s reign can be found near both cities. Once at Amarna, Akhenaten decreed that the names of the old gods would be struck from all monuments, their temples torn down. He was especially focused on destroying work featuring the god Amun. After Akhenaten’s death, the priests of Amun chiseled his name off of tombs and temples. In doing this, they hoped to eradicate the pharaoh both from history and the afterlife.

Because of this, much of the information on Nefertiti has been destroyed or damaged. We know that the couple had six daughters, the most famous of whom are Meritaten, Meketaten and Ankhesenamun. There has been speculation that Nefertiti is the mother of Tutankhamen, but DNA testing is inconclusive. He could just as easily be the son of a lesser wife, Kiya. Nefertiti’s death is as mysterious as her birth. Toward the end of her life, Nefertiti may have ruled Egypt in her own right. If so, her reign was a short one, lasting only three years. After Akhenaten’s death, records of Nefertiti’s life stop. She simply disappears. What happened to the queen? Was there an accident? An illness? Or was she murdered?

Nefertiti’s mummy has never been identified. Again, there is much speculation regarding where her tomb may be, if she has one at all. Some experts believe that her body may be in a cache of 50 mummies discovered in the Valley of the Kings by Victor Loret in 1898. The tomb is designated KV35, and is thought to be the resting place of Amenhotep II. Later, more royal mummies were added, including Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye (Akhenaten’s parents). Still others believe Nefertiti is buried at Amarna. Some theorize that the queen is buried in a secret chamber close to Tutankhamen’s tomb.

This theory is supported by the fact that, underneath the cartouche of Tutankhamen, another name was written, Nefernefruaten. This is a part of Nefertiti’s throne name. Funerary items, such as canopic jars, jewelry, and weaponry may have originally belonged to Nefertiti. Even the boy king’s famous golden mask may have originally belonged to the queen. The mask bears the name “Ankhkeperure mery-Neferkheperure,” which means “Ankhkheperure, beloved of Akhenaten.” Ankhkheperure is also thought to be another of Nefertiti’s throne names.

The theory states that the tomb was originally meant for Nefertiti, but was repurposed for Tutankhamen, who died suddenly at age 19. If that’s the case, it’s possible that Nefertiti’s mummy lies in a separate section of the complex.

None of these theories have been conclusively proven, and there is evidence for each. The only certainty is that Queen Nefertiti’s fate remains unknown.

Further reading:

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/nefertiti-tomb-tutankhamun-theory-nicholas-reeves-1234641109/ --Art News, September 19th, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/sep/26/tutankhamun-burial-chamber-could-contain-door-to-nefertiti-tomb–TheGuardian,September26th,2022

https://www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com/all-episodes/new-kingdom-part-2-90-135/

The History of Egypt Podcast-- Dominic Perry, episodes 107b to 135.

Thurgood Marshall

Written By: Barbara Bullen

Birthday wishes to a great man.

Honored by many for the work he did to end segregation by taking an active role in his job as a Civil Rights Activist, Lawyer and Justice.

Thank you, Thurgood, for the good you did and may your work and successbe forever in the thoughts of everyone not only in the United States but the world.

https://www.oyez.org/justices/thurgood_marshall

Thurgood Marshall had a fresh, passionate voice and became a champion of civil rights, both on the bench and through almost 30 Supreme Court victories before his appointment, during times of severe racial strains. Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 2, 1908, to Norma Arica and William Canfield Marshall. Marshall’s mother was a kindergarten teacher and his father was an amateur writer who worked as a dining-car waiter on a railroad, later becoming a chief steward at a ritzy club. When Marshall’s father had a day off, he would occasionally take his sons to court so they could watch the legal procedure and arguments presented. Afterwards, the three would debate legal issues and current events together. Marshall’s father would challenge his sons on the points they made, constantly encouraging them to prove their case. Growing up in Baltimore, Marshall experienced the racial discrimination that shaped his passion for civil rights early on. The city had a death rate for African-Americans that was twice that of Caucasians, and due to school segregation, Marshall was forced to go to an all-black grade school. Once, he was unable to use the bathroom because all public restrooms were reserved for whites. Despite the times, Marshall’s parents tried to shelter him from the reality of racism. They earned enough money to live in a nice area, and he was able to attend a first-rate high school. He was often mischievous and sent out of class to read the Constitution for misbehavior.

When Marshall graduated high school in 1925, he knew the Constitution backwards and forwards. Marshall was accepted to Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania, from where his brother had just graduated. It was known as the black counterpart to Princeton, and one of his classmates was the famous writer Langston Hughes. Marshall chose to focus more on the social life of college. Because of his intelligence, he was able to get through with little effort, but after getting suspended for hazing with his fraternity, he began to focus on academics. Marshall joined the debate club, which helped him realize his passion for becoming a lawyer. He also became more involved with civil rights and helped desegregate a movie theater, which he later described as one of the happiest moments in his life. Marshall met his wife, Vivian Burey, while taking a weekend trip with his friends to Philadelphia.

They soon married on September 4, 1929, before Marshall started his last semester. He graduated college in 1930 as a top-notch student. After being denied by his first choice, the University of Maryland Law School, due to the color of his skin, Marshall decided to go to Howard University. He and his wife moved in with his parents, and his mother sold her wedding ring to help pay for his law school. There he learned about civil rights law and began to think of the Constitution as a living document. His mentors introduced him to the world of the NAACP, often bringing him to attend meetings and watch lawyers discuss key

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issues. One of the mentors who made the biggest impression upon Marshall was Charles Houston, who taught him to defeat racial discrimination through the use of existing laws. Marshall graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1933 and moved back to Baltimore.

Marshall denied a postgraduate scholarship to Harvard in order to start his own practice and opened an office in east Baltimore. A few people did come to him for help, though unable to pay. Marshall turned none of them away. He began to develop his style as he took cases dealing with police brutality, evictions and harsh landlords. Marshall was respectful but forceful in presenting his case. As his name began to gain notice, he earned big clients such as labor organizations, building associations, and corporations. Marshall started to volunteer with the NAACP and eventually became one of their attorneys, joining his mentor Houston to argue cases together. He won his first case arguing that the University of Maryland Law School should allow an African-American admission. In 1935, Houston got Marshall appointed as Assistant Special Counsel for New York in the organization.

From then on, the two began planning on how to have the Supreme Court overrule the separate but equal doctrine. After Houston resigned and Marshall took over as Special Counsel in 1938, he traveled to dangerous areas in the South in order to investigate lynching, the denial of voting rights, jury service, and fair trials to African-Americans. The face of the NAACP had soon become that of Marshall’s. In 1940, the NAACP set up a legal activist organization known as Fund, Inc., of which Marshall was hired to be special counsel. He was able to work toward his goal of challenging segregation in education. He won his first Supreme Court case dealing with forced confession; and after President Truman rejected the separate but equal doctrine in relation to the G.I. Bill, Marshall was ready to bring the education issue into full light. Marshall finally got the case he had been hoping for, and in 1952 argued Brown v. Board of Education. The case was reargued in 1953, and after five months of waiting, the Supreme Court delivered its opinion that invalidated the separate but equal doctrine. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Marshall as federal judge to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City. Marshall spent four years on the court, and none of his opinions were reversed on appeal to the Supreme Court. In 1965, President Johnson called upon Marshall to be the country’s next Solicitor General. Marshall was sworn into office, but only spent two years in the position. In 1967, the President appointed him as the first African-American to be an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall’s voice was a liberal one that held great influence early on in his term. As a proponent of judicial activism, he believed that the United States had a moral imperative to move progressively forward. He staunchly supported upholding individual rights, expanding civil rights, and limiting the scope of criminal punishment. Justice William Brennan shared many of Marshall’s opinions and they usually voted in the same bloc. In Furman v. Georgia, these justices argued the death penalty was unconstitutional in all circumstances, and dissented from the subsequent overruling opinion, Gregg v. Georgia, a few years later. He also made separate contributions to labor law (Teamsters v. Terry), securities law (TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc.), and tax law (Cottage Savings Ass’n v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue). He had strong views on affirmative action and contributed greatly to opinions on constitutional law. Marshall maintained a down-to-earth style and would oftenjoke with Chief Justice Burger as they passed in the hallways by asking “What’s shakin’, Chief baby?”

As the court made a shift towards conservatism, however, Marshall became frustrated and his influence weakened. Despite the change of currents, Marshall’s voice remained strong until his retirement, when he was succeeded by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Marshall died on January 24, 1993 of heart failure in Bethesda, Maryland. “Thurgood Marshall.” Oyez, www.oyez.org/justices/thurgood_marshall. Accessed 2 Jun. 2022. *****

https://usa.usembassy.de/etexts/gov/marshall.pdf

Justice for All: The Legacy of Thurgood Marshall ***** https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/brown-v-board-ofeducation#:~:text=On%20May%2017%2C%201954%2C%20

U.S.,amendment%20and%20 was%20therefore%20unconstitutional.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

In this milestone decision, the Supreme Court ruled that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. It signaled the end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States, overruling the “separate but equal” principle set forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case.

On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Statesanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the “separate but equal” precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the 1950s. *****

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood is famous for the Brown v. Board of Education case where “separate but equal” was held to be unconstitutional in public schools. He is a hero for the Civil Rights Era and for the future where his determination, strength, and courage enabled him to stop racism and inequality in schools by taking action.

Thurgood Marshall, Happy Birthday.

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CLAUDETTE COLVIN

Written By: Barbara Bullen

When racism rears its ugly head against you should you take action to stop the pain you feel of being discriminated against the laws that aren’t right the laws to protect only whites!

When one hears about the Civil Rights era, it immediately brings to mind activists; Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and organizations like the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. There are also many other leaders and activists that are in history books throughout the United States and the World. In 1955, a teenager stood up for her rights and was arrested even before the infamous Rosa Parks stand. Rosa Parks, who worked for the NAACP as the secretary for the Montgomery Chapter, was arrested for not getting up from her seat for a White man on a bus. Claudette Colvin, a Black teenager attended Booker T. Washington High School, only 15 at the time, didn’t want her constitutional rights violated even though segregation on public transit was the law. Whites were to be seated in the front of the bus, and if there were no seats left for Whites than Blacks had to get up from their seats at the back for Whites to be seated. Colvin lived in troubled times; times when segregation divided the nation so that Blacks took a back seat to the lives of Whites. Segregation was the norm and the daily lives of all who traveled the public transit until Colvin took a stand.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Colvin is said to be a pioneer, one who led the way and helped end segregation on public transit. When she was forcibly removed from the bus and arrested on March 2, 1955, her attorney, Fred Gray, along with four other plaintiffs filed a federal case, in Federal District Court, February 1, 1956, Browder vs. Gayle, to challenge segregation on public transit. A three-judge panel found the law unconstitutional which was appealed to the Supreme Court where it upheld the state court ruling, finding the law unconstitutional.

When one hears about the Civil Rights era, it immediately brings to mind activists; Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and organizations like the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. There are also many other leaders and activists that are in history books throughout the United States and the World. In 1955, a teenager stood up for her rights and was arrested even before the infamous Rosa Parks stand. Rosa Parks, who worked for the NAACP as the secretary for the Montgomery Chapter, was arrested for not getting up from her seat for a White man on a bus. Claudette Colvin, a Black teenager attended Booker T. Washington High School, only 15 at the time, didn’t want her constitutional rights violated even though segregation on public transit was the law. Whites were to be seated in the front of the bus, and if there were no seats left for Whites than Blacks had to get up from their seats at the back for Whites to be seated.

Colvin lived in troubled times; times when segregation divided the nation so that Blacks took a back seat to the lives of Whites. Segregation was the norm and the daily lives of all who traveled the public transit until Colvin took a stand.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Colvin is said to be a pioneer, one who led the way and helped end segregation on public transit. When she was forcibly removed from the bus and arrested on March 2, 1955, her attorney, Fred Gray, along with four other plaintiffs filed a federal case, in Federal District Court, February 1, 1956, Browder vs. Gayle, to challenge segregation on public transit. A three-judge panel found the law unconstitutional which was appealed to the Supreme Court where it upheld the state court ruling, finding the law unconstitutional.

“Browder v. Gayle 142 F. Supp. 707 (M.D. Ala. 1956) Decided Jun 5, 1956 709 *709 RIVES, Circuit Judge. Statement of the Case. The purpose of this action is to test the constitutionality of both the statutes of the State of Alabama and the ordinances of the City of Montgomery which require the segregation of the white and colored races on the motor buses of the Montgomery City Lines, Inc., *711 a common carrier of passengers in said City and its police jurisdiction.

1 2 711 1 Title 48, § 301(31a, b, c), Code of Alabama of 1940, as amended, which provide: “§301(31a).

Separate accommodations for white and colored races. — All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and colored races, but such accommodations for the races shall be equal. All motor transportation companies or operators of vehicles carrying passengers for hire in this state, whether intrastate or interstate passengers, shall at all times provide equal but separate accommodations on each vehicle for the white and colored races. The conductor or agent of the motor transportation company in charge of any vehicle is authorize and required to assign each passenger to the division of the vehicle designated for the race to which the passenger belongs; and, if the passenger refuses to occupy the division to which he is assigned, the conductor or agent may refuse to carry the passenger on the vehicle; and, for such refusal, neither the conductor or agent of the motor transportation company nor the motor transportation company shall be liable in damages. Any motor transportation company or person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars for each offense; and each day’s violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense. The provisions of this section shall be administered and enforced by the Alabama public service commission in the manner in which provisions of the Alabama Motor Carrier Act of 1939 are administered and enforced. (1945, p. 731, appvd. July 6, 1945.)”

For the complete case see below: https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Browder-v.-Gayle.pdf

According to Jonathan Gold in his article, “The Browder in Browder v. Gayle. On April 29, 1955, Aurelia Browder, like so many other black residents of Montgomery, was mistreated on a city bus. According to her testimony in the civil case, she was forced by the bus driver “to get up and stand to let a white man and a white lady sit down.” Three other plaintiffs, Mary Louise Smith, Claudette Colvin and Susie McDonald, had reported similar mistreatment. The cumulative effect of these “demeaning, wretched, intolerable impositions and conditions,” as boycott organizer Jo Ann Robinson referred to them, inspired Montgomery’s black community to begin developing plans for a boycott that eventually began after the arrest of Rosa Park.

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For further reading:

https://www.learningforjustice.org/sites/default/files/general/TT53%20Browder%20v.%20Gayle.pdf

“Nine months after Claudette Colvin’s arrest, local activist Rosa Parks took similar action. She refused to give up her bus seat to a white rider and got arrested. Colvin’s actions raised awareness, but Parks’s actions set off a boycott of the Montgomery bus lines. Thousands of Black residents rode the bus to work, often for white employers. After Parks’s arrest, though, they refused to ride for an entire year (National Youth Summit 2020).”

https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/file-uploader/NYS%20Case%20Study%E2%80%93S tudent%20Kit%20FINAL4.pdf

Colvin’s case unlike Rosa Parks’s “was dropped by civil rights campaigners because Colvin was unmarried and pregnant during the proceedings.[6][7] It is now widely accepted that Colvin was not accredited by civil rights campaigners at the time due to her circumstances. Rosa Parks stated: “If the white press got ahold of that information, they would have [had] a field day. The record of her arrest and adjudication of delinquency was expunged by the district court in 2021, with the support of the district attorney for the county in which the charges were brought more than 66 years before.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudette_Colvin

When people, no matter their race, color or creed cannot take any more discriminatory and racist acts towards them, their only recourse is to take action. Humanity needs people like Colvin and the others who took a stand for their rights despite the consequences.

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Written by: Barbara Bullen

Martin Luther King Jr., (Michael King Jr., 1929-1968) known internationally throughout the world as one of the greatest mediators of all time, is honored yearly. Brought up as a Christian, he followed in his father’s footsteps (Martin Luther King, Sr.) by becoming a Baptist Minister. A man who took it upon himself to eradicate discrimination against blacks along with his wife, Coretta Scott King, his leaders and activists, helped dismantle the barriers that for so long held blacks from having equal rights. The civil rights movement which began in 1955 led to the enactment of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which Martin Luther King Jr. was the President. Martin’s mission was to do what ever was necessary in a nonviolent way to dismantle discrimination, violence and oppression against blacks which included the use of civil disobedience.

For too long, the laws protected whites in order for blacks to be subservient. He was tired and so were blacks in the South, throughout the United States and around the world, so King participated in and led marches for their civil rights including the right to vote, desegregation and labor rights. King was also instrumental in the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott which was a protest against the segregation policies of public transit.

December 5, 1955, the Monday after Rosa Parks sat in the white area of the bus and refused to give her seat to a white person, she was arrested due to the segregation laws on public transit, only permitting her to sit in the back of the bus. King led many nonviolent protest marches and was the key figure helping organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered a speech that electrified the nation with his “I have a Dream speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Part of his speech is listed below because the reinforcement of what King did for the world to change the discriminatory practices and laws need to be remembered by all.

I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH

Martin Luther King Jr

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self‐evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to

join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

1964 saw the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to King for dismantling racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, Martin was instrumental in organizing two marches from Selma to Montgomery in the fight for the right to vote with activists of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In 1968, Martin was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee when he planned a national occupation of Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is King’s birthday which is a federal holiday signed into bill on November 3, 1983 by President Ronald Reagan for the third Monday of each January.

Martin Luther King Day In Ohio

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY COMMISSION

“The Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission (Commission) was established in 1985 by Executive Order. Today, the DAS Administrative Support Division provides support to the commission.

The Commission is a statewide advocate of Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence and annually honors Ohio’s citizens who work to promote diversity and eliminate discrimination through nonviolent methods. Each year, the Commission presents awards to Ohioans to celebrate the life of Dr. King, whose teachings encourage nonviolent actions to secure equal rights for all Americans. The commemorative celebration is held each January in downtown Columbus.

The Commission strives to carry out Dr. King’s dream of service to others throughout the entire year through various events (Ohio, Department of Administrative Services).”

For further information on the 37th Annual MLK Awards please go their website: https://das.ohio.gov/Divisions/Equal-Opportunity/Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Holiday-Commission

“Awards are presented in the following categories.

•Governor’s Humanitarian Award

•Individual Award

•Organization Award

•Collaborative Effort Award

•Youth: Capturing the Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

King’s legacy continues throughout generations, never to be forgotten for what he did for mankind

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Harriet Tubman

Written by: Barbara Bullen Harriet Tubman an abolitionist renown.

We thank God for her spirit, her strength and her love for her fellow men.

We’ll remember her birthday this March to tell her story of the love for mankind, despite the cruelty that she, the slaves and the fugitives received by the merciless slave masters bent on slavery.

March 10 is the day on which it is said that Harriet Tubman (Araminta Ross) famously known as an abolitionist was born. As most Blacks who were born into slavery in the 1800s, Harriet was like them but became a hero when she escaped from slavery and helped other enslaved people escape from their masters or bondage.

Harriet was born in Dorchester County, Maryland where she lived a horrific life like most slaves being beaten and whipped by her slave masters and even experiencing a life-threatening head injury that induced visions and dreams she attributed to the works of God. She became deeply religious because of her Methodist upbringing and these visions and dreams.

“She often fought illness in her childhood, but as she grew older, the “sickly” young household girl grew stronger and even became a fieldhand. On a secluded plantation during her adolescence, Tubman attempted to warn an escaping slave that his master was nearby. She was caught between the slave and his master when the two confronted each other. The master slung a lead weight at the escapee, but hit Tubman in the head. The force of the blow “broke her skull and drove a piece of her bandana” into her head. The head injury would cause her to have headaches, fainting spells, and visions for the rest of her life. In 1844, she married a free black man named John Tubman. Around this time, she hired a lawyer to investigate her family’s slave contracts. The lawyer found her mother should have been freed at the age of 45, meaning that some of her siblings should have been born free.” https://www.crf-usa.org/images/pdf/gates/Harriet-Tubman-End-of-Slavey.pdf

In the mid-1800s she escaped to Philadelphia to return to help those she left behind; she helped her family to escape and led many others to their freedom.

“The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was part of the Compromise of 1850. This law required the United States government to actively assist slave holders in recapturing freedom seekers. Under the United States Constitution, slave holders had the right to reclaim slaves who ran away to free states. With the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, the federal government had to assist the slave holders. No such requirement had existed previously.” https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Fugitive_Slave_Law_of_1850

Harriet tried to find and help slaves in captivity escape and this included John Tubman who she later found out had remarried to a woman named Caroline thereby ending her quest to find him.

Frederick Douglass an abolitionist was also said to have worked with Tubman in helping fugitives.

“There is evidence to suggest that Tubman and her group stopped at the home of abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.[63] In his third autobiography, Douglass wrote: “On one occasion I had eleven fugitives at the same time under my roof, and it was necessary for them to remain with me until I could collect sufficient money to get them on to Canada. It was the largest number I ever had at any one time, and I had some difficulty in providing so many with food and shelter. ... “[64] The number of travelers and the time of the visit make it likely that this was Tubman’s group.[63]

Douglass and Tubman admired one another greatly as they both struggled against slavery. When an early biography of Tubman was being prepared in 1868, Douglass wrote a letter to honor her. He compared his own efforts with hers, writing: The difference between us is very marked. Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in the day – you in the night. ... The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism. Excepting John Brown – of sacred memory – I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than you have.[65]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman

In 11 years, Tubman helped rescue 70 slaves in what was said to have taken 13 trips that included family members. Tubman was called “Moses” because of her efforts to free and rescue the slaves from their slave masters and to help fugitives to escape to the north.

She was devout and dedicated to God aided by visions, premonitions and the voice of God which is said to sometimes be attributed to her head injury. Although a religious woman she would not hesitate to use a gun which she carried for her protection and the protection of the slaves, even to the point of using it on them if they ever turned back to their plantation. “Despite the efforts of the slaveholders, Tubman and the fugitives she assisted were never captured. Years later, she told an audience: “I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”[3]…

Scouting and the Combahee River Raid

“When Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Tubman considered it an important step toward the goal of liberating all Black people from slavery.[107] She renewed her support for a defeat of the Confederacy, and in early 1863 she led a band of scouts through the land around Port Royal.[108] The marshes and rivers in South Carolina were similar to those of the Eastern Shore of Maryland; thus, her knowledge of covert travel and subterfuge among potential enemies was put to good use.[108] Her group, working under the orders of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, mapped the unfamiliar terrain and reconnoitered its inhabitants. She later worked alongside Colonel James Montgomery, and provided him with key intelligence that aided in the capture of Jacksonville, Florida.[109]

Later that year, Tubman became the first woman to lead an armed assault during the Civil War.[110] When Montgomery and his troops conducted an assault on a collection of plantations along the Combahee River, Tubman served as a key adviser and accompanied the raid.

On the morning of June 2, 1863, Tubman guided three steamboats around Confederate mines in the waters leading to the shore. [111] Once ashore, the Union troops set fire to the plantations, destroying infrastructure and seizing thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies.[112]

When the steamboats sounded their whistles, slaves throughout the area understood that they were being liberated. Tubman watched as slaves stampeded toward the boats. “I never saw such a sight”, she said later,[113] describing a scene of chaos with women carrying still-steaming pots of rice, pigs squealing in bags slung over shoulders, and babies hanging around their parents’ necks.

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Although their owners, armed with handguns and whips, tried to stop the mass escape, their efforts were nearly useless in the tumult.[112] As Confederate troops raced to the scene, steamboats packed full of slaves took off toward Beaufort.[114]

More than 750 slaves were rescued in the Combahee River Raid.[115][113] Newspapers heralded Tubman’s “patriotism, sagacity, energy, [and] ability”,[116] and she was praised for her recruiting efforts – most of the newly liberated men went on to join the Union army.[116] Tubman later worked with Colonel Robert Gould Shaw at the assault on Fort Wagner, reportedly serving him his last meal.[117] She described the battle by saying: “And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.”[118]

For two more years, Tubman worked for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated slaves, scouting into Confederate territory, and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia.[119] She also made periodic trips back to Auburn to visit her family and care for her parents.[120] The Confederacy surrendered in April 1865; after donating several more months of service, Tubman headed home to Auburn.[121] During a train ride to New York in 1869, the conductor told her to move from a half-price section into the baggage car. She refused, showing the government-issued papers that entitled her to ride there. He cursed at her and grabbed her, but she resisted and he summoned two other passengers for help. While she clutched at the railing, they muscled her away, breaking her arm in the process. They threw her into the baggage car, causing more injuries. As these events transpired, other white passengers cursed Tubman and shouted for the conductor to kick her off the train.[122] Her act of defiance became a historical symbol, later cited when Rosa Parks refused to move from a bus seat in 1955.[123][124]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman

Harriet Tubman, your legacy and dream continues, until the day when slavery, is abolished throughout the world.

The Ghost of the Mountains

Written by: Erika S. Hanson

The snow leopard is one of nature’s most beautiful creatures. As of 2021, the snow leopard is no longer considered an endangered species. However, the population is still at risk due to illegal poaching and the encroachment of society into the cats’ habitat. So, although it has been moved from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the Endangered Species list, the snow leopard is still at risk. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the snow leopard is still on track to lose over ten percent of its wild population over the next three generations.

The natural habitat of the snow leopard is primarily in the mountainous areas of Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan. Their defining features include a white pelt, with a pattern of dark rosettes and spots. Additionally, the leopard has a tail that is longer than most other cats, in order to assist with balance on steep mounds of snow. Unfortunately, the snow leopard’s distinctive coat makes it a prize for poachers. The bones and other body parts are also used in traditional Asian medicine.

Snow leopards are known to be extremely elusive. Their territory spans over twelve countries, and they live in snowy, mountainous terrain. This makes gathering data on the cat difficult. For this reason, the wild snow leopard population is believed to be between 4,000 and 6,500 in number, and researchers are unable to narrow down that number to a more specific figure.

In addition to poachers, snow leopards face a variety of other threats, including human encroachment on territory and “retaliatory killings”--the leopards are killed by farmers in the area to protect their livestock. Due to humans pushing further into their territory, snow leopards find it increasingly difficult to find food, not only due to industrialization, but because a snow leopard’s prey is also hunted by the surrounding humans.

Snow leopards are capable of bringing down prey that is up to three times their own weight. A typical diet would include blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, deer and other, smaller, animals. Because these animals are also consumed by humans, the number of prey in these mountainous areas is dwindling, leading the snow leopards to attack local livestock instead and the aforementioned retaliatory killings by farmers.

According to the Snow Leopard Trust, there has never been a verified instance of a snow leopard attacking a human. The Trust focuses its efforts on protecting the snow leopard by partnering with local communities and creating incentives for those communities to preserve snow leopards.

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A snow leopard can live between ten and twelve years in the wild. In captivity, their level of survival sharply increases to twice that, at 22 years. Snow leopards mature quickly. Initially, they are totally reliant on their mother, and their eyes do not open until they are seven days old. At two months old, cubs are able to eat solid food. At three months, they are able to learn basic hunting skills. Between 18 and 22 months, the cubs are ready to leave their mother. It is estimated that male snow leopards reach maturity by age four. Females maturation is harder to pin down, due to scant information. However, it is estimated that a female snow leopard is ready to have her first litter by age three.

Mating season is the only time you will see more than one of these solitary cats. From January to midMarch, males and females travel together for a few days. Once that time is done, and the female leopard is pregnant, she retreats to a secluded den site.

Pregnancy typically lasts between 93 and 110 days. Her cubs are usually born that June or July, and she becomes their sole caretaker, providing food and warmth, and teaching them how to survive in the wild. Once the cubs are ready, they separate from their mother and strike out on their own. We continue to gather details about this “Ghost of the Mountains,” but information remains scarce. Their spotted white coats are unique, and unlike other big cats, they cannot roar, but can make other sounds such as a mew, purr, growl or hiss. They also make a low puffing sound called a “pusten” or “chuff.” This is a nonaggressive sound, and can indicate contentment, or be used to communicate with other snow leopards in the area. It is often used as a greeting.

There is still much to learn about these beautiful animals. Researchers continue their work with the people of Central Asia and the Himalayas to preserve and protect the snow leopard. Yet, the snow leopard remains elusive, which only adds to its mystique. Although sometimes misunderstood, this great cat is harmless to humans and is a key part in the planet’s continuing ecology.

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Malcolm X

Written by: Barbara Bullen

“No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million Black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million Black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot or a flag saluter, or a flag-waver-no not I.

I’m speaking as a victim of this American System.

And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.”

“And why was he our ‘Shining Black Prince’?

Selected Quotes from Malcolm X: Nation Time: Spring 1997 https://freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC513_scans/Malcolm_X/513.Malco

lm.X.Selected.Quotes.pdf

One of the most influential figures of the Civil Rights Movement was Malcolm X. Unlike Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s non-violent mission for equality and the end of discrimination not only for Blacks but for all races, Malcolm X commanded attention throughout the world.

“Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the black community.

Malcolm spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization. He engaged in several illicit activities, eventually being sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

Malcolm’s childhood was fraught with misfortune yet he never stopped looking forward to another day in which to excel even to the extent of educating himself while in prison.

“…Malcolm X was one of the most articulate and powerful leaders of black America during the 1960s. A street hustler convicted of robbery in 1946, he spent seven years in prison, where he educated himself and became a disciple of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam. In the days of the civil rights movement, Malcolm X emerged as the leading spokesman for black separatism, a philosophy that urged black Americans to cut political, social, and economic ties with the white community. After a pilgrimage to Mecca, the capital of the Muslim world, in 1964, he became an orthodox Muslim, adopted the Muslim name El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, and distanced himself from the teachings of the black Muslims. He was assassinated in 1965. In the following excerpt from his autobiography (1965), coauthored with Alex Haley and published the year of his death, Malcolm X describes his self-education… It was because of my letters that I happened to stumble upon starting to acquire some kind of a homemade education.

I became increasingly frustrated. at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote, especially those to Mr. Elijah Muhammad. In the street, I had been the most articulate hustler out there - I had commanded attention when I said something. But now, trying to write simple English, I not only wasn’t articulate, I wasn’t even functional. How would I sound writing in slang, the way I would say it, something such as, “Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-“

Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies. It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversations he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did. I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary - to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.

I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages. I’d never realized so many words existed! I didn’t know which words I needed to learn. Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying. In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I’d written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words - immensely proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I’d written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn’t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary first page right now, that “aardvark” springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a longtailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.

I was so fascinated that I went on - I copied the dictionary’s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary’s A section had filled a whole tablet-and I went on into the B’s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.

I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad’s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors,... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.”

http://www.lattc.edu/Lattc/media/lattc_media/PDFs/Learning-to-Read-by-MalcolmX-PDF.pdf

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The Autobiography of Malcolm X

New York, June 1965 CHAPTER ONE NIGHTMARE

“When my mother was pregnant with me, she told me later, a party of hooded Ku Klux Klan riders galloped up to our home in Omaha, Nebraska, one night. Surrounding the house, brandishing their shotguns and rifles, they shouted for my father to come out. My mother went to the front door and opened it. Standing where they could see her pregnant condition, she told them that she was alone with her three small children, and that my father was away, preaching, in Milwaukee. The Klansmen shouted threats and warnings at her that we had better get out of town because “the good Christian white people” were not going to stand for my father’s “spreading trouble” among the “good” Negroes of Omaha with the “back to Africa” preachings of Marcus Garvey.

My father, the Reverend Earl Little, was a Baptist minister, a dedicated organizer for Marcus Aurelius Garvey’s U.N.I.A. (Universal Negro Improvement Association). With the help of such disciples as my father, Garvey, from his headquarters in New York City’s Harlem, was raising the banner of black-race purity and exhorting the Negro masses to return to their ancestral African homeland-a cause which had made Garvey the most controversial black man on earth. Still shouting threats, the Klansmen finally spurred their horses and galloped around the house, shattering every window pane with their gun butts. Then they rode off into the night, their torches flaring, as suddenly as they had come.” https://antilogicalism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/malcom-x.pd

Advocacy and teachings while with Nation

“From his adoption of the Nation of Islam in 1952 until he broke with it in 1964, Malcolm X promoted the Nation’s teachings. These included beliefs: • that black people are the original people of the world[99] • that white people are “devils”[2] and • that the demise of the white race is imminent.[3] Louis E. Lomax said that “those who don’t understand biblical prophecy wrongly label him as a racist and as a hate teacher, or as being anti-white or as teaching Black Supremacy”.[100] He was accused[ of being antisemitic.[101] In 1961, Malcolm X spoke at a NOI rally alongside George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party; Rockwell claimed that there was overlap between black nationalism and white supremacy.[102]

Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.

It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge.

Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversations he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese. When I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did. I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary - to study, to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line. It was both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.

I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages. I’d never realized so many words existed! I didn’t know which words I needed to learn. Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying.

In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything I’d written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words - immensely proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I’d written words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose meanings I didn’t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary first page right now, that “aardvark” springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a longtailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.

I was so fascinated that I went on - I copied the dictionary’s next page. And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary’s A section had filled a whole tablet-and I went on into the B’s. That was the way I started copying what eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million words.

I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad’s teachings, my correspondence, my visitors,... and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.”

http://www.lattc.edu/Lattc/media/lattc_media/PDFs/Learning-to-Read-by-MalcolmX-PDF.pdf

One of the goals of the civil rights movement was to end disenfranchisement of African Americans, but the Nation of Islam forbade its members from participating in voting and other aspects of the political process.[103] The NAACP and other civil rights organizations denounced him and the Nation of Islam as irresponsible extremists whose views did not represent the common interests of African Americans.[104][105]

Malcolm X was equally critical of the civil rights movement.[106] He called Martin Luther King Jr. a “chump”, and said other civil rights leaders were “stooges” of the white establishment.[107][G] He called the 1963 March on Washington “the farce on Washington”,[109] and said he did not know why so many black people were excited about a

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demonstration “run by whites in front of a statue of a president who has been dead for a hundred years and who didn’t like us when he was alive”.[110]

While the civil rights movement fought against racial segregation, Malcolm X advocated the complete separation of African Americans from whites. He proposed that African Americans should return to Africa and that, in the interim, a separate country for black people in America should be created.[111][112] He rejected the civil rights movement’s strategy of nonviolence, arguing that black people should defend and advance themselves “by any means necessary”.[113] His speeches had a powerful effect on his audiences, who were generally African Americans in northern and western cities. Many of them—tired of being told to wait for freedom, justice, equality and respect[114]—felt that he articulated their complaints better than did the civil rights movement.[115][116]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

Malcolm X a great but controversial leader is remembered by memorials and tributes that include the first home he was brought up in which is now a historical monument. Malcolm X is also portrayed in the movies, TV and on stage. *****

Malcolm X was a great leader known for his beliefs that not everyone liked. But he proved to everyone that despite being incarcerated for seven years he put his time to good use through selfeducation turning out to be the most prolific, educated speaker that there was in the United States.

We welcome the holiday that celebrates Malcolm X for we live in a democracy where both sides must be heard; the good, the bad and the ugly that rears its head because of the suffering, racial discrimination and fear and torture of Blacks.

Let us look forward to another day for great leaders to appear to lead us to justice for the benefit of all races in the United States

‘Jesus Would Support’ Student Debt Forgiveness? Not

so Fast

Two authors of a recent Time magazine commentary want you to believe that Jesus Christ supports the Biden administration’s plan to cancel $500 billion in student loans. According to William J. Barber II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, debt forgiveness “is, after all, something Jesus taught his disciples to pray for.”

Somehow, I missed that commandment. Nearly a week since Time published the commentary in question, I’m still searching the New Testament for anything that Jesus said that sounds like, “Thou shalt foist the burdens you chose onto those who didn’t choose them,” or “Thou shalt buy the votes of some with money seized from others,” or “Keep your word and honor your promises unless a politician lets you off the hook and transfers your responsibility to other innocent parties.”

What Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove claim “Jesus taught his disciples to pray for” is not relief from a freely contracted student loan or a home mortgage or a car payment. They cite the famous passage (Matthew 6:14) from the Sermon on the Mount, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” which is more accurately translated from the original language to “Forgive us our trespasses (our sins) as we forgive those who have trespassed (sinned) against us.”

At the core of the matter is sin—a wrong committed against person or property—and the response suggested is a spiritual one, that is, a forgiving attitude, not necessarily a physical or economic one. Drawn from The Lord’s Prayer, the passage urges each individual to seek forgiveness from God for his offenses and for that person to likewise forgive other people for the offenses they committed against him.

When forgiveness of this sort is undertaken, note the parties involved: Trespasser A, God, and Trespasser B (and C and D, and so on, if more parties were engaged in trespassing against A). No one else is in the picture. Let’s say you stole from someone, who then beat you up. You should ask forgiveness for your theft, and then forgive the guy who punched you in the face. Each act of forgiveness is voluntary and from the heart. The last thing you should do is team up with him and go loot and assault innocent bystanders.

Yet this is precisely what Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove endorse as Christ-like. They are drafting innocent and, in many cases, utterly unwilling bystanders (taxpayers) into the equation. This is nothing more than ramming one’s political agenda down Jesus’s throat, an offense for which the authors should immediately beg forgiveness. Moreover, the whole thing is compulsory, not voluntary.

If you avoided student loans before Biden’s debt cancellation, you’re a sucker who’s just ran out of luck. As a taxpayer, you now have a burden that was not of your choice. That $500 bi llion “forgiveness” is now your obligation, and you’ll pay it through taxes or inflation or both. Don’t say, “Thank you , Jesus!” Instead, cry “No thanks, Joe Biden!”

Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove twist another Biblical moment to ju stify the Biden plan, namely, the “Jubilee” referenced in the Old Testament Book of Leviticus. One must be careful in applying Old Testament practices to modern, postChrist times; otherwise, we might make our car payments by sacr ificing a lamb each month. Christian teaching holds that the coming of Jesus did not disparage or nullify every previous custom, but it did proclaim a new covenant against which our thoughts and actions would now be judged.

Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove imply that the Jubilee in ancient Israel was some sort of cancellation of debts that we today are commanded to culturally appropriate. This cautionary note from theologian Michael A. Harbin in his essay, “Jubilee and Social Justice,” should raise a red flag: “The fact that the Jubilee principle only applied to one group of people out of the entire world on a one-time basis seems to und ermine the argument of those who would universalize this Jubilee principle.”

As it was, the Jubilee was nothing like a blanket cancellation of debt. It had nothing to do with student loans or anything resembling the Biden plan. It was more like a celebrat ion of the pay-off of a lease. Bible commentator Art Lindsley writes,

The Jubilee Declaration might be analogous to a “mortgage burning party.” You would celebrate with friends that this significant debt was paid, but you would not thank the bank for “forgiving” your debt. The debt is not “forgiven” or “cancelled” because it is paid. I would love for someone to pay off my mortgage or cancel my debt, but that is not what happened at Jubilee.

For readers interested in the facts of the ancient ritual, I strongly recommend Lindsley’s essay, Five Myths About Jubilee. Other readings among the list of suggestions below wil l prove helpful as well.

Jesus once said, “Man does not live by bread alone.” If I took that to mean that the government should provide every citizen with a free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Man, Economy and State, the two authors of the Time article would rightly cry foul. They would claim I was foisting my political agenda on the populace. They might even experience a pang of conscience by realizing that’s precisely what their a rticle intended to do. It was laced with rhetoric of the hard-Left that went far beyond the issue of student loans. They described opponents of the Biden plan as “defenders of the wealthy elite,” “reactionary” “defenders of wealth,” sup porters of “corporate tax breaks” and enemies of “New Deal and Great Society programs.” Yada, yada, yada. They certai nly know their socialist boilerplate talking points and bumper stickers.

Furthermore, Barber and Wilson-Hartgrove make no mention whatever of the economic implications for the national debt, the compulsory nature of forcing taxpayers to pay up, the moral dilemma of suckerizing millions who pursued career paths other than debt-ridden loans for useless degrees, or any of the many other serious issues pertaining to the Biden vote-buying/student loan measure.

This is not the first time someone distorted the words of Jesus to fit a political agenda. As I wrote in an article about the recent mall shooting in Indiana (Yes, Elisjshah Dicken is a Good Samaritan, and He Deserves a Medal), such misrepresentations are a very common but unfortunate occurrence.

If you favor the student debt cancellation plan of Joe Biden, you cannot make a credible case that Jesus made him do it.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2022

LAWRENCE W. REED

Those who think the Lord’s Prayer and Jubilees support their political goal of blanket debt forgiveness should take a closer look at the Bible and Jewish history.

BY KERRY MCDONALD

More States Are Mandating Kindergarten. Here Are 3 Reasons

Why That’s A Bad Idea.

This back-to-school season, many parents are eager to drop-off their kindergarteners to begin the 13-year journey toward high school graduation. It can be a joyful time, full of anticipation and excitement. But just because something may be desirable for many families doesn’t mean it should be mandatory for all.

California is the latest state to try to mandate kindergarten for all students, angling to become the 20th to do so. The California legislature recently passed a bill for compulsory kindergarten attendance that is now awaiting Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature.

Kindergarten may be valuable for some children, but here are three big reasons why it shouldn’t be compulsory:

1. Increased Risk of ADHD Diagnosis

For some children, especially those who are among the youngest in their grade, kindergarten enrollment can lead to higher rates of ADHD diagnosis and treatment.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School published a 2018 study in the New England Journal of Medicine finding that in states with a September 1st kindergarten age cutoff date, those children who were born in August and had just turned five-years-old were 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their older peers in the same grade.

This shouldn’t be particularly surprising to those of us who are parents. We observe first-hand the big difference in attentiveness between a newly-minted five-year-

old and a child who is about to turn six. One year matters a lot in early childhood development.

Moreover, the Harvard researchers found that boys were more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD, and many were treated with potent psychotropic medications.

As Timothy Laton, the study’s lead researcher at Harvard, stated: “Our findings suggest the possibility that large numbers of kids are being overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD because they happen to be relatively immature compared to their older classmates in the early years of elementary school.”

Parents should be able to have full discretion over whether or not to enroll their child in kindergarten, especially if their child is young or immature for his or her age, rather than it becoming a universal, government-imposed requirement.

2. Early Academic Expectations Are Often

Mismatched with Normal Child Development

Over the past two decades, there has been a broad, bipartisan effort to push academic content to increasingly younger students. Originating with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) under President George W. Bush, and renewed by the Every Student Succeeds Act under President Barack Obama, federal education policy has blended with state and local policy to prioritize academic proficiency and testing accountability at ever-earlier ages.

Not surprisingly, teacher expectations of what young children should be able to know and do at certain ages has changed alongside these policies. For example, in 1998, three years before the passage of NCLB, only 31 percent of teachers expected children to learn to read in kindergarten. In 2010, 80 percent of teachers expected this. Children today are supposed to read in kindergarten. If they don’t, they are more likely to be labeled with a reading delay or some similar diagnosis, when they may just not be ready to read . It’s the standards that have changed—not the students.

As I detail in my Unschooled book, learning to read happens on a developmental bell curve, just like all other childhood developmental milestones. Some children will be “early” re aders, others will be “late” readers, and most will hover somewhere in the middle, often around age seven or eight.

According to UK researchers Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison who study homeschooled children and others who learn to read outside of institutionalized schooling settings, reading is a skill acquired on a variable timetable. They conclude: “Our research has found much to question in both the views that children should learn to read by a certain age and that in order to do so they need to be taken through a structured and staged learning programme. On the contrary, we have found that many children learn to read aged eight or older (sometimes much older) without experiencing any adverse effect.”

Again, the issue is the standard, not the student. Most students who attend a conventional district school are required to read by a certain grade because the curriculum and expectati ons reflect that arbitrary benchmark, whether the child is ready to read or not.

Certain educational philosophies and approaches recognize the w ide variability of reading acquisition and don’t force children to read before they are ready. In Waldorf education, for example, reading and other academic topics are typically not taught in kindergarten, and “there are no rigid, tim e-specific goals for reading or any other subject towards which a class will be driven.”

In Free at Last, Daniel Greenberg writes about the self-directed Sudbury Valley School that he co-founded in 1968 and that has inspired the growth of dozens of Sudbury-style schools around the world. Greenberg explained that they never had a case of dyslexia at the school. He says: “The fact is, we have never seen it at the school. It just might be because we have never made anyone learn how to read.” Despite n ot forcing kids to read, Sudbury students all eventually learned.

Requiring parents to send their children to kindergarten places students on a conveyor belt of learning that is frequently mismatched with a child’s unique human development. Young children are forced to learn content and academic skills that they may not be ready for, held accountable to an arbitrary, top-down performance benchmark, and increasingly labeled with a learning disorder or delay if they fail to reach that benchmark.

3. Compulsion Weakens Parental Choice and Autonomy

Rather than imposing more mandates on families, parents should have far fewer mandates and much more autonomy and choice over how they raise and educate their children. Expanding compulsory schooling statutes gives the State an even larger role in defining and overseeing education, limiting what parents can do.

Sure, parents can still choose to homeschool their children or place them in a private school for kindergarten; but kindergarten mandates create pathways for more government involvement and regulation of a family’s early education choices. Parents must seek permission from the State for anything other than enrolling their young child in an assigned district school.

As the economist Murray Rothbard wrote in Education: Free and Compulsory, “At the base of totalitarianism and compulsory education is the idea that children belong to the State rather than to their parents.”

Indeed, Horace Mann, the architect of the country’s first compul sory school attendance law in 1852, was transparent in stating that parents were the main obstacle to the State’s goals. “We, then, who are engaged in the sacred cause of education, are entitled to look upon all parents as having give n hostages to our cause,” wrote Mann.

We should be moving toward less compulsory schooling, not more. Parents, not the State, should decide when, how, what, and with whom their children should learn. For some parents, that will include kindergarten while for others it won’t. The choice, always, should be theirs to make.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2022

Kindergarten may be valuable for some children, but it shouldn’t be compulsory.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

BY JON MILTIMORE

The question is not whether children or adults should be given Covid vaccines. The question is who gets to choose.

England Refuses to Offer COVID Shots to Kids Under 12,

While US Cities Mandate Them. Who’s Right?

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced last week that children under the age of 12 will no longer be offered Covid-19 vaccines, unless the children are deemed high risk.

The decision appears to have rankled The Guardian, which quoted several physicians who criticized the move.

“When we know there is a safe and effective vaccine available this seems unjustifiable to me,” Professor Christina Pagel of the University College London told the newspaper, noting that deaths from COVID shots are rare.

Precisely why small children are being denied Covid vaccines was something The Guardian didn’t share—apart from admitting they can occasionally result in death— perhaps because the UKHSA’s Green Book offers few details.

Presumably the decision stems from the fact that small children are by far the least likely to fall seriously ill from Covid combined with government data that shows myocarditis is a serious (though rare) side effect, particularly in young males.

Whatever the case, the UKHSA’s decision puts England in line with several other European countries—including Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark—that do not offer or recommend mRNA vaccines to healthy young

children.

In the United States, on the other hand, some cities are pushing in a different direction.

In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is embroiled in a bitter battle over her order that all students must be vaccinated for Covid-19 for in-person learning in schools, a policy that could have severe implications considering that an estimated 40 percent of black teens are unvaccinated.

“Among the impacts of this policy, it will almost certainly broaden racial educational gaps, given that the vaccination rate for 12-to-17 year old Black students is under 60 percent,” Janaiha Bennett, executive director of the Youth Leadership Foundation, wrote in Newsweek. “And this would be an absolute disaster.”

Washington, D.C. is one of few parts of the country requiring vaccination against the coronavirus to attend K-12 school (universities are a different matter), but other examples exist.

New Orleans in February added Covid vaccines to its list of required shots for kids 5 years and older, the Washington Post notes, while New York City requires students to be vaccinated if they wish to play sports or participate in other extracurricular activities.

‘Who Shall Decide’?

It’s strange. On one hand, you have European nations refusing t o give Covid vaccines to young kids even though parents might want to vaccinate them. On the other hand, you have US cities forcing children to take a vaccine parents may want nothing to do with as a condition of attending school (or playing sports).

The common denominator here is not hard to spot: in both instan ces government officials get to choose what is best for the child. There are interesting parallels to this.

In May I wrote about the baby formula shortage and noted that the New York Times pointed out baby formula is one of the most regulated food products in the US. The US is not alone, however. European countries also have highly regulated baby formula markets. The somewhat comical result is that nearly all US baby formulas fail to meet EU standards, and virtually all EU brands fail to meet US standards.

Who gets the baby formula right, the EU or the US? As I noted at the time, this is the wrong question.

“The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall dec ide what is best,” the economist Thomas Sowell reminds us.

The same can be said of vaccines. The question is not whether children or adults should be given Covid vaccines, the question is who gets to choose. Everywhere one looks, governments and bureaucrats are trying to make this decision for others. Some are saying children can’t get mRNA vaccines; others are saying children must get mRNA vaccines.

It’s bad enough when governments are deciding what kind of baby formula one must buy, but it’s arguably worse when governments are choosing who must or can’t take a vaccine that has the power to save lives and claim lives. The whole basis of informed consent is that humans are given information and then allowed to choose or reject treatment. It’s one of the foundations of medical ethics, but it seems to have gone right out the proverbial window during the pandemic.

Why?

One reason is undoubtedly that the pandemic created a climate o f fear, which can create a demand for coercion. But I suspect the retreat of choice also stems from a broader cultural retreat from capitalism, a system that makes consumers sovereign instead of bureaucrats.

“The real bosses, in the capitalist system of market economy, a re the consumers,” the economist Ludwig von Mises wrote in his book Bureaucracy. “They, by their buying and by their abstention from buying, decide who should own the capital and run the plants. They determine what should be produced and in what quantity and quality. Their attitudes result either in profit or in loss for the enterpriser.”

For decades Americans have slowly and quietly and perhaps unkno wingly embraced a different system. In this system, government officials decide what butter is “safe.” What milk can be purchased and consumed. What kind of car is good for the environment and therefore available to purchase.

Instead of a system based on individual choice and mutual exchange, Americans have tacitly embraced a system that allows bureaucrats to decide for them—including who can or cannot (or must) take a vaccine with life-altering powers. (It should also be noted that we had vaccines from the very beginning of the Covid pandemic, but the FDA prohibited challenge trials that could have demonstrated their safety and effectiveness in a matter of weeks.)

All across the world people continue to squabble over whether t he vaccines are safe and effective. They should seek to answer a different question: who gets to decide?

WEDN,

BY KERRY MCDONALD

Even as most traditional schools reopen normally this fall, shedding many of their pandemic policies, parents continue to seek out other options such as microschooling.

Microschools Remain A Popular Back-To-School

Option This Year

Josh Pickel’s dissatisfaction as a teacher was mounting. After several years of teaching in other public schools, mostly at the elementary level, he was finally back in his hometown of Canton, Illinois teaching middle school science at the public school he attended as a child. It was what he had always wanted; yet, he was feeling increasingly unsettled.

“I really enjoyed working with the kids, but what I did not enjoy was the sort of weird power dynamic that exists between student and teacher in the classroom,” Pickel told me in a recent interview. “I had to tell them when they could eat or drink, or go to the bathroom or wear a hat, and I didn’t like that. I think school takes rights away from kids in the interest of keeping order.”

While his unease about the classroom dynamic grew, he was also seeing a different dynamic unfold in the after school digital media club he started. There, Pickel said, students were free to work on projects that interested them, without being forced to do so. He began to wonder: “What if we removed coercion and those kids were allowed to focus their energy and their intellect on things they care about?”

Pickel began researching alternative education models and came across Liberated Learners, a network of self-directed learning centers for teenagers modeled after North Star, a learning center in western Massachusetts that was started in 1996 by Ken Danford, who was also a disillusioned public middle school teacher.

Pickel was hooked. He connected with Danford, and Liberated Learners cofounder Joel Hammon, watched their TED talks and got tips on how to launch a learning center of his own. This summer, Pickel took the leap. He quit his teaching job in July to open Canton Learning Collaborative, a self-directed microschool for homeschoolers. He currently has six young people enrolled, ages 12 to 15, who attend the full-day, drop-off program four days a week.

“So what we do is help teenagers leave the traditional school system, declare as homeschoolers, and then provide support for them to pursue their interests and goals,” said Pickel. The student members each have an advisor with whom they meet weekly to go over progress. All classes and attendance are optional, and there are no grades or mandatory testing.

Pickel’s new microschool is just one of many sprouting across the country, each with its own educational philosophy and approach. Microschools, or small, multi-age learning communities, were growing in popularity prior to 2020, including those connected with networks such as Liberated Learners, Acton Academy, Prenda, and Wildflower Montessori. The education tumult of the past two years has accelerated their growth, prompting more parents to consider innovative learning models and schooling alternatives.

Even as most traditional schools reopen normally this fall, shedding many of their pandemic policies, parents continue to seek out other options such as microschooling. “Thousands of families have found microschools to be the educational option that meets the needs of their children,” said Kel ly Smith, founder of Prenda, which now operates more than 300 microschools reaching over 3,000 students in six states. “That’s why the microschool movement will continue to grow for decades to come,” he added.

Some microschools, such as many of the ones operated by Prenda, are tuition-free for families in states with robust education choice policies. Others are often a fraction of the c ost of local private schools, making them more accessible to more families. Pickel’s new microschool, for example, operates on a sliding-scale annual tuition structure, ranging from $4,500 to $7,500, with additional opportunities for fee reduction for families unable to pay the minimum tuition amount.

There are more signs of growth in the microschooling sector this year. Ashley Soifer is the cofounder, along with her husband Don, of the National Microschooling Center, an organiza tion that works to support microschool founders and the families they serve. The center emerged from the Soifers’ work creating MicroschoolingNV that was instrumental in helping to launch microschools throughout the state of Nevada, including a highly successful microschool partnership with the city of North Las Vegas. Their new center enables them to have broader reach and impact as microschools spread nationwide.

“The microschools that we work with are constantly growing and evolving,” said Soifer. “We expect to see continued growth over the coming year as more microschools are launching around the country. It’s truly exciting to see all of the new models. Microschooling is about building a program for your learners, each one is unique, and that is a trend that isn’t going away.”

Josh Pickel agrees. As a teacher, he has found renewed passion for the profession he loves by helping his students explore their passions and pursue their goals. He believes smal ler, more personalized learning communities like his will continue to expand and flourish. “I think this sort of thin g will become a large percentage of the way we educate kids over the next 20 years,” said Pickel, “and I’m excited to be bringing it to my community.”

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

BY JESSICA MARIE BAUMGARTNER

Public Schools Are Spending Money Like Crazy, Despite Sharp Enrollment Declines

The public education system has been failing students for years. From misappropriating funds to providing inadequate lessons and passing illiterate students; public schools are losing support. Despite this they continue receiving extensive budgets which do not properly represent enrollment rates, attendance numbers, or staffing issues.

While it is true that 2020 was an extremely difficult year for these taxpayer-funded institutions, those who blame the Covid-19 pandemic are using it as a scapegoat. Before the extensive government pandemic response, the nation was experiencing a teacher shortage and a political takeover of public schools — the likes of which had never been experienced — which has only increased during the political battle over public health issues.

Politicized Teachers Unions & School Boards?

Since 2013 conflicts between teachers and school boards have been reported. This specifically hindered interest in the teaching profession.

In 2015 student interest in the teaching profession dropped by 5 percent in just a year and has continued to decline. Although arguments over teacher pay have been brought to the forefront of the situation, elementary and secondary school teachers made an average of over $63,000 during the 2019-2020 school year, and since then districts have increased pay and added massive bonuses to attract educators back to the profession, inflating

budgets, yet still the teacher shortage remains.

New students entering the teaching profession continues to decline as teachers unions and school boards not only battle themselves, but parents as well. Instead of listening to the communities they serve, these powerful organizations are pushing their own political ideologies in the classroom. Educational focus has shifted from teaching core classes like math, science, and history, to identity-based practices which promote critical race theory (CRT) and gender theory.

The National School Board Association itself has fought to persuade schools to adopt CRT and the 1619 project. These race-focused lessons have yet to produce successful results. Because of this, families have disputed replacing sound lessons with untested classroom theories. When expressing their concerns at school board meetings these parents were silenced, and even publicly smeared as “domestic terrorists.”

In addition, during the pandemic various school boards and teachers unions fought to keep children isolated and masked long after it was deemed safe for them to return to in-person learning. Yet, educators still wished to receive full pay as students suffered from widespread learning loss and achievement gaps. It was even discovered that the American Federation of Teachers influenced CDC reopening guidelines, indicating that their power held sway over school health policies, arguably even more than factual public health data.

Student Performance Is Suffering

Parents quickly recognized the harmful effects of lockdowns and long-term masking. Schools which remained locked down longer saw the sharpest enrollment declines. These are, coincidentally, in highly progressive areas where CRT and other identity based lessons have been adopted by teachers and districts.

In 2019 math was deemed a “racist” subject in the state of Wash ington. By 2021, 70% of students in the area were failing math and more than half failed English. In nearby Oregon, r eading and writing requirements have been removed to offer more “equitable” education experiences, and even test t aking was deemed “racist” by the National Education Association.

In addition, the Biden Administration is leading the Department of Education to bring race to the forefront of American education on a national level. Instead of allowing states to choose what is best for their populations, government grants are now being awarded based on the implementation of identity-based education practices.

Public school officials have been quick to blame the pandemic for increasing student failures, but teaching equity over performance has yet to lead students to academic excellence. Learning loss is plaguing students across the nation, and instead of utilizing COVID relief money to ensure that students achievement gaps are filled in before Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSR) expire, progressive states have allocated masses of these taxpayer dollars for identity based lessons.

Covid Relief Funds Abused

Taxpayer funded ESSR money was swiftly approved and distributed with little to no oversight during the pandemic. Because of this, less than half of public schools have used COV ID relief money to update HVAC units and reduce viral illness transmissions. Instead, districts in New York, California, Illinois, and Minnesota openly spent their pandemic dollars on political endeavors.

The California Department of Education received $15.1 billion in ESSR funding. Instead of focusing all of these taxpayer dollars on public health concerns the state funneled portions o f this money into “implicit bias training,” “ethnic studies,” and “LGBTQ+ cultural competency.”

Similarly, New York gained $9 billion in emergency funding. This money was not primarily focused on keeping students healthy or improving classroom air quality but, “anti-racism,” “anti-bias,” “socio-emotional learning,” and “diversity, equity, inclusion,” lessons.

Illinois has also utilized masses of pandemic-relief money to i nstitute equity plans with a specific focus on “anti-racism.” Minnesota took their $1.15 billion in ESSR funds and deci ded to use a portion of this massive payout for “culturally responsive” training and addressing “gender bias,” with a focus on gender affirmation.

COVID relief funds have been abused and directed to non-pandemi c related educational services. All the while, students continue to fail at record rates and leave the public education system entirely.

Enrollment Is Down, Yet Budgets Are Up

Public schools are funded by local, state, and federal taxes. Funding is determined by varying factors which usually include student performance, enrollment rates, and attendance. Yet despite experiencing drops in all of these criteria, somehow states are still increasing budgets.

California — which has lost 2.6% of public school students sinc e the start of the pandemic — has approved the largest education budget in the state’s history. This massive increase comes as California’s largest public school district has experienced a 40% chronic absenteeism rate. This reflects a nati onal trend.

A third of Chicago schools are at least half empty, but that didn’t stop the Chicago Board of Education from increasing their 2022 budget from what was approved in 2021. In Washington DC, public school reading and math proficiency has dropped, and enrollment has stagnated, but the mayor proposed a 5.9% budget increase.

Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and other states have all continued spending more despite serving fewer students. These public schools are bleeding money and costing taxpayers billions in debt that will eventually have to be repaid. Public schools received record amounts of funding during the CO VID-19 pandemic. Despite this, school boards and teachers unions have allowed politics to dominate their policies and teaching practices. As a result, student success rates have suffered, and families are walking away from the syst em while lawmakers are passing budget increases that only further tax communities.

This pattern of spending is unsustainable. These schools are bleeding money. There is currently no end in sight as districts continue this trend into the 2022-2023 school year and beyond.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2022

This pattern of spending is unsustainable. These schools are bleeding money.

BY PATRICK CARROLL

Ending the Department of Education may seem like a radical idea, but it’s not as crazy as it sounds.

Reagan’s Goal to End the Department of Education Is Finally Gaining Momentum

The debate over the federal role in education has been going on for decades. Some say the feds should have a relatively large role while others say it should be relatively small. But while most people believe there should be at least some federal oversight, some believe there should be none at all.

Rep. Thomas Massie is one of those who believes there should be no federal involvement in education, and he is actively working to make that a reality. In February 2021, he introduced H.R. 899, a bill that perfectly encapsulates his views on this issue. It consists of one sentence:

“This bill terminates the Department of Education on December 31, 2022.”

This position may seem radical, but Massie is not alone. The bill had 8 cosponsors when it was introduced and has been gaining support ever since. On Monday, Massie announced that Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) decided to cosponsor the bill, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 18.

Though it may be tempting to think Massie and his supporters just don’t care about education, this is certainly not the case. If anything, they are pushing to end the federal Department of Education precisely because they care about educational outcomes. In their view, the

Department is at best not helping and, at worst, may actually be part of the problem.

“Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development,” said Massie when he initially introduced the bill. “States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students.”

Massie is echoing sentiments expressed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, who advocated dismantling the Department of Education even though it had just begun operating in 1980.

“By eliminating the Department of Education less than 2 years after it was created,” said Reagan, “we cannot only reduce the budget but ensure that local needs and preferences, rather than the wishes of Washington, determine the education of our children.”

Before we rush into a decision like this, however, it’s important to consider the consequences. As G. K. Chesterton famously said, “don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”

So, why was the federal Department of Education set up in the fi rst place? What do they do with their $68 billion budget? Well, when it was initially established it was given 4 main roles, and these are the same roles it fulfills to this day. They are:

• Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, an d distributing as well as monitoring those funds (which comprise roughly 8 percent of elementary and secondary education spending).

• Collecting data on America’s schools and disseminating research.

• Focusing national attention on key educational issues.

• Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.

• Now, some of these functions arguably shouldn’t exist at all. For instance, if you are opposed to federal funding or federal interference in education on principle, then there is no n eed for the first and fourth roles. As for the middle two roles, it’s clear that we need people collecting data, disseminating research, and pointing out educational issues. But the question here is not whether these initiatives should exist. The question is whether the federal government should pursue them.

On that question, there’s a good case to be made that leaving t hese tasks to the state and local level is far more appropriate. Education needs vary from student to student, so educational decisions need to be made as close to the individual student as possible. Federal organizations simply can’t acc ount for the diverse array of educational contexts, which means their one-size-fits-all findings and recommendations will b e poorly suited for many classrooms.

Teachers don’t need national administrators telling them how to do their job. They need the freedom and flexibility to tailor their approach to meet the needs of students. It is the local teachers, schools, and districts that know their students’ needs best, which is why they are best positioned to gather data, assess their options, and make decisions about how to meet those needs. Imposing top-down national ideas only gets in the way of these adaptive, customized, local processes.

The federal Department of Education has lofty goals when it comes to student success, but it is simply not the right institution for achieving them. If we really want to improve ed ucation, it’s going to require a bottom-up, decentralized approach. So rather than continuing to fund yet another federal bureaucracy, perhaps it’s time to let taxpayers keep their money, and let educators and parents pursue a better avenue for change.

This article was adapted from an issue of the FEE Daily email newsletter. Click here to sign up and get free-market news and analysis like this in your inbox every weekday.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022

BY DANIEL LATTIER

Did Public Schools Really Improve American Literacy?

Most Americans were illiterate before the creation of our public education system in the 1830s. That seems to be a popular assumption, but is it true?

If you’re looking for statistics, they’re notoriously hard to get when it comes to literacy rates in past centuries. Most historians of early American history have gravitated toward signatures on documents – such as wills and deeds – as indicators of literacy. (Those who could not read simply used a mark.) Signatures are by no means fool-proof evidence of literacy, but it’s the best we have.

The following chart from Kenneth Lockridge’s Literacy in Colonial New England shows the estimated percentage of literacy from signatures on New England wills between 1650-1795:

As you can see, about 80% of men and 50% of women were literate in New England around the time of America’s founding. Scholars have noted that the percentages were probably lower in the South at the time.

We also have the testimonies of widespread American literacy in the early nineteenth century. In 1800, The Columbian Phoenix and Boston Review magazine reported that “no country on the face of the earth can boast of a larger proportion of inhabitants, versed in the rudiments of science, or fewer, who are not able to read

and write their names, than the United States of America.”

The factors behind the growth of America’s literacy rates are numerous. Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1439 dramatically increased popular access to books. The Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century placed salvific importance upon individual Christians being able to read the Bible.

Additional motivation to spread literacy came with the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason and equality – the latter of which contributed to the closing of the gap between male and female literacy during the course of the nineteenth century. All these historical movements and ideas created a culture in America that encouraged more widespread literacy.

Thus, the increase in American literacy cannot be solely chalked up to the creation of a public education system. Indeed, as statistics today show, an education system is no guarantee of literacy. According to a recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 32 million of American adults are illiterate, 21 percent read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates are functionally illiterate, which means they can’t read well enough to manage daily living and perform tasks required by many jobs.

Improving literacy in America requires not simply having an education system. It also requires what Americans had in past centuries: a culture of literacy.

MCDONALD

Hybrid Homeschooling and the Benefits of a Decentralized Education System

Ipresented at a conference last week hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School on emerging school models. I talked about the growth and diversification of the microschooling and hybrid homeschooling movement that was already underway prior to 2020 and that has since accelerated.

Now, more families recognize the tremendous value of these hybrid homeschool programs and similar microschool models. They are increasingly seeking them out, while entrepreneurial parents and educators meet this mounting demand by creating more of these offerings.

The Rainbow Room in Las Vegas, Nevada is an example of one of these hybrid homeschool models. Founded three years ago by homeschooling mother of 4, Emily Grégoire, the Rainbow Room offers a full-day, drop-off program for homeschooled children twice a week. The rest of the week, the children are at home with their families or participating in other activities throughout their community. This is part of a burgeoning ecosystem of nontraditional learning models and schooling alternatives in the greater Las Vegas area, as well as across the US.

Grégoire and I talked more about the evolution of her hybrid homeschool offering and education entrepreneurship more generally in the latest episode of the LiberatED Podcast:

The growing popularity of hybrid homeschool programs such as Grégoire’s was the topic of the Harvard panel on which I spoke. After my remarks and those of the other panelists, we took questions from the audience. One person expressed concern about the expansion of the microschool and hybrid homeschool movement, saying that it could create an even more polarized, atomized culture, while arguing that public schooling brings people together.

I was the first to respond. I explained that public schooling is actually a major instigator of our current cultural polarization and discontent. By design, public schooling creates winners and losers, as parents vie for political power in local school board meetings and throughout their communities. It is a battle of wills, where one side will necessarily prevail and get their preferred educational vision accepted into the district while others are defeated. Neal McCluskey at the Cato Institute does a great job of highlighting these conflicts in his Public Schooling Battle Map. His new book, The Fractured Schoolhouse, goes even deeper.

A free market of education options, by contrast, is based on voluntary association and exchange. It is characterized by consent, not coercion. By allowing families greater choice over their children’s education, the cultural temperature will go down.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

The popular assumption is that most Americans were illiterate before the creation of our public education system in the 1830s, but is it true?

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 BY KERRY

Won’t emerging school models and decentralized learning options lead to greater cultural polarization and discontent?

More diversity of learning options means that parents will be able to choose a learning environment for their children that is aligned with their educational needs and preferences. T here will be no need to fight anyone for power because that power will lie with each individual consumer, just as it d oes in all other areas of our lives.

Think about it: If we had local grocery boards determining what we were allowed to eat and where we were allowed to shop, there would be similar polarization and discontent—not unity. Thankfully, we don’t have mandatory assigned grocery stores based on our zip code, paid for through compulso ry taxation. We have choices. We shop where we want to and eat the food that reflects our individual preferences.

Rather than escalating cultural strife, decentralizing educatio n and encouraging the proliferation of education entrepreneurship and more

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

Vast Libraries in Our Pockets, and Nobody’s Reading

In one of my favorite scenes from the movie Seven, Morgan Freeman’s character gets a guard to let him into a library late at night so he can conduct research. While the five members of the library’s night staff are sitting around a desk playing cards he says to them:

“Gentlemen, gentlemen... I’ll never understand. All these books, a world of knowledge at your fingertips. What do you do? You play poker all night.”

This scene might serve as a fitting summary of our current culture. At least, that’s the implication in a recent Baffler article titled “The Death of the Autodidact.” In it, the author Ravi Mangla writes:

“After all, herein lies one of the more confounding paradoxes of our digital era: It is easier than ever to self-educate to a high standard, yet the number of autodidacts (by which I mean self-directed learners with limited formal schooling or vocational training) at the top of their chosen fields is dwindling faster than the stock of Atlas Shrugged hardcovers at the Reagan Library gift shop.”

So we are confronted with the situation of a rise in the potential for self-education (in the form of increased access to books, internet resources, MOOCs, etc.) with a decline in autodidacts. Why is that?

A Question of Incentives

Well, human nature seems to teach us that most people are only motivated to do something if there’s a tangible reward, and there’s not much reward for self-education in our institutionalized, unmeritocratic society. (How our society got to this point is another question that requires

more reflection.)

In school, students are not rewarded based on how deeply they have assimilated knowledge, and how much this knowledge has improved their character. Rather, they are rewarded for how well they have played the game and jumped through the hoops—they are rewarded based on how high their GPAs are, how many AP classes they have taken, and how many extracurricular activities they have accumulated.

With very few exceptions, your ticket onto a successful career path is not your demonstrated knowledge, ability, and potential; it’s how high of a college degree you have, and even more importantly, where you got that degree. As Mangla pointed out, in spite of Silicon Valley’s supposed predilection for autodidacts, their firms “are the least pliant in their credentialing requirements… 77 percent of postings indicated an educational status. Of those positions, 98 percent requested either a bachelor’s or master’s degree.”

Unfortunately, all of this bodes poorly for American society and Western Civilization. You see, schools today simply aren’t teaching students about the books and ideas that constituted the bulk of education for most of the West’s history, and that inspired the creation of America. And it’s difficult to think that our monolithic education system will dramatically change course on curricular ethos in the near future. And for the adults who are now out of school, reading Plato, Aristotle, Boethius, and Dante in their spare time probably isn’t going to immediately put them into a higher income bracket, and it’s not going to help them make more friends. In fact, it would probably make them feel more lonely.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 BY DANIEL LATTIER

We are confronted with a rise in the potential for self-education and a decline in autodidacts. Why is that?

But without a major autodidactic push to learn the classic work s that formed our civilization, I fear that the West’s storehouse of knowledge is in serious danger of becoming nothing more than an artifact—even if you still happen to be able to access it online in PDF form.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

Segregating Students by Age Is

It’s commonly believed by Americans that allowing students to skip grades is unhealthy for their social and emotional development. However, an article in this month’s Scientific American suggests the opposite.

“Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth”(SMPY), which over the past 45 years has identified 5,000 gifted individuals and tracked their careers. As the article explains, the SMPY has founded that allowing gifted students to skip grades has benefitted them both intellectual and socially:

“The SMPY data supported the idea of accelerating fast learners by allowing them to skip school grades. In a comparison of children who bypassed a grade with a control group of similarly smart children who didn’t, the grade-skippers were 60% more likely to earn doctorates or patents and more than twice as likely to get a PhD in a STEM field. Acceleration is common in SMPY’s elite 1-in-10,000 cohort, whose intellectual diversity and rapid pace of learning make them among the most challenging to educate. Advancing these students costs little or nothing, and in some cases may save schools money, says Lubinski. ‘These kids often don’t need anything innovative or novel,’ he says, ‘they just need earlier access to what’s already available to older kids.’

Many educators and parents continue to believe that acceleration is bad for children—that it will hurt them socially, push them out of childhood or create knowledge gaps. But education researchers generally agree that acceleration benefits the vast majority of gifted children socially and emotionally, as well as academically and

a Terrible Practice

professionally.”

I’m glad to hear a bit of pushback from the academic community on the popular notion that children of varying intellectual abilities should be kept together purely based on when they were born.

Personally, I think segregating students by age is a mistake. It’s a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of education—imported from Prussia to America in the mid19th century—and I think it’s safe to say that the idea has been tried and found wanting. It assumes a uniform process of intellectual development that simply doesn’t exist in reality, and I believe keeping younger and older children away from each other actually stunts everyone’s maturity.

I sometimes wonder if I would have benefitted from skipping a grade or two. By no means do I consider myself a genius. The description I usually give of myself—which I stole from my college professor John Boyle—is “average bright.”

What I do know is that—perhaps like many of you—I spent most of my time during primary education being bored. In kindergarten I was the only student who could read, and the teacher would put me in a corner by myself to read books during many of the lessons.

Grade school was mainly spent enduring the belaboring of concepts I already knew or was able to learn more quickly than most of the students. Largely because of the lack of challenging material, my intellectual curiosity waned, only to be revived when I enrolled in a more rigorous high school.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2016 BY DANIEL LATTIER

Eliminating compulsory schooling laws would break the century-and-a-half stranglehold of schooling on education.

https://fee.org/

MCDONALD

‘100 Schools in 10 Years’, Award-Winning Microschool

“Mom, I can’t do it anymore,” said Iman Alleyne’s fouryear-old son about his pre-kindergarten program. Plagued by anxiety-induced stomach aches and daily crying episodes over going to school, Alleyne’s son was sending clear signals that he needed a different learning environment.

At the same time, Alleyne was also feeling dissatisfied in her job as a certified special education teacher and school counselor in a Florida public charter school. She saw kids being bullied by other students, as well as being yelled at by teachers. Dismayed but determined, Alleyne began plotting what would eventually become Kind Academy, an award-winning microschool, or small, mixedaged, co-learning community, in Coral Springs, Florida.

Centered around kindness to oneself, others and the world, Kind Academy officially began in 2016 as a two-day a week, drop-off program for homeschoolers, including her son, that blended academics and nature-based learning.

In 2019, Alleyne helped another Florida microschool founder, Laurel Suarez, open Compass Outreach, the first brick-and-mortar microschool in Fort Lauderdale. Having a designated building enabled many more students to gain access to a microschool through the state’s school choice tax-credit scholarship programs.

Working with Suarez helped Alleyne to imagine what was possible for her fledgling microschool, and earlier this year she moved Kind Academy from a mostly nomadic program to a dedicated location that would also offer

school choice scholarship eligibility. Today, Kind Academy serves 25 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, with four teachers in addition to Alleyne.

She’s only just getting started. “My dream is 100 schools in 10 years,” said Alleyne, who hopes to scale her microschool network nationwide.

Her vision may be realized sooner than later.

Last week, Alleyne became a semi-finalist for the million-dollar Yass Prize that rewards “permissionless innovation” in education.

Her friend and fellow Florida microschool founder, Shiren Rattigan of Colossal Academy, was also acknowledged as a Yass Prize quarter-finalist and recently joined Alleyne in New York City for a gathering of Yass-recognized entrepreneurs.

Both entrepreneurs heard about the Yass Prize through the VELA Education Fund, a non-profit, philanthropic organization that provides microgrants to microschool founders and others who are building and scaling non-traditional learning models.

Alleyne and Rattigan are just two of the many education entrepreneurs in South Florida who are VELA grantees working, often closely and collaboratively, to create and expand learning opportunities for local families.

“There’s something happening here,” said Rattigan about her local cluster of microschools and schooling alternatives. “It’s so great to be in alliance with these incredible entrepreneurs.”

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2022 BY KERRY

Iman Alleyne is ready to tackle her big dream of building a sweeping Kind Academy microschool network.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

A former teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, as well as in private schools, Rattigan’s microschool emerged out of a Montessori-inspired “pandemic pod” that she began in 2020 wit h a few families in her community. While running her pod, she connected with another local entrepreneur, Toni Frallicciardi, who, along with her husband Uli, runs Surf Skate Science, a homeschool collaborative that now serves almost 250 students in South Florida. From them, Rattigan realized how much potential there was to grow her microschool t o serve more families, while collaborating with other local education entrepreneurs in various ways.

Rattigan’s microschool now enrolls 30 part-time and full-time students, in addition to about 20 after school students. Many of Rattigan’s students also attend her microschool at little to no cost due to the state’s scholarship school choice programs.

The community of education entrepreneurs in South Florida meets frequently to share tips, provide general business advice, and offer professional support and personal encouragemen t.

“There’s a real, deep connection that we have with each other in order to make sure we are all doing well and understand that we’re not in competition with each other, that there are so many people to be served,” said Rattigan.

Recently, Rattigan and Frallicciardis hosted a gathering at Colossal Academy for more than 30 local microschool founders and entrepreneurs.

“There’s something really special about meeting other educators who are entrepreneurs. We can feel inspired, feel connection, feel community so that we can go do the work we hav e to do,” said Rattigan.

Alleyne of Kind Academy agrees. “I started learning about all t hese other people who were doing amazing things, and we got connected with them, and started meeting up. It was the community that I always wanted but didn’t know I needed,” she said, adding that the VELA grant organization real ly helped to activate the local founder community.

Supported by this community, and now with additional grant fund ing from the Yass Prize, Alleyne is ready to tackle her big dream of building a sweeping Kind Academy microschool network.

“I want to be up there with Acton and Wildflower,” she said, ref erencing two other thriving microschool networks that launched in 2010 and 2014, respectively.

“Why do I want to scale so bad?” she asks. “As many children as possible should have access to something like this. It has to be an option. I want them to have opportunities to feel loved, valued, smart, capable and that they can do what they enjoy. They need it.”

True entrepreneurs, Alleyne and the other microschool founders in her local cohort recognize this need and are building innovative, life-changing education solutions for families in Florida and beyond.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

Do Schools Teach Kids to Hate Reading?

In a recent exchange of small talk, I asked a friend how the last school year had gone for his child. He replied that it had gone relatively well except for one thing. School, he explained, was killing his child’s interest in reading.

When I asked how that was happening, he noted that his child had adopted the mentality that reading was a thing to be done only in the confines of the classroom. Furthermore, he suspected that his child was growing bored with the reading assignments, for there were only a few books studied during the year, and those were dissected to such an extent that interest in the storyline waned considerably by the end of the book.

Hearing such a report from the trenches makes America’s poor reading stats make more sense. According to the Nation’s Report Card, only 34 percent of eighth graders are able to read at a proficient level. This increases slightly to 37 percent by the time students graduate from high school. Still, such numbers are nothing to write home about, for nearly two out of three students leave the school system without proficient literacy skills.

The question is, would these skills improve if reading instruction took a different course? If students were allowed to spend more time in school reading for pleasure, would interest and ability in reading increase?

University of Virginia psychology professor and author Daniel Willingham thinks that could be a possibility. Based on research, Willingham suggests that carving out

time for pleasure reading in schools can boost understanding and ability as long as the books are “information rich” and the teacher knowledgeable and quick to recognize the interests and needs of students.

As it stands right now, reading for pleasure is not common amongst school age children. In the U.K., only a quarter of middle school students and 11 percent of high school students are allowed to read for pleasure during the school day.

Statistics for pleasure reading in school don’t seem to even exist in the U.S. However, a Common Sense Media study from 2014 suggests that nearly half of American high school seniors “read by choice only once or twice a year.”

John Adams once said that the decision-making of the American citizens was based upon the insights gleaned in books. He opined that in order for Americans to make good, wise, and informed judgments in the selection of leaders, they must first let their minds be “opened and enlarged by reading.”

Based on the approval ratings of both President Trump and the major political parties, Americans do not seem all that happy with their choices regarding their political leaders. Is it possible that some of this discontent can be laid at the feet of an education system that appears to kill, rather than foster, a love and interest in reading?

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 2017 BY KERRY MCDONALD

Maybe if we let them read for pleasure once in a while they wouldn’t hate doing it. Source:

OCTOBER 19, 2018

BY REBECCA ZEINES

When it comes to higher ed, this question inevitably surrounds the messy topic of “accreditation.”

5 Lucrative Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree

When I was still in school, I remember thinking about college as an automatic next step in furthering my education. What I didn’t think about were the actual professional outcomes I’d have with a degree in English literature and history from a foreign university.

My situation was not unique. Too often, I’ve seen young adults think about their careers and thoughtlessly include college as the means to get there, even if the degree they choose has little or nothing to do with the career to which they aspire.

I was fortunate to find a route that made me question the true value of my Bachelor’s degree and find my career on my own terms. Going through Praxis, a forprofit apprenticeship program, taught me a lot about myself and the kind of work I excel in

The Fetishization of Higher Education

We’ve all heard phrases like this: “Without a college degree, you’ll never find a lucrative career.” And this: “You’ll never be able to choose what you want to do if you don’t go to college.”

Both of those statements are inaccurate—and that’s not a matter of opinion.

The job market of 2018 is drastically different than 30 years ago. At that time, college was still mostly for the elite, and a degree often meant you had undergone a

thoroughly specialized learning track that suited you for a thoroughly specialized job. Things have changed a lot since then—the gig economy is a pretty recent phenomenon—and the landscape continues to change every day. There are at least three clear downsides in the current career paradigm:

1. In the US, college is exorbitantly expensive ($35,000 per year for private school, on average; $10,000 for in-state public schools). As a result, many college graduates find themselves immersed in debt for decades after they’ve earned their degree.

2. The college learning process is too drawn-out for today’s job market. Students who have gone for a degree in marketing, for example, will generally have no understanding of current marketing tactics, nor are they likely to be taught how to identify and master them as fast as modern markets demand.

3. Many well-paid, high-demand careers are sneered at because they don’t require a college degree. Let’s talk about that third point a bit more; even if you don’t believe that college is basically dead, just think of this: You don’t need a college degree to make it in the “real world.” You don’t need to spend thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of dollars and many years of your life to make it professionally. You don’t need to sit in a class and listen to someone talk to you for hours on end.

No, if you want to find a profitable job, you don’t need to go to college.

In fact, many profitable careers don’t ask for any special quali fications—some employers will teach you the job themselves, and often, businesses will even pay for you to get trained. To name a few:

Truck Drivers

A recent Washington Post article states that there are upwards of 50,000 job openings for truckers, with businesses offering higher salary incentives to try to fill the ever-increas ing openings.

Although the trucking industry can be a hard one, it’s a career that can earn you as much as $80,000 annually in the first few years of work—with no degree required.

Elevator Installers & Repairers

Glamorous, this job is not. Fulfilling and in-demand, however? V ery much so.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that this trade is experiencing an increasing amount of demand for workers while paying almost $40 per hour, or a median $79,000 per year, without requiring any kind of higher education besides on-the-job training and apprenticing.

Boilermakers

A physically demanding career, boilermaking is one of those job s that, yet again, is desperately searching for staff. As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, boilermaking can easily generate $30 per hour, or $62,000 per year, with no need to go to school—and that’s only starting out.

Plumber

For being a “dying” job, being a plumber is surprisingly lucrat ive. If you choose to go the self-directed route, you’ll be able to benefit from on-the-job training or apprenticing, which means that even as you’re learning, you’re getting paid. Salaries can vary anywhere between $52,000 and $90,000 a year—much more than you can expect working as an overqualified college intern.

Web Developer

I could even go more general with this job title. Basically, if you like working on computers—especially the mechanics behind a working machine or website—you can launch a very prosperous career without going through school to gain the skills.

Web developers can earn a median salary of $62,000 and as much as $122,000 per year with a very low down payment on their education. Just like many non-trade and non-academic c areers, this is a job you can essentially teach yourself thanks to the numerous tutorials and online courses you can find on the Internet today. (I’m a living example of that, although my trade is as an editor and a writer.)

Lessons to Be Learned

What I hope you’ll take away from this short list is that you d on’t need to go to school to find well-paying work. Many jobs still require (or, more precisely, say they require) a deg ree from a four-year accredited college. But the truth is you don’t need to go the college route to make a lot of money o r even find an interesting and challenging career.

In fact, choosing to go an alternative route rather than colleg e might just offer you the freedom to change jobs as your interests evolve with time. You don’t have to lock yourself down professionally anymore.

Source: The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) https://fee.org/

FRIDAY,

September 14, 2022

NEW YORK DISTRICT CHARGES FAMILY WITH NEGLECT—A YEAR AFTER THEY MOVED

https://hslda.org/post/new-york-district-charges-family-with-neglect-a-year-after-they-moved?utm_ source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9-14-2022&utm_id=HSLDA

September 14, 2022

MISSOURI COMPANY RENEWS JOB OFFER AFTER GRADUATE PROVES VALID DIPLOMA

https://hslda.org/post/missouri-company-renews-job-offer-after-graduate-proves-valid-diploma?utm_ source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9-14-2022&utm_id=HSLDA

November 08,

2022

EMPLOYER’S OBJECTION TO HOMESCHOOL DIPLOMA RESOLVED IN 7 MINUTES

https://hslda.org/post/employer-s-objection-to-homeschool-diploma-resolved-in-7-minutes?utm_ source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11-9-2022&utm_id=HSLDA

PARIS SUMMIT ENCOURAGES HARD-PRESSED EUROPEAN HOMESCHOOLERS

https://hslda.org/post/paris-summit-encourages-hard-pressed-european-homeschoolers?utm_ source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11-9-2022&utm_id=HSLDA

December 07,

2022

WHY DID THIS SCHOOL THREATEN TO REPORT ALL HOMESCHOOLERS TO COUNTY ATTORNEY?

https://hslda.org/post/why-did-this-school-threaten-to-report-all-homeschoolers-to-county-attorney?utm_source=WU&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12-7-2022&utm_id=HSLDA

Thomas J. Schmidt, Esq. Scott Woodruff, Esq.

Dave Dentel

Michael Donnelly, JD, LLM

Thomas J. Schmidt, Esq.

September 14, 2022

other articles

MAINE’S RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS’ ‘HANDS ARE TIED’ EVEN AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING OPENING

DOOR TO STATE TUITION FUNDING

The Lion - Perspectives and News for the American Family, Educators, and Leaders (readlion.com)

N.Y. UPS AGE LIMIT FOR SPECIAL-EDUCATION SERVICES

As schools gear up to help students bridge learning gaps that resulted from pandemic-related education interruptions, lawmakers in New York have passed state legislation to help students with disabilities access much-needed services. Under the measure, students who would have aged out of services at 21 can now access those services until age 23. Full

Story: WRGB-TV (Albany, N.Y.) (9/10)

STATE AND LOCAL EDUCATION NEWS

School report cards out Thursday; change from letter grade to star system

DAYTON DAILY NEWS

For the first time in two years, school districts will receive a rating when state report cards are released Thursday, but it will look different than years past — the Ohio legislature chang ed the school report card rating system from A-F grades to a 1-5 stars system. The last time schools were given a grade was the 2018-2019 school year. The state said it would be unfair to schools to grade them in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years amid COVID disruptions. Schools still will be evaluated on how well their students are doing on state tests, reading proficiency in kindergarten through third grade, graduation rates, how students are progressing year over year, how well schools are able to close gaps for underprivileged students such as English language learners or disabled students, and how ready a student is to enter the workforce, college or the military after graduation.

HURRICANE IAN CAUSES 2.5M STUDENTS TO MISS SCHOOL

About 2.5 million students across Florida have missed at least one day of school due to Hurricane Ian, with 1.7 million missing three days or more. Officials say they are concerned about lost instructional time an d ask for patience as they prepare to reopen as soon as possible. Full Story: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) (tiered subscription model) (9/29), National Public Radio (9/29)

NEW STYLE OF COLLEGE ENVISIONED BY MIT PROFESSORS

Five professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are proposing a new style of college that incorporates the new technology used during the pandemic with an emphasis on work skills. The new model also would rely less on a big campus and make use of curriculum from other schools.

EPA DOUBLES MONEY FOR ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES AS DEMAND SOARS

By Carl Weinschenk

https://apnews.com/article/business-education-pollution-air-quality-climate-and-environment-ad9dc72b1ad662dfb618fcc317728f27

97 MILLION TIKTOK VIEWS = 1 YEAR OF PAY FROM YOUR DAY JOB

By Carl Weinschenk

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/97-million-tiktok-views -1-year-of-pay-from-your-day-job?utm_term=616274319B44-4420-8791-699678DD7F98&utm_campaign=AC59823B-4C3C-4F57-8D2A-7EDD2B31AA42&utm_medium=email&utm_ content=A482D203-3A35-4433-8A2B-31F83D79A148&utm_source=SmartBrief

MIT PROFESSORS PROPOSE A NEW KIND OF UNIVERSITY FOR POST-COVID ERA

By Jeffrey R. Young     Sep 28, 2022

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-09-28-mit-professors-propose-a-new-kind-of-university-for-post-covid-era https://www.dea.gov/stories/2022/2022-02/2022-02-16/fentanyl-de aths-climbing-dea-washington-continues-fight

PAMELA CLARK, FOUNDER/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP

GREAT COMPANIES: HOW DID YOU GET YOUR IDEA OR CONCEPT FOR THE BUSINESS? CONCEPT FOR THE BUSINESS?

Pamela Clark: Originally, I was a home school mom and other mom s would come to me for advice. Then after homeschooling for about four years, I learned about charter schools. I became a parent leader for a charter school for some time. During that time, I helped many families from all school backgrounds. I advocated for families to receive a fair education. Once I disc overed that families needed to cooperate, especially in educating children with learning difficulties such as ADHD, bipolar disorder, autism , and neurological disorders. When I left the charter school I had a meeting with a few moms I had served. One of the first things I told them was that I wanted to create a group that helps all families. I had served so many families from multiple school backgrounds at this time, I didn’t understand the strict lines drawn by those in the education system. Everyone pays taxes whether they have children in public school, yet there was minimal, or no support offered t o the homeschoolers asking for access to the art, music, and other programs. Charter school students receive help only from the charter they belong too, and traditional schools only care about the students in their classrooms. I didn’t want to combine them into one school but truly believe that everyone willing to work for it deserves a fair and equal education. NHEG wants families to reach their dreams and goals. When a family and student reach t heir full potential, we all benefit as a society.

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS SERVICES PROVIDED BY NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP?

Pamela Clark: New Heights Educational Group is the first one-sto p-shop in education. NHEG has served over 550,000 students via online services and c ourses via its site and affiliate and partner sites. I lead a team of 73 volunteers who research advancements, provide training to teachers and tutors, create courses and tutor students. The organization has many internal departments includ ing education, research, graphics, photography, HR, social media and marketing, proofreading/editing, authors/writers/script writers, comic book, production management for magazine, content builders, internet radio show/podcast, accoun ting and more.

NHEG provides fill-in-the-gap tutoring to reach students who hav e been left behind by traditional schools. It offers classes, an educational magazine called the NHEG EDGuide and the E.A.S.Y Toons comic books that has over 100,540 Views. The organization has published two books: Unraveling Reading an d Unraveling Science. Both books are part of the Unraveling series, which provides strategies to parents, teachers and tutors to help them support children’s learning processes. The series will include a book for each subject. One Nonprofit’s Journey to Success, written by an NHEG volunteer, was released worldwide in March 2015 and tells the organization’s s tory. NHEG’s internet radio show, New Heights Show on Education, has had over 357,841 listens and is on 29 networks and became a syndicated show in 2019.

NHEG and its partners/affiliates offer over 1,200 low-cost and hig h-quality courses on its website, and it makes national and international leadership opportunities available to its students.

In 2020, NHEG grew its reach by over 90,000 people. In 2021, through new partnerships with Stack Social, Skillwise,

National CSI Camp, Citizen Goods and The Hip Hop Healthy Heart Program for Children and Natural Born Leaders, it has more than tripled its previous course offerings with the over 1, 280 free and discounted unique courses mentioned above and another 284 classroom resources for all subject matters. Th e in-person reading program switched to an online reading program with the help of one of NHEG’s partners (The 2nd & 7 Foundation), and it went from a 2-tier to a 5-tier reading program within the last year.

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT MAKES NEW HEIGHTS EDUCATIONAL GROUP DIFFERENT FROM HUNDREDS OF OTHER SIMILAR SERVICE PROVIDERS?

Pamela Clark: NHEG is the only organization that offers a range of educational services and resources under one business. We excel at it; we are the best in the world at it. This is pro ven by the many awards and recognition the organization has won since its creation and the many families that have benefited from this dream.

GREAT COMPANIES: WHAT ARE THE STRUGGLES AND CHALLENGES YOU FACE?

Pamela Clark: Every step of the way there has been struggles and challenges. It is a struggle to reach those in the educational system that see us as a threat instead of what the org anization can do for the community. Many in power have biased thinking and keep us a secret from the families in need of our services. Instead, they send families to for-profit businesses that they can’t afford and, in turn, cause more difficu lties for these very families; it’s a vicious cycle. Funding is our biggest roadblock; everything NHEG has built, all the work it has done is yet to be fully funded. It would cost $457,567.00 to fund the first year of the organization’s entire dream. That amount is less than is spent on two school dropouts over a lifetime of receiving public assistance, and yet NHEG struggles to receive funding. It is very frustrating.

Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What do 5 years down the line look like for New Heights Educational Group?

Pamela Clark: NHEG envisions building a computer lab and learning center

Purpose: The lab and learning center will provide a space for academic research, academic studies, school assignments, educational planning, testing and tutoring services and other educational options. The lab can be used by families with students enrolled in any type of school or afterschool programs, for homeschool resources and as a teaching space for themed co-op/enrichment classes. The facilities will enable NHEG to teach, assist and provide technology resources to families for self-learning.

Genealogy program - NHEG is looking to create a genealogy program with the goal of building students’ self-esteem and further connecting them to their community and country.

NHEG GED Program / Testing Site and implementing a sensory room for those with disabilities and creating a daycare for young mothers and fathers.

Creation of a sensory room in the hopes of reaching students with disabilities/special needs. This is very important for those with special needs and can open a new world for these students and their families.

Support for Teenage Parents

NHEG works with many teen parents that are struggling with the traditional education settings. Those that have children while still in high school or college, can still have a successful life if they have access to a support system. They are encou raged and treated with fairness and respect. NHEG recognizes the value of self-esteem and works towards building theirs by listening to their dreams and helping them achieve them. The organization provides a support system with affordable child-care, fun activities and learning opportunities, promotes student leadership, and teaches them to value themselves, so they can continue their educational endeavors. NHEG excels at providing this support that helps them reach their goals and this must be done if we want to effect change in society.

GREAT COMPANIES: IF YOU HAD ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO SOMEONE JUST STARTING OUT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Pamela Clark: Don’t just start a business, start a passion. If starting a charity, find someone in your community doing something similar and volunteer for a while. Never think of any job as beneath you; do everything and learn everything, so you can mentor others.

SIMPLE PASTA WITH SPINACH, MUSHROOMS AND TOMATOES RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 box (about 16 oz) penne pasta (we use Barilla Plus and love i t...much healthier than plain semolina pasta)

• 1 jar good marinara (I used Trader Joes tomato & basil)

• 1 pound fresh spinach (frozen would probably work in a pinch)

• 3-4 ounces dried mushrooms reconstituted (I used Costco’s dried gourmet mushroom blend...a good investment!)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• Grated fresh Parmesan cheese (about 2-3 Tbsp)

Directions

1. Put two quarts of water and generous sprinkling of salt on to boil in a large pot.

2. Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl with very hot water and cover.

3. Put the marinara in a sauce pan, cover, and bring to boil then reduce to simmer.

4. As soon as the water in the pasta pot boils, put the fresh spinach in. Blanch for 2-3 minutes until softened. Place a colander over a large pasta pot. Pour the hot water and spinach through the colander. Remove the colander with the spinach and place pasta pot with the hot water from the spinach back on the stove and bring to boil.

5. Cut the spinach a bit further using kitchen shears and add to the simmering marinara. Drain the mushrooms, chop as desired, and add to the marinara. Stir, taste, and season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

6. When the water in the pasta pot boils, add the penne and another generous sprinkling of salt.

7. When the penne is done as you like, drain the water and return the penne to the pot. Using a spatula, add all of the marinara to the penne and stir to coat. Add a tablespoon of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and stir again. Serve in bowls and sprinkle with additional fresh Parmesan cheese.

8. Goes very well with a crusty Italian bread.

Ingredients

• FOR THE PORK AND MARINADE:

• 6 guajillo chiles or 1/4 cup chile powder (dried guajillo chile s can usually be found hanging in plastic bags in the spice or mexican aisle of your supermarket)

• 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 piece (1 1/2 pounds) boneless pork tenderloin

• FOR SERVING:

• 8-10 corn or flour tortillas

• Oaxacan-Style Guacamole (see recipe below)

• Cilantro leaves

• Fresh Salsa

• Sour cream (optioonal)

• Mexican Rice (optional)

• Pinto or refried beans (optional)

Directions

1. If using dried guajillo chiles, tear them open and remove the seeds and any tough veins. Soak the chiles in the vinegar for a few minutes until softened.

2. Combine the chiles (or chile powder), vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and cloves in a blender and process to

3. a wet paste.

4. Lay the pork tenderloin on a cutting board. It should be about 12 inches long. Cut in half so you have two 6 inch pieces. To butterfly each piece, make a horizontal insertion abo ut 3/4 of the way into the tenderloin down the entire length of the piece. Then spread it open with your finger s so that you have a rectangular piece. If you did not insert your knife deeply enough to make a flat piece when bu tterflied, Insert the knife again and cut a little deeper where needed. Repeat with the other half. Put each half between two oversized pieces of plastic wrap and pound gently with a cleaver or rolling pin until you achieve a uniform thickness of about 1/4 inch.

5. Remove the plastic and spread each piece of pork with the adobo mixture and stack in a nonreactive baking dish. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 24 hours.

6. Preheat the grill to high.

7. When ready to grill, oil the grill grate. Arrange the pork on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until nicely browned and

8. cooked through, about 3 minutes per side.

9. Serve immediately, sliced thinly, accompanied by the tortillas, the guacamole, and salsa, wrapping the pork and condiments in the tortillas.

10. Note: To provide an option for kids with sensitive palates I made two pieces that I marinated liberally with salt, pepper, ground cumin, and a little garlic. The kids ended up liking both.

ITALIAN SNOWBALL COOKIES RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter

• 3/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 cups sifted flour

• 1 cup finely chopped nuts

• 1 cup extra sifted confectioners sugar

• 1 large bowl

• 2 large cookie sheets

Directions

1. in a large mixing bowl add 1 cup softened butter, 3/4 cups confectioners sugar and vanilla. with a spoon mix until creamy.

2. Once mix is creamy, slowly add 2 cups flour and 1 cup finely chop ped nuts,(optional)

3. Shape into 3/4 inch balls, rolling in palm of hand. place 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. bake in oven at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cookies are a cream color. remove from cookie sheets and place on cooling rack until cookies are just warm to the touch, then rol l the cookies in the 1 cup extra sifted confectioners sugar, cool entirely and roll again in the same confectioners sugar. store in tightly covered container

CREOLE SPICED PORK CHOPS RECIPE (GLUTEN FREE)

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops, 1 inch thick

• 1 tsp sweet paprika

• 1/4 or more cayenne pepper

• 1/4 tsp dried thyme

• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

• 2 - 3 T canola oil

• 1 - 2 T all-purpose (or gluten-free) flour

• 2 C pork or beef stock

• 1/8 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 bay leaf

• salt & fresh black pepper to taste

• chopped parsley and minced garlic for garnish

• Hot rice

Directions

1. Combine the dry ingredients - the thyme, cayenne, red pepper , salt and black pepper, paprika with the whisk and shake

2. Sprinkle evenly over the chops

3. Saute the chops over med-high heat in a little oil until done

4. Remove the chops to a plate

5. Sprinkle the flour into the saute pan and whisk until you have a roux, adding oil and flour to get that paste consistancy

6. Add the stock to the roux, the worcestershire sauce and the bay leaf

7. Slide the chops into the pool and simmer for about 5 minutes

8. Serve on rice, garnished with the parsley and garlic

9. [NOTE: For those who want to present a more ‘upscale’ plating, you can deglaze the pan with 3/4 C of cream sherry, and let that reduce a bit just prior to making th e roux. I also remove the finished chops to a warming station, then thicken the sauce with 1 Tbs of cornstarch and 1/4 C of water. When thickened, I remove from the heat and stir in 2Tbs of sweet butter. Then I plate up.]

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO BISCOTTI / MANDELBROT RECIPE (GLUTEN FREE)

Ingredients

• 2 cups Gluten Free flour or unbleached flour

• 1 cup granulated sugar, whirl in a food processor if coarse

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp espresso powder

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum

• 1/2 tsp table salt

• 2 large eggs

• 1/3 cup oil

• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer combine flour, sugar, baking pow der, espresso powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs, oil, vanilla and beat on medium sped until combined.

3. On a cutting board roughly chop the chocolate chips into smalle r bits. Using a bench scraper transfer the chocolate, including the finely chopped bits into the mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until combined.

4. Transfer dough to silicone lined cookie sheet. Cut into three equal portions. Using wet hands, shape each portion into a log approximately 8”x2”, leaving as much space as possib le between logs. The dough will spread.

5. Place sheet in preheated oven and bake 40 minutes, until light brown. Remove pan from oven and let logs cool on sheet for 10-15 minutes. Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a sharp chefs knife, slice horizontally into 1/2 inch wide strips.

6. If you want a super crunchy, biscotti style cookie, return colors to cookie sheet and continue baking for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack.