WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—President Obama’s plan to offer Americans two years of college for free has come under fire from congressional Republicans, who are calling it a blatant plot to make Americans smarter.
The G.O.P., which has benefited from the support of so-called “low-information voters” in recent years, accused Obama of cynically trying to make people smarter as a way of chipping away at the Republican base.
“You take low-information voters and give them information, and pretty soon they’re Democrats,” Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said.
House Speaker John Boehner said that “forcing knowledge into people” was “flagrantly un-American,” adding, “We make this promise to the American people: if you like your brains, you can keep your brains.”
UMOJA: Noun 1. unity, oneness (the state of being one or undivided)
On behalf of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Alliance of Black School Educators and the Young Black Professional Network of Charlottesville, we will like to invite you and your child to our “Self- Love Umoja” Conference on March 15, 2014 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM at the African American Jefferson Heritage Center (420 Commerce Street, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902). We want to provide our youth with tangible tools that will contribute to their success in both the classroom and in their everyday lives as they navigate through the world. Workshops will include age-appropriate topics such as “Healthy Relationships,” “It’s Cool to be Smart,” and “Why Race Matters.” We will also have a parent workshop that will discuss how to become more engaged in your child’s school, how to be an advocate for your child, and tips/methods to interact with your child’s school administration.
This conference is for area youth in grades 5 – 12 and we will provide breakfast and t-shirts for all participants. This conference is of no charge to any participants.
We look forward to your participation! To sign up, please fill out the information on this link: http://bit.ly/M08rZn
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions at: contactus@ybpncville.org or by phone at 434-327-7873.
Bill Moyers and Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss why science literacy is important for the future of our democracy, economy and standing in the world: “Science literacy is an inoculation against charlatans who would exploit your ignorance of scientific law to then take your money from you or your opportunity from you.” And that literacy is at risk, Tyson concludes.
Bill and Tyson also talk about American students’ poor performance on international math and science tests as well as the relationship between income inequality and education.
There is often debate about what exactly the First Amendment means, however, in an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists, Thomas Jefferson made clear that the purpose of the First Amendment was to establish a “wall of separation” between Church and State in order to protect individuals’ right of conscience:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.”
From an article in Food Safety News
Delegate Richard P. “Dickie” Bell (R-Staunton) is the “chief patron,” or sponsor, of House Bill 207 that local media suggest is probably aimed at how evolution is taught in Virginia. But the language of HB 207 is so broad that just about any controversial topic involving science would fall under its restrictions.
According to a report by the National Center for Science Education, the bill forbids “any public elementary or secondary school teacher from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in science class.”
HB 207 is directed at the Virginia State Board of Education and local school boards, which are also directed to “create an environment in public elementary and secondary schools that encourage students to explore scientific questions, learn about scientific evidence, develop critical thinking skills, and respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about scientific controversies in science classes.”
Education boards are directed to “assist teachers to find effective ways to present scientific controversies in science class.” It also contains a clause against religious discrimination.
The National Center for Science Education, which defends the teaching of evolution and climate change, labeled HB 207 as an “anti-science bill.”
“For those who want to learn more, see the Wikipedia entry about the Discovery Institute’s ‘Teach the Controversy‘ campaign to have creationism taught in schools… Dover, Delaware was ordered by the court to pay over $1,000,000 after they ‘taught the controversy,’ for their naked attempt to insert religion into public schools. How much will the whole of Virginia have to pay, if this bill becomes law?” -Waldo Jaquith
Tax-cuts For the Rich, Cuts to Education for Everyone Else
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s proposed $1.4 billion income tax cut would necessitate an annual reduction of at least $525 million in state education funding, leading to layoffs of more than 8,000 teachers.
“Ken Cuccinelli has proposed a massive tax gimmick that would blow a $1.4 billion hole in Virginia’s budget with no explanation of how he would pay for it,” McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin said in a statement. “Virginians deserve to know the dangerous implications of Cuccinelli’s plan, including his proposal to divert funding from public schools to private schools.”
Cuccinelli has proposed cutting the top individual income tax rate from 5.75 percent to 5 percent and the corporate income tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent. He has said he would offset the lost revenue by eliminating unspecified tax loopholes.
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