Incredible. I recently attended an orchestra performance at Lincoln Center free of charge, part of their Summer for the City program. Hundreds of shows for free and "choose what you pay."
Incredible. I recently attended an orchestra performance at Lincoln Center free of charge, part of their Summer for the City program. Hundreds of shows for free and "choose what you pay."
I like the image of Mainers sitting on the sidewalk with a large basket of blueberries, pelting the feds one berry at a time, slowly, unpredictably, like water drop torture.
A runza!
Are they so sure all educators will teach the "right" kind of Christianity? I'm pretty sure the version of Jesus I would teach is nothing like the Jesus they sell.
But it's not "just" a distraction. This move will have real consequences for real people. The implications are enormous.
We're on the same side about the value of civics education. Indeed, I've made a career out of it. I've taught high school civics for 28 years. I think we can agree we'd both like a more robust requirement in all states.
Also, more broadly, from the Hoover Institute's "State Civics Requirements in 2024" -->
Good news! From the Hoover Institute's "State Civics Requirements in 2024" -->
I live in Maine. By the way, Massachusetts also requires civics education -- at the high school level. See "An Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement" (S.2631, 190th, 2017-18).
Easy, there. We do teach civics. My state requires it. Please don't blame public education curricula for the mess we're in. We're doing the best with what we're given.
Very small sample size, but my daughters and their friends are *very* clear on the fact that many boys their age are undatable AND that they don't need men to enjoy their lives or feel good about themselves.
It's not acceptance; it's acknowledgement. And we have to acknowledge as a first step toward fixing it.
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
This is simply what happens when you elect Republicans -- period. Trump wouldn't be able to do what he's doing if not for the craven Republican Congress.
The actual events and arguments in this case make it even more outrageous than the headline
I clipped this from a NYT story a few years ago
Wildly, your use of the word "era" gives me hope. Like it's just phase. Like, we can recover. I hope that's what you meant.
If everything is broken, then the next logical emotion is despair. If we stick to the truth—around 1 in 8 Americans lives in poverty—we can talk solutions. We can talk policy. We can mobilize. Facts don't minimize the problem; they make it solvable.
Exaggeration doesn’t motivate action; it creates hopelessness or apathy. The real numbers are serious enough to justify outrage. By saying the world continues “to crumble around you,” that is sends a message that change is impossible.
It makes people tune out, gives bad-faith actors an easy opening to discredit everything you say, and misleads people about the scale and nature of the problem.
We’re on the same team here. I just understand that if you care about an issue, then you need to care about facts. Huge overstatements don’t just weaken the argument, it actively hurts the cause.
[I see that I misquoted you, but I swear, if anyone comes at me, I will accuse them of pedantry. 😃]
I'm serious --stop doing that. To use your words, it's an "objectively false" statement to say that 12.9% is a majority. The real numbers are bad enough without wild exaggerations. Use them. Make serious, fact-based arguments that serious people can work with.
And I quote, "you can't erase the reality of poverty and starvation that is the American experience for most."
In 2023, the number living in poverty was 36.8 million (US Census Bureau). That's 11.1%. If you use the Supplemental Poverty Measure, it's 12.9%. Too high, for sure, not even close to "most" Americans. Hyperbole undermines the credibility of your argument.
This is the second time today I've seen this misleading construction. Another post quoted Cornel West saying we "can't" invade other countries. We must be more precise. The media WILL NOT is better. Invading other countries VIOLATES INT'L LAW. It's real easy to respond to "can't" with, "Oh, yeah?"
How does one teach the three branches of government, check and balances, and the Constitution in a rural public school these days?
This is literally the guiding thesis of my 11th-grade government class. Everything I teach is in the service of this statement.
The Civil Rights Movement is the correct model.
Yes, this is certainly a definition. I am surprised but not surprised that anyone who pontificates on social media thinks that historical concepts like "class" have only one definition, originating with Marx.
@ifbookspod.bsky.social
Racism -- institutional and otherwise -- is why we can't have nice things (McGhee).
Defies common sense, you might say.
"I got it, actually." As if he's a fucking hero for paying for his own order.
Is it me, or does it seem that the only people standing up to this administration are WOMEN?
I work in a Title I district in rural Maine. Many of my colleagues may be affected.
I need a diagram!
As a high school government teacher, I can't help myself. He was impeached. He wasn't removed from office.
I worry that the focus on NOAA's weather predicting value is ignoring the millions of other ways NOAA researchers enrich communities and local economies. There are no oysters without NOAA. There are no blue crabs without NOAA. NOAA trains teachers. NOAA is the lifeblood of coastal communities.
I think this is the first time *anyone* has confronted him face-to-face, in the wild
If AOC were a white man, we would not be where we are today.
You're 100% right, but I think disinformation is the word
I believe that -- 100%! Not what I was commenting on, though... It was implied that long-form writing is inappropriate because, ugh! it's not sexy enough! (1) That's insulting, and (2) it ignores the fact that sometimes it requires more than a meme to convey ideas. We can handle it.
C'mon. I haven't looked at it, but criticizing a memo based on the *number of words* it contains is unserious. Sometimes it takes a lot of words to explain things seriously, yes?
Yesterday I drove 15 minutes out of my way (in rural Maine) to patronize a CVS instead of a much-closer Walgreens
I'm counting on this
1) It already is 2) No, they're definitely not 3) Aw, fuck. I was taking you seriously. Stupid waste of time
I can't tell where the cat ends and the blanket begins.
Voting machines are not networked.
Interesting. I guess I don't know enough, but when I see a deal being made (e.g., with Panama, Mexico), I feel like it's because Trump is a bully and *they* succumb. What I don't get is why everyone -- powerful people and nations -- are afraid of him?
Thank you. I get it. We're totally on the same page!
You don't realize it, but this sort of comment is hurtful to us teachers who ARE teaching social studies and critical thinking and DO ensure competency. We are doing good work. We can control only so much. You must be aware that the larger culture disparages academics, expertise, perspective.
I am counting on our military leaders to do the right thing, that is, disobey an unlawful, unconstitutional, or immoral command.
So, um, what's your list look like? 😇
Is it bad that I'm counting on other countries to save us?
Y is the original ingredient.
Did I miss the warnings about shutting down NIH study section? Firing staff hired under DEI protocols? Dismissing 17 internal inspectors general?
But I’ve been gobsmacked by how he has rendered so many departments and initiatives of the Executive Branch powerless, subverting legislation, long-standing policies, and essential functions.
Before the election, did anyone talk about the smaller-scale actions the President might take as head of the Executive Branch to overthrow the government? I expected executive orders on issues like deportations, Paris, the WHO, and birthright citizenship. I knew Trump would control Congress.
Idling in cognitive dissonance.
Proud to be a Mainer who's been doing this for several years!
They look like they're working so hard. So serious!
"Many," "some," and "35" are doing a lot of work in that authoritative post by Legacy Westbrook Buick GMC, Local Auto Dealer. There were 116,990 precincts in the 2024 election.
Voting machines are not networked. I'm as frustrated/angry/disappointed as anyone, but voting, vote-counting, and all other election procedures are carried out by honest, conscientious town employees and volunteers who are actually psyched to do their important work well.
Absurd. I am a public school teacher, and I use ChatGPT *every day* to help me do my work. My job's going nowhere as a result of AI. It's making me more vaulable.
I'm with you. It's driving me crazy.
OMG. Seriously? You disparage food that wasn't picked from the back yard this morning? Or baked less than 5 minutes ago? Must be fucking nice, pal. Most of us refrigerate, can, or freeze food for future consumption.
If you think the only option is to throw extra food away, you've got bigger issues than basic math.
I think the issue is that people don't know how to PLAN. I teach high school, and I see it every day: because of instant communication, none of these kids think more than 4 minutes into the future, constantly on the phone making last-minute arrangements. It's a problem that manifests in many ways.
Yes, thank you! The problem is not the lack of education -- we're doing our best! It's the fact that students and families don't value it.
There's more to it. It's Congress's abdication of Constitutional responsibilities over the last 40 years that needs teaching. I tell my students daily that Congress has way more power than the President -- if they choose to use it.
Civics (and history, geography, and media studies) ARE taught. But like so much else that's taught in school, they're simply not valued -- by students or their families. For so many, high school feels like a hoop, not something worthwhile in and of itself.
As a teacher who teaches EVERY SINGLE DAY, I resent the implication that teachers don't typically do their job. Why would you introduce this kind of snark into this wonderful moment?
My husband calls this "caveman TV."
Never heard that. We've got southern, foothills, coastal, downeast, and the county. No upstate. *shudders*
The intractable grip of the white patriarchy is absolutely to blame. AND so is the narrow-mindedness of purity tests. Both can be true at the same time.
Be careful, please. This is a bill to abolish the Dept of Ed, not public education. Publicly-funded education is a state-driven initiative and existed in a vibrant way long before the DoE was established in 1979. Overstating and exaggerating undermines the cause.
This needs way more context.
Can't wait!