For The Children

“They Kidnapped Our Child”: Why CPS Needs Transparency Now

"In April 2013, police officers and a social worker from Sacramento County's Child Protective Services entered the home of Anna and Alex Nikolayev and took their baby, Sammy, away from them. They had no warrant. 'What they'd done was, basically, kidnapped our child with the help of police,' says Alex Nikolayev. The young, first-time parents were not notified of where Sammy was being taken and wouldn't find out for a full 24 hours. The dispute stemmed from the parents' desire to obtain a second medical opinion before subjecting Sammy to major heart surgery." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“They Kidnapped Our Child”: Why CPS Needs Transparency Now

‘Run and hide’ is Obama administration’s clever plan for next school shooting

"The U.S. Department of Education’s 'live-shooter' section doesn’t recommend that schools arm teachers or employ armed guards. It doesn’t even advise schools to add door locks for classrooms. Instead, the section counsels teachers and students to 'run,' 'hide' and then 'fight' — but only 'if neither running nor hiding is a safe option.' Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, does not explain how this guidance differs from the very unsuccessful actions attempted by the 26 victims of Adam Lanza, the lone gunman who attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty of those victims were children who were six and seven years old." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Run and hide’ is Obama administration’s clever plan for next school shooting

Taking pills for unhappiness reinforces the idea that being sad is not human

"I was trouble at school. Thank God this was in the early 80s, otherwise I bet someone would have suggested Ritalin. For, since the mid 80s, society has decided that adolescent trouble-making is some sort of medical condition. We have given it a scientific-sounding classification, ADHD, securing a sense that a messy adolescence is pathological, some sort of chemical imbalance. Thus the scientists are called in to reinforce generally conservative norms of appropriate behaviour. In the US, between 1987 and 2007, there was a 35-fold increase in the number of children being classified as having some form of mental deficiency." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTaking pills for unhappiness reinforces the idea that being sad is not human

School boards searching for Obamacare loopholes to avoid paying some benefits

"Hit by years of budget cuts, some U.S. public school boards are looking to avoid providing health benefits to substitute teachers and supporting staff under President Barack Obama’s reform law, education officials say. According to the law, employers will have to offer health coverage to all full-time employees, defined as those who work an average of 30 or more hours per week each month, or else pay a fine starting in 2015. The need to find creative solutions, or risk cutting back staff hours further, will increase as they finalize their budgets, they say." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchool boards searching for Obamacare loopholes to avoid paying some benefits

Dental Abuse Seen Driven by Private Equity Investments [2012]

"Isaac Gagnon stepped off the school bus sobbing last October and opened his mouth to show his mother where it hurt. A dentist’s statement in his backpack showed he had received two pulpotomies, or baby root canals, along with the crowns and 10 X-rays -- all while he was at school. 'I was absolutely horrified,' said Gagnon.'I never gave them permission to drill into my son’s mouth. They did it for profit.' [Dental management-services companies like ReachOut] have been riding a boom in Medicaid outlays on dentistry, which rose 63 percent to $7.4 billion between 2007 and 2010, outstripping the 4.9 percent growth in other dental spending." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDental Abuse Seen Driven by Private Equity Investments [2012]

The Police State Mindset in Our Public Schools

"Instead of making the schools safer, we simply managed to make them more authoritarian. It used to be that if you talked back to a teacher, or played a prank on a classmate, or just failed to do your homework, you might find yourself in detention or doing an extra writing assignment after school. Nowadays, students are not only punished for transgressions more minor than those—such as playing cops and robbers on the playground, bringing LEGOs to school, or having a food fight—but they are punished with suspension, expulsion, and even arrest. As a result, America is now on a fast track to raising up an Orwellian generation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Police State Mindset in Our Public Schools

6-year-old Colorado girl in national spotlight over medical marijuana

"Charlotte Figi suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. She’s endured violent seizures since she was a newborn. Most weeks, she’d have about 300 seizures a week. After countless emergency room visits, trips to specialists and children’s hospitals, and more than a dozen pharmaceuticals, nothing worked. Then, a year-and-a-half ago, as a last resort, her mom tried cannabis oil. The medical marijuana worked immediately. 'It’s potent, it’s strong, it’s spicy, it’s got some kick,' her mother, Paige Figi, told FOX31 Denver as she showed us a syringe full of the cannabis oil. It’s diluted with olive oil, and mixed with food." Continue reading →

Continue Reading6-year-old Colorado girl in national spotlight over medical marijuana

Common Core Exams: New York Schools Get an F

"No one knows what to do. They are in panic mode. Watch the videos. Parents are outraged. School officials are in hunker-down mode. The top educational official in the country is the Secretary of Education. She says this: no problem! Parents should not be alarmed, she says. The test results will 'give a clear picture of where our students are on the trajectory toward college and career readiness.' Yes, they do. The kids are not ready. Then, she added, don't blame tax-funded education. No, no, no. 'The lower proficiency rates that we will see . . . do not reflect that teachers are teaching less or students are learning less.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCommon Core Exams: New York Schools Get an F

New York fails Common Core tests; more states to follow

"The political fight over the Common Core academic standards rolling out in schools nationwide this fall is sure to intensify after New York reported Wednesday that students across the state failed miserably on new reading and math tests meant to reflect the more rigorous standards. Fewer than a third of students in public schools passed the new tests, officials reported. And, in a twist that could roil education policy, some highly touted charter schools flopped particularly badly. Critics fumed that the state was setting kids up to fail — and failing to acknowledge that crimped budgets, crowded classrooms and high student poverty rates have all played a role." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York fails Common Core tests; more states to follow

17-year-old tased to death by Miami cops after spray-painting abandoned McDonald’s

"Miami Beach Police Chief Ray Martinez told The Miami Herald that Israel Hernandez-Llach — who was known as 'Reefa' in the local graffiti and skateboarding scene — began running when officers confronted him about 'tagging' an abandoned McDonald’s. 'The officers were forced to use the Taser to avoid a physical incident,' Martinez explained. Hernandez-Llach collapsed after being hit once in the chest. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and later died. One witness told WFOR that police were 'congratulating' each other and 'making fun' of Hernandez-Llach after he was shocked by the Taser." Continue reading →

Continue Reading17-year-old tased to death by Miami cops after spray-painting abandoned McDonald’s