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برچسب: Freedom

  • Joyce Vance: The Kids Are Alright Despite Trump’s Efforts to Kill Public Education and Academic Freedom

    Joyce Vance: The Kids Are Alright Despite Trump’s Efforts to Kill Public Education and Academic Freedom


    Joyce Vance is a former federal prosecutor for North Alabama. She writes an important blog called Civil Discourse, where she usually explains court decisions and legal issues. Today she turns to education.

    Today I’m recovering from the graduation tour, one in Boulder and one in Boston in the last two weeks, and getting back into the groove of writing as I continue to work on my book (which I hope you’ll preorder if you haven’t already). The graduations came at a good moment. 

    Watching my kids graduate, one from college and one with a master’s in science, was an emotional experience—the culmination of their years of hard work, sacrifice, and growth, all captured in a single walk across the stage. They, like their friends, my law students, and amazing students across the county, now enter society as adults. Even beyond the individual stories of hardships overcome and perseverance, witnessing these rites of passage makes me feel profoundly hopeful. The intelligence and commitment of the students—many of whom are already tackling big problems and imagining new, bold solutions—gives me a level of confidence about what comes next for our country. In a time when it’s easy to get discouraged, their commitment and idealism stands as a powerful reminder that they are ready to take on the mess we have left them. 

    The kids are alright, even though they shouldn’t have to be. Talking with them makes me think they will find a way, even if it’s unfair to ask it of them and despite the fact that their path will be more difficult than it should be. Courage is contagious, and they seem to have caught it. Their educations have prepared them for the future we all find ourselves in now.

    As students across the country prepared to graduate this year, Trump released his so-called “skinny budget.” If that’s how they want to frame it, then education has been put on a starvation diet—at least the kind of education that develops independent thinkers who thrive in an environment where questions are asked and answered. Trump pitches the budget as “gut[ting] a weaponized deep state while providing historic increases for defense and border security.” Defense spending would increase by 13% under his proposal.

    The plan for education is titled, “Streamline K-12 Education Funding and Promote Parental Choice.”Among its provisions, the announcement focuses on the following items:

    • “The Budget continues the process of shutting down the Department of Education.” 
    • “The Budget also invests $500 million, a $60 million increase, to expand the number of high-quality charter schools, that have a proven track record of improving students’ academic achievement and giving parents more choice in the education of their children.”

    As we discussed in March, none of this is a surprise. Trump is implementing the Project 2025 plan. In December of 2024, I wrote about how essential it is to dumb down the electorate if you’re someone like Donald Trump and you want to succeed. A rich discussion in our forums followed. At the time I wrote, “Voters who lack the backbone of a solid education in civics can be manipulated. That takes us to Trump’s plans for the Department of Education.” But it’s really true for the entirety of democracy.

    Explaining the expanded funding for charter schools, a newly written section of the Department of Education website reads more like political propaganda than education information: “The U.S. Department of Education announced today that it has reigned [Ed: Note the word “”reigned” is misspelled] in the federal government’s influence over state Charter School Program (CSP) grant awards. The Department removed a requirement set by the Biden Administration that the U.S. Secretary of Education review information on how states approve select entities’ (e.g., private colleges and universities) authorization of charter schools in states where they are already lawful authorizers. This action returns educational authority to the states, reduces burdensome red tape, and expands school choice options for students and families.”

    There are already 37 lawsuits related to Trump’s changes to education. Uncertainty is no way to educate America’s children. Cutting funding for research because you want to score political points about DEI or climate change is no way to ensure we nurture future scientists and other thinkers and doers…

    I am reminded again of George Orwell’s words: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” The historians among us, and those who delve into history, will play a key role in getting us through this. Our love and understanding of history can help us stay grounded, understanding who we are, who we don’t want to become, and why the rule of law matters so damn much to all of it….

    Thanks for being here with me and for supporting Civil Discourse by reading and subscribing. Your paid subscriptions make it possible for me to devote the time and resources necessary to do this work, and I am deeply grateful for them.

    We’re in this together,

    Joyce



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  • Federal judge dismisses case claiming community college diversity policies infringe on academic freedom

    Federal judge dismisses case claiming community college diversity policies infringe on academic freedom


    Bill Blanken, a chemistry professor at Reedley College, claims that a diversity and equity policy in California’s community colleges amounts to a “loyalty oath.”

    Photo courtesy of Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

    A federal judge has dismissed a case filed on behalf of professors claiming that California Community Colleges diversity and equity policies infringe on their academic freedom.

    Professors at State Center Community College District, based in Fresno, had, in a suit filed in August 2023, sought to block the California Community Colleges from enforcing diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion (DEIA) principles. 

    But U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff, a Biden appointee who joined the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in 2024, wrote in an order Tuesday that the plaintiffs “failed to allege that there exists a credible threat of enforcement of the regulations against them.”

    The plaintiff’s attorney, Daniel Ortner, with the free-speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said he was reviewing the decision and discussing it with his clients.

    In 2022, the board of governors for the California Community Colleges adopted regulations requiring all 73 of its local districts to evaluate employees, including faculty, on their competency in working with a diverse student population. More than 7 out of 10 of California’s 2.1 million community students are not white, according to enrollment data from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.

    State Center Community College District complied with these regulations with a faculty union contract approved in March 2023. The district declined through a spokesperson to comment on the case.

    The push for new diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies came out of a long-running effort to improve student outcomes in the community colleges, but it picked up steam in the wake of the George Floyd protests in 2020. 

    The original complaint described the professors as critics of anti-racism, who instead support “race-neutral policies and perspectives that treat all students equally.” The complaint stated that requiring faculty to be evaluated on their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility principles is unconstitutional and has a chilling effect on their free speech rights. The professors said they feared receiving disciplinary action or being fired under these new regulations.

    Lead plaintiff Loren Palsgaard, an English professor at Madera Community College, said in the complaint that he no longer assigned Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” because it “offer[s] perspectives that are different from the ‘anti-racism’ and ‘intersectionality’ perspective mandated by the DEIA Rules.” Reedley College chemistry professor Bill Blanken said he feared that not mentioning the races of Marie Curie or Robert Boyle means that “he will be accused of failing to adopt a ‘culturally responsive practices and a social justice lens.’”

    Judge Sherriff wrote that many of the professors’ concerns arose from documents from the Chancellor’s Office, such as guidance, recommendations, model principles and a glossary of terms. He added that none of these recommendations were formally adopted or legally binding, and that what the professors largely objected to was not in their faculty contract.

    Sherriff also noted that the Chancellor’s Office confirmed in court documents that it could not take any action against professors concerning their speech, because decisions regarding employees, such as hiring, performance evaluations and terminations, are the responsibility of the district. The Office also stated that they do not believe that the examples cited by the professors would be precluded by the diversity regulations.

    In September, Sherriff dismissed a related suit on behalf of Bakersfield College history professor Daymon Johnson. Sherriff wrote in his order that Johnson lacked standing because the Kern Community College District that employed him had not yet imposed local policies implementing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility regulations.

    In October, Johnson’s case was filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The State Center Community College professors filed an amicus brief in November in support of Johnson, urging the court to “protect academic freedom across the state by vacating the district court’s decision.”





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  • Balancing Freedom and Control with Classroom Technology

    Balancing Freedom and Control with Classroom Technology


    Feb 4
    2025

    Balancing Freedom and Control with Classroom Technology

    Al Kingsley

    By Al Kingsley, CEO, NetSupport.

    Teachers know that giving students more freedom — by enabling greater choice and agency — unlocks engagement and better outcomes. Decades of research backs this idea up. Still, there’s value to structure in a classroom.

    How then, can teachers balance maintaining a level of control that steers productive learning with giving students the freedom they need to thrive? Setting clear boundaries and leveraging technology effectively are the keys. 

    The Value of Limiting Choice

    Technology is often thought of as a tool that can help open more choice for students. Whether it’s choosing research topics that fit their interests, providing options to engage in educational content to meet different learning styles, or even giving students ways to master topics at their own pace.

    Research on choice, however, shows that too many options can be counterproductive. People are more likely to make decisions, and avoid “analysis paralysis,” when there are fewer options. The magic number, the reports say, is to offer less than six choices. 

    As teachers continue to embrace allowing students more classroom freedom, using technology to offer a set of choices rather than limitless options can be effective. 

    Adding Alternatives for Answering Questions

    Class participation is an easy way to add greater freedom for students without overwhelming them with choices, especially by using technology. For example, if teachers want all students to participate in a classroom discussion they can ask for responses to questions using a computer-based poll and then ask students who feel comfortable to share their answers out loud.

    An alternative option is to adopt a platform with a classroom chat feature. Teachers who use classroom.cloud report that using the solution’s chat feature allows students who might be more self-conscious or shy to speak up. By typing their response, or even discreetly asking a question, students can engage more fully in classroom activities. 

    Adding Guardrails to Set Students Up for Success

    Many approaches that grant students greater freedoms are based on self-directed learning. Students might be able to choose the final format of a project or decide between learning about a topic by reading or watching a video about it.

    Likewise, offer a game like a web-based scavenger hunt. Such activities require students to use computers and tablets with internet access, opening the door to a variety of explorations, as well as distractions. 

    Just as teachers can use technology to increase options for learning, they can also use it to add guardrails that size down the vast world of the internet to something not quite so overwhelming (or tempting).

    Determining the websites and applications students can access by creating a list of “allowed” and “restricted” content ensures students only access relevant and appropriate resources during class. This way, they will stay on task and work more efficiently. 

    IT directors who have adopted classroom.cloud ease the burden of managing such a list off teachers’ plates. Instead of taking up teachers’ time to create and manage the lists, IT leaders work with educators to identify sites and apps and then set the restrictions and allowances. Other control options needed include different permissions for specific school buildings within a district. 

    Tools that enable simultaneous screen sharing as well as a lock screen feature can also help in setting up appropriate guardrails.

    When teachers can manage students’ screens with a single click, it becomes easier to bring everyone together after a period of working independently or redirect students who may have gone off track. 

    Provide Support Anytime, Anywhere

    Many classrooms have continued to embrace learn anytime, anywhere environments. Students are learning remotely, in person and in hybrid classrooms. No matter where kids are learning, they deserve the same level of help.

    The right technology can enable students to maintain freedom in where and how they learn while still getting the support they need. This goes beyond live-streamed instruction or watching videos asynchronously. Teachers can use technology, like classroom.cloud, to support and engage with students in the very moment they are learning.

    When teachers use technology they have an immense opportunity to continue fostering classroom environments that are engaging and anchored in choice. By considering how the same tools can create structure, educators can strike the balance to help students avoid feeling overwhelmed and keep them focused on growing and learning.



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