Techdirt [Unofficial]Department Of Education Forced To Back Off Illegal Plan To Be Racist, Sexist Assholes
The pigtailed girl🏳️⚧️🩷💜💙US teachers union says it is leaving X over sexualized AI images of children
twitter #grok #AmericanFederationOfTeachers
#grok #AmericanFederationOfTeachers
Peter Link 🍉🇨🇺🇵🇸🐧U.S. commandeers Venezuela-linked Russian tanker; Trump administration targets Venezuela's interior minister; DHS arrests 150 in Minneapolis
Drop Site Daily
from #DropSiteNews
Jan 07, 2026
President Donald #Trump announces plans to take up to 50 million barrels of #Venezuela oil. A #UN human rights office report says the Israeli system of #apartheid against Palestinians has intensified in recent years. #Israel issues government tender for its E1 settlement project. The Trump administration plans to freeze 10 billion dollars of funding for child care, social services, and cash assistance for low-income families in #Minnesota, New York, California, Illinois, and Colorado. Trial begins for #Stanford students charged over pro-#Palestine protest. The #AmericanFederationOfTeachers union files a federal lawsuit in Texas over attempts to discipline educators for their #CharlieKirk comments.
Advocate.com [Unofficial]Gay political icon Barney Frank celebrates Democratic lawmaker for 'refuting the effort of the bigots'
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/politics/maxine-waters-barney-frank-pflag
Biggest US labor unions fuel No Kings protests against #Trump: ‘You need a voice to have freedom’
With more than 2,700 events planned across the US, one organizer, James Phipps, 75, says: ‘Protest is all I’ve done all my life’
from #TheGuardian #Guardian
Michael Sainato
Sat 18 Oct 2025 05.00 EDT
Some of the largest #LaborUnions in the #US are involved in organizing the #NoKings protests, with more than 2,700 demonstrations planned across all 50 states, with the #ServiceEmployeesInternationalUnion (#SEIU) and #AmericanFederationOfTeachers (#AFT) anchoring events.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/18/no-kings-protests-labor-unions?CMP=share_btn_url
#WorkersRights #Workers #Unions #Labor #LaborMovement #TradeUnions #USA #USpol
#news #politics
DoomsdaysCW#Midcoast #Maine communities participate in #NoKings Day of Peaceful Action
Several events are scheduled around Maine, including in #BathME, #BrunswickME, #FreeportME, #RocklandME and #WiscassetME.
October 14, 2025
"No Kings, a peaceful protest movement against the Trump administration, has recently announced there are now over 2,500 community events scheduled for its Day of Peaceful Action on Saturday, Oct. 18. These events are organized by average Americans across personal, political and geographic demographics in all 50 states.
"There are five event locations in the Midcoast: the corner of Main and School streets in Freeport, 8-11 a.m.; Wiscasset Bridge on Route 1, 10-11 a.m.; 191 Maine St., Brunswick, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Rockland’s Chapman Park, 294 Main St., noon to 1 p.m.; and Sagadahoc Bridge in Bath, 1-2 p.m. Go to nokings.org/#map to see all No Kings Day of Peaceful Action events.
"Building on the momentum of the June 14 day of action, which drew more than 5 million people across all 50 states, the #October18 mobilization is the next chapter in the No Kings movement. According to a prepared release, the aim of the Day of Peaceful Action is to send a unified message: We are a nation of equals, and our country will not be ruled by fear or force.
"Groups organizing the No Kings peaceful protests across the country include #ACLU, #AmericanFederationOfTeachers, #CommonDefense, #50501Movement, #HumanRightsCampaign, #Indivisible, #LeagueOfConservationVoters, #MoveOn, #NationalNursesUnited, #PublicCitizen, #SEIU and #UnitedWeDream, among others.
"All No Kings events adhere to a shared commitment to nonviolent protest and community safety, the prepared release said. Organizers are trained in de-escalation and are working closely with local partners to ensure peaceful and powerful actions nationwide."
Archived version:
https://archive.md/TdPF7
#NoKings2 #MaineResists #ResistFascism #Resistance #NoCrowns #NoThrones #October18th #MaineEvents
Watch Ryan Walters literally flee Oklahoma news anchor’s questions after telling Fox News he’s resigning
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.advocate.com/news/ryan-walters-runs-away-resignation
DrWebOpinion | There is no reading crisis in the U.S. Here’s what’s really happening. – The Washington Post
(Washington Post staff; iStock)There is no reading crisis in the U.S. Here’s what’s really happening.
Politicians and journalists are misinterpreting the results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
By Paul Thomas
Paul L. Thomas is a professor of education at Furman University and author of “How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students.”
After her controversial appointment, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted this apparently uncontroversial claim on social media: “When 70% of 8th graders in the U.S. can’t read proficiently, it’s not the students who are failing — it’s the education system that’s failing them.”
Americans are used to hearing about the nation’s reading crisis. In 2018, journalist Emily Hanford popularized the current “crisis” in her article “Hard Words,” writing, “More than 60 percent of American fourth-graders are not proficient readers, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and it’s been that way since testing began in the 1990s.”
Five years later, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof repeated that statistic: “One of the most bearish statistics for the future of the United States is this: Two-thirds of fourth graders in the United States are not proficient in reading.”
Each of these statements about student reading achievement, though probably well-meaning, is misleading if not outright false. There is no reading crisis in the U.S. But there are major discrepancies between how the federal government and states define reading proficiency.
At the center of this confusion is the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a congressionally mandated assessment of student performance known also as the “nation’s report card.” The NAEP has three achievement levels: “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced.”
The disconnect lies with the second benchmark, “proficient.” According to the NAEP, students performing “at or above the NAEP Proficient level … demonstrate solid academic performance and competency over challenging subject matter.” But this statement includes a significant clarification: “The NAEP Proficient achievement level does not represent grade level proficiency as determined by other assessment standards (e.g., state or district assessments).”
In almost every state, “grade level” proficiency on state testing correlates with the NAEP’s “basic” level; in 2022, 45 states set their standard for reading proficiency in the NAEP’s “basic” range. Therefore, it is inaccurate to say that nearly two-thirds of fourth-graders are not capable readers.
The NAEP has been a key mechanism for holding states accountable for student achievement for over 30 years. Yet, educators have expressed doubt over the assessment’s utility. In 2004, an analysis by the American Federation of Teachers raised concerns about the NAEP’s achievement levels: “The proficient level on NAEP for grade 4 and 8 reading is set at almost the 70th percentile,” the union wrote. “It would not be unreasonable to think that the proficiency levels on NAEP represent a standard of achievement that is more commonly associated with fairly advanced students.”
The NAEP has set unrealistic goals for student achievement, fueling alarm about a reading crisis in the United States that is overblown. The common misreading of NAEP data has allowed the country to ignore what is urgent: addressing the opportunity gap that negatively impacts Black and Brown students, impoverished students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Opinion | There is no reading crisis in the U.S. Here’s what’s really happening. – The Washington Post
#2025 #America #AmericanFederationOfTeachers #Books #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #History #Libraries #LibraryOfCongress #NAEP #Politics #Reading #ReadingCrisis #Resistance #Science #States #TeachingReading #TheWashingtonPost #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates
Em@designedbymichael
Thanks for sharing this! I joined this site in late 2023 and love seeing the continued discussion.
The #UnitedAutoWorkers (#UAW) are calling for a nationwide #strike on May 1, 2028, #InternationalWorkersDay.
Did you know the #AmericanFederationofTeachers (#AFT) aligned their contract expiration for the same date? They passed a resolution in July 2024.
With 1.8 million members in 2024, AFT is the second-largest teachers' union in the U.S.
https://www.aft.org/resolution/supporting-uaws-call-align-contract-expirations-may-1
Supporting The UAW's Call To Align Contract Expirations For May 1
WHEREAS, big business and their political allies have waged a war on workers; andWHEREAS, the war on workers has led to deteriorating conditions and spiraling income inequality for working families; andWHEREAS, union workers are fighting back, in order to secure fair contracts for themselves and for their communities; andWHEREAS, union workers continue to work to repeal no-strike laws at the state level; andWHEREAS, 88 percent of people under 30 view unions favorably—a record-breaking level of support from young workers; and
joe•iuculano 
Via #CBS
VP #KamalaHarris accused #Trump of walking back previous agreemnt 2 Sept10 debate, tellng reportrs, "I'm ready"
"..to debate him...He agreed to that previously. Now it appears he's backpedaling," she told reporters after arriving in #Washington following a speech before the #AmericanFederationOfTeachers in #Houston. "But I'm ready. And I think the voters deserve 2 see split-screen that exists in this race on debate stage. I'm ready. Let's go."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-harris-debate-september-10/
Harris accuses Trump of "backpedaling" on Sept. 10 debate: "I'm ready"
"I have agreed to the previously agreed upon Sept. 10 debate. He agreed to that previously. Now it appears he's backpedaling," Vice President Kamala Harris said.