On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – hosts Leahy and Cunningham took a call from Carrie, a Davidson County elementary teacher who voiced her concern with Davidson County looking to inadvertently pit teachers against taxpayers by raising taxes to additionally fund public education.
Read the full storyDay: August 31, 2019
Teacher Retaliated Against for Criticizing ‘Racial Equity’ Policy Can Seek Punitive Damages from St. Paul Schools
A U.S. magistrate judge has ruled that Aaron Benner, a former St. Paul Public Schools (SPPS) teacher, can seek punitive damages against his former employer, which allegedly retaliated against him after he criticized its “racial equity” policy.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Political Class Is ‘Exhausted’
There is a small slice of the American populace who, by their own admission, are exhausted.
Read the full storyUber, Lyft Prepared to Spend $90 Million Against Bill That Would Give Benefits to Drivers
Uber, Lyft and DoorDash are prepared to spend a collective $90 million against a bill that would recognize their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Read the full storyUS Space Command Launches Amid Threats From China, Russia
PENTAGON – The United States Space Command officially launched Thursday to defend the military’s “ultimate high ground.”
Read the full storyFirestone Mechanics’ Program Designed to Fill a Gap, Officials Say
Maplewood High in Nashville is the only school in the nation with its own Firestone Service Center, and company officials say they had a constructive purpose in mind when they created it. Firestone spokeswoman Emily Weaver addressed Firestone’s intentions in an email Friday with The Tennessee Star. “One of the biggest challenges facing today’s workforce is the technical skills gap, partly created by a lack of accessible education opportunities for youth. To combat this challenge, Bridgestone Americas and Firestone Complete Auto Care are currently creating new pathways for students to explore automotive career paths through the centers at Maplewood High School in Nashville and East High School Community Learning Center in Akron, Ohio.” “With these institutions, Bridgestone and Firestone Complete Auto Care have developed a program that allows students to acquire specialized skills through enhanced automotive curriculum and the opportunity to shadow alongside highly skilled Bridgestone and Firestone Complete Auto Care employees. The goal is to provide students with the skills they need to not only be employable, but to be prepared for their personal and professional journeys. As a part of this, Bridgestone seeks to enrich the lives of those interested in an automotive career through training programs…
Read the full storyAnti-Trump Protesters Demand Illegal Immigrants Be Released, ICE Be Abolished
Progressive activists gathered in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal on Thursday, demanding immigrant detention centers be closed down, immigration raids end, and ICE be abolished.
Read the full storyCDC Reports 931 Cases of Mumps in Migrant Detention Centers, Affecting Detainees and Staff Alike
A massive outbreak of mumps is plaguing migrant detention centers across the U.S., according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
Read the full storyReport: Trump Administration Could Begin DNA Testing ‘Hundreds of Thousands’ of Illegal Aliens
Homeland Security officials are reportedly preparing to expand DNA testing of illegal aliens in their custody, an effort to clamp down on rampant immigration fraud at the southern border.
Read the full storyCommentary: The College Board Scraps Controversial ‘Adversity Score,’ but Continues Plan to Weigh College Admissions
It appears that many Americans still believe that merit is the most important factor in determining who will get into our top colleges and universities.
Read the full storyDesperate David Briley Punches Down, Criticizes Nashville Tea Party’s Opposition to Property Tax Increase
On Friday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy and special guest Ben Cunnigham – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy and Cunningham talked about Cunningham’s recent Tweets stating that he would hold John Cooper accountable to his implied commitments to the reallocation of Davidson County funds and not raising property taxes.
Read the full storyMovies to Watch This Weekend
In 2003, British intelligence specialist Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley) gets a memo from the NSA detailing how Great Britain is helping America gather compromising information of U.N. Security Council members so they will vote in favor of the Iraq War. Trying to avoid seeing a war happen, Gun defies her government and releases the memo to the press.
Read the full storyNashville Minority Students Who Disrupt Class Don’t Get Traditional Punishment
Traditional methods of punishing public school students who act out in class oppress blacks and Latinos, according to a New York City-based education official who defends a much softer way of teaching them discipline. That person, Kesi Foster, said as much in a scholarly journal in 2015. And that’s the same soft approach members of the Metro Nashville Public School System use for their own minority students. As The Tennessee Star reported this week, Nashville officials use this method, Positive and Safe Schools Advancing Greater Equity, or PASSAGE for short. But, as of Friday, those same Nashville officials had yet to describe precisely how they discipline minority students under this program. Metro Nashville Schools’ spokeswoman Dawn Rutledge had yet to respond to our requests for comment. Members of the Metro Nashville School Board also had yet to respond. Much of the material available online about PASSAGE is long on jargon and short on specifics. But the same scholarly journal Foster wrote for, Voices in Urban Education, seems to give some insight as to how school officials in other cities administer PASSAGE. Christopher Marti, a Denver-based middle school science teacher, seems to say he and colleagues take a more politically…
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