Belmont University in Nashville has rejected a student’s efforts to form a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) student chapter on campus.
Read the full storyBelmont University Rejects Creation of Turning Point USA Student Chapter on Campus
Category: Education
Fleets of Electric School Buses Coming to Ohio School Districts
Six school districts across Ohio are set to receive electric school buses as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Read the full storyUniversity of Arizona Settles Lawsuit with Family of Professor Killed on Campus
The University of Arizona (UA) announced on Tuesday that it settled all remaining legal claims with the family of a professor who was killed on the university’s campus in 2022.
In a statement on the university’s website, the UA confirmed the school and Arizona Board of Regents “agreed to a resolution of the legal claims” arising from the death of Professor Thomas Meixner in 2022.
Read the full storyUniversity of Michigan Spending on ‘Diversity’ Grew 66 Percent in One Year
The University of Michigan’s (UM) spending on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) increased about 66% from the 2022-2023 school year, according to an analysis by Mark Perry, a senior fellow at Do No Harm.
The school’s DEI payroll for the 2022-2023 school year came in at $18 million, but increased to over $30 million for the 2023-2024 academic year, according to Perry’s analysis. UM’s DEI department had 132 full-time diversity employees in the 2022-2023 school year and now has over 300.
Read the full storyVirginia Department of Education Creates Behavioral Health and Wellness Office as Youngkin Seeks Additional $500 Million in Budget
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) created its new Office of Behavioral Health and Wellness on Friday, and the agency explained it will operate using resources made available by the Right Help, Right Now program created at the behest of Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) last year.
A press release from the Virginia agency explained the new office seeks to “address the unprecedented rise in mental health and behavioral challenges facing Virginia students post pandemic” with what one spokesman called “wraparound services” to keep students emotionally capable of learning in school.
Read the full storyArizona Freedom Caucus Confirms Plan by Gov. Hobbs to ‘Dismantle’ School Choice is ‘Dead on Arrival’
The Arizona Freedom Caucus, parents, and activists rallied on Monday at the Arizona Capitol Lawn against the plan recently unveiled by Governor Katie Hobbs (D) they warned would “dismantle” Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), the popular school choice program that boasts more than 70,000 students. Organizers planned the rally to coincide with the first day of the 2024 legislative session in Arizona.
Arizona Freedom Caucus founder Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who spoke at the rally, told The Arizona Sun Times, “I have a message for Katie Hobbs on behalf of the Arizona Freedom Caucus and every legislative Republican: your attempt to destroy educational opportunities for more than 74,000 Arizona children is dead on arrival at the legislature.”
Read the full storyBillionaire CEO Announces Plagiarism Probe Targeting MIT, and Beyond
Hedge fund founder Bill Ackman announced on Friday he would launch an AI plagiarism review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s faculty and leaders with possible plans to extend the probe to other elite universities.
Read the full storyReport: 56 Percent of Tennessee’s Sales Tax Collection Go to Education
The state of Tennessee spent 43% of the state sales tax on education last fiscal year and 56 cents of every dollar of state and local sales tax went to education in that same span.
Sales tax accounts for most of both state and local tax collections in Tennessee. The state collected $13.8 billion in sales tax of the $22.0 billion it collected. There was $4.3 billion in local sales tax collected out of nearly $4.7 billion in total collections over that same span, according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue’s Annual Report.
Read the full storyGeorgia Republicans Who Killed School Choice Legislation in 2023 May Stop Reforms Again
A group of Republicans in the Georgia State House who were responsible to killing a 2023 effort to increase school choice in the state will reportedly work to stymie the education reforms again in 2024, according to a Friday report.
In 2023, Republicans in the Georgia Senate successfully passed Senate Bill 233, which would have granted state funded vouchers of up to $6,500 for students in the bottom 25 percent of the state’s schools. The funding would have been removed from public schools at the same time, which rural Republicans claimed was unfair to students that did not leave the struggling schools.
Read the full storyArizona Father of Five Arrested Twice for Protesting COVID-19 Restrictions Continues His Efforts to Protect Children
Kelly Walker, a journalist and father of five in Tucson, is expanding his efforts to protect children from bad policies in schools despite being arrested and prosecuted after one school pushed back. Since the bad experience, he’s built a platform of advocacy for parents and children harmed by school policies at Real Freedom Talk. He now produces videos about abuses in schools and appears on major talk shows to discuss his experiences and expose what is happening in Tucson schools.
Walker said what prompted his activism was observing the increase in mental health problems among children due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. A student committed suicide near his home, and the suicide rate among children in Pima County increased 30 percent. A nearby school admitted they had locked students in closets and forgotten about them. He said parents from the community came to his former coffee shop, Viva Coffee House, and asked him if he could do something about it.
Read the full storyCommentary: Educational Collapse and the Definition of Truth
It’s no secret that America’s students are struggling. The latest Nation’s Report Cards have not been flattering, with average scores in both math and reading declining over recent years.
It’s also no secret that pandemic restrictions have only exacerbated the learning decline in the U.S. However, scores have been falling since before the pandemic, signaling that there are more systemic problems holding back young people. In fact, this educational decline comes from a deeper philosophical brokenness about the notion of truth itself.
Read the full storyMiddle Tennessee State University Names New ‘Social Justice Journalism’ Concentration Coordinator
Middle Tennessee State University named Jennifer Woodard as the new program coordinator for the school’s Social Justice Journalism concentration, according to the university’s online academic catalog.
Woodard, a Ph.D. in mass communication from Indiana University-Bloomington and an MTSU alumna, is an expert in “diversity, equity and inclusion,” “race, class, gender and media issues,” and “mediated representations of women” according to her university faculty bio. She is also a faculty member of the Women’s and Gender Studies department and “concentrated on scholarship that would enhance her ability to teach students the value of a diversified newsroom” while pursuing her Ph.D., according to her faculty bio.
Read the full story‘I Actually Feel Quite Valued’: Mentorship Program Works to Retain New Teachers
Jack Fredericks is investing in new teachers because he wants to help them stay in the classroom for the long haul.
He serves as the program coordinator for the new teacher mentorship program in the West Tallahatchie School District, something he worked with his superintendent to create after researching mentorship as a Teach Plus Mississippi policy fellow.
Read the full storyArizona Lawmakers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne Push Back of Gov. Hobbs’ ‘Half Cocked Attempt to Destroy’ the ESA Program
Multiple Arizona lawmakers and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne have pushed back on the plan by Governor Katie Hobbs to place heavy restrictions on the state’s popular Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
Hobbs on Wednesday revealed her plan to place a series of new restrictions on the ESA program, including new state requirements for private school educators and schools, additional scrutiny for ESA contracts before funds are dispersed, a ban on “price gouging,” “minimum standards” for schools, which would apparently be set by the state, and modified eligibility requirements for students, among other new requirements and reforms.
Read the full storyCommentary: Claudine Gay’s Resignation Is Not the End of the University of Harvard’s Dilemma
Harvard may assume the forced resignation of its president, Claudine Gay, has finally ended its month-long scandal over her tenure.
Gay stepped down, remember, amid serious allegations of serial plagiarism—without refuting the charges. She proved either unable or unwilling to discipline those on her campus who were defiantly anti-Semitic in speech and action.
Read the full storyAttorney for Carol Swain Sends Letter to Harvard Corporation Demanding Answers for Plagiarism by Disgraced President
The Tennessee Star obtained the letter written by an attorney representing Dr. Carol M. Swain sent on Wednesday to the Harvard Corporation, including Interim President Alan Garber and Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker, demanding answers about what Swain claims is plagiarism of her work by outgoing President Claudine Gay.
The letter revealed Swain requires answers about what Harvard considers “duplicative language,” which is what the university has acknowledged Gay committed in several of her academic works. Writer and activist Christopher Rufo in December raised allegations that the former Harvard president plagiarized material from Swain’s work for her 1997 Ph.D. thesis. Swain is a former political science professor at Vanderbilt and a graduate of both the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Yale University.
Read the full storyMTSU Teaches ‘Social Justice Journalism’ Track
Middle Tennessee State University offers a “Social Justice Journalism” track of study for undergraduate students.
The track is called the Social Justice Journalism concentration, which students can declare if they are pursuing a major in journalism. A concentration is a specialized track of study an undergraduate student can pursue within their declared major, according to Academic Info.
Read the full storyBiden’s Electric School Bus Program Faces the Daunting Challenge of Inadequate Utility Power
President Joe Biden’s signature $5 billion program to convert the nation’s school buses to an electric fleet has collided with a formidable challenge: a lack of charging infrastructure and power generation from local utilities.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog issued a report just before the New Year’s holiday that offered the latest evidence of a cart-before-horse dynamic in the Democratic push for green energy.
Read the full storyAmerican Medical Association Restricts Two Scholarships on the Basis of Race
The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation is offering students at least two scholarships on the basis of race, according to its website.
One of the scholarships is for black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and native Alaskan medical students, and the other is for black students only, according to its website. Similar scholarships have come under fire from conservative legal organizations, and one legal scholar said that scholarships selective on the basis of race may violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Read the full storyTennessee Democrat Claims ‘Flawed Letter Grades’ Fail to Reflect Schools After 43 Percent in Her City Receive Failing Grades
Tennessee State Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) claimed the new letter grades assigned to every Tennessee school are “flawed.” Akbari represents Memphis, where more than 40 percent of schools did not receive passing grades.
Akbari released a statement on Thursday declaring the “flawed letter grades will never define a school, their students and families, or their teachers and staff.” She asserted the grades instead reflect what she claimed is inadequate state funding for education.
Read the full storyOne Republican Wants Answers on What University of Wisconsin Knew About Porn-Producing Chancellor
One Republican state senator wants more answers from the University of Wisconsin about the porn-producing former chancellor at La Crosse.
Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, the legislature needs to find out just what the UW knew about Joe Gow’s porn videos.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Battle for Higher Education
Higher education is making news these days. In Congressional testimony, the Presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn couldn’t tell whether calling for the genocide of the Jews constituted harassment without knowing the context. The effects of their testimony reverberate.
Days later, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a lengthy report condemning “Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System.” Prominently featured was a detailed complaint about New College of Florida, where I serve as admissions director.
Read the full storyBiden Admin Targets Largest Christian University in U.S.
The Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at the largest Christian university in the U.S. in a new lawsuit.
Grand Canyon University (GCU) is the largest Christian university in the U.S. with over 100,000 students enrolled and over 85,000 online students as of fall 2022, according to their website. The FTC alleges that GCU engaged in deceptive business practices with its doctoral programs and that it also engaged in illegal telemarketing practices, according to the federal complaint filed in the District of Arizona.
Read the full storyYoungkinWatch: Democrat Delegate Predicts ‘Accord’ with Governor, but Claims Budget Inadequately Funds ‘English Language Learners’
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke), who was tapped by House Speaker-designee Don Scott Jr. (D-Portsmouth) to serve as the Chair of the House Education Committee, predicted Democrats will find some “accord” with Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) in a Thursday interview. Still, Rasoul said he wants more funding for Virginia’s students, particularly those learning English as a second language.
Rasoul said he expects “common accord” with Youngkin on “mental health and some student mental health work” in remarks made to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, calling them “[p]laces where we can work together.”
Read the full storyVirginia Seminary Marks 200th Anniversary by Scrubbing Names Linked to Slavery
The Virginia Theological Seminary renamed six of its buildings this fall in what its leaders say is an effort to address the Episcopal institution’s “legacies of slavery and racism.”
The move by the seminary, which celebrated its 200th anniversary this year, comes as part of a larger effort to ensure the campus “welcomes all,” according to its website.
Read the full storyAcademic Groups Wary of UC San Diego’s Climate Change Grad Requirement
The University of California San Diego does not require students to take courses in literature, foreign language, economics or U.S. government and history, receiving a “C” rating from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for its general education requirements.
Students haven’t been able to graduate for 10 years now without a diversity, equity and inclusion course, however, and next fall’s incoming class will have another arguably ideological obligation to fulfill: climate change.
Read the full storyTop Business Schools Push CRT and Other Progressive Ideas: Report
America’s prestigious business schools regularly push leftist ideologies, including critical race theory and environmental, social, and governance standards, according to a new report.
The Legal Insurrection Foundation launched the project through its CriticalRace.org database. It details the CRT and environmental, social, and governance initiatives at the top 10 business schools in the country, including minority scholarship programs, discriminatory admissions practices, and “anti-racism” trainings required for faculty members.
Read the full storyCatholic All-Girls College Reverses Trans Policy After Backlash
Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, is backtracking on its decision to allow men who identify as transgender women to enroll in the formerly all-female, Catholic institution.
The Daily Signal reported in November that Saint Mary’s College would allow men who identify as women to enroll at the college in the fall of 2024. That news was first reported by the Notre Dame student newspaper, The Observer.
Read the full storyTennessee Graduation Rate at Nearly 90 Percent for 2021-22 School Year
Tennessee reported an 89.8% graduation rate and an 8.6% dropout rate in a new report with updated numbers from the 2021-22 school year from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.
The Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability is required to produce the graduation rate numbers annually.
Read the full storyYoungkinWatch: Governor Sunsets Federally Funded Tutoring Program After Virginia Schools Submit Plans for State Money
A federally funded program in Virginia to provide coaching and academic recovery to the commonwealth’s students is set to conclude this year, with state officials pointing toward Governor Glenn Youngkin’s ALL in VA plan as a possible way to bridge the gap in resources as pandemic-era federal funding runs dry.
The Engage Virginia program unveiled the the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) in February is set to conclude on December 31, reported the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Tuesday, explaining that Youngkin’s administration said “the one-time federal funding for the program has been exhausted, and the program is wrapping up.” However, the outlet noted the governor’s office suggested “school divisions could individually engage with the program by using their allocations from the governor’s ALL in VA plan.”
Read the full storyCommentary: Teacher Union Power Is Still in Full Bloom
As a result of the Janus decision in 2018, no teacher or any public employee has to pay a penny to a union as a condition of employment. The good news is that since then, 20% of workers in non-right-to-work states have dropped out of their unions, according to a report from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The not-so-good news is that 70% of teachers nationwide are still willingly paying union dues, a great deal of which goes to politics, specifically to progressive candidates and causes.
The California Teachers Association has the honor of being the biggest political-spending teachers’ union in the country. A recent report reveals that between 1999 and 2020, the 300,000+ member union spent an astonishing $222,940,629 on politics – about $6 million was spent on the federal level, while almost $217 million stayed in the state – with 98.2% of all spending going to Democrats. The top advocacy issues for CTA include regulating charter schools, immigration reform, social justice, and a slew of almost exclusively left-wing causes.
Read the full storyParents Speak Out After Their Daughter Was Told to Sleep with a Boy Who Identified as a Girl
Parents Joe and Serena Wailes were shocked and horrified to discover that their 11-year-old daughter had been assigned to not only room with, but also share a bed with, a boy on her school trip.
That boy identified as a transgender girl, the Wailes say, and his parents had allegedly told the school district that he was operating under “stealth mode”—meaning that his gender identity was to be kept secret.
Read the full storyReport: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia
Georgia’s public charter school enrollment has grown over the last four years while enrollment at traditional schools has declined.
That’s according to state-level data the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools studied for a new report, “Believing in Public Education: A Demographic and State-level Analysis of Public Charter School and District Public School Enrollment Trends.”
Read the full storyReport: Ohio College Credit Program Covers Direct Costs
A new report shows Ohio’s College Credit Plus Program is covering the direct costs for colleges and universities offering courses to high school students around the state.
The report from Auditor Keith Faber also said colleges and universities that enroll more Ohio middle and high school students tend to be better off financially. It also said the program could benefit a college’s long-term financial health as traditional student enrollment declines.
Read the full storyMichigan Parents Sue Rockford Public Schools over Child’s Pronouns, Gender
A lawsuit claims a Michigan school district began treating a middle-school daughter as a boy for more than six months without their knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit, filed this week by Dan and Jennifer Mead, claims Rockford Public School District employees secretly treated their 13-year-old daughter as a boy, referring to her by a new masculine name and male pronouns and tried to conceal these actions from the parents.
Read the full storyFlorida’s Largest Teachers Union Faces Decertification Under State Law
The United Teachers of Dade faces decertification after failing to clear a state-imposed threshold requiring that at least 60% of union members pay dues, CBS News reported.
The group is the state’s largest teachers union and represents 27,000 employees in Miami-Dade public schools. UTD on Tuesday sought to renew its certification with the state, but did not succeed due to its failure to meet the threshold, despite its own rapid growth in recent months.
Read the full storyInside the Federal Probe of Pitt’s Fetal Organ Harvesting Program
A federal probe may reveal violations of law in the University of Pittsburgh’s testing of body parts from aborted babies, according to a pro-life organization monitoring the school’s program.
The U.S. government began investigating the University of Pittsburgh’s protocols in its program to harvest fetal organs, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.
Read the full storyOklahoma Superintendent to Propose Rules to Ban Drag Queens and Diversity Programs from Classrooms
Oklahoma’s top education official proposed rules on Thursday that will eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, prevent drag queen performers from becoming teachers and will protect religious liberty in schools.
Republican Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters will be proposing the new rules at Thursday’s Oklahoma Board of Education meeting. One proposed rule allows for the dismissal of teachers who have “engaged in sexual acts” in front of children, the second rule would eliminate funding for DEI programs in K-12 schools and the final proposed rule would ensure that students are allowed to participate in voluntary prayer.
Read the full storyTennessee State Lawmakers File Bill that Would Provide Educators with Technology to Alert Law Enforcement of Threats Inside Schools
Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) and State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet) filed legislation this week that would make new school-specific security technology eligible for the school safety grants approved by the General Assembly earlier this year.
Read the full storyTennessee Releases Letter Grades for Every School in the State for First Time Since Bill Passed in 2016
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) released letter grades for every school in the state for the first time on Thursday, fulfilling the department’s obligations under a bill passed in 2016.
Letter grades are available for every school covering the last school year, the TDOE confirmed on Thursday. Commissioner of Education Lizzette Reynolds said the letter grades “will provide Tennessee families with a clear rating system” to understand how a given school performs over years. She urged parents and other community members to “play a role in supporting the success of our students” regardless of a school’s letter grade.
Read the full storyHarvard President Requests Even More Corrections to Her Academic Work as Plagiarism Accusations Mount
Harvard President Claudine Gay will request three new corrections to her Ph.D. dissertation following multiple plagiarism allegations, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Gay submitted two corrections to academic articles Friday involving “quotation marks and citations” but was the subject of fresh plagiarism allegations on Tuesday. Now, Gay is submitting additional corrections following a review undertaken by the Harvard Corporation, the university’s highest governing board; however, the Corporation said Gay’s actions did not constitute serious wrongdoing, according to the Crimson.
Read the full storyBreitbart Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak: ‘Harvard is Lost’
Breitbart News Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak joined the newsmaker line on Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share insights into the troubling state of his alma mater, Harvard University.
The veteran journalist and Harvard Law School graduate highlighted the rise of antisemitism on campus and traced the university’s decline, noting that it was former President Drew Faust who emphasized a thin record of slavery over Harvard’s significant contributions to the abolitionist cause and civil rights movement.
The 387-year-old institution’s rapid shift to prioritize social justice and the erosion of free speech, Pollak suggested, has indelibly marred Harvard’s reputation as a symbol of excellence.
Read the full storyGeneral Assembly Bill Permits Flying Only U.S., Tennessee Flag in Classrooms
A bill introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly in November would prevent teachers from allow teachers only to hang the Tennessee and United States flags in their classrooms.
HB 1605 “prohibits [Local Education Associations] and public charter schools from displaying in public schools flags other than the official United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag,” according to the summary of the bill’s text.
Read the full storyYoungkinWatch: All Virginia School Divisions Submit ‘ALL In’ Plans Two Months After Target Date
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) celebrated on Monday as all 131 Virginia school divisions finalized and submitted their “ALL in VA” plans with the governor’s office. Youngkin originally challenged Virginia’s schools to finish their plans by October 16.
In a statement, Youngkin said he is “pleased all of Virginia’s school divisions have heeded my call to urgently and aggressively take action to help our students recover” from the learning loss suffered as a result of pandemic-era restrictions. Youngkin said the submissions mean Virginia schools “embraced that challenge and are committed to getting our students back on track academically.”
Read the full storyUnmasking Academic Injustice: Dr. Carol Swain Reveals Deeper Impact on Scholarly Integrity amid Plagiarism Scandal at Harvard
Esteemed former Vanderbilt professor, renowned scholar, and all-star panelist Dr. Carol Swain joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Tuesday to discuss the growing scandal involving Harvard’s Claudine Gay and increasingly difficult-to-defend allegations of plagiarism by the Ivy League school’s president.
Swain contends that Gay failed to credit her for sections of the book Black Faces, Black Interests, accusing her of derivative work since her dissertation, which Swain claims builds upon her own groundbreaking research.
Read the full storyEmbattled Harvard University Scrubs Multiple Web Pages About ‘Identity Recognitions,’ Pronouns
Harvard University scrubbed several web pages from the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department’s website, according to the web archive.
Two web pages, titled “Heritage Months and Identity Recognitions” and “Gender Identity and Pronouns at Harvard,” appear to have been deleted, according to the archives. Both links now route directly to the Diversity and Inclusion homepage.
Read the full storyGov. Brian Kemp Announces $1,000 Bonus for Georgia Teachers, New Funding For School Safety
Governor Brian Kemp (R) announced a $1,000 bonus on Monday for those who work in Georgia’s schools, and introduce legislation to provide Georgia with more school funding and fund a permanent, annual bonus.
In a joint announcement with Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington), and State Representative Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin), Kemp announced a $1,000 “state employee retention pay supplement” for more than 300,000 Georgia teachers and state employees who work in education.
Read the full storyCorey DeAngelis: Universal School Choice in Tennessee is a Win-Win for Parents, Teachers, and Students
Education expert Corey DeAngelis joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Monday to discuss a little-known detail about the Tennessee Education Freedom Act that makes the proposal a win-win for teachers, parents, students, and even teacher unions.
DeAngelis goes on to highlight the success of school choice programs in Arizona and Florida, where thousands of families have opted for alternatives to traditional public schools.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Rapid Growth of Educational Freedom Is Unprecedented
According to the latest ABCs of School Choice – EdChoice’s comprehensive report about all matters pertaining to education freedom – policymakers in 40 states have debated 111 educational choice bills in 2023, 79 percent of which related to education savings accounts. (ESAs allow parents to receive a deposit of public funds into a government-authorized savings account with restricted, but multiple uses. Those funds can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses, and other approved customized learning services and materials).
Read the full storyCommentary: Rome’s Best Emperor Shunned Government Schools
The great classical scholar Edith Hamilton noted that the ancient Greeks frowned upon their Roman counterparts in regards to education. The former adopted public (government) schooling while the Romans left education to the family in the home. The snooty Greeks thought Romans were backward and unsophisticated. The Romans, of course, conquered the Greeks.
For most of the five centuries of the Republic, Romans were schooled at home where virtues of honor, character, and citizenship were emphasized. Not until the Republic’s last century or so did anything resembling government schooling emerge. Moreover, it was never so centralized, universal, and mandatory as it is in our society today. The English academic and cleric Teresa Morgan, in a 2020 paper titled “Assessment in Roman Education,” writes, “In no stage of its history did Rome ever legally require its people to be educated on any level.”
Read the full story