Oak Ridge Schools Bows to Book Banning Legislation by the Tennessee Taliban

Fifty years ago I was Director of Library Media Services at Oak Ridge High School. I could not have dreamed that 50 years later librarians would be scouring shelves to find school library books to purge in hopes of satisfying the illiterate legislative members of the TN Taliban who passed a criminally-vague and illegal statute last year, which aims to impose unconstitutional restrictions on intellectual freedom and the right to read. 

Here's a sample from over 300 axed titles :

Really!  Rodin, Hopper, Donatello???  Could this capitulation represent another case of unethical (un)professional conduct compounded by cowardice, or have professional standards sunk so low as to allow this kind brazen stupidity to prevail in the hiring of public school educators in a district that once celebrated intellectual freedom and artistic achievement?

The Oak Ridge Schools’ surrender to the political scourge that MAGA embodies could prove costly.  PEN America reported on June 10 that its lawsuit against Rutherford County Schools for banning hundreds of school library and public library books has led to the restoration of some of the titles removed earlier this year. The lawsuit, which is supported by TN ACLU, continues, however, until all the titles removed are restored to the shelves.

Thousands Attend Nashville's “No Kings” Protest

Bill Lee Sits on $2 Billion Rainy Day Fund As Children Lose Summer Food Support

Lee's Legacy: Leaving More Kids Behind by Andy Spears

Lee lets hunger win to prove a political point

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Get Up, Get Out

Lesson 13 of "On Tyranny": Practice corporeal politics. Find your No Kings protest, June 14th.

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— Timothy Snyder (@timothysnyder.bsky.social) June 12, 2025 at 10:05 AM

Felon47 Appearance at Ft. Bragg More Reality TV

 

Can’t emphasize enough what a disgrace this whole sad episode was

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— Kai Ryssdal (@kairyssdal.bsky.social) June 11, 2025 at 2:10 PM

A New Lucrative Wrinkle for Wealthy in MAGA’s “kill public education” Voucher Movement

 From Counterpunch, by Jeff Bryant:

. . . . An ‘Unprecedented Giveaway’ to the Wealthiest

It’s telling that the measure, originally called the Educational Choice for Children Act of 2025 when it was introduced and in committee, is now called “tax credit for contributions of individuals to scholarship granting organizations” and appears in the part of the [big awful pile of bullshit] bill devoted to “Additional Tax Relief for American Families and Workers,” rather than grouped with other education proposals in the Committee on Education and Workforce section.

But the subterfuge goes much deeper than the name, according to the speakers at the town hall, including Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), who called the measure“the quintessential definition of a tax shelter.”

The tax advantages are derived from how the program is funded. As Hanauer explained, school vouchers would be funded by a tax credit system and a federally mandated network of scholarship granting organizations (SGOs), one in every state. Each SGO is its own nonprofit that can grant vouchers to parents who apply. When private individuals and corporations donate to an SGO, they would, in turn, receive a tax credit from the federal government that’s dollar-for-dollar equal to the amount of the donation—limited to 10 percent of a donor’s income.

The first advantage is that the reward for donating comes in the form of a credit rather than a tax deduction, which, as the Tax Policy Center pointed out, increases the value of the tax advantage because a credit is “subtracted directly from a person’s tax liability,” while the value of a deduction “depends on the taxpayer’s marginal tax rate, which rises with income.”

Those specifics make the voucher program a more attractive system for giving than other charitable causes.

Also, “no other charity, not pediatric cancer research, not disaster relief, not assisting disabled veterans, nothing gets this level of tax incentive,” said Hanauer, “no other charity has ever gotten this kind of one-for-one payback.” . . .

AI Promoters Set to Become Corporate Education Reform’s Next Golden Goose

Another Bad AI Classroom Guide by Peter Greene

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Utah Judge Rejects School Voucher Scheme

Utah Judge Rejects School Voucher Scheme by Andy Spears

Public money must be for public schools, ruling says

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June 14 USA Says NO KINGS

ONE WEEK UNTIL NO KINGS DAY! At this time next Saturday, we will be taking to the streets across the country. While Trump wastes millions on a birthday parade in DC, we’re showing up everywhere else to say NO KINGS. There are nearly 2,000 events planned. Join us: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...

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— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) June 7, 2025 at 7:42 AM

Debunking DEI Misconceptions [and Lies]