Apparently poverty is spreading faster in the right-to-work state of North Carolina than the Republicans who dominate the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors want anyone talking about. They’ve voted to put their own law school’s poverty center out of business. What will they do next, tell professors they can’t mention slavery in history classes?
Academic freedom is at risk in a growing number of states as aggressive Republicans target what they perceive to be a liberal bias in education. In Colorado, a renegade school board is trying to rewrite the high school history curriculum. In Oklahoma, Republican legislators want students to read Reagan speeches, and a GOP legislator introduced a bill that would require public schools to give passing grades to students who base their answers to science tests on creationist religious beliefs. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker is cutting hundreds of millions from the University of Wisconsin’s budget to make up a state budget shortfall he created himself by giving tax cuts to wealthy business owners.
Last fall’s elections were a nationwide Republican sweep in the lowest-turnout midterm since the 1940s, because too many people who are not Republicans didn’t vote. If you don’t vote, you’re not defending the things you consider important. Not voting hands the keys to our universities, schools, city halls, state legislatures, Congress, and other public institutions to people who don’t share, and won’t tolerate, your values and beliefs.
Images: Snopes.com verified this graded fourth grade science quiz from the now-closed Blue Ridge Christian Academy in South Carolina.
