Education Briefs
Concerned fathers are running for political office in two different states as a direct result of what they see happening in their children's schools. Both dads spoke out at their respective school board meetings during the past year, and their remarks went viral on social media. 
Brandon Michon of Loudoun County, Virginia, is running for Congress in northern Virginia's 10th Congressional District,
one of several candidates seeking the Republican nomination against incumbent Democrat Jennifer Wexton. Michon said his campaign message "is built on education, safety, the economy, [and] the core principles of our country," adding that he "aspires to help our country get back on track." North Carolina parent Brian Echevarria had his viral moment at a school board meeting just last month. The biracial Echevarria had already launched his campaign for a seat in North Carolina's general assembly when his disagreement with the Cabarrus County School Board boiled over. He disagreed "not only with coronavirus mandates that were already waning nationwide, but also with the prominence of critical race theory in the schools." Echevarria told the board: "The fact is, in America, I can do anything I want, and I teach that to my children, and the person who tells my pecan-colored kids that they're oppressed based on the color of their skin would be absolutely wrong and absolutely at war with me... The last thing we need is an entire generation of people who have been told that the color of their skin determines their character." Washington Examiner
A new level of transgender-pushing insanity has emerged from a children's hospital in Portland, Oregon. The Doernbecher Children's Hospital provides a step-by-step instructional guide for boys on how to "tuck" their genitals, which it claims "can reduce any concerns you have about your body, how your clothes fit and how safe you feel in public." According to Blaze Media (3-17-22), "the guidance from the "Gender Clinic" of the children's hospital states: 
'Tucking is moving the penis, testicles, or both out of the way. This makes the genital area look smoother and flatter.'" The hospital actually warns readers that the guide uses terms associated with male genitalia, as if the notion of "tucking" isn't in itself the most offensive and mind-boggling part, or as if children who aren't yet familiar with the names of male body parts need to know about tucking. The guide explains: "We know you may not use those terms or identify with them. We use them here to refer to body parts that people with tucking needs have, while understanding those words are not for everyone." What the guide should state is that those words aren't for anyone in this bizarre and abusive context. Boys are encouraged to practice tucking at home, and the guide instructs them that using tape and/or wearing tight underwear can help the genitals stay in place more securely and be "less likely to come undone." It then states the obvious, that tape can irritate skin and make it "harder to use the bathroom because you need to take off the tape and then reapply it." For boys who don't wish to tuck, the hospital recommends "Spanx or other shapewear," or "top pantyhose or tights with the legs cut off to your desired length." The hospital provides web links for where these and other such garments may be purchased, and in case girls feel left out, the hospital also offers a guide on "chest binding." Of course, puberty blockers for all are covered in the guidance.
The left is attempting to win ordinary citizens over to their extremist position that boys and men should be allowed to compete in sports against women and girls. Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, describes a guide that "spells out" what arguments work or don't work to push their flawed concept.
"This guide starts by making clear that liberals should make their apologetics for transgenderism all about the ‘Race Class Narrative,' which is the fancy way of saying that if you don't agree with us, you are racist," Martin explains. "It then goes on to say that a strong argument for transgenderism broadly focuses on the freedom to be one's authentic self rather than being boxed in by societal norms, such as the biological fact that only two genders exist." Martin concludes: "As conservatives, we don't have to guess how the left will try to destroy girls' sports. They've laid everything out for us in one convenient handout. It's our job to be familiar with their arguments, and be prepared to counter them by talking about the real harms women and girls face when their ability to compete fairly and openly in sports is diminished by boys pretending to be girls." While the national focus has been on the high-profile victories of transgender male "Lia" Thomas, who successfully annihilated his female competition in swimming, Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson observed that the left does not care about Thomas. On his March 23 "Tucker Carlson Tonight" program, the host said: "If you pretend to believe something you don't, then they've won... Our national conversation about transgenderism is defined by censorship. Biological sex is fixed at birth, but no fact-based discussion is allowed. Their first move always is censorship and the second is punishment."
As higher education becomes more focused on skin color and on which pronouns to use in order to honor each student's gender of choice, university writing instructors are no longer grading students' writing. 
The Leadership Institute's Campus Reform Project reports that Boston University's new process, which gained in popularity during the pandemic, has been dubbed the "ungrading project." Professors Marisa Milanese and Gwen Kordonowy explain in a recent column that, of 100 instructors in the Boston University program, "nearly half employed contract grading in some form this semester." Contract grading is a new fad whereby grades are calculated on the basis of "labor" on the student's part and "cooperation" between an instructor and the student, which has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. Milanese and Kordonowy, a master lecturer and senior lecturer respectively, say they still comment on students' writing, although they no longer assign a letter or number grade. The professors defend the "ungrading" movement and "labor-based" grading methods as inspiring students and creating "equity." But many observers see it as just another step in the total dumbing down of higher education.
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