June 18, 2017 – While Judge Gorsuch was recently sitting in confirmation hearings before the US Senate, his US Supreme Court peers were handing down a rebuke of a precedent he had set in motion in 2008–in the case of Thompson R2-J School District v. Luke P.. Thompson is now infamous case after a recent US Supreme court ruling in Endrew v Douglas County School District RE-1. As a result of this 2017 ruling, the “precedent” set by Gorsuch and his bench in Thompson, and subsequently applied to Endrew by Gorsuch and his bench was “vacated” by the US Supreme Court. What followed was a unanimous rebuke of his opinion from the Supreme Court Justices–and more pointedly Chief Justice Roberts writing for the Court.
Polarization in Public Education: Teaching “Democratic” Values in a Trump-Era Democracy
Discussion on the Trump-era of public school education. How Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, a woman of privilege, who never attended public school – thinks she knows better what works than those entrenched in the system for years. Hear from Dr. Meira Levinson – former public school classroom teacher, now professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hear what she hears from educators in the field, the ethical dilemmas they face when children chant ‘build that wall’ and ‘lock her up’ and single out minority students in the classroom. Because they heard from the President – that gives it legitimacy in the eyes of children – putting educators in the role of referee, peacekeeper and ethics trainer. An eye opening discussion on changing role of educators in the Trump-era Democracy.