Educational Excellence: "Honors Student" Who Cannot Read or Write Sues Government School Which Allowed Her to Graduate as a Complete Illitarate

Incredible.

But it's not. We all know these failure factors are churning out one illiterate after another and scamming the taxpayer $30,000 per student per year for this "service."

A Connecticut college student is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city of Hartford for negligence.
Nineteen-year-old Aleysha Ortiz says she graduated from high school with honors and earned a college scholarship, but she can't read or write.
In some ways, Ortiz is living an American dream.
The 19-year-old began her freshman year at the University of Connecticut in Hartford this past fall.
She's excited to study public policy; it's the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child.

By the way, the problem isn't that she speaks Spanish. She's spoken English since birth.

She cannot read or write in any language.

"I remember I was very nervous, but I know it was going to be better opportunities for me to learn," Ortiz remarked.
But Ortiz says those opportunities never came to fruition.
"All I see is words everywhere," Ortiz said.
Ortiz graduated from the Hartford Public Schools system last year, but she says she is now illiterate and still doesn't know how to read or write.
"They would just either tell me to stay in a corner and sleep or just draw pictures, flowers for them," Ortiz said about her earlier education.
When she was in high school, Ortiz relied on speech-to-text programs and other apps to read or write essays.
Ortiz said her mother, who does not speak English well, tried to get answers.
"She advocated so much," Ortiz said. "She went to the school. The principal promised her that it would be better. Sometimes it would be people from the district or the directors promising her they would do better."
Now, Ortiz is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city for negligence.
...
Turner fears a crucial guardrail will be lost if President Donald Trump's administration follows through with abolishing the Department of Education.
"How do I protect the special education children?" Turner asked. "Who do I go to if I close it down?"

Oh yeah, we have to keep the Department of Education open. It's done such a bang-up job so far.

Now I know this girl seems to have cheated her way through school, and undoubtedly, she has the first responsibility for her own education. She and her mother.

But this school appears to have just passed this illiterate dum-dum through grade after grade without every verifying she could read simple sentences at a five-year-old level.

Hey I know how we can improve government teacher performance: Just pay them more.

That will attract new talent.

Oh, but also, you're not allowed to actually hire new talent. We have written the law to require that teachers have useless degrees in education, which is a huge entry barrier to people who studied more useful things in college, and who don't want to go back to school for three years to be a teacher.

So we'll just pay the existing, horrible teachers more. This will attract new talent... from within them!

Second headline:

Left-Wing Teachers Oppose Deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens Because They'll Get Less Money if Illegal Alien Children Leave the Country

Mark Krikorian

@MarkSKrikorian
"Public schools depend on the children of illegal aliens to keep up enrollment levels and extract more money from state taxpayers."

It's all about the kids with these teachers. All about the kids.

Nothing but the kids.

Powerline:

This, from the Minneapolis Star Tribune,

School leaders fear declining attendance during ICE surge will also lower state funding.
Public schools depend on the children of illegal aliens to keep up enrollment levels and extract more money from state taxpayers.
More students means more teachers, which means more public school teacher union members, which means more union dues, which means bigger donations to the Democratic party....
Democrats in Minnesota have gone all-in on an illegal-immigrant-based economy....

To that end, public schools in Minnesota have sued the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security in an effort to kick ICE out of the state (File No. 26-cv-1023). It's one of many such lawsuits filed by Democrats and Democrat-controlled institutions.
The Star Tribune reports,

Because the money to pay teachers, counselors, bus drivers and principals is tied to attendance, officials fear prolonged absences by students in hiding will lead to declining state funding for schools.

FischerKing
@FischerKing64
22h
This would be funny if it weren't so serious. Illegal alien children in American public schools degrade education for everyone across the board because of the lack of English proficiency, which slows everything down, prevents native students from getting the education their parents pay for through taxes. But the schools/teachers/unions actually want illegals because it drives up enrollment - which means more funding, more teachers etc. So those taxpayers wind up paying more but getting less. This is from the Minneapolis tribune, will link to full article in next post.

In better education news: Three red states, Alabama, Mississippi, and Lousiana, are seeing historic gains in student learning by using teaching techniques that actually work.

These aren't new techniques. They're very old techniques. They're techniques the left-wing, grifter educrat establishment chucked aside to pursue novel, failing techniques because educrats don't get paid if they just tell people to keep using the same techniques that worked in the past.

No, the EduGrifters only get paid if they propose something New! and Counter-Intuitive!

The educrats are constantly proposing new pedagogies for the exact same reason they put out a new Madden Football every single year: Churn. You have to keep churning out new product to keep your business going.

Soaking wet lefty Nicholas Kristof of the NYT is surprised to find out that it's conservative states, not his beloved edugrifter blue ones, who are actually teaching children how to read and do math.

A ray of hope is emerging in American education.
Not among Democrats or Republicans, each diverted by culture wars.

Actually, Nick, it is among Republicans.

Nice try though!

Not in the education reform movement, largely abandoned by the philanthropists who once propelled it.

The edugrifter's "reform" movement that has produced nothing but failure upon failure for 50 years? Yes, quite right, the hope isn't coming from them.

Rather, hope emerges in the most unlikely of places: three states here in the Deep South that long represented America's educational basement.

Why is that so unlikely? Oh, because leftwingers, who fail at everything, are so smart and talented, right?

These states -- Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi -- have histories of child poverty, racism and dismal educational outcomes, and they continue to spend less than most other states on public schools.

Oh they spend less? Well everyone knows that when you give every kid a $700 laptop and pay their teachers on the level of lawyers, educational achievement goes up.

Oh wait it doesn't. Never did.

Yet, consider:

Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the country in recovery from pandemic losses in reading, while Alabama ranks No. 1 in math recovery.
The state with the lowest chronic absenteeism in schools is Alabama, according to a tracker with data from 40 states.
Once an educational laughingstock, Mississippi now ranks ninth in the country in fourth-grade reading levels -- and after adjusting for demographics such as poverty and race, Mississippi ranks No. 1, while Louisiana ranks No. 2, according to calculations by the Urban Institute. Using the same demographic adjustment, Mississippi also ranks No. 1 in America in both fourth-grade and eighth-grade math.
Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil).

I wrote about Mississippi's educational successes in 2023, but many of my fellow liberals then scoffed at the notion of learning from a state so tainted.

Oh an admission that lefties really think the sun shines out of their assholes and have contempt for anyone not like them. (You know, like true tolerant, welcoming cosmopolitans.)

Skeptics, mostly on the left, have made many critiques of the gains, including that they fade in upper grades, that the states are cheating, that this is all a temporary blip and that any progress is simply a result of holding back weak readers.
The critiques have been effectively rebutted -- for starters, they can't explain the continuing gains in Mississippi or the magnitude of the gains. Just as striking, the Mississippi gains increasingly are being replicated in Alabama and Louisiana, as they follow similar approaches. That's enormously encouraging, for it suggests that other states can also lift student trajectories if they are willing to learn from Southern red states they may be more accustomed to looking down on.
So I traveled through Mississippi and Alabama with the photographer Lynsey Addario to understand the lessons to be learned. Perhaps the most important is an insistence on metrics, accountability and mastery of reading by the end of third grade. And while reading gets the attention, just as important is getting kids to attend school regularly.

By "metrics," he means testing kids to make sure they are learning.

And as you know, our failing teacher-grifters are adamantly opposed to testing -- which they deride as merely "teaching to the test" (as has historically been done) -- because testing kids reveals their own failure to teach them and undermines their case for the next big raise during their next teachers strike.

..
In classrooms and offices, teachers and administrators frequently mentioned the motivating power of report cards -- not the letter grades given out by schools, but those they (the schools themselves) receive.

Well what do you know, testing and measuring actually improves performance.

Literally everyone who is not an ideologically-captured denialist knows this. It is true in every field. "What gets measured, gets improved," the saying goes.

And what doesn't get measured is allowed to slide and slide until it becomes a disaster. Ask your friends in Minnesota about how their practice of not checking up on social welfare businesses turned out.

..
What I see is schools fighting for their students. These states have created a structure that closely monitors each school's performance and incentivizes principals and teachers alike to do everything they can to get kids back in class and learning.

Teachers union teachers are adamant that they not be measured for actual job performance, so good luck with that in the blue states.

For many years, skeptics have offered dispiriting arguments about the prospects for educational gains: The way to improve literacy is to fix the family, fix addiction, fix the parents, for as long as the child's environment is broken, there's not much else that can be done.
The gains in these states suggest that that critique is wrong. Mississippi and Alabama haven't fixed child poverty, trauma and deeply troubled communities -- but they have figured out how to get kids to read by the end of third grade.
This matters in myriad ways: One recent study found that states with large increases in school test scores enjoyed rising incomes and drops in teen motherhood, incarceration and arrest rates compared with states that didn't enjoy such gains.
What's particularly impressive is that the Southern surge states lifted student achievement with only modest budgets. Spending per pupil in Alabama and Mississippi was below $12,000 in 2024, while in New York it was almost $30,000.
That's worth celebrating and emulating. Yet, unfortunately, there's not much sign of that.

No. I wonder why.

By the way, Kristof focused on these schools' fight to reduce truancy and make sure students actually show up for class.

He completely refused to mention which pedagogy they employ. Are they using time-tested phonics, thrown on the scrapheap by edugrifter "reformers' in the seventies, or the "whole word" reading, where supposedly you just look at a word and its meaning magically appears in a student's mind, which the edugrifters used as an improvement over phonics and then saw students become illiterate?

Well Nick and the New York Times won't tell you so I will, with an assist from Google AI:

Alabama public schools use the Science of Reading, focusing on systematic phonics, phonemic awareness, and explicit instruction through programs like the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI), mandated by the Alabama Literacy Act (2019), which requires K-3 reading proficiency, teacher training, and bans the ineffective three-cueing system to build strong decoding and comprehension skills for all students.

A "phoneme" is just a part of a word, like "sh" or "nt," or just any single letter, that makes a specific sound. In other words, just phonics.

Why did Nick Kristof hide this information from readers?

Even when he's telling liberals "you should emulate the Alabama system," he can't be honest about it.

Why? Because leftists and their "experts" are facing the worst legitimacy and credibility crisis in Western history and they can't afford admitting another huge "L."

So they'll just pretend, publicly, that the Alabama plan is just about New! and Exciting! education reforms made to reduce truancy.

But they're the honest, good, caring, kind people only motivated by concerns for the public good and entirely untainted by grubby tribal concerns like always making sure your tribe comes out on top. Just ask them!

Or just read the signs on their lawns! "In this house, We Believe..."

Black children in Mississippi are now performing better in reading and math than black children in New York and California-- despite having much higher rates of poverty and spending much less per student.

And the secret was simply not allowing children to move up a grade level� https://t.co/aQ79TyGSA0
— Rep. Josh Williams (@JoshWilliamsOH) February 10, 2026

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 04:20 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 foist

Posted by: OneEyedJack at February 20, 2026 04:21 PM (Hx0tZ)

2 1st

Posted by: GF at February 20, 2026 04:22 PM (gKOEq)

3 Graduating illiterates used to just be for the best football players.
See? We're getting more egalitarian with time! Prosit!

Posted by: OneEyedJack at February 20, 2026 04:23 PM (Hx0tZ)

4 Left-Wing Teachers Oppose Deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens Because They'll Get Less Money if Illegal Alien Children Leave the Country

=======

I remember class room size and student to teacher ratios being really important.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at February 20, 2026 04:23 PM (GBKbO)

5 ...and she was accepted into this college and has been going to classes since the fall. How?

Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 04:23 PM (LQ2H/)

6 AOC is a college graduate.

Posted by: steevy at February 20, 2026 04:24 PM (YwEeS)

7 ...and she was accepted into this college and has been going to classes since the fall. How?
Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 04:23 PM (LQ2H/)

She tested in and passed with flying colors in all the metrics that matter?

Posted by: OneEyedJack at February 20, 2026 04:25 PM (Hx0tZ)

8 Rote memorization isn't learning...or, some shit.

Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 04:25 PM (1Udfd)

9 4 Except that was always bullshit too because Japan had very large class sizes with excellent results. Class size reductions was for the lazy union teachers.

Posted by: steevy at February 20, 2026 04:25 PM (YwEeS)

10 Children ignorant and illiterate? Working out exactly as we planned!

Posted by: Jimmy Carter's department of education at February 20, 2026 04:26 PM (HmUmu)

11 Schools are designed to create Democrat voters and on that they are doing a bang up job!

Posted by: steevy at February 20, 2026 04:27 PM (YwEeS)

12 Some of the dumbest people I have ever met were teachers. That's not to say all teachers are dumb, mind you.

Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 04:28 PM (vFG9F)

13
By the way, the problem isn't that she speaks Spanish. She's spoken English since birth.
She cannot read or write in any language.

Her 1st grade teacher needs her ass whipped. Every teacher after that needs her/his ass whipped. The stupid bint herself needs her ass whipped.

Work or starve. If you're stupid, learn to suck cock.

Posted by: BifBewalski - at February 20, 2026 04:28 PM (QVmho)

14 How to fix education:

Ban general education degrees. You can allow SPED (though it has its own problems) but any adult that knows something can teach it without an advanced degree

*Lower* salaries and formerly set reduced hours - since teaching is a part time job you should mostly be hiring people partially retiring from industry/science. A 58 year old chemist with 30 years in the field will make a better chemistry teacher then a 28 year old that signed a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide.

Teaching will focus on literacy, math, basic science, and civics, and that it.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:28 PM (sKqQm)

15 She can always run for Congress.

Posted by: BarelyScaryMary at February 20, 2026 04:29 PM (zuIfz)

16 I believe I have a very good case and will win the case...

Posted by: Kami Harris at February 20, 2026 04:29 PM (u9jq/)

17 I mean .. I'd be questioning UConn at this point?!?!

do they have zero standards?

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:30 PM (j+aD2)

18 I am prepared to stop GAF about everything

what's the point

Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (ZxPkt)

19 she got into UConn main campus? as an ILLITERATE?

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (j+aD2)

20 The problem isn't just that the teachers suck. It's that they are fucking freaks, commies, and pedos.

Even in the reddest of red states faculty are freaks and administrators are kafkaesque parodies.

Anyone sending their kid to public school thinking otherwise is delusional - and this is why we will probably lose, because people aren't willing to give up the free public daycare.

Posted by: heya at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (ilNpL)

21 She can always run for Congress.

Posted by: BarelyScaryMary at February 20, 2026 04:29 PM (zuIfz)

Or play for the Redskins

Posted by: Dexter Manley at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (CNl8/)

22 That's a great school they got there. She will do fine as a stripper I guess.

Posted by: turambar at February 20, 2026 04:32 PM (Q0yOR)

23 Jack Hughes just scored a BEAUTY it's 3-0 USA

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:32 PM (j+aD2)

24 yum yum shit
yummy shit pebbles
in my mouth

Posted by: Aliassmithsmith at February 20, 2026 04:32 PM (MEM1G)

25 schools are just jobs for dolts

that's all

easy jobs for doofuses

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:32 PM (j+aD2)

26 she got into UConn main campus? as an ILLITERATE?
Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (j+aD2)

Seriously! Did someone else take the test for her? Fill out the applications for her? I had to jump through hoops to apply/enroll in a college in the 80s. I can't imagine trying to do it now if you can't read or write.

Posted by: hobbitopoly at February 20, 2026 04:33 PM (k9OZB)

27 I nominate BifBewalski for Secretary of Education.

Posted by: Kratwurst at February 20, 2026 04:33 PM (C362Q)

28 We love Presdnent Obama because he puts children of coler first. We are axing him to please sign a Posthumus Execitive Oder to make all childrens equal!

Posted by: Mary Cloggenstein From You Know Where at February 20, 2026 04:33 PM (oftw2)

29 lol ASS

I taught at LaSalle (the college) bc I wasnt' allowed to teach in PA schools because I went to Penn I didn't go to JUNIATA.

let smart people teach - they don't do that in PA

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:33 PM (j+aD2)

30 A "phoneme" is just a part of a word, like "sh" or "nt," or just any single letter, that makes a specific sound. In other words, just phonics.
_________

Any of you 29 year olds remember this?

https://tinyurl.com/mrx7ezt8

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at February 20, 2026 04:34 PM (XvL8K)

31 people should just homeschool it is the way to go

Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:35 PM (j+aD2)

32 Common sense has become a fucking superpower

Posted by: Matthew Kant Cipher at February 20, 2026 04:36 PM (kOluj)

33 I wish for once I could read the NYT, because I'd love to see the comments. I've already run online into people who simply cannot believe this is happening in "backward" states, while their progressive paradises are falling ever farther behind.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 20, 2026 04:36 PM (AlhUl)

34 Give the average college graduate from 2026 an HS level test from 1926 and they'll fail.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:36 PM (sKqQm)

35 The senior Senator from Kentucky is Terry Carmack

Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 04:37 PM (ZxPkt)

36 I learned in school I was a girl and not a boy because God screwed up when I was born.

Posted by: Ralph Dorfman at February 20, 2026 04:37 PM (u9jq/)

37 I wish for once I could read the NYT, because I'd love to see the comments

My predictions:

Some commentors claim this is a rightwing lie to make minorities and teachers look bad

Some commentors claims this is due to institutional racism and not spending enough money

and...some commentors will make BOTH arguments

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:38 PM (sKqQm)

38
In CA here. We discovered that a teachers union exists to protect the interests of the worst teachers. The good teachers don't need a union, and they are deeply resented by the layabouts -- the bums think diligence and innovation are dirty tricks.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at February 20, 2026 04:38 PM (VWtfl)

39
I wish for once I could read the NYT, because I'd love to see the comments. I've already run online into people who simply cannot believe this is happening in "backward" states, while their progressive paradises are falling ever farther behind.
Posted by: Eeyore

They're probably ahead where it counts.
In abortions and tranny operations.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 20, 2026 04:38 PM (Cqx++)

40 This month, law enforcement in Mecklenburg County, a sanctuary jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with ICE, arrested Arnol De Jesus Guevara-Lopez and charged him with statutory rape of a child under 15 years old and indecent liberties with a child.

Although ICE agents asked Mecklenburg County law enforcement to transfer Guevara-Lopez into federal custody, they refused, releasing him back into the community. The illegal alien was re-arrested after his release from jail for failing to meet his bond conditions.

“These are the types of monsters North Carolina sanctuary politicians are protecting from immigration enforcement and releasing from their jails into our neighborhoods to prey on American children,” the Department of Homeland Security’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
-----

Forgetting the Red vs Blue, I don't understand how the people of North Carolina aren't in the middle of their very own civil war? How can the citizens of that state sit idly by as some of their own release child-rapists from custody and back into their midst?

Posted by: Crusader at February 20, 2026 04:38 PM (TN0g+)

41 Japan leads the way again.

WISH High is an online effort to reach more remote areas of Japan to help high school students prepare for college entrance exams.

This online cram school costs $65/month. And will cover subjects such as math, chemistry, and English.

The twist is, all the qualified teachers will use VTuber avatars.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 20, 2026 04:39 PM (xo7Vw)

42 Old and busted: Girls have a vagina and boys have a penis

New Hotness: Ok kids let's talk about our private parts and why we should cut them off!

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:39 PM (sKqQm)

43 Dis be redikulus. Ho grajuates wit no spellin' or mathin'?

Posted by: Dexter Manley at February 20, 2026 04:39 PM (affD0)

44 I am prepared to stop GAF about everything

what's the point
Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (ZxPkt)

Life.

Apathy permits evil. Even if you fail, stand for good.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:39 PM (ExV1e)

45 Forgetting the Red vs Blue, I don't understand how the people of North Carolina aren't in the middle of their very own civil war? How can the citizens of that state sit idly by as some of their own release child-rapists from custody and back into their midst?

Because there isn't an FNM talking about it endlessly.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:40 PM (sKqQm)

46 she got into UConn main campus? as an ILLITERATE?
Posted by: BlackOrchid at February 20, 2026 04:31 PM (j+aD2)

She's brown. It's not like we could refuse her. -- UConn

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:40 PM (ExV1e)

47 To quote Skybrows, "don't let them weaponize your charity."

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 20, 2026 04:41 PM (xo7Vw)

48 Los Angeles schools are scared. Lots of students never came back after covid, and many more are being deported or self-deported. It's 72% Latino, which means 71% illegal. They also get money for ESL, while many 2nd gen students still cannot speak English and speak Spanish at home. Cynics think that the schools don't want them to be fluent bc then they lose the extra cash.

And yes, they get paid per enrollment. Don't know how Newsom is going to squirm out of this debacle.

Posted by: Random PJ at February 20, 2026 04:41 PM (+jscL)

49 What I remember from school is my Physics class we were taught that "If everybody on the World FARTed at the same time it would destroy the Ozone Layer"...

Posted by: Kami Harris at February 20, 2026 04:41 PM (u9jq/)

50 40 Forgetting the Red vs Blue, I don't understand how the people of North Carolina aren't in the middle of their very own civil war? How can the citizens of that state sit idly by as some of their own release child-rapists from custody and back into their midst?

Posted by: Crusader at February 20, 2026 04:38 PM (TN0g+)

========

We just don't go into Charlotte.

The blue enclaves of the state are quite compact.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, discovering British horror with Hammer Films at February 20, 2026 04:42 PM (GBKbO)

51 Once upon a time I worked at a literacy center. Some students were immigrants and English was their second language but we had many students that had a high school degree.

Teachers do not care. Schools do not care. So it is trivial to fake it and get passing grades and a diploma

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:42 PM (sKqQm)

52 >>I mean .. I'd be questioning UConn at this point?!?!

It's not just UConn. It's going on everywhere.

Harvard offers courses in basic math because many kids arrive at Harvard with zero ability to do basic math.

Government schools have been going to shit for years. People need to worry less about AI and robots and more about the ability of today's children being able to function as productive citizens.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 20, 2026 04:42 PM (viF8m)

53 Mrs. Ortiz.

0.2... Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, girl.

Posted by: Dean Wormer at February 20, 2026 04:43 PM (Ksqrb)

54 These teachers unions need to be shitcanned.

Tenure? What makes you think we can't replace you with a fucking monkey?

I wouldn' t give a shit, but the American taxpayer is getting shafted by these pickpocket slobs.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at February 20, 2026 04:43 PM (gVUi7)

55 Give the average college graduate from 2026 an HS level test from 1926 and they'll fail.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:36 PM (sKqQm)
---
Hell, *I* would fail that test. Embarrassingly, spectacularly so.

Good thing I gots life experience to fall back on.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at February 20, 2026 04:43 PM (0aYVJ)

56 There is a simple answer...

Eliminate all public education. Bulldoze every existing school, even if they were just completed yesterday. Give $20,000 to the parent (parents) per child per year. Have a testing service that tests each kid each year to see if they are at the minimum level set by the state. If so, the parent gets the money for the next year. If not, they get a one year grace period to catch up on the previous year plus the current year. If they fail, a "educational guardian" takes 10% of the $20K stipend to decide how the kid is educated. For children who do keep up at grade level, the parent keeps whatever they have left over. The parent can teach the kid themselves, or hire a tutor. Other parents can band together to hire a teacher to educate their kids. It's up to the parent.

Posted by: jwest at February 20, 2026 04:44 PM (KtqtS)

57 Teachers' unions may be the most pernicious thing in US history since slavery was ended by earnest debate and violence, but mostly violence.

They run, and have played a major part in ruining, CA.

Coupled with the ideological poison that took over the "education" industry even as it ramped up the grift ace has so eloquently described.

I remember reacting, instantly, the first time I heard about "new" teaching methods - JFC, there is absolutely nothing new under the sun when it comes to learning to read, do math, and behave. A Civil War soldier's diary is something few "educators" today could dream of producing, many probably can't even understand such writing. As collapsed and pathetic as so much of the US is, institutionally and as individuals, the social degradation caused by modern "education" remains the most worrisome thing. And lets not talk about law schools.

Posted by: rhomboid at February 20, 2026 04:44 PM (U/Byj)

58 Nowadays many HS diploma is a McDiploma.

Over a billion given away.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 20, 2026 04:44 PM (xo7Vw)

59 I remember the story about the CT girl what can't read good. There was a bit more to the story, like how she was "exhibiting maladaptive behaviors" in the classroom. In other words, she was a constant problem early on and they had to remove her from "mainstream" classes. Due to policies in place, school district couldn't do much but move her along.

Then, when she graduated, someone whispered in her ear that she could sue the school district so now that's her grift.

There are no good guys in this story and she really doesn't deserve much sympathy as she gamed the system to graduate and now she's looking to cash in.

Posted by: Seagrams and sprite at February 20, 2026 04:45 PM (Iwv3U)

60 Tenure? What makes you think we can't replace you with a fucking monkey?

You got replaced by an illegal? LEARN TO CODE

Oh you did learn to code and got replaced by an H1B? Well, maybe euthanasia is the right answer for you! Or...have you thought about fentanyl?

Wait...a teacher lost her job?!? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE

Posted by: The FNM at February 20, 2026 04:45 PM (sKqQm)

61 ; it's the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child."

Hmm. Didn't we discuss that island a few days back? It's time to wave adios....

Posted by: man at February 20, 2026 04:45 PM (cGjQu)

62 >A Connecticut college student is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city of Hartford for negligence.
----

I'm no lawyer, but it would seem to me that plaintiff is complicit in her failure

Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 04:46 PM (ZxPkt)

63 Wait...a teacher lost her job?!? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE
Posted by: The FNM at February 20, 2026 04:45 PM (sKqQm)

Wait until you find out that a relative of a media person is missing.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:47 PM (ExV1e)

64 I guarantee within 2 years some blue state is going to pass a bill that makes any AI-aided home school instruction (or tutoring) illegal.
Likely by requiring the vendor to pay massive licensing fees to the state.
And classifying them as a "for-profit educational institution."

While all the legislators who vote in favor of that bill still send their children to exclusive private schools.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at February 20, 2026 04:47 PM (HXT0k)

65 US Men's Hockey up 5-0 at end of second period. Looks like another US vs CAN matchup for the Gold.

Posted by: WisRich at February 20, 2026 04:47 PM (G0vdT)

66 The teachers' unions mostly seem to launder money. From the state grants to Democrat candidates, or from USAID to foreign nations where the teachers spearhead political change or political rebellions.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 20, 2026 04:48 PM (rbvCR)

67 Privatize education, no more government schools!

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 04:48 PM (RkOfE)

68 Chick can't read nor write. Wants to blame other people. Aspires to be in politics.

Funny that.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at February 20, 2026 04:48 PM (dK+Kv)

69 Wait until you find out that a relative of a media person is missing.

Wait, isn't this the same media that always complains that the media itself spends too much time talking about missing white women?

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:49 PM (sKqQm)

70 The skools promoted her for 12 years. And then a university accepted her.

It’s shady shit and graft from top to bottom.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 04:49 PM (tsYFt)

71 Girl and family seem to be lazy-fuck grifters.

Posted by: mr tmz at February 20, 2026 04:49 PM (rJ48h)

72 Privatize education, no more government schools!
Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 04:48 PM (RkOfE)

Yes. If we must fund education then fund the student, not the institution.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:49 PM (ExV1e)

73 It's not just about the teachers not wanting to be measured, its the leftist dems who don't want an educated electorate.

Also in CO, a school is not allowed to hold back a student without parental consent.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (n5tGW)

74 Turner fears a crucial guardrail will be lost if President Donald Trump's administration follows through with abolishing the Department of Education.

--

Crucial guardrail lost? The same one that allowed this young woman to graduate completely uneducated? Um, okay. This does not compute.

Posted by: Lady in Black at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (qBdHI)

75 My wife was in education for years -- first, in her own classroom as a teacher, then as vice principal, then as a reading tutor, and finally as a teacher's assistant. She had hopes after our kids got over of returning to the classroom, but when we moved to MA and she saw how classrooms were run, she ditched that idea.

The biggest thing that stood out to her is that it's all about funding. Butts in seats. It dictated everything from discipline to lice treatments. The funding for the reading assistant positions was tied directly to the school lunch program. In their wisdom, the bureaucrats deemed that the number of kids needing free lunch correlated to learning disabilities. (I guess rich kids can't have disabilities; only poor kids?) Kids used to be sent home for lice and had to be nit-free for several days before returning. Not so anymore. And the schools don't get funding for kids who are held back and repeat a grade. So they get passed along year after year, no matter if they're ready or not.

And that's in the schools where they're actually trying to teach the kids, not where the teachers see fresh meat for their ideology to be infused into someone else's spawn.

Posted by: red speck at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (Ve/HL)

76 The teachers' unions mostly seem to launder money. From the state grants to Democrat candidates, or from USAID to foreign nations where the teachers spearhead political change or political rebellions.

That's the point of the government overall though anyway.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (sKqQm)

77
61 ; it's the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child."

Hmm. Didn't we discuss that island a few days back? It's time to wave adios....
Posted by: man at February 20, 2026 04:45 PM

-------

It would become a Red Chinese base within months.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (VWtfl)

78 Wait, isn't this the same media that always complains that the media itself spends too much time talking about missing white women?
Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:49 PM (sKqQm)

Well, yes, but we meant white women unrelated to members of the media. -- FNM

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (ExV1e)

79 Kinda mind-blowing, you can speak 2 languages-and read in none? The fact she's female; if she was a boy-adhd,dyslexia zonk him out on ritalin (assuming mom isn't stealing it). Pathetic...

Posted by: pahound at February 20, 2026 04:50 PM (z7yPV)

80 It would become a Red Chinese base within months.

Looking at the recent SC decision on tariffs, what's the difference between American pols controlled by China and pols from "independent" countries controlled by China?

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:51 PM (sKqQm)

81 Girls get diagnosed as adhd too.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (zZu0s)

82 "How do I protect the special education children?" Turner asked. "Who do I go to if I close it down?"
____

Well, for starters you could try teaching them something.

Idiocracy, prophetic

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (S+j2h)

83 This girl is the poster child of AI in a few years. Completely atrophied abilities, kept afloat with enough laziness to avoid doing the work, but enough ingenuity to get by.

Hello Idiocracy.

Posted by: red speck at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (Ve/HL)

84 Would she have been continually passed through the grades and eventually accepted to a university if she were just a regular-ass white chick?

Posted by: ballistic at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (5aZAZ)

85 This girl is the poster child of AI in a few years. Completely atrophied abilities, kept afloat with enough laziness to avoid doing the work, but enough ingenuity to get by.

Copilot, write a press release on how everyone is rayciss and I'm always the victim...

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (sKqQm)

86 Common Core ?

Common stupid.

GTFO with that shit, drawing all kinds of pictures to do math

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (S+j2h)

87 Who is Turner?

Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (4NO2D)

88 Perhaps the most important is an insistence on metrics, accountability and mastery of reading by the end of third grade

-

3rd grade? My kids were reading in kindergarten. And so were all their peers. If 3rd grade is the benchmark it’s still a big failure.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (tsYFt)

89 Not moving up is also the secret to tutoring - taught my college age kid, who tutors the disadvantaged, that there's no point tutoring what the school wants you to tutor for a kid til you know if they have any of the skills needed to get to that point. So, she always backtracks in her 1st sessions and tries to figure out what, if anything, they know, so she can help them pick up skills needed to get to the topic they want the kid to learn.

Posted by: Nova Local at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (tOcjL)

90 I could read before kindergarten

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (S+j2h)

91 Copilot, write a press release on how everyone is rayciss and I'm always the victim...

Jasmine Crockett, is that you?

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (ExV1e)

92 Brave New World in action. Educate people into stupidity , feed them Soma and good to go

Posted by: Smell the Glove at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (/PQmQ)

93 Here we just move the kids around until we have a GROUP with acceptable test scores. Doesn't matter the individual. So if you have a bunch of dummies, put them in a great school where the scores disappear. The school's score will go down a little.

Posted by: nckate at February 20, 2026 04:54 PM (uQzkA)

94 Give the average college graduate from 2026 an HS level test from 1926 and they'll fail.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 04:36 PM (sKqQm)

High School test?
Try 8th grade graduation test.

It's online somewhere. Betcha ain't as smart as you think you are.

Posted by: OneEyedJack at February 20, 2026 04:54 PM (Hx0tZ)

95 I bet she can't even spell 'illiterate.'

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (TTUKx)

96 Bet she can recite Marxist dogma

Posted by: Skip at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (Ia/+0)

97
3rd grade? My kids were reading in kindergarten. And so were all their peers. If 3rd grade is the benchmark it’s still a big failure.
Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 04:53 PM (tsYFt)

Some boys can't...I had kids learn at 3, 4, 5.5, and 7.5...guess which 2 were the boys? The more rambunctious and attention limited the kid, the more time it took.

But just b/c they can't read doesn't mean you can't keep learning going in many ways...they get there if you keep at it without frustrating them and if you keep learning of some type going every day.

Posted by: Nova Local at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (tOcjL)

98 Give $20,000 to the parent (parents) per child per year. Have a testing service that tests each kid each year to see if they are at the minimum level set by the state. If so, the parent gets the money for the next year. If not, they get a one year grace period to catch up on the previous year plus the current year. If they fail, a "educational guardian" takes 10% of the $20K stipend to decide how the kid is educated. For children who do keep up at grade level, the parent keeps whatever they have left over. The parent can teach the kid themselves, or hire a tutor. Other parents can band together to hire a teacher to educate their kids. It's up to the parent.
----

No. This would just create a new problem.

Parents and local communities can and should educate their children.

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (RkOfE)

99 Yes, the union officials are evil. I will never forget when James O'Keefe took his "girls" to the union to find a high school for them, and the lady said, well, you don't want them to get too educated.

This is what the Democrats want.

Posted by: Random PJ at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (+jscL)

100 Girls get diagnosed as adhd too.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (zZu0s)

My sister, they figured it out in first grade. She is General Manager of a good size company. We all helped.

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (S+j2h)

101 To second the earlier class size comment, having had the experience of being a teacher for a while, a class of forty good students is way, way easier to deal with than any size with even a couple of problem students. There were just a couple kids who made it terrible for everyone, and they system is all in on keeping them there. Also the most evil person I have met was the union boss social studies teacher, the look in his eye when he celebrated at someone getting killed was disturbing.

Posted by: Charlie the Capitalist at February 20, 2026 04:56 PM (WI9yY)

102 @amuse
SAVE Act: Rep Tim Burchett confirms rumor that McConnell’s Chief of Staff Terry Carmack won’t allow the election integrity bill out of committee to give Thune and Cornyn cover for not bringing the bill to the floor for debate.

(emphasis mine)

Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 04:56 PM (ZxPkt)

103 Socrates method!

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (zZu0s)

104 In this day and age of spell check and talk to text, it is very believable. I know my own child has regressed in spelling because she is technically doing more difficult work, but it’s typed on a computer. I home school but now as part of a virtual co-op. 4 hours of the day she spends doing virtual learning with 6 other children and an actual teacher (who is not woke, etc etc). Of her class, she is the only one who can sign her name in cursive. So there is that. lol.

Posted by: Piper at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (OoFl2)

105 The CA state university system (not UC) stopped reporting the % of incoming freshmen requiring remedial English and math years ago, I believe. The numbers were stunning.

UC San Diego, long known as a truly elite science and math school with very competitive admissions, now has a substantial remedial student element (WTFFF?).

Posted by: rhomboid at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (U/Byj)

106 Common Core ?

Common stupid.

GTFO with that shit, drawing all kinds of pictures to do math
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:52 PM (S+j2h)

My kids went to Core Knowledge based charter schools, which is the polar opposite of "Common Core" (you see how the left continuously fucks with terminology?). Core Knowledge was very old school; reading, writing, math, science, history, and in later years, philosophy and exploring the classics. They left me in the dust educationally.

And this was in Colorado, back when it was still a good place to live.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (0aYVJ)

107 Socratic, phone, you illiterate piece of millennial garbage.

Meaning the method of Socrates.

Fucking stupid kids.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (zZu0s)

108 I cunt raed!

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (S+j2h)

109 I’d bet the illiterate knows every one of the 91 pronouns available to her. And can recite 20 reasons why the US is the most evil country on the planet. And will tell you how Trump is a danger to democracy.

School can teach, and teach very well, when it comes to those topics.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (tsYFt)

110 High School test?
Try 8th grade graduation test.

It's online somewhere. Betcha ain't as smart as you think you are.
Posted by: OneEyedJack at February 20, 2026 04:54 PM (Hx0tZ)

https://is.gd/IfUUY4

It's not a measure of smart, it's a question of focus.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (ExV1e)

111 Most of my employees were illiterate in their own languages.

English is hard enuf ese!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (RIvkX)

112 The conventional wisdom among struggling districts today is kids won't learn how to read if there isn't any reading at home.

In other words, reading is white privilege.

I wonder how this will hold up of the struggling districts start teaching phonics in the classroom?

Posted by: Jack Squat Bupkis at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (GD2xa)

113 Illiterate? Write for free help.

Posted by: A bumper sticker Duncanthrax used to have at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (bJ9QV)

114 Core Knowledge was very old school; reading, writing, math, science, history, and in later years, philosophy and exploring the classics. They left me in the dust educationally.

And this was in Colorado, back when it was still a good place to live.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (0aYVJ)

Awesome

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:58 PM (S+j2h)

115 As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.

Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (1Udfd)

116 What say we retask AI from killing foreigners to teaching our youth to be become productive adult citizens?

Seems like a more appropriate priority, opposed to creating social media revenge porn.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (gVUi7)

117 Ill agree that my ability to tell whether a word is spelled correctly just by looking at it has degraded. I know it does not look right, but it is like the info bank is bare on the way it should be spelled exactly.

I hope that is just normal getting more 29.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (zZu0s)

118
A reminder: after Bill Ayres escaped justice for planting bombs in the 1960s, thanks to his millionaire dad's high-priced lawyers, he got a graduate degree and became a professor of education at U Chicago. Common Core has his fingerprints all over it. He continued working to destroy society, by other means.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (VWtfl)

119 8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865.

Duh these old tests are like easy. I got like the answer to like this one. Its racism. Its like, all old white racist people.

Posted by: Some modern teacher at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (sKqQm)

120 @amuse
SAVE Act: Rep Tim Burchett confirms rumor that McConnell’s Chief of Staff Terry Carmack won’t allow the election integrity bill out of committee to give Thune and Cornyn cover for not bringing the bill to the floor for debate.
-----

There should be a political price to pay.

Posted by: Crusader at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (TN0g+)

121 .
.
A Retard who needed two handlers to help him walk, graduated from high school with my son, going on two decades ago. The audience cheered when said retard was drug across the stage. He stopped, spread his legs and arms like one of the "scarecrows" on the cliff in one of the, "Planet of the Apes," movies. Then, the audience went wild. I guess everyone was amazed that Tardy McTardFace had managed to go so long without aspirating and dying.

Posted by: Marooned at February 20, 2026 05:00 PM (kt8QE)

122 Phonics? She-yitt.

Posted by: Ja'quell at February 20, 2026 05:00 PM (bJ9QV)

123 I cunt raed!
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 04:57 PM (S+j2h)

Easier for a cunt raed to pass through a gay man's apartment than it is to find a dictionary in a Somali learing center.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:01 PM (zZu0s)

124 I heard this story on the radio the other day and I thought it was a hoax.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:01 PM (0N4FZ)

125 Ill agree that my ability to tell whether a word is spelled correctly just by looking at it has degraded. I know it does not look right, but it is like the info bank is bare on the way it should be spelled exactly.

—

Same. I can’t remember things like are there two Ls in this word or just one? Or should there be an e here or an i here.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 05:01 PM (tsYFt)

126 There should be a political price to pay.
Posted by: Crusader at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (TN0g+)

There should be a political price to pay for the people who won't either force it out of committee or replace McConnell. Pretty sure that's within the power of the Leader.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (ExV1e)

127 113 Illiterate? Write for free help.

years ago, i saw a psa slide on the pbs station reading "if you or someone you love is illiterate, call xxx-xxx-xxxx".

i chuckled.

Posted by: anachronda at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (oY6Yp)

128 Wonder how many teachers were in charge of her classes.
I distinctly remember all through elementary we had 30 kids and 1 teacher

Posted by: Skip at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (Ia/+0)

129 Can't read or write.

But, I bet she is registered to vote.

And has voted.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (HXT0k)

130 As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.
Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (1Udfd)

Maybe use a filter. The ladies do not want to give up the crystal clear butthole right away.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (zZu0s)

131 Seems like a more appropriate priority, opposed to creating social media revenge porn.

What you fear you'll get from AI: The terminator

What you hope you'll get from AI: "Computer write all my work emails for me and send them"

What you'll get from AI: Why is every other video in this feed AI furry pron?!?

Posted by: Obligatory at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (sKqQm)

132 Mike, Bill, and Kevin have a kickstarter for doing MST3K again. They wanted to raise 20K to do four episodes. They've already raised 2 million and still have a month to go.

Posted by: banana Dream at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (3uBP9)

133 SAVE Act: Rep Tim Burchett confirms rumor that McConnell’s Chief of Staff Terry Carmack won’t allow the election integrity bill out of committee to give Thune and Cornyn cover for not bringing the bill to the floor for debate.
-----

There should be a political price to pay.
Posted by: Crusader at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM

Nothing will happen.

Posted by: That Guy who says "Nothing will happen." at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (bJ9QV)

134 I am on the kid's side here. That is negligence.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (Ookz/)

135 Bride of PI teaches in a low-income "majority-minority" school.

In fall of 2024, she had to teach students in ELEVEN different languages due to all of the illegal aliens and refugees.

The low-income English speaking kids generally lost about a third of the education period while she was translating instructions to get all of the other kids started.

Diversity is NOT our strength.

Posted by: Pillage Idiot at February 20, 2026 05:03 PM (HlyYF)

136 Schools definitely suck. Colorado has charter schools, I had an acquaintance that sent her twins to one with a good reputation, but the son was starting to struggle and they just ignored him. They could get better aggregate grades for their school by focusing their time on the kids who learned more easily. This mom went to an online charter and more hands on herself to get the son properly schooled. He did a stint in the marines not the chair force so the mostly home school didn't make him brilliant

But much better education than what he'd have gotten if it was just left to public funded teachers.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 20, 2026 05:03 PM (vlkz/)

137 As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.
Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 04:59 PM (1Udfd)

I am the great Cornholio !

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:03 PM (S+j2h)

138 Nothing will happen.

That's uh...not the way this works

Posted by: The guy sending Terry Carmack an invitation to the new Epstein island at February 20, 2026 05:03 PM (sKqQm)

139 This is a very long standing problem. I was in college, over 40 years ago and in one class the Professor had us read out loud from the textbook. Why? I don't know, maybe he wanted to see who could read.

Only 3 of us could read aloud in any coherent way. I could, based on my NYC Catholic and Public School Education, a friend of mine, don't know where he went to school, but his parents were Professors too, iirc, and one other guy, who had been in the Marines.

The rest were all hopeless. This was CUNY, so not some fancy shmancy school, but still, it was pathetic.

Posted by: jocon307 at February 20, 2026 05:04 PM (EuROc)

140 Why the fuck does McConnelll have any say in anything? He’s a backbencher who barely knows where he is.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 05:04 PM (tsYFt)

141 McConnell doesn't care. As long as it thwarts Trump. Fkr.

Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 05:04 PM (vFG9F)

142 Mitch McTurtle should burn in hell along with Anti-Abortion Barbie and John Iscariot Roberts.

Posted by: Delurker at February 20, 2026 05:04 PM (gtcuf)

143 As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.

One of the areas that Idiocracy was just flat out wrong is thinking modern media would be all about some guy getting kicked in the nuts, not young wimmins showing their bits...

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 05:05 PM (sKqQm)

144 I was in the Alabama public schools from 4th to 12th grades. I received a good education even in the 1980's. The numbers were always skewed down by the large black population of the state.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at February 20, 2026 05:05 PM (Vh9CX)

145 12 Some of the dumbest people I have ever met were teachers. That's not to say all teachers are dumb, mind you.
Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 04:28 PM (vFG9F)

Particularly teachers whose degrees are in education. Absolutely retarded. On the other hand I've met really smart and effective teachers who, as a rule, were actually educated in the subjects they taught.

Posted by: Not Dr. Jill approved at February 20, 2026 05:06 PM (TbWk/)

146 Let’s say the school failed the illiterate. What would happen? There’d be a lawsuit for failing her due to racism. Heads she wins, tails the school loses.

Posted by: I Choose Dogs at February 20, 2026 05:06 PM (tsYFt)

147 The educrats are constantly proposing new pedagogies for the exact same reason they put out a new Madden Football every single year: Churn. You have to keep churning out new product to keep your business going.

It is kinda ironic that the biggest communists in the country have the biggest capitalist grifter schemes extracting rent from the state.

Well, now that I think about it, maybe it isn't so ironic; it's standard operating procedure.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:06 PM (6ydKt)

148 Mike, Bill, and Kevin have a kickstarter for doing MST3K again. They wanted to raise 20K to do four episodes. They've already raised 2 million and still have a month to go.
Posted by: banana Dream
________

Can they also apologize for whatever the fuck that first reboot was? Never been so disappointed after looking forward to something.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM (XvL8K)

149 kids won't learn how to read if there isn't any reading at home
----
This provides cover for the schools - parents aren't reading/can't read, so it's their fault, not ours - but it's not their fault either, society is to blame. Therefore a push to extend "school" to daycares.

Spoiler alert this won't educate anyone, but it does put children in the hands of the state instead of parents.

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM (RkOfE)

150 Can't read or write.

But, I bet she is registered to vote.

And has voted.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (HXT0k)

And studying Public Policy for her degree. A trifecta of sorts.

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM (wVcYX)

151 >>> One of the areas that Idiocracy was just flat out wrong is thinking modern media would be all about some guy getting kicked in the nuts, not young wimmins showing their bits...
Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 05:05 PM (sKqQm)

Well MTV and jackass and much of the horrid reality tv preceded the movie so they had reason to believe that was the future.

Posted by: banana Dream at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM (3uBP9)

152 >>>As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.

Shhh. You'll spoil my surprise retirement plan.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (dK+Kv)

153 Another important stat totally buried in modern discourse:

In the 1950s, black high school students had a 90+% literacy rate -- even in states with segregation and thus poorly funded black schools -- simply because teachers (of all races) taught "The Three R's" rigorously.

Nowadays, the black literacy rate is closer to 35% - -a catastrophic decline.

Old-school schooling works.

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (se8lQ)

154 As long as they can legally take a picture of their butthole and upload it, the OnlyFans Economy Welcomes the Graduates of the Class of 2026.

Just what we need, more illiterate assholes.

Posted by: Wait for it... at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (TbWk/)

155 On the other hand I've met really smart and effective teachers who, as a rule, were actually educated in the subjects they taught.
Posted by: Not Dr. Jill approved at February 20, 2026 05:06 PM

This is about me, isn't it?

Posted by: Bill Nye, The Science Guy at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (bJ9QV)

156 >>> Can they also apologize for whatever the fuck that first reboot was? Never been so disappointed after looking forward to something.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM (XvL8K)

I don't think they were involved much. A bunch of lefties were. Rifftrax went on in parallel.

Posted by: banana Dream at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (3uBP9)

157 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.

Posted by: tankdemon at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (PMi3m)

158 >>> One of the areas that Idiocracy was just flat out wrong is thinking modern media would be all about some guy getting kicked in the nuts, not young wimmins showing their bits...
Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 05:05 PM (sKqQm)

In the 2006 satirical film Idiocracy, Starbucks is depicted as having evolved into a franchise that offers "handjobs" as part of its services, reflecting the film's theme of extreme societal degradation and vulgar commercialism. This product placement satire aimed to mock the extreme evolution of consumer brands

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (S+j2h)

159 >Nothing will happen.

Posted by: That Guy who says "Nothing will happen."
----

Nice work

Posted by: Don Black at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (ZxPkt)

160 was in the Alabama public schools from 4th to 12th grades. I received a good education even in the 1980's. The numbers were always skewed down by the large black population of the state.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken at February 20, 2026 05:05 PM (Vh9CX)

Vermont is always near the top of education rankings. Vermont doesn’t have an especially smart population of kids. However their population is over 90% white.

Posted by: Inconvenient Truth at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (tsYFt)

161 >>Old-school schooling works.

Yep. They act like it was just any other Theory.

Not the distilled knowledge of generations.

Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (1Udfd)

162 I think I've discovered raimondo's alma mater.

Posted by: tankdemon at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (PMi3m)

163 We should've known education in the U.S. was destined for failure by the time we started seeing "Hooked On Phonics" mail-order courses being sold on TV in the 90s because so many little Johnny's and Julie's couldn't read to save their lives.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (6ydKt)

164 Most of y’all know, my child has significant learning disabilities. If I hadn’t yanked her out of school and started homeschooling, I don’t know where she would be right now. She was not reading in 3rd grade (and, scarily enough, many of you were on this journey with me, and many of you got mad at me for being upset she would only read graphic novels. She was reading something for pleasure, y’all said. You were right. I was wrong. Can you believe she is on 8th grade now?) Phonics were the key for her, she would still not be reading if it was sight word based.

Posted by: Piper at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (Wmg4n)

165 Shhh. You'll spoil my surprise retirement plan.

A few years ago a young female Japanese motorcycle enthusiast made a big splash. She wasn't doing anything sexual, just talking about and riding motorcycles.

But...it came out a little later she was actually a he using filters and clever camera work.

So, there is still hope for you. Of the Hope Solo sort.

Posted by: 18-1 at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (sKqQm)

166
@amuse
SAVE Act: Rep Tim Burchett confirms rumor that McConnell’s Chief of Staff Terry Carmack won’t allow the election integrity bill out of committee to give Thune and Cornyn cover for not bringing the bill to the floor for debate.

-------

This is the oId way. I don't think Trump is just going to take this.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (VWtfl)

167 I tried to draw a flower in the comments. Is Pixy 0.6 retarded?*

*the preceding was generated on behalf of our client based on some grunts and yells that we heard.

Posted by: Aleysha Ortiz c/o her Text-to-Speech at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (LQ2H/)

168 I went to kindergarten able to read. So did my oldest.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (TTUKx)

169 I wish I had invented butthole bleach, how was I supposed to know there would be a whole industry

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (S+j2h)

170 Starfish in 4k Ultra:

Old Contest: Guess how many marbles are in the fishbowl.

New Contest: Count the starfish wrinkles.

Win a major award!

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (wVcYX)

171 105 The CA state university system (not UC) stopped reporting the % of incoming freshmen requiring remedial English and math years ago, I believe. The numbers were stunning.

that is not true. they were just fagged out after a prolonged squawk.

Posted by: ca state university system at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (oY6Yp)

172 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.

Posted by: tankdemon at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (PMi3m)

DEI.

Posted by: Comrade Flounder, Disinformation Demon at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (dK+Kv)

173 Ace is right about the educrat thing. They've been studying how to educate children for over a hundred years. The process should be completely developed by now.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at February 20, 2026 05:10 PM (Vh9CX)

174 157 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.
Posted by: tankdemon at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (PMi3m)

Probably didn’t take it. SAT is optional at most colleges these days.

Posted by: Inconvenient Truth at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (tsYFt)

175 kids won't learn how to read if there isn't any reading at home
----
This provides cover for the schools - parents aren't reading/can't read, so it's their fault, not ours - but it's not their fault either, society is to blame. Therefore a push to extend "school" to daycares.

Spoiler alert this won't educate anyone, but it does put children in the hands of the state instead of parents.

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 05:07 PM

I know this might be an unpopular opinion but comic books are a great way to get younger kids to read. Worked with our son, teenage mutant ninja turtle comics for the win on reading proficiency at an early age.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (0N4FZ)

176 What movie is Ace reviewing here?

/Idiocracy

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (5FL4d)

177 Although it may be cruel, I think the definitive take on this, as in many important issues of today is this is probably not a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a dumbass.

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (rbvCR)

178 zombie, Amen. My Jr High School was 65% black and there was no literacy problem.

Posted by: Ben Had at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (+nEug)

179 Unions are out to enrich themselves and care less about clients or kids

Posted by: Skip at February 20, 2026 05:12 PM (Ia/+0)

180 I know this might be an unpopular opinion but comic books are a great way to get younger kids to read. Worked with our son, teenage mutant ninja turtle comics for the win on reading proficiency at an early age.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (0N4FZ)

You should have beat him until he hated reading comic books then forced him to read Charles Dickens upon threat of more beating.

Posted by: You're a terrible parent! at February 20, 2026 05:12 PM (TbWk/)

181 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.
Posted by: tankdemon

I'm wondering how she would spell SAT.

Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 05:12 PM (LQ2H/)

182 I'll give this gal some bit of credit for using the text to speech, speech to text apps for essays in HS. She might do ok in life if she buys herself "hooked on phonics" and goes through it with her settlement. But I don't think its that expensive, given how bad K-12 schools suck it would make sense for colleges to just hand the HoP program and a basic math study to students that are struggling to keep up in class and say "this is your course work this semester, next semester you resume regular courses, so make the most of this time and these aids"

Posted by: PaleRider at February 20, 2026 05:12 PM (vlkz/)

183 I know this might be an unpopular opinion but comic books are a great way to get younger kids to read. Worked with our son, teenage mutant ninja turtle comics for the win on reading proficiency at an early age.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (0N4FZ)

hell, yes. The Tintin graphic novels got me reading in English, there was enough action and suspense to get me to the next block of text.

The Asterix graphic novels got me over the initial hump in learning Spanish.

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a at February 20, 2026 05:13 PM (rbvCR)

184 Nineteen-year-old Aleysha Ortiz says she graduated from high school with honors and earned a college scholarship, but she can't read or write.

---------

After 10 years of paid-for college, she'll become a commercial airline pilot.

Go long body bags and caskets ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:13 PM (5FL4d)

185 How do you get around on the internet if you can't read. Does this woman get texts on her phone?

Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 05:13 PM (vFG9F)

186 174 157 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.
Posted by: tankdemon at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (PMi3m)

Probably didn’t take it. SAT is optional at most colleges these days.
Posted by: Inconvenient Truth at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (tsYFt)

They now determine admissions on the three S's: Skin color, Surname, and Sexuality

Posted by: Exceptions for legacy only at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (TbWk/)

187 Vermont is always near the top of education rankings.
Posted by: Inconvenient Truth at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM

And yet, despite my erudite efforts to educate you and bring you along, many of you continue to mock me.

Posted by: Mary Cloggenstein from r at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (u8vU5)

188 The educrats are constantly proposing new pedagogies for the exact same reason they put out a new Madden Football every single year: Churn. You have to keep churning out new product to keep your business going.
-----

New pedagogies keeps the teachers from refining their ability to actually teach the materials to children who all come with unique pre knowledge and learning styles.

It also allows the textbook creators to fill the content with the "current thing" - climate change, recycling, save the earth, etc.

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (RkOfE)

189 I know this might be an unpopular opinion but comic books are a great way to get younger kids to read. Worked with our son, teenage mutant ninja turtle comics for the win on reading proficiency at an early age.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (0N4FZ)

My oldest taught himself from video games. Back then, Mario only spoke in word balloons.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (TTUKx)

190 183 I know this might be an unpopular opinion but comic books are a great way to get younger kids to read. Worked with our son, teenage mutant ninja turtle comics for the win on reading proficiency at an early age.
Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at February 20, 2026 05:11 PM (0N4FZ)

hell, yes. The Tintin graphic novels got me reading in English, there was enough action and suspense to get me to the next block of text.

it was video games what did it for jr. chronda. he liked final fantasy, but mrs. chronda got tired of reading the menus for him, so he decided to figure it out himself.

Posted by: anachronda at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (oY6Yp)

191 The Asterix graphic novels got me over the initial hump in learning Spanish.
Posted by: Kindltot

Isn't Asterix a French comic?

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (Ookz/)

192 If Trump wants to have some fun and do immeasurable, generational great good he should appoint a Special Prosecutor to RICO the National 'Teachers' Union.

Posted by: Beyond Norman Parameters at February 20, 2026 05:15 PM (2W0v+)

193 She's excited to study public policy ...

-----------

The curriculum begins with Communism 101 and ends with Communism 100,000,000 Deaths.

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:15 PM (5FL4d)

194 My oldest taught himself from video games. Back then, Mario only spoke in word balloons.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (TTUKx)

Kids used to read cereal boxes cuz they didn't have phones to allow them to scroll through porn at the breakfast table.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at February 20, 2026 05:15 PM (ExV1e)

195 161 ... the distilled knowledge of generations.
Posted by: garrett

Also known as "the copybook headings."

Rudyard Kipling wrote a lot of great things, but his overlooked masterpiece was "The Gods of the Copybook Headings," about this very topic -- that the "old ways" are not just random oppressive obsolete customs, but instead the distilled wisdom of countless generations.

"The "copybook headings" to which the title refers were proverbs or maxims, often drawn from sermons and scripture extolling virtue and wisdom, that were printed at the top of the pages of copybooks, special notebooks used by 19th-century British schoolchildren. The students had to copy the maxims repeatedly, by hand, down the page. The exercise was thought to serve simultaneously as a form of moral education and penmanship practice."

Sample stanza:

"In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (se8lQ)

196 191 The Asterix graphic novels got me over the initial hump in learning Spanish.
Posted by: Kindltot

Isn't Asterix a French comic?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (Ookz/)

Asterix the Gaul? Probably Welsh.

Posted by: Possibly Thai at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (TbWk/)

197 Isn't Asterix a French comic?
Posted by: vmom

Translated widely. I read the German ones.

Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (LQ2H/)

198 181 I'm wondering what she scored on the SAT.
Posted by: tankdemon

I'm wondering how she would spell SAT.

wingardia leviosa! *swish and flick!*

Posted by: anachronda at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (oY6Yp)

199 Make MAD magazine Great Again!

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (wVcYX)

200 "In this house, We Believe..."

...that your yard sign indicates you are an ignorant, arrogant twat.

Posted by: tcn in AK at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (I40wl)

201 Larry Correia's take on all this:

I enjoy Brazilian Jujitsu.
But imagine if rather than teaching the gradual, normal way, where you learn fundamentals and then test and apply them, gradually growing in skill and ability, and keep coming back because its rewarding... instead all the gyms took brand new white belts and just beat the ever living shit out of them.

Like you show up for the first time, no idea what's going on, and then spend the whole class getting choked out, arm barred, wrist locked, and ankle locked, over and over and over. You don't even sorta know what's happening or why. When you tap, the guy beating the shit out of you will laugh, say you must be stupid, and crank harder. Suck it up.
[. . . ]

This post isn't about Jujitsu. It's about High School English classes and the dumb ass way the American education system keeps on reliably failing kids, smugly.

(to torture this analogy further, the Scarlet Letter is a smother choke from a really sweaty fat guy!)

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (rbvCR)

202 Mike, Bill, and Kevin have a kickstarter for doing MST3K again. They wanted to raise 20K to do four episodes. They've already raised 2 million and still have a month to go.
Posted by: banana Dream at February 20, 2026 05:02 PM (3uBP9)

Good. I friggin' hate the new one. It sucks. Know how I know? B'cuz Patton Oswalt.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Rock 'n' Roll Martian at February 20, 2026 05:17 PM (0aYVJ)

203 Some numbers:

Oregon ranks 16th highest in dollars per student paid for education ($19,000) each year.

Oregon is 45th in the country for quality of education, according to Newsweek.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:17 PM (PYyV9)

204 I used to be so excited when the company that sold all the books at school showed up with the little catalogs, I would tell my mom, I need money !

Was it Scholastic books or something like that ?

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:18 PM (S+j2h)

205 More Kipling:

"As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man—
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:—
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return"

Damn, that dude was brutal.

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:18 PM (se8lQ)

206 194 My oldest taught himself from video games. Back then, Mario only spoke in word balloons.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (TTUKx)

Kids used to read cereal boxes cuz they didn't have phones to allow them to scroll through porn at the breakfast table.

reminds me of an interview i saw with bill plympton, a cartoonist. he said his life changed the day he realized he could draw his own pron.

Posted by: anachronda at February 20, 2026 05:18 PM (oY6Yp)

207 Some numbers:

Oregon ranks 16th highest in dollars per student paid for education ($19,000) each year.

Oregon is 45th in the country for quality of education, according to Newsweek.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:17 PM (PYyV9)

They won't let you pump your own gas there

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (S+j2h)

208 Weird, I bought a Ruger 10/22 parts kit, all less receiver, which I plan to order from Brownells.

It just came via UPS and when I unpacked it, they had thrown in a ninja throwing star and a cheap stun-gun/LED flashlight.

Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (4NO2D)

209 No. This would just create a new problem.

Parents and local communities can and should educate their children.
Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 04:55 PM (RkOfE)

You've got it half right. Parents can and should educate their children. If they get the money being wasted by the education/industrial complex, they can do it (or pay for someone to do it).

Posted by: jwest at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (KtqtS)

210 My son and school did not see eye to eye. He isn't stupid, although he is a bit of a bonehead. But most teachers just sort of ignored him and even when he failed a class they moved him up. Somebody else's problem.

I homeschooled him for two semesters during covid. He read Shakespeare, did real math, and read Western Civ. He failed Western Civ, although he read the entire book and discussed at length with me. He was too lazy to do the homework, said the math took too long and he didn't have time left for history.

But he knows it.

No idea why public schools could not figure out how to teach him anything, except for felonious levels of neglect.

Posted by: tcn in AK at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (I40wl)

211 Isn't Asterix a French comic?
Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 20, 2026 05:14 PM (Ookz/)

Tintin and Asterix were written in French, but translated to pretty much every language. I read Tintin in Humpty-Dumpty magazine umpty-odd years ago.
The Asterix were the Spanish ones. I also read the graphic novel version of some of the Jules Verne books in Spanish too.

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (rbvCR)

212 In this house, we believe...

That black people are retarded and need while liberal saviors
That age is just a number and MAPs deserve protection
That children should get free sex-reassignment surgery on request
That fetuses aren't humans and can be chopped up at the mother's whim
That rape, murder, sex-trafficking and drug trade are a small price to pay for cultural diversity

Posted by: If those stupid fucking signs were honest at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (TbWk/)

213 Larry Correia's take on all this:

If Brazilian Ju-jitsu were like our high schools, they would just give you the belts and then send you home to defend yourself on the streets. How could he miss the point so badly?

Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (LQ2H/)

214 Old-school schooling works.

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:08 PM (se8lQ)

I agree with the premise that all so called advances in education have done a great deal of damage, but I think a much larger share of that blame is on the one-two punch of "Great Society" welfare dependency followed by no fault divorce completely imploding family structure.

Posted by: Sjg at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (aqZN1)

215 The educrats are constantly proposing new pedagogies for the exact same reason they put out a new Madden Football every single year: Churn. You have to keep churning out new product to keep your business going.

-----------

* PhD Degrees and Minimum (or Expected) Publishing Requirements for Professors have entered the chat *

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:20 PM (5FL4d)

216 Translated widely. I read the German ones.

French Class in High School had French and English versions, I love em all. They are silly and dumb but fun, great illustration.

The teacher also subscribed to Paris Match and brought those to read too, which all the boys loved because every issue had at least four sets of naked hooters.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:20 PM (PYyV9)

217 204 I used to be so excited when the company that sold all the books at school showed up with the little catalogs, I would tell my mom, I need money !

Was it Scholastic books or something like that ?

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:18 PM (S+j2h)

"Book Fairs".

They were a favorite part of my elementary school time, as well.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:20 PM (6ydKt)

218 (to torture this analogy further, the Scarlet Letter is a smother choke from a really sweaty fat guy!)
Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left vs right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a at February 20, 2026 05:16 PM (rbvCR)

That book blows

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:20 PM (S+j2h)

219 207 Some numbers:

Oregon ranks 16th highest in dollars per student paid for education ($19,000) each year.

Oregon is 45th in the country for quality of education, according to Newsweek.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:17 PM (PYyV9)

They won't let you pump your own gas there
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (S+j2h)

Don't look at Alaska's numbers. They are humiliating.

Posted by: tcn in AK at February 20, 2026 05:20 PM (I40wl)

220 Hubby had an auntie who was a retired teacher; she taught any illiterate person she came across how to read.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (Ookz/)

221 They won't let you pump your own gas there
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (S+j2h)

They do now, most places.

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left-right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a du at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (rbvCR)

222 And yet, despite my erudite efforts to educate you and bring you along, many of you continue to mock me.
Posted by: Mary Cloggenstein

Oh, look at you!! Spelling is correct, grammar is correct, and you even used a 25 cent word. Well done, little Mary! Gold star!

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (RkOfE)

223 Mike, Bill, and Kevin have a kickstarter for doing MST3K again. They wanted to raise 20K to do four episodes. They've already raised 2 million and still have a month to go.
Posted by: banana Dream
__________

I'd like to see them redo some of the classics. Mitchell, Time Chasers, Laserblast. Give us a whole new list of names for Fist Rockbone in Space Mutiny.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (XvL8K)

224 @205 zombie, The Gods of the Copybook Headings is my favorite poem. Kipling was brilliant and brutal. He wrote that after his son was killed in WW I

Posted by: Smell the Glove at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (/PQmQ)

225 And yes, I think "Scholastic" sponsored the Book Fairs, but I recall many different publishers.

I think I bought some "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from them, which I loved when I was a kid.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (6ydKt)

226 A Retard who needed two handlers to help him walk, graduated from high school with my son, going on two decades ago. The audience cheered when said retard was drug across the stage. He stopped, spread his legs and arms like one of the "scarecrows" on the cliff in one of the, "Planet of the Apes," movies. Then, the audience went wild. I guess everyone was amazed that Tardy McTardFace had managed to go so long without aspirating and dying.
Posted by: Marooned at February 20, 2026 05:00 PM (kt8QE)

He bleeds! The Lawgiver bleeds!

Posted by: Ursus at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (Ksqrb)

227 Here's the stun gun

https://tinyurl.com/ym9b7bre

I guess it is discontinued.

Maybe I will have my wife stun me with it.

Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (4NO2D)

228 They won't let you pump your own gas there

You can now, a ballot measure passed a few years back. I would prefer not to, but I don't pump any gas.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (PYyV9)

229 How do you get around on the internet if you can't read. Does this woman get texts on her phone?
Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 05:13 PM (vFG9F)

Have you noticed how most people text? Or are you on Facebook (better example.) Many people communicate by meme because they cannot express their feelings in a paragraph. Its eerie when you realize it.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (zZu0s)

230 I cAnt ReEd NoR RiTe BuT i No ThAt BoYs CaN gEt PrEgNiNt AnD cLyMiT cHaNge Is ReEl!

Posted by: Tik Tik Boom at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (qUkBO)

231 I think I bought some "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from them, which I loved when I was a kid.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (6ydKt)

As did I.

Posted by: Nerds unite at February 20, 2026 05:23 PM (TbWk/)

232 And I just asked said kid what she learned today. Her response was she was a GOAT in pool. Pool? Yes, because if you don’t look at the angle and think about how far away it is and how much force you use….on and on. Go Miss China for making learning fun.

Posted by: Piper at February 20, 2026 05:23 PM (OoFl2)

233 222 And yet, despite my erudite efforts to educate you and bring you along, many of you continue to mock me.
Posted by: Mary Cloggenstein

Oh, look at you!! Spelling is correct, grammar is correct, and you even used a 25 cent word. Well done, little Mary! Gold star!

adjusting for inflation, that's a $20 word, same as downtown.

Posted by: anachronda at February 20, 2026 05:23 PM (oY6Yp)

234 I homeschooled him for two semesters during covid. He read Shakespeare, did real math, and read Western Civ. He failed Western Civ, although he read the entire book and discussed at length with me. He was too lazy to do the homework, said the math took too long and he didn't have time left for history.

But he knows it.

------------

Sounds like he should be commenting here!

/Eagerly awaiting new commenter "son of tcn in AK."

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:23 PM (5FL4d)

235 229 How do you get around on the internet if you can't read. Does this woman get texts on her phone?
Posted by: Dr F'nstein at February 20, 2026 05:13 PM (vFG9F)
___

I guess she's functionally illiterate. Like a blind guy who can still kinda see.

Posted by: 15 Tiny Cities at February 20, 2026 05:24 PM (qUkBO)

236 And yes, I think "Scholastic" sponsored the Book Fairs, but I recall many different publishers.

I think I bought some "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from them, which I loved when I was a kid.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:21 PM (6ydKt)

That's it, the book fair, I loved that !

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:24 PM (S+j2h)

237 As did I.

Posted by: Nerds unite at February 20, 2026 05:23 PM (TbWk/)

I must've read 10 or 15 of those books over a few years.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:24 PM (6ydKt)

238 I call bullshit on the chick from Hartford. If you can't read or write, how could you take a simple test. Scammer.

Posted by: Indy Bill at February 20, 2026 05:24 PM (iTeaO)

239 Here's the stun gun

https://tinyurl.com/ym9b7bre

I guess it is discontinued.

Maybe I will have my wife stun me with it.
Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:22 PM (4NO2D)

Some guys pay good money for action like that.

Posted by: Count de Monet at February 20, 2026 05:24 PM (wVcYX)

240 I probably shouldn't store the stun gun in my Free Candy van, in case I get pulled over.

Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:25 PM (4NO2D)

241 Watching the scene from Mall Rats where the girl is talking about her filmed sex study. I remember back when it seemed outrageous and tittilating. Now, it seems pedestrian. Fucking hell.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:26 PM (zZu0s)

242 240 I probably shouldn't store the stun gun in my Free Candy van, in case I get pulled over.
Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:25 PM (4NO2D)

And leave the duct tape at home.

Posted by: Also the plastic sheeting at February 20, 2026 05:26 PM (TbWk/)

243 If they get the money being wasted by the education/industrial complex, they can do it (or pay for someone to do it).

-----

I agree, stop all government funding of education and eliminate taxes.

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 05:26 PM (RkOfE)

244 A Retard who needed two handlers to help him walk, graduated from high school with my son, going on two decades ago.

How many times was he voted homecoming queen? I don't know if they are still doing that but for a while it was always the downs syndrome girl who got voted homecoming queen because she was clearly the most beautiful, socially wonderful, academically capable, and representative girl in school.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:27 PM (PYyV9)

245 Here's the throwing star

https://tinyurl.com/2nx85pkr

I probably will email the sender and ask if he meant to send these.

Posted by: toby928(c) at February 20, 2026 05:27 PM (4NO2D)

246 The amount being reported by school districts as "spending per child per year" is total bullshit. This figure will normally be about 60% of what the actual total is. Expenditures that don't show up in infrastructure and pensions are hidden so that administrators can plead poverty and ask for more funding.

Posted by: jwest at February 20, 2026 05:27 PM (KtqtS)

247 I think I bought some "Choose Your Own Adventure" books from them, which I loved when I was a kid.

I wrote several of those. They are kind of a pain to design and you need to make the map really small.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:28 PM (PYyV9)

248 My son and school did not see eye to eye. He isn't stupid, although he is a bit of a bonehead. But most teachers just sort of ignored him and even when he failed a class they moved him up. Somebody else's problem.

But he knows it.

No idea why public schools could not figure out how to teach him anything, except for felonious levels of neglect.
Posted by: tcn in AK at February 20, 2026 05:19 PM (I40wl)

My mom taught us to read early just to give us something quiet to do. But it was interesting when interacting with kids who did not take well to schools that they could remember tens of thousands of stats and events about sports they were interested in, calculate batting averages and such, and one year where the spring break was moved to the aftermath of an ice storm and everyone came over and played Kingmaker, a game on the War of the Roses in the 1400s how everyone learned the geography, heraldry and locations of areas in Medieval England by heart.

Posted by: Oldcat at February 20, 2026 05:28 PM (8avO+)

249 I wrote several of those. They are kind of a pain to design and you need to make the map really small.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 20, 2026 05:28 PM (PYyV9)

That's cool though.
I may have read some of your work.

I imagine it's kind of like video game design/scripting these days.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at February 20, 2026 05:29 PM (6ydKt)

250 From PJ media

When California voters approved Proposition 64 in 2016, they were told cannabis tax revenue would fund youth substance abuse prevention. Six years and $370.25 million later, Rhetor's AI-powered forensic audit — conducted in partnership with CAL DOGE — reveals where that money actually went: into a sprawling network of 517 grants funding political organizing, voter registration drives and "social justice youth development," all administered by a single nonprofit intermediary most Californians have never heard of.

Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:29 PM (S+j2h)

251 244 A Retard who needed two handlers to help him walk, graduated from high school with my son, going on two decades ago.

How many times was he voted homecoming queen? I don't know if they are still doing that but for a while it was always the downs syndrome girl who got voted homecoming queen because she was clearly the most beautiful, socially wonderful, academically capable, and representative girl in school.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor

In my school, a "developmentally disabled" kid -- he didn't have Down's Syndrome, but he was just bone-stupid, and was totally utterly illiterate -- was given the "Student of the Year" award. When all the straight-A students complained and asked why, the principal said it was because "he NEEDED it most" to "boost his self-esteem."

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:30 PM (se8lQ)

252 I loved the local library book mobile that showed up once a month. I'd drag home 7 or 8 books every time

Posted by: Beartooth at February 20, 2026 05:31 PM (GGatE)

253 [snip]

Phonics were the key for her, she would still not be reading if it was sight word based.

Posted by: Piper at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (Wmg4n)

--------------

Few things boil my blood more than that "Whole Word Language" shit. It's a F*CKING DISGRACE that this crap wasn't laughed out of the idiotic hellhole from which it emerged.

My best friend in 10th grade moved away and I looked him up 25 years later. He had been the Principal at a rural school in Texas.

I told him my opinion on the horrors of having ignored the teaching of phonics -- at least three generations of illiterates cranked out of the public schools -- and he refused to agree with me and tried to cut the baby in half by rationalizing "that children needed to be taught both!"

Ugh. I lost much respect for him that day ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Algorithmic Racist, Semantic Ablationist, and Systematic Lobotomist at February 20, 2026 05:31 PM (5FL4d)

254 >>Watching the scene from Mall Rats where the girl is talking about her filmed sex study. I remember back when it seemed outrageous and tittilating. Now, it seems pedestrian. Fucking hell.

It's a Schooner!

Posted by: garrett at February 20, 2026 05:31 PM (1Udfd)

255 From PJ media

When California voters approved Proposition 64 in 2016, they were told cannabis tax revenue would fund youth substance abuse prevention. Six years and $370.25 million later, Rhetor's AI-powered forensic audit — conducted in partnership with CAL DOGE — reveals where that money actually went: into a sprawling network of 517 grants funding political organizing, voter registration drives and "social justice youth development," all administered by a single nonprofit intermediary most Californians have never heard of.
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway at February 20, 2026 05:29 PM (S+j2h)

Wait, I thought the LOTTO already paid for everything!!

some people never learn.

Posted by: Oldcat at February 20, 2026 05:32 PM (8avO+)

256 Phonics were the key for her, she would still not be reading if it was sight word based.

Posted by: Piper at February 20, 2026 05:09 PM (Wmg4n)

Nobody learns that way and ever has.

Posted by: Oldcat at February 20, 2026 05:32 PM (8avO+)

257 nood

pregers

Posted by: banana Dream at February 20, 2026 05:33 PM (3uBP9)

258 When all the straight-A students complained and asked why, the principal said it was because "he NEEDED it most" to "boost his self-esteem."
Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:30 PM (se8lQ)

Probably should have just bought a sheaf of gold star stickers and given him one every three days.
At least that way he would not be considered for HR or the C-Suite.

Posted by: Kindltot - I don't think this is a left-right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a du at February 20, 2026 05:33 PM (rbvCR)

259 I am assuming what you all mean by phonics is sounding out the words based on the letters and then teaching the exceptions?

I do not understand how they are supposed to get it the other way? I thought rote memorization was bad?

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:34 PM (zZu0s)

260 When California voters approved Proposition 64 in 2016, they were told cannabis tax revenue would fund youth substance abuse prevention. Six years and $370.25 million later, Rhetor's AI-powered forensic audit — conducted in partnership with CAL DOGE — reveals where that money actually went: into a sprawling network of 517 grants funding political organizing, voter registration drives and "social justice youth development," all administered by a single nonprofit intermediary most Californians have never heard of.
Posted by: Hatari somewhere on Ventura Highway

Sounds about right.

People have no idea just how royally fucked this state is. California's economy is bigger than 25 other states COMBINED, but 95% of our taxes are either stolen, wasted, squandered, or spent on communist garbage projects, with money being funneled to the most toxic "activists," revolutionaries and con artists in the state. In astronomical dollar amounts that would leave most states gasping in amazement.

Posted by: zombie at February 20, 2026 05:35 PM (se8lQ)

261 I bet the cigarette tax is better spent!

Posted by: Kindltot - This is not really a left-right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a dumba at February 20, 2026 05:35 PM (rbvCR)

262 I would get a wagon full of books each week once I learned how to read. Went through the entire library almost. I love reading.

Posted by: turambar at February 20, 2026 05:35 PM (Q0yOR)

263 Indy Bill surely you heard of Barack Obama who never took a test or wrote a paper

Posted by: Skip at February 20, 2026 05:36 PM (Ia/+0)

264 I do not understand how they are supposed to get it the other way? I thought rote memorization was bad?
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:34 PM (zZu0s)

Rote memorization is not a good thing in reading. You need some method to decipher the words to start with, and that is phonics. As we get better with phonic reading we can move to whole-word identification that requires memorization of the "shapes" of the words, but that is also fraught since we can flip and miss letters in our head. I had the darndest time with "place" and "palace" in grade school for example

Posted by: Kindltot - This is not a left-right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a dumbass. at February 20, 2026 05:38 PM (rbvCR)

265 by rationalizing "that children needed to be taught both!"

I learned to read before we had phonics, so phonics were like learning a different, though simple language just to please the test. In hindsight, I wish they'd taught us IPA so I could read all the stuff the Wikipedia pinheads post.

Posted by: t-bird at February 20, 2026 05:39 PM (LQ2H/)

266 I am assuming what you all mean by phonics is sounding out the words based on the letters and then teaching the exceptions?

I do not understand how they are supposed to get it the other way? I thought rote memorization was bad?
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at February 20, 2026 05:34 PM (zZu0s)

Its like trying to teach math without breaking up numbers into the individual columns. units, tens, hundreds, thousands. Too many combinations with no basic principles.

Posted by: Oldcat at February 20, 2026 05:40 PM (8avO+)

267 the "shapes" of the words, but that is also fraught since we can flip and miss letters in our head. I had the darndest time with "place" and "palace" in grade school for example
Posted by: Kindltot - This is not a left-right thing, I think we're all united in thinking she's a dumbass. at February 20, 2026 05:38 PM (rbvCR)

That isn't a huge problem since people surprisingly can read text where all but the first and last letters are scrambled almost perfectly

Posted by: Oldcat at February 20, 2026 05:41 PM (8avO+)

268 This is actually quite easy; I do not know why Republicans find this so difficult. Since the Republicans are in power now, you keep the DOE OPEN and change Marxist policies until Democrats are begging you to close it. Then, you double down and start mandating the teaching of how corrupt the Obama Administration and Pervert Epstein were. Parade the Marxist Corruption around every single Education student and future student. Make the teachers tell their students how the Democrats are Corrupt Perverts who like sex with kids their age.

Posted by: wferrin at February 20, 2026 05:44 PM (lCdHU)

269 I would love, love to go teach middle school or high school civics/government once I finish out my tech career. I have a degree in political science (yea lol I know) and spent years working on capitol hill and then in the tech space doing campaign finance. I feel like i have a lot I could impart to the young brains full of mush, but the barriers to entry to be a teacher are fucking retarded. Like Ace said, I have no interest in going back to school to get a degree in education which would be a comical waste of time and money.

Oh well.

Posted by: ballistic at February 20, 2026 05:44 PM (5aZAZ)

270 "Black fourth graders in Mississippi are on average better readers than those in Massachusetts, which is often thought to have the best public school system in the country (and one that spends twice as much per pupil)."

Um, question from the back, WHY is Massachusetts thought to be the "best in the country", exactly?

Posted by: The Whine Guy at February 20, 2026 05:47 PM (vOtXJ)

271 Want to improve schools?

Ditch degrees in "education". Everyone gets a degree in something useful, like math, physics, business, chemistry, etc. If you want to be a teacher, you take exactly two classes - classroom management and teaching methods. They just teach you the basics on how to manage the job. That's it.

Posted by: The Whine Guy at February 20, 2026 05:50 PM (vOtXJ)

272 but the barriers to entry to be a teacher are fucking retarded. Like Ace said, I have no interest in going back to school to get a degree in education which would be a comical waste of time and money.

Oh well.
Posted by: ballistic a

Wish I had seen this sooner, ballistic, home school groups would love to have your help!

Posted by: AmericanKestrel at February 20, 2026 08:07 PM (RkOfE)

273 Ace: Misspelling "illiterate"(as Illitarate) in your own headline... is that 4d chess?

Posted by: bradc at February 21, 2026 04:14 AM (3hcA3)

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