Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
@adamlaats.bsky.social
US Historian at Binghamton U. Columbo fan. Books about schools, religion, conservatism. Now writing about the roots of US public schools, c. 1790-1860. adamlaats.net
Pinned
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Federal Judge Orders Some Texas Schools to Remove Ten Commandment Posters
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Gift link:
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
My statement on McMahon's plan to dismember the U.S. Department of Education.
www.newamerica.org/education-po...
www.newamerica.org/education-po...
November 18, 2025 at 6:02 PM
My statement on McMahon's plan to dismember the U.S. Department of Education.
www.newamerica.org/education-po...
www.newamerica.org/education-po...
It's MAGA in a nutshell: Dangerous and just plain dumb.
Here's the snippet from the standards:
Here's the snippet from the standards:
November 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM
It's MAGA in a nutshell: Dangerous and just plain dumb.
Here's the snippet from the standards:
Here's the snippet from the standards:
Thanks to @clintsmithiii.bsky.social for this important story.
My students, too, didn't start with "guilt" or "anguish" when they heard real history.
Instead they started with boredom when they heard only the same old watered-down BS.
Students not only deserve the truth....they demand it.
My students, too, didn't start with "guilt" or "anguish" when they heard real history.
Instead they started with boredom when they heard only the same old watered-down BS.
Students not only deserve the truth....they demand it.
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Thanks to @clintsmithiii.bsky.social for this important story.
My students, too, didn't start with "guilt" or "anguish" when they heard real history.
Instead they started with boredom when they heard only the same old watered-down BS.
Students not only deserve the truth....they demand it.
My students, too, didn't start with "guilt" or "anguish" when they heard real history.
Instead they started with boredom when they heard only the same old watered-down BS.
Students not only deserve the truth....they demand it.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Please read Peter's take on Heritage's FL-devouring "principles."
They are trying to prevent schools from showing children the real world, including
1.) not every patriotic American is white n Christian;
2.) it's more than okay to be gay;
3.) the science of evolution and climate change is solid.
They are trying to prevent schools from showing children the real world, including
1.) not every patriotic American is white n Christian;
2.) it's more than okay to be gay;
3.) the science of evolution and climate change is solid.
I've been reposting this one a lot lately.
curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2025/03/more...
curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2025/03/more...
More Culture Panic From Heritage Foundation
The slightly-cranky voice navigating the world of educational "reform" while trying to still pursue the mission of providing quality education.
curmudgucation.blogspot.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Please read Peter's take on Heritage's FL-devouring "principles."
They are trying to prevent schools from showing children the real world, including
1.) not every patriotic American is white n Christian;
2.) it's more than okay to be gay;
3.) the science of evolution and climate change is solid.
They are trying to prevent schools from showing children the real world, including
1.) not every patriotic American is white n Christian;
2.) it's more than okay to be gay;
3.) the science of evolution and climate change is solid.
Rule #1: States should not outsource their guiding education principles to anyone.
Rule #2: When the Heritage Foundation is pals with groypers like Nick Fuentes, we should not let them anywhere near our children.
Rule #2: When the Heritage Foundation is pals with groypers like Nick Fuentes, we should not let them anywhere near our children.
This should alarm everyone.
On Thursday, Florida, by unanimous vote, became the first state in the country to adopt “The Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
It was written by the Heritage Foundation, the same group behind Project 2025.
THIS IS INDOCTRINATION
On Thursday, Florida, by unanimous vote, became the first state in the country to adopt “The Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
It was written by the Heritage Foundation, the same group behind Project 2025.
THIS IS INDOCTRINATION
November 17, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Rule #1: States should not outsource their guiding education principles to anyone.
Rule #2: When the Heritage Foundation is pals with groypers like Nick Fuentes, we should not let them anywhere near our children.
Rule #2: When the Heritage Foundation is pals with groypers like Nick Fuentes, we should not let them anywhere near our children.
I was happy to be on the shortlist for the Hampel Outstanding Book Award from the History of Ed Society.
The book looks at the original sin of public schooling: Thinking that a hi-tech shortcut can replace teachers on the cheap.
Want a copy? Take 40% off with the code HHOL25.
The book looks at the original sin of public schooling: Thinking that a hi-tech shortcut can replace teachers on the cheap.
Want a copy? Take 40% off with the code HHOL25.
Mr. Lancaster's System
The Failed Reform That Created America's Public Schools
www.press.jhu.edu
November 17, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I was happy to be on the shortlist for the Hampel Outstanding Book Award from the History of Ed Society.
The book looks at the original sin of public schooling: Thinking that a hi-tech shortcut can replace teachers on the cheap.
Want a copy? Take 40% off with the code HHOL25.
The book looks at the original sin of public schooling: Thinking that a hi-tech shortcut can replace teachers on the cheap.
Want a copy? Take 40% off with the code HHOL25.
It's a big deal. Florida has swallowed whole the Bill-Bennett-warmed-over school principles of the Heritage Foundation.
But here's the thing: The "Phoenix Declaration" wants to ban climate-change science, but its wording leaves plenty of room to ban denialism.
www.fldoe.org/newsroom/lat...
But here's the thing: The "Phoenix Declaration" wants to ban climate-change science, but its wording leaves plenty of room to ban denialism.
www.fldoe.org/newsroom/lat...
November 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
It's a big deal. Florida has swallowed whole the Bill-Bennett-warmed-over school principles of the Heritage Foundation.
But here's the thing: The "Phoenix Declaration" wants to ban climate-change science, but its wording leaves plenty of room to ban denialism.
www.fldoe.org/newsroom/lat...
But here's the thing: The "Phoenix Declaration" wants to ban climate-change science, but its wording leaves plenty of room to ban denialism.
www.fldoe.org/newsroom/lat...
In case you missed this one:
@vauhinivara.bsky.social looked deeper than the usual at AI in schools.
For sure, AI can do some good things, but I get skeeved when billionaires hope to make more billions pushing anything on children.
@vauhinivara.bsky.social looked deeper than the usual at AI in schools.
For sure, AI can do some good things, but I get skeeved when billionaires hope to make more billions pushing anything on children.
How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids’ Classrooms
Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?
www.bloomberg.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:21 PM
In case you missed this one:
@vauhinivara.bsky.social looked deeper than the usual at AI in schools.
For sure, AI can do some good things, but I get skeeved when billionaires hope to make more billions pushing anything on children.
@vauhinivara.bsky.social looked deeper than the usual at AI in schools.
For sure, AI can do some good things, but I get skeeved when billionaires hope to make more billions pushing anything on children.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Schools in England have become testing sites for AI. I know it's common to say education is now an experimental lab for AI, but in England it's more methodologically true. 3 examples of escalating seriousness and an explanation coming up 🧵
November 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Schools in England have become testing sites for AI. I know it's common to say education is now an experimental lab for AI, but in England it's more methodologically true. 3 examples of escalating seriousness and an explanation coming up 🧵
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Nnnnnnnnnope.
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
In Explaining His Gaffe, Heritage Foundation Leader Pleads Ignorance
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Nnnnnnnnnope.
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
The terrible "Compact" gets all the attention, but this drive for a new accreditor has huuuuge implications for the future of higher ed.
It me, again on the new “state run” accreditor for higher education
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
10 Universities Seek Recognition by a New Accreditor
The Commission for Public Higher Education has received letters of intent from colleges in four Southern states as it works toward federal approval and rebuts allegations of partisanship.
www.insidehighered.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
The terrible "Compact" gets all the attention, but this drive for a new accreditor has huuuuge implications for the future of higher ed.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
It me, again on the new “state run” accreditor for higher education
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
10 Universities Seek Recognition by a New Accreditor
The Commission for Public Higher Education has received letters of intent from colleges in four Southern states as it works toward federal approval and rebuts allegations of partisanship.
www.insidehighered.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM
It me, again on the new “state run” accreditor for higher education
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
Nnnnnnnnnope.
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
In Explaining His Gaffe, Heritage Foundation Leader Pleads Ignorance
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Nnnnnnnnnope.
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
No conservative intellectual can say they just didn't think to distance themselves from their violent and racist right wing.
Since Buckley, that has been their whole thing.
[gift link:]
Huge news. Ever since SCOTUS tied on Oklahoma's religious public school, we knew ADF would find a new test case.
There's no question: a religious public school is against the Colorado AND US Constitution.
ADF is hoping SCOTUS will okay it anyway.
There's no question: a religious public school is against the Colorado AND US Constitution.
ADF is hoping SCOTUS will okay it anyway.
This is big news: Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group, has helped to seed a test case in Colorado over whether public schools can provide Christian education
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
Christian law firm sought Colorado test case for religious public schools, emails suggest
Alliance Defending Freedom approached a Colorado lawyer about starting a school in Colorado to spark a legal test of publicly funded religious education, according to an email authored by the lawyer.
www.chalkbeat.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Huge news. Ever since SCOTUS tied on Oklahoma's religious public school, we knew ADF would find a new test case.
There's no question: a religious public school is against the Colorado AND US Constitution.
ADF is hoping SCOTUS will okay it anyway.
There's no question: a religious public school is against the Colorado AND US Constitution.
ADF is hoping SCOTUS will okay it anyway.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
#skystorians - do you have a good intro/explainer text on the concept of the Noble Savage suitable for undergrads? Scanning my own library everything I have just skims it or take the concept for granted rather than acting as a 'first encounter with a concept' teaching source.
November 12, 2025 at 2:06 PM
#skystorians - do you have a good intro/explainer text on the concept of the Noble Savage suitable for undergrads? Scanning my own library everything I have just skims it or take the concept for granted rather than acting as a 'first encounter with a concept' teaching source.
Don't believe the hype about plunging college admissions and soaring tuition costs. It ain't so.
(...and please don't listen to Ivy-League grads like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Dinesh D'Souza, and Elise Stefanik when they tell you that top colleges are leftist brainwashers.)
(...and please don't listen to Ivy-League grads like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Dinesh D'Souza, and Elise Stefanik when they tell you that top colleges are leftist brainwashers.)
Is college enrollment plummeting?
Reports of the death of the bachelor’s degree have been greatly exaggerated.
www.chalkbeat.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Don't believe the hype about plunging college admissions and soaring tuition costs. It ain't so.
(...and please don't listen to Ivy-League grads like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Dinesh D'Souza, and Elise Stefanik when they tell you that top colleges are leftist brainwashers.)
(...and please don't listen to Ivy-League grads like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Dinesh D'Souza, and Elise Stefanik when they tell you that top colleges are leftist brainwashers.)
Cheers for continuing the 100-year-old tradition. When they came for UNC in 1925, President Harry Chase fought them hard in the halls of the state legislature and the pages of state newspapers.
Chase won by convincing NC that they valued a "real" university.
Chase won by convincing NC that they valued a "real" university.
November 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Cheers for continuing the 100-year-old tradition. When they came for UNC in 1925, President Harry Chase fought them hard in the halls of the state legislature and the pages of state newspapers.
Chase won by convincing NC that they valued a "real" university.
Chase won by convincing NC that they valued a "real" university.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Popular discourse attributes falling college enrollments to the rising cost of four-year college.
That story is wrong in multiple ways, as @mattbarnum.bsky.social points out in his latest roundup of the evidence (citing a new working paper of ours):
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/11/i...
That story is wrong in multiple ways, as @mattbarnum.bsky.social points out in his latest roundup of the evidence (citing a new working paper of ours):
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/11/i...
Is college enrollment plummeting?
Reports of the death of the bachelor’s degree have been greatly exaggerated.
www.chalkbeat.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Popular discourse attributes falling college enrollments to the rising cost of four-year college.
That story is wrong in multiple ways, as @mattbarnum.bsky.social points out in his latest roundup of the evidence (citing a new working paper of ours):
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/11/i...
That story is wrong in multiple ways, as @mattbarnum.bsky.social points out in his latest roundup of the evidence (citing a new working paper of ours):
www.chalkbeat.org/2025/11/11/i...
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Many of us have been saying phones are not the primary issue. Devices are.
"In the survey, which included respondents from 40 states and Washington, D.C., nearly three-fourths of teachers who use devices in their classrooms said they distract from student learning and engagement in class."
"In the survey, which included respondents from 40 states and Washington, D.C., nearly three-fourths of teachers who use devices in their classrooms said they distract from student learning and engagement in class."
November 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Many of us have been saying phones are not the primary issue. Devices are.
"In the survey, which included respondents from 40 states and Washington, D.C., nearly three-fourths of teachers who use devices in their classrooms said they distract from student learning and engagement in class."
"In the survey, which included respondents from 40 states and Washington, D.C., nearly three-fourths of teachers who use devices in their classrooms said they distract from student learning and engagement in class."
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
In these fraught times, we need spaces & communities of our own, that we can make what we want & use to support each other & our work. &, yes, to avoid Nazis as much as possible. That's why we left Substack, & why @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social worked so hard on our new website. So+🗃️
blackwhiteandread.com
blackwhiteandread.com
Black and White and Read All Over
Where Scholarship Meets the Public
blackwhiteandread.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:40 PM
In these fraught times, we need spaces & communities of our own, that we can make what we want & use to support each other & our work. &, yes, to avoid Nazis as much as possible. That's why we left Substack, & why @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social worked so hard on our new website. So+🗃️
blackwhiteandread.com
blackwhiteandread.com
Gift link:
Supreme Court Denies Request to Revisit Same-Sex Marriage Decision
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Gift link:
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...
How Politics Is Changing the Way History Is Taught
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...