Education Report Spring 2022
By Jen Wooldridge
Massive Drop in Public School Enrollment
Since the start of the pandemic, public schools have seen a massive drop in enrollment by more than 1.5 million students.1 Contention over masks and vaccine mandates along with disputes over how best to address racism and equality in schools2 has led to more parents opting to homeschool or place their children in private schools. The number of homeschooling families doubled by the start of the 2020-2021 school year, increasing to 11.1 percent compared to 5.4 percent of the prior year.3
Student Ranks Near Top Half of Class with 0.13 GPA
Tiffany France, a Baltimore City mother, learned her seventeen-year-old son had a 0.13 GPA and must start over as transcripts show he passed three classes in four years. Chris Papst (WBFF) reports: “She thought her oldest son was doing well because even though he failed most of his classes, he was being promoted. . . . As we dig deeper into her son’s records, we can see in his first three years at Augusta Fells, he failed 22 classes and was late or absent 272 days. But in those three years, only one teacher requested a parent conference, which France says never happened. No one from the school told France her son was failing and not going to class.”4
Zero Students Proficient in Math and English at Six Schools
An investigation by Project Baltimore has discovered that not one student passed state proficiency tests in math and English in six Baltimore City schools.5 “185 students [at Frederick Douglass High School] took the state math test last year and 89 percent fell into the lowest level,” Chris Papst (WBFF) reports.
High School Teacher Admits Communist Indoctrination of Students A Project Veritas undercover project has revealed what California students are learning from their AP Government teacher.6 In the video, we see Gabriel Gipe making these shocking admissions: “I have 180 days to turn them [students] into revolutionaries. . . . I have an Antifa flag on my [classroom] wall and a student complained about that—he said it made him feel uncomfortable. Well, this [Antifa flag] is meant to make fascists feel uncomfortable, so if you feel uncomfortable, I don’t really know what to tell you. Maybe you shouldn’t be aligning with the values that this [Antifa flag] is antithetical to. . . . There are three other teachers in my department that I did my credential program with—and they’re rad. They’re great people. They’re definitely on the same page.” KCRA 3 Investigates obtained photos from a parent whose child was enrolled in Gipe’s AP Government class of assignments stamped with the face of Kim Jong-Un.7
BJU Launches Center for Biblical Worldview
Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, has launched a new Center for Biblical Worldview. “We need some intentional work done in biblical worldview because of what is going on in our world today,” says Dr. Renton Rathbun, director of the program.8 BJU’s website says about the program: “The CBW is comprised of faculty members who meet to discuss how to integrate a biblical worldview into the divisions they oversee and the classes they teach.”
1. Carter Evans, “Public schools have seen a massive drop in enrollment since the start of the pandemic,” CBS News, Aug. 25, 2021, https://cbsnews.com/news/public-schools-enrollment-drop-pandemic.
2. Bill Brewer, “I’m a Black Veteran, and I’m Fighting Critical Race Theory in My District,” The Daily Signal, Aug. 20, 2021, https://dailysignal.com/2021/08/20/im-a-black-veteran-and-im-fighting-critical-race-theory-in-my-district.
3. Casey Eggleston & Jason Fields, “Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey Shows Significant Increase in Homeschooling Rates in Fall 2020,” U.S. Census Bureau, Mar. 22, 2021, https://census.gov/library/stories/2021/03/homeschooling-on-the-rise-during-covid-19-pandemic.html.
4. Chris Papst, “City student passes 3 classes in four years, ranks near top half of class with 0.13 GPA,” WBFF FOX 45, Mar. 2, 2021, https://foxbaltimore.com/amp/news/project-baltimore/city-student-passes-3-classes-in-four-years-ranks-near-top-half-of-class-with-013-gpa.
5. Chris Papst, “6 Baltimore schools, no students proficient in state tests,” WBFF FOX 45, May 17, 2017, https://foxbaltimore.com/news/project-baltimore/6-baltimore-schools-no-students-proficient-in-state-tests.
6. “BREAKING: Pro-Antifa High School Teacher in California Admits Communist Indoctrination of Students,” Project Veritas, Aug. 31, 2021, https://projectveritas.com/news/breaking-pro-antifa-high-school-teacher-in-california-admits-communist.
7. “Inside the Inderkum High School teacher's politically charged classroom,” KCRA CHANNEL 3, Sept. 3, 2021, https://.kcra.com/article/inside-inderkum-high-school-teachers-politically-charged-classroom/37468588#.
8. Katie French, “Rathbun Reveals Goals of Center for Biblical Worldview,” BJUtoday, Sept. 24, 2021, https://today.bju.edu/perspective/rathbun-reveals-goals-of-center-for-biblical-worldview.