Will Hillsdale Control an Entire Florida School District?
School board moves to cede authority to Hillsdale-affiliated consultant
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A Florida school district is giving a tremendous amount of authority to a consultant affiliated with Hillsdale College.
This move could essentially give Hillsdale associates complete control over key operations of the school district.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports:
The district has posted for consideration next week two draft contracts with Vermilion Education, one for consulting services to the board and another for a "District Improvement Study" that would include a review of the district's textbooks, library books, lesson plans, assignments, professional development, collective bargaining agreements, strategic plan, discipline policies, transparency and parental access policies, among other aspects.
Under the consulting contract, Vermilion would examine proposed policies, programs, curriculum, and sit in on external candidate interviews for district administrative, support and classroom positions.
Vermilion Education has been in business for only three months. It is run by a former staff member at Hillsdale who helped author their 1776 curriculum.
Note the extensive authority Vermillion is granted - textbook review, policy review, and sitting in on interviews for both administrative and classroom positions.
Recall that Hillsdale’s President, Larry Arnn, has called for violent revolution to takeover America’s public schools:
It’s worth noting here that Hillsdale has five charter applications currently pending in Tennessee. Even if these applications are rejected by local school boards, Gov. Bill Lee’s State Charter Commission can override local decisions and force charters on these districts.
Lee suggested in his 2022 State of the State Address that he wants to partner with Hillsdale to open a network of charter schools in the state - as many as 50 Hillsdale-affiliated publicly-funded, private schools.
An analysis of Hillsdale’s charter applications indicates that if these five schools are approved, local taxpayers could be on the hook for a total increase of $35 million - or, roughly $7 million per district.
Two takeaways:
Hillsdale’s charters a financial drain for local districts
Hillsdale is relentless in their quest to advance a decidedly Christian Nationalist agenda
Do Tennessee’s Schools Need Tanks?
Following last week’s devastating school shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee’s top policymakers were predictably beholden to their NRA overlords.
There have been exactly zero serious suggestions from top leaders when it comes to addressing the risks of gun violence for our state’s schools.
However, House Majority Leader William Lamberth did suggest he’d be willing to support the funding required to place a tank in front of every single school in the state.
Sam Stockard in the Tennessee Lookout reports:
Yet lawmakers such as House Majority Leader William Lamberth say if it takes a parking a tank out in front of schools to protect children, that will be done.
This seems like an impractical solution - and one that avoids the issues of addressing guns, but the state DOES have a huge surplus. Perhaps $2 billion would buy a tank for each one of Tennessee’s K-12 schools?