Author: Editor

Teachers across the country protest laws restricting lessons on racismOn May 24, Tennessee approved a law that intimidates teachers into lying to students about the role of racism, sexism, and oppression throughout U.S. history. As a part of a national day of action against similar laws being proposed in states nationwide, we’ll walk downtown Memphis to highlight historical markers that describe events in Memphis history that teachers would be forced to lie or omit facts about to ensure compliance with the new law. Overall, the law brings the state government into our classrooms to restrict the ways teachers can discuss race, sexism, and oppression in American history. The law uses vague language to ban teachers from talking about racial/social privilege and responsibility for the effects ...

Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school to support a gambling habit and to pay for other personal expenses. Sister Mary Margaret was charged on Tuesday with wire fraud and money laundering while she was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., the office of the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California said in a statement. She is scheduled to appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. Sister Mary Margaret admitted to a “fraudulent scheme” in which she “lulled St. James School and the adm...

Colorado Bans Legacy Admission iStockLast month, Colorado became the first state in the nation to ban the consideration of a student’s legacy status in the admission process. The new law applies to Colorado’s public colleges and is aimed at reducing economic and racial disparities within higher education. “As a first-generation college student raised by a single mom, I can remember the anxiety I felt filling out the college application when they asked if I had family that had attended the institution,” Colorado state Rep. Kyle Mullica told CNN. “I remember wondering if I said ‘no’ if it would hurt my chance at getting in,” noted Mullica, one of the bill’s sponsors. “With House Bill 1173 we are making sure students get into school based on merit and their hard work, and not their family re...