NPR ran a story this morning entitled, “Florida Charter Schools Failing Disabled Students.” From the headline, you might guess that disabled students in charter schools were showing poor test results, perhaps as a result of neglect. You might also draw the conclusion–one favored by the teachers’ unions at the core of the Democrat political machine, whose interests NPR promotes–that public schools are doing a better job.

NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya visits a Florida charter school for children with special needs (Source: jpmontoya.com)

In fact, the story is not about “failing” performance, but about access. The vast majority of charter schools in Florida do not have disabled students–and that’s no surprise, given the fact that charter schools are still a new phenomenon, opposed by teachers’ unions and Democrat politicians at almost every turn. The NPR story, produced in cooperation with a hostile Miami Herald investigation, admits that the primary problem is funding, and that many traditional public schools do not enroll students with disabilities:

Even in the traditional public schools, not every school is expected to provide every service. About half don’t serve a single child with a severe disability. Instead, they’re sent to neighboring schools with specialized programs.

That does not stop NPR from accusing the Florida charter schools of “segregation,” which the story explicitly–and erroneously–compares to racial and gender segregation. (more…)

**Link fixed**

For years, the left has informed us that the right is interested in shutting down scientific inquiry.  As President Obama put it:

Our government [under President Bush] has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values … [P]romoting science isn’t just about providing resources – it is also about protecting free and open inquiry. It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it’s inconvenient – especially when it’s inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda – and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology.

Of course, the fact is that the left is most interested in curbing science when that science conflicts with political correctness.  From comprehensive sex ed for teenagers (which ignores brain science demonstrating that teens are essentially incapable of regulating risky behavior even when given information about it) to global warming (which apparently causes earthquakes according to vagina expert Eve Ensler) to abortion (in which the actual biological development of fetuses is ignored in favor of niceties about cell clusters) to gay marriage (where leftists idiotically state that men and women are gender constructs), the left is constantly shutting down science in the name of ideology. (more…)

“America must always stand on the side of human dignity.” – President Barack Obama

I would like to thank the mainstream media for remembering Gao Zhisheng. One should give credit where credit is due, and in this case, it is well-deserved.

On February 4, 2009, Gao Zhisheng was abducted by the Chinese government. He has not been heard from since.

Mr. Gao is an attorney. According to The Economist, he is “one of China’s ten best lawyers.” He is also a Christian who has represented those persecuted by the Chinese government. His wife writes in the Washington Post that “he fought for those abused by the police, those who had their land stolen by the government and those who were persecuted for their religious beliefs.”

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