Joshua Weishart

...Court use curricular opt-outs endorsed in Mahmoud v. Taylor to flood schools w/ more "religious freedom" claims? (more likely)

3. Will Court recognize hybrid parental rights-educational freedom claim to overcome state public health powers? (unlikely but could use Yoder to replace Smith, see #1)

Supreme Court Questions N.Y. Ban on Religious Exemptions for Vaccines

Case is littered w/ landmines, big 3 as I see it:

1. Could be vehicle for overturning Empl. Division v. Smith? (unlikely but 3 justices chomping at the bit, 2 justices inclined to follow, that's 5)

2. Having jackhammered the wall between church and school, will...

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/n...

Again, I'll say, no institution has done more with as much authority to subvert education rights than the United States Supreme Court.

Ah, remember when folks were telling us Mahmoud v. Taylor wasn't that bad, limited to a few curricular opt-outs, would be contained...

And it doesn't protect democratic rights because it is unrepresentative, insular, elitist, and largely insulated from accountability via democratic checks due to dysfunctions of its own making or contributions.

Supreme Court is a lost cause not because of its politics but because it is antidemocratic, not because it is countermajoritarian, but because it isn't countermajoritarian enough in protecting rights to democracy, it frequently tells us that's not the Court's job! Adjudicating politics seems to be.

Again, I'll say, no institution has done more with as much authority to subvert education rights than the United States Supreme Court.

...which is why addressing SCOTUS antidemocratic designs and tendencies should be part of a larger agenda
bsky.app/profile/josh...

...which is why addressing SCOTUS antidemocratic designs and tendencies should be part of a larger agenda
bsky.app/profile/josh...

I'll stick with my initial reaction: bsky.app/profile/josh...

Ah, remember when folks were telling us Mahmoud v. Taylor wasn't that bad, limited to a few curricular opt-outs, would be contained...

And it doesn't protect democratic rights because it is unrepresentative, insular, elitist, and largely insulated from accountability via democratic checks due to dysfunctions of its own making or contributions.

Supreme Court is a lost cause not because of its politics but because it is antidemocratic, not because it is countermajoritarian, but because it isn't countermajoritarian enough in protecting rights to democracy, it frequently tells us that's not the Court's job! Adjudicating politics seems to be.

Democratic education is possible. Media literacy and critical thinking is essential part of it. But the approach must be multifaceted, experiential, and integrated throughout the curriculum. We need better research & emancipatory vision, from Finland and others scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmborj/vol29...

Ancient Diabolical Tactic Explains Education Department’s “Dismantling” As legend has it from 5th Century BC China, King Goujian once put condemned convicts or suicidal soldiers on his frontlines, ordering them to slit their own throats in view of the approaching enemy.

Perhaps worth considering that "dismantling" is both the ruse and the caper
edlawprof.substack.com/p/ancient-di...

Funny how that works...but the post deserved it!

As Public As Possible: Radical Finance for America's Public Schools | David Backer Education expert David I. Backer argues for radically expanding the "public" in public schools. Discover a concrete set of policies to provide a truly public education for all, regardless of wealth an...

my book is officially out! you can get it here! www.aspublicaspossiblebook.com

As New Hampshire education freedom accounts double, percentage of low-income recipients drops • New Hampshire Bulletin New Hampshire’s education freedom account, or EFA, program has 10,510 students participating this year, nearly double the number last year, according to figures released by the Department of Education...

As New Hampshire education freedom accounts double, percentage of low-income recipients drops newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/12/03/a...

New Groundbreaking Report by National Center for Charter School Accountability - Support for charter schools has dropped dramatically, from 7 in 10 Americans in 2013 to 46% today. Part II of the Charter School Reckoning report explains why. networkforpubliceduc...

The tools v. technology take is spot on and it's not just human agency at stake but what it means to be distinctively human.

AI can be yet another way we dehumanize education.

Edu-Grift Key Readings The Business of Charter Schooling The Conversation: Charter schools exploit lucrative loophole that would be easy to close Are charter schools the second coming of Enron? Are we approa…

I'm consolidating my work on charter school financial dealings, including real-estate acquisition practices using taxpayer dollars in one place: schoolfinance101.com/edu-grift/

But honestly not amazing. Bc this is what the court has done for 50 years. And many liberal Justices obliged by endorsing doctrine that subjects both Jim Crow and its remedy (aka affirmative action) to a presumption of illegality.

bsky.app/profile/mjsd...

Framing of Black and Latinx School Closure in Redeveloping Hartford, Connecticut. Berkeley Review of Education, 13(1).

dx.doi.org/10.5070/B813...

The destabilization and the backlog of discrimination cases is part of the ruse and the caper of ED's "dismantling" as I explain here: edlawprof.substack.com

www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Then there are tons of bots

Organized Abandonment: How Attacks on Public Systems Are Harming Parents and Children Thanksgiving is a holiday rooted – at least aspirationally – in family, community, gratitude, and shared commitment.

brucelesley.substack.com/p/organized-...