Mica Pollock

Universities Must Reject Trump Admin 'Loyalty Oath' Compacts The AAUP and AFT warn that the Trump administration’s offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities that court government favor in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological...

The Trump admin’s offer to give preferential treatment to institutions that toe the party line reeks of bribery in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda.

This is corruption.

Adherence to ‘loyalty oaths’ would usher in a new era of thought policing in American higher education.

Class is in session.

Fun fact about disinformation: In order to change actions, you don't always have to convince someone something is wrong. You might just have to convince someone that something might not be right.

The friction of uncertainty can stop someone in their tracks.

Email to 6th-grade teachers in Leander ISD that reads: Dear 6th Grade ELA Team, I want to share an Important update regarding some of the texts in our book club and whole-class reading collections. In response to new legislation outlined in Senate Bill 12 (89th Legislature), we have conducted a review of titles currently used in secondary ELA instruction. Because SB 12 prohibits specific types of content, several of our resources now require additional review. Effective immediately, please pause the use of the identified texts (linked below) in instruction and assignments until further notice. This step is necessary to ensure our curriculum remains in full compliance with the law. I want to emphasize that these books are not being permanently removed. They are simply on hold while we seek additional guidance from TASB and TEA regarding the implications of SB 12 for instructional resources. Once we receive that guidance, we will provide clear updates about next steps. Additionally, if these books are included in your own personal classroom library, we request that you remove them since personal classroom libraries are considered instructional resources. I know this timing is far from ideal and may present challenges, especially given the thoughtful preparation you have invested in building engaging reading experiences for students. Please know that our commitment to offering students a wide range of meaningful opportunities for choice reading and discussion remains unchanged. Thank you for your flexibility, professionalism, and continued dedication to our students as we navigate this process together. 6th grade ELAR Resources With appreciation,

List of 40 books removed from classes. Includes To Kill a Mockingbird, The House on Mango Street, The Fire Next Time, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and, weirdly, Les Miserables.

I need help getting this CRAZY censorship story out!

Last week, admins in Leander ISD emailed teachers telling them to “pause” use of 40 books relating to “DEI” that had previously been curriculum or choice reading activities.

Included on the list? To Kill a Mockingbird. #bookbans #booksky

We've worked for a long time on our definition of "hate" and our call for "anti-hate" messaging in #USvsHate.

See what you think at USvsHate.org/about/. Then encourage youth you know to submit their take by February 27, this year's single deadline. Join us!

The article lists grants “quietly” canceled. I think it’s crucial to not simply let grants supporting K12 get canceled in silence. So, while it’s painful to read each of these, I think it’s crucial to know about them & to spread the word on education opportunities being taken from young people.

Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...

NEW: Federal funding for organizations that help students with hearing and vision loss across eight states will stop at the end of the month, according to letters sent by a top Education Dept. official and obtained by ProPublica.

By @jodiscohen.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social

BOOM💥💥💥

Demetre Daskalakis was a key figure in the Covid, mpox, and bird flu responses. This is a huge loss.

Im going to cry there was a line of teachers with signs that said "You've got this" outside my metro station cheering every kid when they got off the escalator 😭

Photo of armed customs and border patrol agents and cars on the plaza in front of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

We are outraged and deeply distressed that armed federal agents came onto our campus—making arrests on the very ground where, in 1942, Japanese American families were forced to board buses bound for concentration camps. It was a deliberate act of provocation and intimidation.

REPORTER: President Putin, will you stop killing civilians?

PUTIN: *taps ear*

I signed. Jewish UC faculty, students, staff, alums: please consider signing too.

sites.google.com/view/jewsforuc "We, Jewish members of the University of California community, express our shock at the Trump Administration’s threatened imposition of a $1 billion fine against UCLA in the name of protecting Jews... we stand together now in defense of the University of California."

Reposted w/correct numbers!

Whatever you’ve been doing, STOP & LISTEN (read). This is happening on our soil in our name paid for with our tax dollars.
Every one of us should call our House members & Senators. 202-224-3121
And flood the call lines to Gov. DeSantis’ office: 850-717-9337

Stand Up for UC We must stand together to protect our students, staff, faculty and our mission.

The federal government’s $1B demand would devastate the nation’s top public research university system, take tax dollars and education access from the state’s students, cut off life-saving care, and halt tech and economic growth. #StandUpForUC bit.ly/standuc

“On July 31, 2025, the Trump administration suspended roughly eight hundred federal research grants to UCLA scholars totaling over $339 million. The UCLA Faculty Association has responded to this malicious attack by circulating this open letter.” Sign and circulate.

tinyurl.com/ucstandup

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

Crucial letter from UCLA colleagues. “We welcome signatures from everyone (at all institutions) who cares about the future of the University of California and the future of higher education! Please forward this letter widely” sites.google.com/view/ucstand...

BREAKING: We're suing ICE for unlawfully targeting and arresting people who show up to court for their immigration hearings.

As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors (and daughter of a post-war refugee), prevention of human rights violation has driven everything I do.

My grandparents and mother would never have wanted this violence against Palestinian civilians to persist in their name.

As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities | Open letter Within weeks, 400 colleagues joined our organization. We say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now

Taner Akçam, Marianne Hirsch, and I introduce the Genocide and Holocaust Studies Crisis Network and call for immediate concrete measures to prevent further atrocity crimes and to protect civilians in Gaza.

The Lancet's July 19, 2025 Editorial in full. Copyright: 2025 Elsevier Ltd.

“US health policy: the Senate must act”—our latest Editorial.

Read here: tinyurl.com/3wb3vxyu

WGA statement on Paramount’s decision to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

We’re only halfway through 2025 – and already, extreme weather has torn through communities worldwide.

Meanwhile… Trump and the GOP have killed clean energy incentives and given tax breaks to coal.

Our planet is burning, and they are fueling the fire.

I want to be clear: this is what American prisons are like.

I spent years posting about the humanitarian crisis in U.S. prisons. The criminal legal system consigns Americans who are incarcerated to live like this FOR YEARS. DECADES.

Here we go again: Over an acerbic dissenting opinion by Justice Sotomayor (joined in full by Justices Kagan and Jackson), #SCOTUS, with no explanation, grants a stay in the Department of Education RIFs case—effectively clearing the way for the Trump administration to dismantle much of the agency:

“These detainees are living in cages. The pictures you have seen don't do it justice. They are essentially packed into cages. 34 detainees per cage.”

Exclusive: Hundreds at Alligator Alcatraz have no criminal charges, Miami Herald learns Descriptions of the Everglades detention center as a place for violent criminals tell only part of the story.

250 people detained in the Florida Everglades have no criminal convictions or pending charges.

Yeah, like I said. Racial profiling is not legal just cause you wanna do it.