Please Support House Bill 4147 And Radically Change Our Public Schools

Saturday , 14, February 2015 Up North Progressive Section 16 Leave a comment

Every week, the Up North Progressive’s email inbox receives a list of bills introduced to the Michigan state legislature. This week, the Michigan House wants to make teaching Reading, Writing, and Math illegal with HB 4143. They also don’t want Michigan schools teaching Science either. The Michigan House also believes they need to tell women who work for the state what they can do with their bodies. There are the bills that deal with guns (too many to count) … and then there is the rare gem embedded in the schist. This week, that gem is House Bill 4147.

This bill, co-introduced by a long list of house reps, including Tom Hooker, Lee Chatfield, and Joel Johnson, would make it law that a public school shall ensure:

That the public school does not discriminate against a pupil or a pupil’s parent or legal guardian on the basis of religious viewpoint or religious expression.

Isn’t that already happening in public schools? But wait, there is also this:

A pupil may express his or her belief about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of the pupil’s submission.

That homework and classroom assignments are judged only by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the public school.

Wait, they’re not suggesting …

That a pupil or group of pupils in a public school may pray or engage in religious activities or religious expression before, during and after the school day in the same manner and to the same extent that pupils may engage in nonreligious activities or expression.

Pupils may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, see you at the pole gatherings or other religious gatherings before, during and after school to the same extent that pupils are permitted to organize other noncurricular pupil activities and groups.

Religious groups are given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to noncurricular groups without discrimination based on religious content …

And it goes on and on. Essentially, if a student, without discrimination, wants to pray, form a religious group, and use religious expression in their homework, they can. This bill covers everything, including jewelry and clothing, speaking at public events, providing facilities, and even school ceremonies such as graduation. The only caveat is the student can’t be vulgar, use profanity, or do anything lewd.

This is amazing, it’s incredible. This astonishing document of religious tolerance and freedom blows my mind. Let’s indulge ourselves and imagine what a typical day at school would be like if this bill had a snowball’s chance of ever becoming law.

The morning prayer at the flagpole begins when the first student group arrives. It’s become a race to be the first to pray for their deity at school. Today, the Pastafarians wear colanders on their heads and full pirate regalia. With a loud “RAMEN,” they head into the school to start their day. The Wiccan Coven, an organized school club, has just finished its quarter calls—another group. Yoga enthusiasts are in the middle of the Sun Salutation with their mats rolled out on the lawn. Christians hold hands in a circle while a group of Jewish students also pray nearby. Sufis, Sikhs, and Satanists were all around the flagpole praying.

The halls are filled with religious expression everywhere you look. There are crosses, both upright and inverted. Pentacles, both upright and inverted. Stars of David, t-shirts with the name of Allah screen printed, and the Pastafarians wear their colanders and full pirate regalia. A Scientology student wears a bracelet with the symbol showing she is “clear.” Religious expression is all the rage now at school, and the students participate because they’re protected by state law.

A Hindu student dances in a fine arts appreciation class to glorify Krishna. In English, a Pastafarian reads a poem he just wrote expressing the joy of being touched by the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s noodly appendage. Shortly after lunch, the student body class president arrives to play the call to prayer over the PA system. Muslim students all head to a room designated for them to perform Dhuhr – the midday prayer. The bell rings, and a group of Wiccans stands outside of Chemistry class, raising a cone of power to help them pass a big exam. In Social Studies, a Satanist gives his oral presentation on the person who inspired Satanism’s core beliefs, Ayn Rand. The young Satanist provides an analysis of the Nine Satanic Statements and how they correlate to John Galt’s speech in Atlas Shrugged. That student will be class Valedictorian by the end of the week and make a speech at graduation, thanks to the new Limited Public Forum requirement included in House Bill 4147.

Friends, if there were ever a bill that needs support from the people, this is it. Please get in touch with your state rep today and let them know you want them to vote yes on House Bill 4147. Let’s make this happen; with all of the changes the state legislature wants to make to students using school to express their religious beliefs, it makes sense that they like to ban teaching all those other subjects. Who will have the time to do that?

Brighton Area Schools Say No To Battaglia’s ‘Life’s Passion’: And A Response From A Challenger About Hillsdale College Promoting Religious Schools

Wednesday , 11, February 2015 Up North Progressive Section 16 4 Comments

On Monday night in a 6 to 1 vote the Brighton Area Schools board decided not to charter Pasquale Battaglia’s Hillsdale College American “classical” academy. As the parents and concerned citizens of Brighton are relieved that their district won’t be responsible for allowing this school to open in their district, the people involved with the for-profit charter school insist they’re not defeated; now they’re looking for a university to authorize the school.

Battaglia’s twitter account has been very quiet lately. Perhaps he’s contemplating how his reprehensible online footprint may have had something to do with Brighton Area Schools turning him down?

After the last piece about Hillsdale College promoting religious schools through their outreach project, the Barney Initiative, A commenter insisted this blog was all wet claiming Hillsdale College was promoting religious schools paid for with taxpayer funds. What made the comments strange was the insistence there was no proof Hillsdale College was anything but a secular college, and made a comparison to Harvard University. They also suggested that public schools should be closed due to the “near continual instances of official corruption, child molestation, and statutory rape in the news.”

No proof? Large sections of text were quoted from Hillsdale’s own literature that they are a college based on Judeo-Christian ideology. How is that not proof?

The commenter lives in Leander, Texas, home to a Hillsdale College for-profit charter school called Founder’s Classical Academy. This for-profit charter school in Texas, like charter schools in Michigan, is maintained by a privately owned management company called ResponsiveEd, one of the largest third party managers in Texas with 65 for-profit charter schools. The CEO of ResponsiveEd is Chuck Cook.

ResponsiveEd has been criticized for the curriculum used in their schools. The science <a href=”http://web.archive.org/web/20140209124636/http://secondgiantleap.org/?attachment_id=151>curriculum teaches creationism is scientifically viable, that evolution is an untested theory with no evidence backing it, and even suggests more research needs to be done before anyone knows for sure if vaccines cause autism. There were numerous instances of incorrect history in the curriculum as well, including the New Deal didn’t help with the Depression and feminism led women “to turn to the state as a surrogate husband.”


Chuck Cook responded to these allegations in a long screed posted to an Arkansas newspaper comments section. He ranted about how his schools do teach evolution, along with alternate theories to the origins of the Earth, but that shouldn’t be a problem because we’re just telling students question what scientists say because they really don’t know the truth (what?). The long rant is mostly cut and paste from the heavily leaning to creationism theory curriculum, but there was a paragraph that shared some personal information:

As applied to me, according to Slate’s reasoning, ResponsiveEd must be incapable of meeting our contractual and legal obligations because I, as the CEO of the organization, am a professed Christian, attend church each week, have a degree in religion, have worked at a Christian rescue mission, and have worked at Accelerated Christian Education. Once again, the logic fails. I would suggest that the pertinent inquiry is ResponsiveEd’s actual operations, not the personal beliefs of some of our past and present associations.

Remember ACE? The insane Christian school model with campuses all over the world, turns the classroom into a cube farm where students never interact with each other, and teaches children to pray with and thank the adult who spanks them? Chuck Cook used to work for these people, and now he’s running charter schools that teach creationism as science. His management company rakes in $82 million taxpayers’ dollars every year to teach Christianity in a “public school.” ResponsiveEd can be connected to ACE; and partners with Hillsdale College to open charter schools in Texas.

But they’re not promoting religion at taxpayer expense. Chuck Cook’s LinkedIn profile also fails to mention he worked for ACE. Now why would a man who is a professed Christian, has a degree in religion, and worked at a Christian rescue mission not want to list that as professional experience?

ResponsiveEd currently has four charter schools operating in Arkansas with the help of the Walton Foundation. They are expanding. With Pasquale Battaglia’s ‘life’s passion’ to open six of these charter schools teaching creationism and revisionist history, it’s not possible to sit back and think we’re done putting an end to the spread of schools teaching religion for science and the bible as an original source document for historical research, and making a profit from our tax dollars while they do it.

Journalist Of The Year Jennifer Dixon Brings Steve Ingersoll To The Detroit Free Press

Monday , 9, February 2015 Up North Progressive Dr. Ingersoll, Section 16, Uncategorized Leave a comment

Detroit Free Press investigative reporter Jennifer Dixon this week was honored as Michigan’s first Journalist of the year for her excellent eight-part series on for-profit charter schools in the state. She highly deserves this recognition, especially with her continued dedication to expose corporate reform of our public schools. Dixon this week reported on someone who’s been written about extensively at Up North Progressive, Dr. Steve Ingersoll. Her article is spot on and gets into the meat of the problem with for-profit charter schools and the fraud so many of them perpetuate. To say that corporate ed reform puts kids first in education is abusive.

Ingersoll’s getting much-deserved press thanks to his federal felony fraud trial starting on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 in Bay City, Michigan. Miss Fortune promises to provide frequent reports of all of the grisly details, just the way we like it. It might be a good idea to bookmark her blog right now.

Plenty of pre-trial shenanigans have gone on leading up to the big day. Roy Bradley was found guilty on four counts of removing asbestos from a church being converted into a school building. He hired a lawyer he said he couldn’t afford, which is why he had a court-appointed lawyer, and had Gayle Ingersoll ambush witnesses leaving the courthouse with subpoenas from the lawyer who wasn’t even the attorney representing the defense at the trial. The judge told Ingersoll, his brother and Bradley to leave the witnesses for the prosecution alone, But Ingersoll said he couldn’t do that because those witnesses were his friends and business associates. The judge told him to he would just have to do that anyway. Or else.

And the trial hasn’t even started yet.

Keep an eye on Miss Fortune’s excellent blog. Up North Progressive will also post updates.

Canadian Limestone Producer Moving Forward Buying 10,000 Acres of Upper Peninsula Public Land

Sunday , 8, February 2015 Up North Progressive DNR, Environment 19 Comments

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced yesterday they received a revised land purchase proposal from Canadian mining company Graymont Incorporated. The company wants to purchase more than 10,000 acres of public land in the Upper Peninsula to mine limestone in three locations. The proposal has only one change from the original one submitted – a raise in the amount of money paid to the state for each ton of limestone. The land being considered for sale is in Mackinac county near the town of Rexton.

The new offer of payment per ton is 30 cents. The original amount offered in their January 2015 proposal was 18.75 cents per ton. The mining company has also offered to set up an economic development fund for the local community to provide funds for schools, governments, and small business. Another proposal from Graymont under consideration would exchange land from the parcel Graymont wants to purchase with land from the Hiawatha National Forest. The entire operation would impact Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac counties.

The issue that has many people concerned is the 10,000 acres being considered is state forest land that doesn’t fall under any of the criteria the DNR set for selling public land, according to the Michigan Sierra Club. The 10,000 parcel is forest land with wetlands, trailways, and full of wildlife. The British Columbia-based company wants to utilize both open pit and underground mines in what is essentially premium forest land in Northern Michigan.

Another problem with the proposal is the Canadian company has given no numbers on how many jobs the quarry could potentially produce for the region, despite promises there would be good-paying, long-term jobs.

On January 15, six DNR division heads urged Keith Creagh, Director of the agency to reject Gravemont’s proposal. State Senator Tom Casperson of Escanaba has been supporting Graymont in their interest to buy the land. Casperson believes the state owns too much land and needs to sell it to private business.

Director Creagh will be holding a meeting on the proposals on February 12, but he won’t make a final decision on the proposals until March 19. The public has until then to voice their opinions on this sale, and voice concerns about the destruction of pristine state and federal-owned forest land in the Upper Peninsula. You can write to Keith Creagh by email at DNRGraymontProposalComments@michigan.gov or mail a comment to Customer Service Center, ATTN: Kerry Wieber, 8717 N. Roscommon Road, Roscommon, MI 48653. All comments will be accepted until March 19, when the final decision will be made. Please take the time to write or email the Michigan DNR and urge them not to allow this land deal to go through. We don’t need open pit mines destroying our forests and wetlands in Northern Michigan.

Michigan’s Winter Free Fishing Weekend Begins On St. Valentine’s Day

Saturday , 7, February 2015 Up North Progressive DNR, Environment Leave a comment

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources holds two free fishing events during the year. The winter fishing event is next weekend and begins on Valentine’s Day – February 14 – and goes through Sunday, February 15.

Taking your sweetheart fishing in February may not be everyone’s idea of a romantic date, but it does offer the opportunity to spend time with family, friends, and maybe even a special someone as you take part in one of the things that makes Michigan great.

Fishing events are scheduled throughout the state. There will be fishing contests, fund raisers, festivals, or just a place open for fishermen to warm up inside before heading back outside for more fishing fun. Many of the events are based on the theme of introducing someone new to fishing. Children especially have less opportunities to fish than in the past. Next weekend is a great opportunity to give kids the chance to get outside and go fishing, and it’s free for everyone.

State fishing regulations still apply during the free fishing weekend. Free fishing applies for inland waters and the Great Lakes, all species of fish are allowed to be caught, and people from out of state can enjoy the free fishing weekend too.

If nothing else, you will be remembered for taking someone out on one of the most unusual Valentine’s Day dates ever.

Sherman Township’s NIMBY Wind Power Ordinance: We’d Rather Curse The Darkness

Saturday , 7, February 2015 Up North Progressive Community, Environment 2 Comments

On February 3, 2014 the Sherman Township Planning Commission once again tabled a vote on a windmill ordinance drafted specifically to keep any wind turbine developers out of the township. Despite the required dimensions and distance between turbines being enough to lock out any company looking to buy the rights to put up wind turbines on land in Sherman Township, some people are still not satisfied it’s enough, and want to make sure not one wind turbine will ever be seen in the Osceola County township.

Victoria Brehm and Harvey Langworthy of Tustin represent a group called Save Our Sherman. Brehm owns LadySlipper Publishing. Langworthy appears to have a claim on land that is involved with oil and gas drilling near Kalkaska. The group is determined to keep wind power out of their township. They were at the Tuesday night meeting, as they have been at every township meeting where wind turbines are on the meeting agenda, demanding not enough is being done with the ordinance to keep all wind turbines out. Save Our Sherman has a website full of links claiming there are health risks to living near wind turbines including wind turbine syndrome, headaches, lack of sleep and even livestock and wildlife dying just from being near them. The list of health risks are long, from the shadows cast over people’s homes to the vibrations affecting embryos in the womb. Declining wildlife populations, children can’t read – everything that can go wrong will go wrong if wind turbines are allowed in the township. There are also dramatic pictures of windmill turbines on fire, and a wall of shame page with addresses and phone numbers of planning commission and township board members they don’t like because they’re not doing enough to keep wind turbines out of Sherman Township.

A clue to what Save Our Sherman thinks would be a viable alternative to wind power for electricity can be found on their editorial page:

The $2.5 billion Michigan taxpayers have spent bringing wind energy to Michigan, frequently in places where the majority of residents don’t want it, could have built enough gas-fired generators to shut down half of Michigan’s dirtiest coal-fired utilities. Instead, we haven’t closed one because of wind turbines.

Renewable energy such as wind isn’t the answer to burning fossil fuels, the answer is burning even more fossil fuels. Mr. Langworthy’s oil and gas interest in Kalkaska doesn’t seem so out of place now, does it?

Save Our Sherman’s website contains many links purporting to be evidence proving there are too many health risks involved to allow wind turbines. Unfortunately, many of the links have nothing to do with wind turbines and health, and instead talk about general health issues instead. Has any research been done by reputable, qualified organizations that can shed some light on the health risks of wind turbines? Studies have been conducted by experts with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, MIT, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, which published the following conclusion:

The following are the main conclusions of the review and consultation on the health impacts of wind turbines:

  • While some people living near wind turbines report symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, and sleep disturbance, the scientific evidence available to date does not demonstrate a direct causal link between wind turbine noise and adverse health effects.
  • The sound level from wind turbines at common residential setbacks is not sufficient to cause hearing impairment or other direct adverse health effects. However, some people might find it annoying. It has been suggested that annoyance may be a reaction to the characteristic “swishing” or fluctuating nature of wind turbine sound rather than to the intensity of sound.
  • Low frequency sound and infrasound from current generation upwind model turbines are well below the pressure sound levels at which known health effects occur. Further, there is no scientific evidence to date that vibration from low frequency wind turbine noise causes adverse health effects.
  • Community engagement at the outset of planning for wind turbines is important and may alleviate health concerns about wind farms.
  • Concerns about fairness and equity may also influence attitudes towards wind farms and allegations about effects on health. These factors deserve greater attention in future developments.

How loud is it? Michigan Radio’s November 23rd, 2013 broadcast provides good information. They interviewed residents of Gratiot County, where a large wind farm was installed. The sound from the turbines about a quarter of a mile away is low, and for the people who live there it’s become background noise that can only be heard outside the house. Standing directly under the turbine is the only way to really hear what they sound like when they’re working. The people who agreed to allow the turbines on their property are paid for the use of their land.

Michigan must close several high-polluting coal-fired power plants by 2016 to be in compliance with the 2008 Clean, Renewable & Efficient Energy Act. Not only does coal pollute our state, it’s also economically irresponsible for Michigan to spend money to haul coal here from other parts of the country. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are viable alternatives that don’t fill our air with carbon emissions and contribute to global warming. Where Michiganians are going to get their electricity from in the next few years needs to be taken into consideration.

Governor Scott Walker Backpedals On Gutting The “Wisconsin Idea”

Wednesday , 4, February 2015 Up North Progressive Presidential Primary 2016 2 Comments

In his bid to cut $300 million from the University of Wisconsin’s budget, Scott Walker also attempted to change the mission statement of the university. The mission statement, known as the “Wisconsin Idea” has been a cornerstone of the University since 1904 and defines the entire purpose of receiving an education at UW.

The mission of this system is to develop human resources; to discover and disseminate knowledge; to extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses; and finally, to serve and stimulate society by developing in students heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities, scientific, professional, and technological expertise, and a sense of value and purpose. Inherent in this mission are methods of instruction, research, extended education, and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth.

The University of Wisconsin has always taught students that the education they receive is not only for the betterment of the individual, but for the betterment of the state through applying that education into doing the most good for the most people. The Wisconsin Idea was adopted and implemented at UW at a time when progressive ideals were spreading across the nation. It is still the foundation of the university today.

Scott Walker, or someone else working for the governor decided to edit the mission statement of UW, removing every part that related to the Wisconsin Idea. The new revised mission system statement read:

The mission of the system is to develop human resources to meet the state’s workforce needs, to discover and disseminate knowledge, and to develop in students heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities, scientific, professional and technological expertise, and a sense of purpose.

University officials were quick to denounce the changes. Ray Cross, president of the University of Wisconsin said that the Wisconsin Idea was written into the DNA of the university. Chancellor Rebecca Blank assured the university that the Wisconsin Idea would always remain a permanent philosophy of UW.

The public reaction was enough for the governor to tweet in the late afternoon that the changes to the missions statement were a “drafting error” and the Wisconsin Idea would remain a part of the University’s mission statement. Whether it was intentional for Scott Walker to remove the progressive philosophy of the university and change it from an institution promoting public service to a job training school was really a drafting error, the final stricken sentence of the statement is a testament to Scott Walker’s time as governor: Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth.

Until Tuesday Author Luis Carlos Montalvan Will Be In Remus On Monday, February 9

Wednesday , 4, February 2015 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

New York Times Bestseller Luis Carlos Montalvan, author of Until Tuesday will be at the Wheatland Township Hall in Remus on Monday, February 9, 2015. The event is free to the public. Copies of his book will be available for sale and signing. The event begins at 6 o’clock p.m.

Montalvan is a retired army captain who served in Iraq. While there he was injured on duty and returned home to recover. Tuesday, his service dog, helped with his therapy and became more than a dog who worked for Montalvan, but a close friend.

The opportunity to meet an author always offers personal insight into a book and makes reading it even more memorable. Come out to meet the author, have your copy of his book autographed and support the Wheatland Township Library.

Baldwin Public Schools May Have A Case Of Measles.

Tuesday , 3, February 2015 Up North Progressive Community 1 Comment

On Friday, January 30, Baldwin Public Schools notified parents that a student at the elementary school showed symptoms of measles. The student has been tested and results should be known this week. A rise in preventable diseases has appeared in Northern Michigan since last autumn.

Measles appeared in Leelanau county late last autumn, but the few cases were isolated and no new cases appeared. The possible case in Lake County is an isolated case so far. Measles has the nation concerned after an outbreak occurred at Disneyland. The disease spread to other parts of the country and has health department officials working to stop the outbreaks before they become widespread.

Whooping cough has been in Northern Michigan since last autumn when an outbreak in Grand Traverse County forced for-profit charter school Grand Traverse Academy to close for an entire week. Whooping cough so far has spread out from Grand Traverse as far as Mecosta County, where one case of the disease appeared in Brookside Elementary School in Big Rapids.

The outbreak in preventable diseases in the United States fueled the debate recently over immunizations for children. Diseases that no one has seen in 50 years are back, largely due to the current anti-immunization movement. People believe that vaccinations are causing autism, a notion that has been disproved, yet still persists with the anti-vaccination movement. Politicians looking to for face time with cable news have been making statements about whether parents should vaccinate their children or not.

Chris Christie and Rand Paul have both publicly stated that parents should have the choice whether to vaccinate their children, and in Rand Paul’s case, believes that vaccinations can cause mental disorders. It’s important to remember that Rand Paul’s opthalmology license came from a licensing board that was made up of himself, his wife, and his father in law.

The problem we’re facing now in the United States is there are enough people who believe vaccinating their kids is harmful despite the evidence proving the opposite, that they are more afraid of protecting their children from getting sick over an unproven rumor of mental illness. Viruses that are 100% preventable are spreading, and the children who are not vaccinated get sick first. Nearly 20% of Grand Traverse Academy’s student body have immunization waivers in their records. The children without immunizations put everyone else at risk of catching the disease, and it spreads.

The people now insisting vaccinations are bad were the same people only months ago in a terror that Ebola was going to trigger the zombie apocalypse. Ebola was never a threat, but diseases like whooping cough and measles are potentially life threatening. This is why vaccinations were developed for these diseases, and those vaccinations successfully keep us safe – but it only works when everyone is vaccinated. It is the responsibility of every parent to keep their children safe, but it also important to ensure the safety of society. Fortunately, in Michigan, the rules for waiving immunizations for children before entering school was changed, making it much harder for negligent parents to put their children and everyone else in their community at risk. It’s irresponsible and unconscionable that measles and whooping cough are diseases we have to worry about again.

Scottville Planning Commission Needs Commissioners

Monday , 2, February 2015 Up North Progressive Community Leave a comment

The Scottville Planning Commission has not had meetings recently due to needing to fill two openings. Without the two members, they are unable to form a quorum. The planning commission meets at least monthly to make decisions over land use in the city.

One of the openings on the commission must be a resident of the City of Scottville. If you live in Scottville and are interested in serving on the commission, call (231) 757-4729 and talk to Amy Williams, the City Manager. You may also email Amy Williams at citymanager@cityofscottville.org