I remember having a conversation a decade or so ago with a teacher at a private school near the liberal hotbed of Northampton, Massachusetts. He told me that all the white teachers at his school supported affirmative action, until their kids applied to college. His comment reflected a society-wide trend…

The second in a series on Depolarizing Politics — “. . . The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by…

On a typical weekday morning, my family experiences the rush of getting children awake, dressed, and fed before heading off to school. My commute to Nashoba Regional High School, with a quick detour to drop my daughter off at Luther Burbank Middle School in Lancaster takes about fifteen minutes. From…

In January and February of this year, many Americans were captivated by the story of a Chinese balloon flying over the United States. The incident evoked a sense of déjà vu, not because it had happened before, but because it was eerily similar to a story, I have taught in…

I was horrified to watch the Ron Desantis’ advertisement during the Patriots - Eagles game last Sunday afternoon. Using language from the first Republican debate, DeSantis took an extremely hard line against refugees trying to flee north across the Border from Mexico. DeSantis ginned up fear about cartels and suggested…

Some thoughts for Kevin and others. If you haven't read the book When Affirmative Action was White, by Ira Katznelson I would highly recommend it. It describes the ways that New Deal programs, the education system and the GI Bill systematically discriminated in favor of whites in the 1930s, 40s…

Massachusetts Finally Ends Taxpayer funded Worship — Read part I here. A Gradual Disentangling: Part I Church and State Relations in Massachusetts 1750–1833meisterkassner.medium.com Read part II here. A Gradual Disentangling Part II: The Massachusetts Government’s and the Religion of the Revolution.meisterkassner.medium.com In 1810, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided a major case which explored the extent of religious freedom in the Commonwealth. Thomas Barnes was the ordained pastor of a Universalist Church in Falmouth, Maine (which was then a district of Massachusetts). He…

The Massachusetts Government’s and the Religion of the Revolution. — Read Part I here. https://medium.com/@meisterkassner/a-gradual-disentangling-part-i-8c95051c1fe3 When Boston radicals boarded ships bearing East India Company tea and threw the cargo overboard in mid-December of 1763, the stage was set for a dramatic escalation of revolutionary tensions. The British responded with a series of measures including the Massachusetts Government Act and the…

I think that you are dramatically over generalizing from an experience that you had. Even with a school resource officer in place most discipline issues are handled by the school's administrative team. At our school the resource officer can take a police report about the incident and investigate. I'm sorry that you had that experience with your daughter.