The Online Newspaper of Education Rights
This Edition: January 2026
‘Critical Literacy’ Commands Feelings, Not Comprehension
A lamentable twist in the ongoing subversion of children’s ability to read and comprehend is use of the buzzwords, “critical literacy.” When parents or casual observers hear this term, they doubtless believe it means something positive, such as students learning to think critically about what they read.
Nothing could be further from the truth. A video titled How Modern Schools Make Terrible Writers (Deliberately), posted by author and researcher, Hilary Layne on her “Second Story” YouTube channel, explains that “critical literacy” is a misnomer, and that the removal of phonics was done on purpose to prevent children from becoming critical thinkers in the true sense of the word. This is old news for many, but wider use of the “critical literacy” moniker is new, and intended to create the false illusion that actual literacy is being taught.
MoreGrowth of Charters Adds to Public School Chaos
A recent news headline warned that a “scheme” unleashed by the charter school industry could spell “the death of public schools.” This dramatic pronouncement was followed by a lengthy description of how for-profit charter school companies are taking over public-school buildings and usurping funds in Florida, where new laws are making such moves possible. The article claims similar actions are taking place in other red states with more likely to follow.
Public-school proponents assert that, as if this outrage weren’t enough, charter-school test results are mixed at best, with many charters failing to raise student achievement. While the truth varies from charter to charter, some conservatives consider the pot may be calling the kettle black after decades of nationwide decline in test scores among traditional public-school students.
MoreIowa First to Take Federal ‘Education to the States Waiver’
On January 7, Iowa became the first state to be approved for the federal government’s “Education to the States Waiver,” which will redirect more than $8 million from the federal level to state education. WHO News in DesMoines reported that U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon visited the “Broadway Elementary School in Denison” to mark the occasion, joined by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and McKenzie Snow, the director of Iowa’s Department of Education.
The school showed off its new AI reading program from Amira Learning, which it says has led to “a 7% increase in literacy in just one year”. The program’s Science Behind Amira web page states that the program teaches “Phonological & Phonemic Awareness,” “Phonics & Word Recognition,” “Listening & Reading Comprehension,” among other literacy-focused lessons.
MoreOne Word Could Let Missouri Students Leave Unsafe Schools
Last October, the Show Me Institute sounded the alarm about a problem with Missouri state policy that impacts the safety of schoolchildren. The Institute’s Director of Research, Susan Pendergrass, and Cory Koedel, director of education, penned an article and created a one-page fact sheet to alert parents and citizens of the danger, and to promote what they show would easily fix the problem.
Following is nearly verbatim the article and fact sheet that the authors reissued on December 18.
More
Book Review
The Deliberate
Dumbing Down of America
by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt,
Conscience Press, 1999
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Briefs
- The Frederick County, Maryland school board approved changes in December that call for teachers to ‘protect gender diverse students’ by using their ‘preferred pronouns.’
- On top of the high-profile illegal immigrant fraud and politically fomented unrest in his state, which he currently stands accused of playing a part in, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is also under fire for allowing ‘ghost students to game college applications.’
- A new study found that Gen Z college freshmen are unable to do basic math. More
Be Our Guest:
Contributing Author Essays
‘Power Rainbow’ by Harvard grad students teaches 3rd graders about systemic oppression
Originally posted at The College Fix,
December 17, 2025. Reprinted by permission
Two Harvard University graduate students developed a “Power Rainbow” tool to teach elementary schoolers about systemic oppression, including one who was the recipient of a publicly funded scholarship that recently came under Congressional scrutiny.
Anna [Kirby] Deloia, who has since graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Hania Mariën, a doctorate student, published the “Power Rainbow” in 2023 to help third- to fifth-grade children “make sense of power and how it shapes our lives and societies,” according to the school’s website.
By James Samuel, Drexel University
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Education Related Links
There are only so many topics we can include in each monthly issue of Education Reporter. So, we are providing links to some additional stories we think may be of interest to our readers.
Get First Reader (for young children), and
Turbo Reader (for older students and adults).
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