Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
@adamlaats.bsky.social
US Historian at Binghamton U. Columbo fan. Books about schools, religion, conservatism. Now writing about the roots of US public schools, c. 1790-1860. adamlaats.net
Pinned
It's like bragging about how many times you had to take the driver's test.
What does it mean when your doctors keep insisting you redo the cognitive exam
January 2, 2026 at 4:07 PM
It's like bragging about how many times you had to take the driver's test.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Plus the artist Emanuel Leutze added in an enslaved Black soldier and an indigenous soldier, making a point that Americans were always a multi-racial, dedicated band of patriots.
Seems like Trump's fake patriots could take a lesson from it.
Seems like Trump's fake patriots could take a lesson from it.
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Plus the artist Emanuel Leutze added in an enslaved Black soldier and an indigenous soldier, making a point that Americans were always a multi-racial, dedicated band of patriots.
Seems like Trump's fake patriots could take a lesson from it.
Seems like Trump's fake patriots could take a lesson from it.
Hey kids! Trying to decide between Democratic Socialism and American Fascism?
Well.....who looks happier?
Well.....who looks happier?
January 1, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Hey kids! Trying to decide between Democratic Socialism and American Fascism?
Well.....who looks happier?
Well.....who looks happier?
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
January 1, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Happy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
It's not "indoctrination" to tell children the truth about stories like this.
Children deserve to know it.
Children deserve to know it.
On this day in 1890, U.S. troops fired at and killed more than 250 Lakota people in a massacre at Wounded Knee; over half were women, children, and elderly tribal members.
Dec. 29, 1890 | U.S. Troops Kill Over 250 Lakota in Massacre at Wounded Knee
Learn more about our history of racial injustice.
calendar.eji.org
December 29, 2025 at 3:08 PM
It's not "indoctrination" to tell children the truth about stories like this.
Children deserve to know it.
Children deserve to know it.
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College
A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost
donmoynihan.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:50 PM
New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...
Sometimes it seems like they are just messing with us.
This New College piece says, "The conservative tilt is unusual for colleges with a liberal arts curriculum."
Do they really not know or care about the long tradition of conservative liberal-arts colleges? The Wheatons and Hillsdales?
This New College piece says, "The conservative tilt is unusual for colleges with a liberal arts curriculum."
Do they really not know or care about the long tradition of conservative liberal-arts colleges? The Wheatons and Hillsdales?
New College of Florida Was Progressive. Then Gov. DeSantis Overhauled It.
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Sometimes it seems like they are just messing with us.
This New College piece says, "The conservative tilt is unusual for colleges with a liberal arts curriculum."
Do they really not know or care about the long tradition of conservative liberal-arts colleges? The Wheatons and Hillsdales?
This New College piece says, "The conservative tilt is unusual for colleges with a liberal arts curriculum."
Do they really not know or care about the long tradition of conservative liberal-arts colleges? The Wheatons and Hillsdales?
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
"Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political group is poaching top officials from the conservative Heritage Foundation amid growing ideological fights within the conservative movement and backlash at the prominent foundation."
www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
Exclusive | Top Heritage Officials Flee to Mike Pence’s Nonprofit as Think Tank Fractures
The former vice president’s political group is poaching top officials from the foundation amid growing ideological fights within the conservative movement.
www.wsj.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:05 PM
"Former Vice President Mike Pence’s political group is poaching top officials from the conservative Heritage Foundation amid growing ideological fights within the conservative movement and backlash at the prominent foundation."
www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
Still love this one from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social and the NYT, 1908:
December 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Still love this one from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social and the NYT, 1908:
Like everything toxic, Trump gets more dangerous with proximity and length of exposure.
[gift link:]
[gift link:]
Elise Stefanik Drops Out of N.Y. Governor’s Race and Will Leave Congress
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Like everything toxic, Trump gets more dangerous with proximity and length of exposure.
[gift link:]
[gift link:]
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
the main reward you are likely to get for total loyalty to trump is the destruction of your career and your reputation www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...
Elise Stefanik Drops Out of N.Y. Governor’s Race and Will Leave Congress
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:19 PM
the main reward you are likely to get for total loyalty to trump is the destruction of your career and your reputation www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...
"We need to get back to basic American values. But every time Trump does something, he gets checked. So we need to find a way to get rid of these balances."
December 19, 2025 at 7:38 PM
"We need to get back to basic American values. But every time Trump does something, he gets checked. So we need to find a way to get rid of these balances."
Big non-surprise. Billionaires keep failing when they try to open schools.
Why?
B/c they don't understand that human relationships foster human learning.
[Gift link:]
Why?
B/c they don't understand that human relationships foster human learning.
[Gift link:]
Sleep Cots and Graham Crackers at Elon Musk’s Child Care Program
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Big non-surprise. Billionaires keep failing when they try to open schools.
Why?
B/c they don't understand that human relationships foster human learning.
[Gift link:]
Why?
B/c they don't understand that human relationships foster human learning.
[Gift link:]
Wow. A new archbishop for NY who calls Oscar Romero his "favorite saint."
Gift link:
Gift link:
December 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Wow. A new archbishop for NY who calls Oscar Romero his "favorite saint."
Gift link:
Gift link:
Excited to see the Korean edition of Mr. Lancaster's System coming soon!
adamlaats.net/2018/05/09/t...
adamlaats.net/2018/05/09/t...
December 17, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Excited to see the Korean edition of Mr. Lancaster's System coming soon!
adamlaats.net/2018/05/09/t...
adamlaats.net/2018/05/09/t...
Another loss for MAGA schooling in Oklahoma: Walter's Bible-heavy, conspiracy-laden crapola is permanently out.
oklahomavoice.com/2025/12/16/o...
oklahomavoice.com/2025/12/16/o...
Oklahoma Supreme Court permanently overturns social studies standards • Oklahoma Voice
The Oklahoma Supreme Court decided the state's top school board violated open meeting laws when approving new academic standards.
oklahomavoice.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Another loss for MAGA schooling in Oklahoma: Walter's Bible-heavy, conspiracy-laden crapola is permanently out.
oklahomavoice.com/2025/12/16/o...
oklahomavoice.com/2025/12/16/o...
Santa's got to be around here somewhere.....
December 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Santa's got to be around here somewhere.....
Still love this one from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social and the NYT, 1908:
December 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Still love this one from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social and the NYT, 1908:
From the classroom perspective, it's pretty easy to get students to understand good v evil; simple heroism and simple villainy.
But what @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social points out here is so important: students need to understand what it means to fight an evil SYSTEM, an "accumulation of injustice."
But what @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social points out here is so important: students need to understand what it means to fight an evil SYSTEM, an "accumulation of injustice."
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
From the classroom perspective, it's pretty easy to get students to understand good v evil; simple heroism and simple villainy.
But what @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social points out here is so important: students need to understand what it means to fight an evil SYSTEM, an "accumulation of injustice."
But what @jeannetheoharis.bsky.social points out here is so important: students need to understand what it means to fight an evil SYSTEM, an "accumulation of injustice."
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
The U.S. Department of Education has asked hundreds of employees it fired months ago to temporarily return to work. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Education Dept. asks hundreds of fired employees to temporarily return
The federal Education Department is asking hundreds of staffers in the Office for Civil Rights to temporarily return to help clear a backlog of cases.
www.usatoday.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:00 PM
The U.S. Department of Education has asked hundreds of employees it fired months ago to temporarily return to work. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Linda "A1" McMahon talked a lot about parents' rights.
But when she takes Turning Point ideas into public schools...she bars the parents from attending.
[gift link]
But when she takes Turning Point ideas into public schools...she bars the parents from attending.
[gift link]
Linda McMahon’s School Visit, Sponsored by Conservatives, Draws Protest
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Linda "A1" McMahon talked a lot about parents' rights.
But when she takes Turning Point ideas into public schools...she bars the parents from attending.
[gift link]
But when she takes Turning Point ideas into public schools...she bars the parents from attending.
[gift link]
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
This @chalkbeat article says NC Gov Stein announced his intention to opt into the voucher program. In fact, he vetoed a bill to do so & said he intends to opt in only after Trump's Treasury "issues sound guidance." He's waiting to see if the regs give NC flexibility
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
Polis all in on Trump’s tax-credit scholarship while other Dem governors wait and see
The program is expected to expand private school choice in states like Colorado that don’t have voucher programs. Polis said not participating would mean leaving millions on the table.
www.chalkbeat.org
December 6, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This @chalkbeat article says NC Gov Stein announced his intention to opt into the voucher program. In fact, he vetoed a bill to do so & said he intends to opt in only after Trump's Treasury "issues sound guidance." He's waiting to see if the regs give NC flexibility
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/202...
Reposted by Adam "I Was Hoping We Could Keep It" Laats
TY @tktk.bsky.social for covering this and thank you to @lbyock.bsky.social and all the parents fighting this fight.
There is little point to cell phone bans if students are on other devices all day.
There is little point to cell phone bans if students are on other devices all day.
NEW on @nbcnews.com: The Los Angeles Unified School District banned smartphones in class last year
But a growing number of parents are irate that some LA schools require kids to spend all day staring at school-issued iPads -- even in gym and band class
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
But a growing number of parents are irate that some LA schools require kids to spend all day staring at school-issued iPads -- even in gym and band class
www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...
LA Parents say school-issued iPads are causing chaos with their kids
A growing contingent of public school parents say school-mandated iPads, particularly in elementary and middle schools, are leading to behavior problems.
www.nbcnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
TY @tktk.bsky.social for covering this and thank you to @lbyock.bsky.social and all the parents fighting this fight.
There is little point to cell phone bans if students are on other devices all day.
There is little point to cell phone bans if students are on other devices all day.