Anyway, the tl;dr for the talk I gave was that classicists need to know about these schools and how much they're serving as Trojan Horses for a reactionary response to our increasingly multicultural society. The job market sucking isn't a good reason to embrace this movement!

This doesn't even touch on the close affiliations between these schools and the CHRISTIAN classical education movement, one that has ties to people like Doug Wilson. There is very little distance between the "apolitical" schools and ALARMINGLY Christian nationalist/Christofascist groups

And I GET why parents want to find a better school options for their kids if their local public schools are under-resourced and unable to provide the education that students SHOULD have access to. But promoting private and charter schools is a fundamentally reactionary and undemocratic prospect

Joline Fried-Midkiff, who sends both of her sons to Pineapple Cove, was impressed when her boys could name every U.S. president by the time they finished kindergarten. The school’s affiliation with Hillsdale has given her pause — some of the college’s conservative views aren’t aligned with her own — but she said she keeps her sons enrolled because they’re thriving. “The type of support and culture you get there is just outstanding,” said Fried-Midkiff, a stay-at-home mom. Pineapple Cove has a “bright, rich, rigorous curriculum. … They also enhance developing the whole person, with the virtues. And that was very important to us.” Others — including faculty — came to the school after becoming disillusioned with traditional public education.

The long-term project of underfunding public education and offering increasing numbers of private schools as alternatives to public education is (among other things) a reaction to school integration. It's fundamentally illiberal, whether or not parents are consciously choosing for those reasons

But just because there are a lot of ways you CAN study the ancient world without accepting white supremacist narratives, that doesn't mean that these schools are broadly doing that. And in maaaaaaaany cases, they aren't. It's not a coincidence that the Heritage Foundation is super involved here

Cover image of The White Pedestal How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate by Curtis Dozier

Thought it's worth noting that an awful lot of ancient authors DO support ideas that are bigoted in various ways & acting like white nationalists are "misreading" texts isn't necessarily true (see Curtis Dozier's The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate)

Studies support certain aspects of the classical model — such as phonics instruction — but generally, research on the schooling method is sparse. Findings are often limited by small sample sizes. At Pineapple Cove, staff tout standardized test scores. A higher share of children at the Palm Bay campus are on grade level in math and reading than at other schools in the state, Florida testing data shows. The school also has a smaller proportion of low-income families than the surrounding county, which is often tied to higher scores. Researchers who focus on inequity in education have criticized the classical approach for limiting or excluding non-White perspectives. “Diversity in curriculum is very vital to the kinds of actual critical thinking that students should develop,” said William Rodick of the nonprofit organization EdTrust. He added that students benefit when the content they learn in school reflects them and their experiences.

Anika McKinney-Prather, an assistant professor of education at Catholic University, said classical education is often misunderstood by a swath of the far right who have latched on to it to defend beliefs that White culture is superior. Though, many of the Greek and Roman scholars who are studied in classical schools learned from scholars in Africa, the Middle East and Asia — a fact that is often overlooked, she said. At the Living Water School, a Christian classical school that McKinney-Prather founded in 2015, students read classic texts, as well as diverse authors who were inspired by those texts. For example, Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, drew inspiration from Plato’s “Republic.” Angel Adams Parham, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Virginia and a co-founder of a nonprofit organization that provides classical curriculums for students of diverse backgrounds, said the understanding of the Western tradition can be incredibly narrow in classical circles.

The entire PROJECT is political and it's part of a movement that undermines public education and democracy in broader terms. And the whole issue (or one of them) with these schools is precisely that they *ARE* so appealing to Christian Nationalists and White Supremacists (even if that's inaccurate)

This teaching method, backed by conservatives, is on the rise Classical schools focus on Western content and American ideals. “We are going to honor the creation of our flag. We are going to honor George Washington,” one principal said. Yesterday at 6:00 a.m. EDT

The model at the Florida school, known as classical education, emphasizes Western history and literature, and draws on teaching methods from ancient Greece and Rome. The approach has found new popularity among families who say the methods offer more rigor than schools that have relaxed their grading policies or use screens for much of their teaching. And, supporters argue, the Eurocentric content is more proven than evolving modern teachings. While the model is apolitical, it is also being pushed by conservatives, who say it celebrates American ideals and Western thought. Classical education’s newfound popularity comes as the Trump administration seeks to promote patriotism and frames criticism of the darker chapters of U.S. history as un-American. The president is also attempting to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from schools, governments and workplaces.

Critics of the classical approach, including some education experts, say the schools can be a Trojan horse for conservative ideology and promote a myopic worldview — undermining efforts to expand curriculums to better reflect the experiences of all students in public K-12 schools, the majority of whom are not White. Of the 895 classical schools in the United States, one-third opened or adopted the model between 2020 and 2024, according to a database published by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank. The vast majority of the schools are private and Christian, but a growing number are public charter schools, which are independently operated and taxpayer-funded. Defending the model, Wheeler said students receive “a very wide view of the world and our country.” The classic European teaching methods that the school uses — seminars, memorization and recitation, character development — mold children into critical thinkers who can reason and communicate effectively, according to Wheeler. They study texts known

More than 2,700 children attend Pineapple Cove’s three campuses in Brevard County in central Florida. Like many classical schools in the U.S., it has ties to Hillsdale College, a small, conservative Christian school in Michigan that has partnered with the Trump administration. It’s known for promoting “patriotic education,” and in 2021 published a K-12 history curriculum that teaches that “America is an exceptionally good country,” echoing rhetoric from President Donald Trump. Wheeler, however, said Hillsdale’s work at Pineapple Cove has been nonpartisan. The college provides curriculum and other supports to classical K-12 schools. Every classical school is different, but they are bound by a focus on cultivating virtues and teaching the liberal arts of grammar, logic and rhetoric — or effective communication. Children study American and Western European literature written between the 8th and mid-20th centuries, mostly by White men, including Homer, William Shakespeare and John Steinbeck. Pineapple Cove students also read the memoir of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and school staff say they think there is sufficient exposure to different perspectives.

I have SO MANY thoughts about these schools and the broader movement and gave a paper about them at a conference last month. Overall, this isn't an awful article but I do have an issue with the credulous parroting of this "apolitical" line www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

A picture of my dog, Sammie, with two stuffed octopus toys

A second picture of my dog, Sammie, with two stuffed octopus toys

I call these octopodes modes

Garlic cloves and bread from a fresco originally from Herculaneum and now at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN), Italy. Photo by Sophie Hay

Happy National Garlic 🧄 Day! Greeks & Romans loved garlic—but Mesopotamians loved it 1000s of years before them. The Greek ἄγλις (Latin alium) is an Akkadian loan word. At Pompeii, there was even a garlic seller (aliarii) workshop ( 📸 by @pompei79.bsky.social): pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpic...

This seems very new but is sort of what reading the Iliad is like

A black and white photo of a ceramic jar with wide eyes, a round flat nosed and downturned mouth. There are also two little ears at the top.

🏺 Another very good Bes jar that I came across during my research at work today - this time from Brooklyn Museum. 📜

www.brooklynmuseum.org/en-GB/object...

Good morning everybody

All of this is SUCH a self inflicted problem caused by toxic masculinity actively hurting everyone, especially the people most involved in propping it up!

Which isn't even getting INTO how jobs become actively devalued (monetarily and in terms of prestige/respect) once women and/or people of color start to make up the majority of the positions. E.g, teaching.

The problem isn't with the jobs, the problem is with the assumptions that being a caretaker is unmanly

This is the same attitude that treats it as some huge sacrifice and gift when dads "babysit" on the weekend so mom can have a free afternoon. It's not babysitting if it's your own children, it's spending time with your children. We never say that a mom is "bsbysitting" if dad goes golfing on Sunday

I know everyone and their (very manly, no doubt) brother has already dunked on this framing but the "girly" jobs that ostensibly need to be made palatable to men are care work. We associate care with women and with a lack of masculinity because implicitly women DO the caring and men are cared FOR

Congrats!!!!

all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant

the realest part of The Metamorphosis is how on top of everything he is still expected to show up at the office somehow

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Hey #AncientSky, I need to replenish our departmental supply of ancient world-themed stickers before graduation festivities later this month, but, in this new age of tariffs & AI slop, I need help! Where can I buy cool classics stickers designed by a human & without exorbitant hidden fees?

Watching First Contact (on this, First Contact Day!) and man, between this and Artemis, it's nice to remember how cool space is, both actual space travel and the dream of what it can be.

This is just Vergil's Eclogue 1

Text from a Rick Steves post on Facebook: "A Millionaires Tax? Let’s Try Shared Prosperity! A new tax on fat paychecks like mine was just signed into law in my home state — and I like it. In 2029, Washington state will start collecting a 9.9% tax on income over $1 million. The 8,000,000 Washingtonians whose households make less than a million dollars a year will pay zero under this new tax and enjoy all the benefits of a better-funded state. And for the wealthy (like me and an estimated 30,000 others), every million dollars in taxable income that our households earn after the first million will cost us about $100,000. It takes a lot of money to run a state that’s as livable as ours. Yet Washington is one of only nine states that don’t currently levy a traditional income tax. Our state is still funded by consumption taxes, such as sales and excise taxes, giving us the second-most regressive tax code in the country. (Only Florida has us beat.) And it’s time for Washington millionaires to pay our fair share. Right about now, Republicans reading this are queuing up in the comments to holler their well-worn excuses: A state income tax will penalize, and therefore demoralize, Washington state’s job creators! Letting the rich get richer results in more wealth trickling down! Wealthy people will flee your state for those with more regressive taxation! (Since California and Oregon already have a comparable tax, that would be distant lands like Texas, Tennessee, and Nevada.) As a wealthy person myself, I see this tax as essentially free money for all Washingtonians. Everybody in my state gains. And speaking from personal experience, I know that anyone who earns enough to be subject to this tax is beyond the point where consuming more adds to their security, their well-being, or even, arguably, their happiness — meaning there will be basically zero human cost."

Text from Rick Steves Facebook post: "If you disagree, consider the minuscule impact this tax will have on my state’s millionaires. Now, contrast that with the value of close to $4 billion a year in tax revenue once it’s smartly invested in programs that will help the roughly one-third of Washington households living paycheck to paycheck. For those who still aren’t convinced, here’s a lesson I’ve learned in my travels: Even if you’re motivated only by greed, if you know what’s good for you, you don’t want to be filthy rich in a society with a huge gap between rich and poor. It’s just not a nice place to raise your kids. And remember: Shrouds have no pockets…especially if you’re a multimillionaire with no heart for your neighbors. Plus, helping build a better community for you and your neighbors just…feels good. I learned this firsthand back in 2011, when — after years of receiving a Bush-era tax break for the wealthy that I didn’t need — I noticed that to pay for that tax cut, public funding for community programs and institutions was being decimated. Recognizing the practical value of investing my tax savings in my community, I’ve donated $100,000 a year to our local arts center and symphony ever since, covering concert hall rental costs for our volunteer orchestra and much more. Paying a “self-imposed wealth tax” and knowing I’m helping my entire community has brought me great joy for 15 years and counting. It’s far from heroic…but it is a little lonely."

Text from Rick Steves Facebook post: "The “millionaires tax” that Governor Bob Ferguson signed into law today will make our state better than ever — not just for the working class and poor, but for everyone who values a healthy and sustainable future. And for us millionaires who are enlightened enough to realize that we’ve reached a point where consuming more won’t make us genuinely happier, it just feels right to pay a little extra. For me, it’s biblical (“To whom much is given, much will be required”)… It’s European (after all, societies that are equitably funded are much more “content” than ours)… And — for those of us with a heart for the public good — it’s simply common sense. Sign me up!"

Travel writer Rick Steves on Washington's newly signed "Millionaires Tax"

Such a wonderful day of having @sarahebond.bsky.social on campus! The absolute endurance she has, talking to my class about Juvenal, having lunch with students to talk about public scholarship, talking to two classes about Sparta, and THEN giving a public lecture!

Shockingly, not one that's at all readily available. I do plan to dig into it more and try to follow the trail of what their "evidence" is, but also I'm hoping someone more qualified like Rose Eveleth, who did the fantastic "Tested" podcast (www.tested-podcast.com) does a journalism here

anti-trans virtue signaling that is not going to last, because a LOT of cis athletes are about to find out they are intersex

Um, gonna say no it isn't? Or, not in a way that takes into account the consensus among reputable experts and evidence, though I'm sure they have some "experts" who signed onto this.