Pining Away for the Days When Schools Taught Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmatic

I caught this piece by Jonathan Turley, which, as usual, was spot-on, and my first thought was not about how free speech is no longer a thing among the cultural elite; I didn't think about how ideologically driven the institutions are or about how the kids have mostly been mind-wiped by the indoctrinators. 

I thought, "I bet those kids and teachers can't read or write, but they sure know how to protest and slander anybody who disagrees with them." 

...Any punishment of this student would be a glaring violation of the First Amendment. The student can go to court to have any such actions set aside. However, it is equally clear that the administrators and teachers responsible for such actions will face no accountability.

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 16, 2026

I am no wizard, and my prestidigitation skills are notably weak, but in this case my bet paid off. 

I felt confident in my prediction, not because only bad schools come down like a ton of bricks on students who don't echo the approved narrative, but because most public schools suck, and even the "good" ones are pretty bad by the standards of another era. If Piner High School were merely average, it would look bad, and if it were below the median, it would be terrible. 

Well, it IS terrible, it turns out, and one reason is that, like far too many schools these days, it focuses on "feelz" rather than academics. 

First, the facts of the case, as described by Turley:

According to media reports, the unnamed student wrote “Free the Cornell Seven” on his personal Instagram account and the school called him out. As should be obvious to any teacher or administrator, this is entirely protected speech under the First Amendment. The student was not discussing the school, calling for some school disruption or destruction of property, or encouraging violence. He was stating his view that defendants who have not been tried, let alone convicted, are innocent.

This case has divided the country with many politicians and pundits declaring the guilt of these students before any charges are actually filed against them. A prosecutor previously declined to take the case to a grand jury due to conflict statements from the alleged victim.

Rather than acknowledge the serious free speech concerns raised by the school’s reported actions, Santa Rosa City school’s public information officer, Patrick Gannon, issued a virtue-signaling statement on how it will not tolerate students expressing such thoughts on their personal social media accounts, or presumably publicly in their private time:

“Action was taken by the school and the district, and we’re continuing to have conversations. We don’t tolerate making light of sexual assault. That’s why we have a zero-tolerance policy.”

Whatever success the school has had on basic subjects like English and Math, it has clearly taught the student body to disregard the free speech of others. The football team reportedly forfeited a game after 200 students walked out to the “Santa Rosa City Schools district offices to demand accountability and greater support for students speaking out against sexual violence.”

I decided to look into the question that Turley left hanging: just how successful is Piner in teaching the basics? Clearly, it puts a lot of effort into policing its students' Instagram posts and encourages the Social Justice Warriors to harass a guy for having an opinion, so the staff clearly has a lot of time on its hands to focus on ancillary issues, right?

Yeah, well, no. Piner is not conventionally bad in the "this school is of 'meh' quality" sense; it's remarkably bad, with most of its students grossly underperforming the already poor standards in California's public schools. It ranks in the bottom half of California schools and well below the national average for public schools. 

The one metric where it stands out is its 90 percent graduation rate, but that's not necessarily good, because only 9 percent of kids are proficient in math and fewer than half can read well. That means the school will hand out the sheepskin to all comers, not that it is graduating kids with an education. 

So if reading and math aren't graduation requirements, what does the school focus on?

This story tells you the answer: be willing to say the right things, protest the right people, and use power against those you disapprove of. 

The lesson is right there in the controversy. When a student says something OFF CAMPUS that has nothing to do with the school, the district will monitor it, punish you if they don't agree, and whip up an outrage mob among your peers. 

That is what they're teaching, and it's clear the students are learning that lesson well. For the life of me, I couldn't imagine my high school peers organizing protests over what any of them said on or off campus. If you don't like somebody or what they believe, then avoid them. 

The issue here is pretty clear. Whatever your view about the Cornell controversy is, it is not the issue. The issue is where local high school officials should put their efforts, and the answer is never "random Instagram posts expressing opinions"; it should always be on teaching kids academics and proper behavior on school grounds.  

Piner, though, is encouraging its students to organize against a peer for saying the wrong thing. It strokes their egos and stokes their rage, which, I have to say, is a mighty fine distraction from the fact that they can't read or do math. 

Worst of all, they are proud of their priorities, and so, apparently, are the people who keep pouring money into a public school system that focuses on indoctrination, not academics. 

Editor's Note: The Democrat Party has been infected by socialism, and it's spreading FAST. Democrats are claiming there's nothing to worry about, but we know the truth.

Help us continue to shine a light on the socialist takeover by joining HotAir VIP.  Use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership.