The Nevada State Public Charter School on Friday approved the opening of an Elko charter school that plans to use curricula from Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian private college with an outreach program “devoted to the revitalization of public education through the launch and support of classical K-12 charter schools.” Nevada Classical Academy Elko was given the greenlight to open in Fall 2025. Enrollment will start at 113 students in kindergarten to third grade, then expand to 357 students in grades K-8 over six years.
On its public website , the charter school describes classical education as having an “emphasis on moral character, civic virtue, and servant leadership” and notes it “is the preferred choice by a growing number of homeschool communities, micro-school pods, private schools, and public charter schools.” But critics say that in practice “classical” curriculum pushes a sanitized version of the nation’s past that whitewashes history by downplaying the significance of slavery and treating racism as something that no longer exists. Brandolyn Thran, Nevada Classical Academy Elko’s newly hired school leader, in an interview with the Current acknowledged that Hillsdale College has a clear political reputation but said that the charter school is apolitical.
“The curriculum is phenomenal for all children and works to look at this experiment of nation-building in the most analytical and fair way possible,” she said. “The curriculum asks the question: What was happening at the time, what was the outcome, what can we learn from, and how can we do better? I think it tackles some very complicated, complex, tough conversations. The intention is to think critically and move in a positive direction from that.
” Thran, who has lived in Elko since 2016, most recently taught science in nearby Carlin at Battle Born Youth ChalleNGe Academy , a residential public school program sponsored by the Nevada National Guard for at-risk 16- to 18-year-olds who have dropped out or are at-risk of dropping out. Nevada Classical Academy Elko was approved by the Charter School Authority Board without any discussion of the school’s curriculum. Charter schools must adhere to Nevada Academic Content Standards but have wide autonomy when it comes to choosing their curricula and approach.
Hillsdale College has become a go-to resource for Republican state leaders across the country as they seek to push back on critical race theory or what they see as “woke” ideologies. Hillsdale’s charter school initiative already has a presence in Nevada. Founders Classical Academy Las Vegas is a member school and will be providing support to the new Elko charter school.
The Las Vegas charter school’s website highlights an essay by an advisor to Hillsdale’s Barney Charter School Initiative describing classical education as “a clear break from modern, progressive education and a return to traditional aims and methods.” “Some might call it ‘conservative,’ but we prefer the term ‘traditional,’” it also reads. Nevada Classical will be Elko County’s second charter school.
The rural county’s first charter school, Elko Institute for Academic Achievement, opened in 2009 and is a five-star rated school with around 200 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. EIAA is not associated with Hillsdale or any classical education groups. EIAA this year expanded by moving into a newer, bigger facility, and Nevada Classical will be leasing its former facility, noting that it has already been set up for a school environment.
As part of the application process, the public school district that serves students in the area where a proposed charter school wishes to open are asked to provide input on the possible impacts. Elko County School District did not oppose or support the charter school, but noted in its statement that “according to the needs assessment criteria set forth by the SPCSA and completed by the NCEA, the applicant does meet identified needs for some of our community.” The district included data from the 2023-24 academic year showing that only two of the 41 students who unenrolled from the district in order to attend a charter school had left one of the low-performing schools Nevada Classical says it is targeting.
The district also noted that of its three 1- or 2-star schools, two were rated 3- or 4-stars prior to the pandemic and saw a massive drop in ratings once school ratings resumed, but are now improving to pre-covid levels. Students at 1- and 2-star schools, as well as students in populations like English language learners (ELL) that are considered historically underserved, are by law supposed to be considered as part of the approval processes for any new charter schools. Only three of the 41 students who withdrew from the district for a charter school last academic year were classified as ELL, according to the district.
According to Nevada Classical’s application, 37 of the 117 children whose parents filled out a form stating they intend to enroll in at the charter school once it opens are currently homeschooling their children; 31 of the students are currently enrolled in public school. Thran said she believes the classical education model’s focus on “virtuous living” — which Hillsdale describes as “courtesy, courage, honesty, perseverance, self governance and service” — is appealing to many homeschool families. Elko County SD also acknowledged in its materials that it has contemplated adding a new elementary school or increasing capacity to a junior high school, but that “a severe lack of capital funding from the county has made this a very difficult effort to realize in the near future.
” Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.
com . Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and X . CHICAGO — Amanda Zurawski didn’t want to go into politics.
She wanted a baby girl. Her name would have been Willow. But when Zurwaski was 18 weeks pregnant, her water broke.
The fetus wouldn't survive, but, citing Texas' abortion laws, her doctors refused to terminate the pregnancy until she eventually developed sepsis three days later. After nearly dying Zurawski sued the state over its abortion laws and lost, but captured the attention of the nation. Now, she’s at the forefront of Democrats’ battle against anti-abortion legislation and leaning into a new and unexpected path for herself, born out of an anger over her own experience and a desire for change.
“My future is going to be in the political world. I just don't know what it looks like yet,” said Zurawski, who quit her job earlier this year to focus on the presidential campaign. She’s not ruling out running for office herself.
As Democrats continue to lean into abortion as one of the central pillars of their messaging this cycle, Zurawski has ballooned into one of the party’s most prominent messengers on reproductive rights. She has crisscrossed the country on behalf of the Democratic presidential campaign telling her story of losing her pregnancy and confronting Texas’ restrictive abortion laws. She spoke during counterprogramming to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and on the main stage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
She was a delegate for Texas as the party formally nominated Vice President Kamala Harris for president. “I'm very proud of everything I've done. I'm very hopeful, and I think that we are making change,” Zurawski said in an interview last week amid a packed schedule at the DNC .
But she added, “I would trade my personal platform to have Willow.” Zurawski, who grew up in Indiana but lives in Austin, had practically no political experience or ambitions before her pregnancy. Her résumé included work as a teacher, a gig with Austin FC and most recently, a job with the employment search platform Indeed.
Zurawski had voted Democratic in the past, dating to when she was in college. But she never expected to dive so deeply into politics, let alone becoming a national figure speaking on a convention stage broadcast to millions of viewers. Before she filed her lawsuit, she shared her story on the campaign trail in October as a volunteer for Beto O’Rourke’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign against Gov.
Greg Abbott. When she first shared her story in 2022, Zurawski expected “maybe one or two people would see it and maybe they'd talk about it for a day or two, and then it would just kind of dissipate.” Then in 2023, Zurawski and four other women filed a suit, arguing Texas’ law was ambiguous, blocking medically necessary care for women who had pregnancy complications.
In Zurawski’s case, her infection after being denied an abortion left her in critical condition and permanently damaged a fallopian tube, hurting her chances of being able to conceive again. The lawsuit grew to more than 20 plaintiffs before the state’s Supreme Court ruled against her challenge last May . But her story caught the attention of the White House , and she was invited to be First Lady Jill Biden’s guest to the 2023 State of the Union Address.
The Biden campaign invited her to be a formal surrogate in January of this year. Zurawski, now 37, has since traveled to over 30 cities in nine states on behalf of the Biden, and now Harris presidential campaign. She spoke on the first night of the DNC along with her husband, Josh, and Kaitlyn Joshua and Hadley Duvall, who have also become messengers for the campaign on reproductive care.
Joshua was unable to secure medical care for her miscarriage due to Louisiana’s abortion restrictions, and Duvall described her pregnancy from sexual abuse by her stepfather. “I can’t imagine not having a choice, but today that’s the reality for many women and girls across the country because of Donald Trump’s abortion bans,” Duvall, who has spoken out about the lack of rape and incest exceptions in Kentucky’s abortion law, said from the DNC main stage. “[Trump] calls it ‘a beautiful thing.
’ What is so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?” Zurawski has helped the campaign in less receptive settings as well. She joined a small contingency of Democrats blocks from the RNC in Milwaukee in July to counter Republican talking points. Stepping behind the lines of the other camp was a nerve wracking experience, she said, but “I was of course willing to do it, because I will do anything to make sure that we defeat Donald Trump.
” She also spoke to block walkers in Milwaukee to get more volunteers to counter the RNC programming in their backyard. “I quit my job y'all so that I can do this until the elections,” Zurawski told the volunteers in Milwaukee. “I don't want to have anything left in the tank.
And I hope you feel the same way.” Zurawski said she is hoping to stay politically engaged after the election, though she doesn’t know yet what that will look like. She said she would “love to be able to continue to support them in their administration,” but added she’s also passionate about local politics.
She could see herself as a staffer or candidate. But more specific than that, she wouldn’t say. “I haven't even thought about it.
That seems so far off,” Zurawski said. “I put all of my energy into getting Democrats elected this year.” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said the state party hasn’t recruited Zurawski to run but would encourage her if she considered it.
Abortion’s centrality to this year’s election follows the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, allowing states to implement abortion restrictions that impact over a third of reproductive-age women in the country. Democrats have credited the loss of abortion rights for greater turnout among Democratic voters.
The party was able to hold onto the U.S. Senate in 2022 despite a generally unfavorable map for Democrats and minimized losses in the U.
S. House. “The United States Supreme Court majority wrote the following, quote, ‘Women are not without electoral power’,” Biden said from the convention stage.
“MAGA Republicans found out the power of women in 2022, and Donald Trump is going to find out the power of women in 2024.” Zurawski was not the only Texan to talk about the issue at the convention. Kate Cox, who filed a historic lawsuit asking a judge to allow her to end her nonviable pregnancy, helped announce the state’s electoral votes during the convention.
The Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Cox and she had to travel out of state. But at the convention, she shared that she was expecting a child in January, “just in time to see Kamala Harris sworn in as president.” Zurawski said she and the other women who spoke have found a support network with each other, texting often about a world of politics none of them had sought out.
“It started sort of small, then it just got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger,” Zurawski said. “But we're just so grateful to be able to use our story to hopefully affect change and make things better.” The Texas Tribune answering reader questions about 2024 elections .
To share your question or feedback with us, you can fill out this form. Be there when Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Virginia Gov.
Glenn Youngkin take the keynote stage at The Texas Tribune Festival ! Whitmer will talk with Texas Tribune co-founder Evan Smith about her memoir, her key victories in Michigan and the importance of every vote. Youngkin and Smith will close out TribFest with a conversation about his record, the state of his party and a conservative policy agenda for America. Explore the full program of 300+ speakers and 100+ events .
Get tickets today. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.
org/2024/08/27/amanda-zurawksi-politics-democratic-national-convention-texas-abortion/ . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.
org. Donald Trump's outspoken niece lashed out at her uncle on Tuesday night, calling his appearance at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday "galling." In her newsletter, " The Good In Us ," Mary Trump noted that her father was the exception — not the rule — in the Trump family when it came to military service.
While he served in the Air Force National Guard, Donald Trump received four deferments based on what she called a "false diagnosis of bone spurs engineered by his father." Ms. Trump blasted her uncle as an "unpatriotic coward" — noting that he also reportedly "trashed veterans and fallen soldiers — and questioned why he was allowed to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery.
ALSO READ: Democrats are reclaiming freedom and the American flag "His appearance there was a desecration doing the only thing he knows how to do with members of the military and their families—use them as props; the ridiculous grin and thumbs up made it worse—as if he were attending a photo-op at a local diner," she wrote. The cemetery is filled with fallen soldiers who gave their lives to protect and defend the Constitution, she said — "a document Donald has never read, has attempted at every turn to shred, and will, if given the chance, set on fire." She continued her attack, saying Donald Trump is a "weak and insecure man" who "mocks his betters to compensate for his own inadequacies.
" The Sunrise Movement on Tuesday launched a campaign program in support of Vice President Kamala Harris , the Democratic nominee, aiming to reach 1.5 million young voters in key swing states. The left-wing, youth-led climate action group didn't endorse Harris—though it's part of the Green New Deal Network, which has — but announced that it would mobilize to help her defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump , whom Kidus Girma, the group's campaign director, referred to as "Big Oil's favorite henchman.
" The group's program will include canvassing, phone banking, and digital outreach, as well as protests and the creation of social media videos aimed at stoking youth enthusiasm. "Young climate voters could decide this election," Stevie O'Hanlon, the group's communications director, said in a statement . "The Harris-Walz ticket means millions more young voters are tuning in and considering voting.
We're going all-out to reach those voters and mobilize our generation to defeat Trump this November." Sunrise argued in the statement that Harris is polling better than President Joe Biden did because she has more support from youth and climate-minded voters. The group also cited a recent poll commissioned by Climate Power, an advocacy group, that showed the gap between public trust for Harris and Trump is larger on climate—at 23 percentage points—than on any other issue, even slightly more so than abortion .
Sunrise wants to see Harris to press that climate advantage. The group's program marks an increase in organizational ambition from what was planned in support of Biden's reelection bid—before Harris replaced him, Sunrise's voter engagement goal had been 1 million. "The difference in excitement between Biden and Harris among young people we've been talking to is night and day," O'Hanlon told The Washington Post .
Media outlets have in the last three months made much of Sunrise's refusal to endorse either Biden or Harris, starting with Axios in early June and continuing with the Post on Tuesday. Sunrise has explained that it's waiting for more information on Harris' climate policies, as well as her approach to Israel's war on Gaza . So far, climate hasn't been a point of emphasis for her; the issue received scant attention at last week's Democratic National Convention.
The group took a similar tack in 2020, mobilizing in support of Biden but declining to endorse him. They are trying to steer the Democratic nominee toward stronger climate action. "We will continue to urge the Harris campaign to put forward a bold vision that will energize young voters," O'Hanlon said.
Sunrise has long been a lightning rod for criticism, not just from Republicans but also from the more technocratically oriented establishment wing of the Democratic Party. Jonathan Chait wrote a scathing column , full of straw man arguments, about the group in New York in June. The Post on Tuesday suggested that any attempt by Harris to draw in younger voters with new climate or Gaza policies could alienate "moderate" voters in swing states, where fossil fuel groups have launched ad campaigns attacking her climate record and claiming she would ban gasoline-powered cars.
Harris has already walked back some of the climate pledges she made while running for president in the 2020 cycle, including a ban on fracking. Amid the challenges of operating in a media sphere and political system heavily influenced by corporate interests, Sunrise has continued to work with Democratic leaders while also pushing them to be bolder. Many progressives see the group's past work as key to the development of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act—the most notable climate action law in U.
S. history, however flawed it may have been. O'Hanlon, in an interview with Mother Jones on Thursday, expressed optimism that more change could be forthcoming, pointing out that the Democratic Party's climate platform is in fact strong.
"The 2024 platform calls out Big Oil, pledges to make polluters pay, and targets oil and gas company subsidies, which is really substantial," O'Hanlon said..
