Lifting the Veil

Education policy and spending shouldn’t be a mystery. But many Americans are finding that today’s media does a better job hiding the facts about K-12 education than helping families, educators, and communities understand the policies and decisions that shape students’ development and future.

This happens when news agencies either refuse to report certain stories, or when they cover these stories in a way that promotes their own agenda. These partisan outlets are dividing American communities by politicizing the issues that impact real people.

Worst  still, they often tell readers what they should care about – rather than listening to the concerns and needs of constituents.

But at Franklin News Foundation, we’ve taken a different approach. We believe that, especially when it comes to their children’s education, American news consumers are best served when the issues most impacting them receive news coverage.

That’s exactly why we have launched Chalkboard News, formerly Chalkboard Review, to serve as a news site that focuses on the real issues that impact real families and educators. With the help of our supporters, ChalkboardNews.com is:

• Home to 575 fact-based articles and growing, dedicated to crucial stakeholder concerns like curriculum, spending, school safety, and school choice.
• Providing issue-specific content through the Education in Focus podcast, which reached the top ten podcasts in the U.S. (news division) within the first week of launch.
• Drawing thousands of readers who flocked to sign up for the brand’s newsletter before the official launch of ChalkboardNews.com.

Because of you, ChalkboardNews.com is breaking news stories on controversial issues in the classroom like gender roles, sexual identity, and race without feeding into controversy.  Our fact-based, nonpartisan angle has earned widespread distribution and validation.

Publishing the untold details

In May several outlets covered a sensational incident in which an Illinois middle school teacher quit after parents called the police on her for reading a sexually explicit LGBTQ+ book to her class titled “This Book is Gay.” Outrage ensued, with many news sources leaping to defend the teacher with commentary-driven articles.

However, Chalkboard News was the first to report on key elements of the story that others willfully omitted, including the fact that this teacher was the co-author of an activist book titled "Igniting Social Action in the ELA Classroom: Inquiry as Disruption" and had a history in advocating that teachers use materials such as her book to educate students about social justice. This single story drew over 10,000 pageviews to ChalkboardNews.com giving thousands of readers context to this sensational story.

COVID funds paying for Critical Race Theory trainings for teachers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal and state governments sent billions of dollars to help alleviate schools’ difficulties with staffing, technology, and safety. However, on March 15, Chalkboard News published an article about pandemic relief-funded courses for teachers that promote Critical Race Theory, despite continued claims that the idea is not taught in schools.

This story received republications by national outlets including The Gateway Pundit and Washington Examiner — as well as other influential outlets such as RealClearEducation and Just The News, bringing widespread attention to an issue that many either ignore or downright mislead American taxpayers on.