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Adam Laats

Adam Laats is a professor of education and history at Binghamton University (State University of New York). He is the author of several books, including The Other School Reformers: Conservative Activism in American Education and Mr. Lancaster’s System: The Failed Reform that Created America’s Public Schools.

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April 1, 2025

The Right Wing’s New Plot to Force the Ten Commandments on Schoolkids

The Supreme Court has rebuffed these efforts before, but that was nearly a half-century ago. Today’s MAGA conservatives see a more favorable legal environment—and they might be right.

April 25, 2024

Ron DeSantis Just Invited the Wrath of the Satanic Temple

The Florida governor signed a law allowing religious chaplains to counsel public school students—and already he’s flouting the Constitution by saying some religions don’t qualify.

December 22, 2023

Angry About Your Kid’s After-School Satan Club? Blame Clarence Thomas.

The Satanic Temple is helping students form after-school clubs, and parents are furious—but they’re blaming the wrong people.

November 15, 2023

The Battle Over Church and State Could Take Down the Charter School Movement

The Supreme Court’s rightward tilt has the Christian right dreaming of upending public education. But it could come at the expense of conservatives’ big ideas.