It’s been a long time since he was a student here, but on the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, Michael Douglas still knows his way around: “That theater was here when I was here 60 years ago,” he said. The campus had been a Marine base during World War II. “It was all filled with, like, barracks.”
Today, the theater with his name on the lobby is a new addition. “The most expensive lobby you’re ever gonna find!” he laughed, adding he thought it appropriate that, under his name, were the men’s and women’s rest rooms.
But when Douglas was actually enrolled here, he didn’t have the same sense of direction. “Getting to my third year in school, they called me into the counselor’s office,” he recalled. “And they said, ‘You have to declare a major.’ I said, ‘I don’t know, man. I think…’ Well, I thought theater would be easy. But I can’t say it was any big, burning desire. But I thought, ‘Well, maybe I know something about it. My mother’s a stage actress. My father’s an actor.’ And so, I reluctantly started.”
His mother was actress Diana Douglas; his father, the legendary Kirk Douglas.
At first, Michael didn’t make quite the same impression as his parents. Performing on stage, he admitted to keeping a wastebasket off to the side, “because I’d sick every time. I had terrible stage fright. Terrible stage fright! And I’d dive, and come on out, and give it my all.”
But that unpleasant taste was soon replaced by the sweet smell of success.
Douglas won an Oscar for producing the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” He took home another Oscar, for his performance in 1987’s “Wall Street.”
On both sides of the camera, Douglas has shown uncanny instincts for choosing projects that meet the moment. His Gordon Gecko came to personify the avarice of the 1980s:
Wall Street (4/5) Movie CLIP – Greed Is Good (1987) HD by
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His 1979 thriller “The China Syndrome,” about the dangers of nuclear power, hit theaters only 12 days before the Three Mile Island disaster.
So, it would seem his latest project, in which he plays Benjamin Franklin, is an outlier. “I guess I’d never done any period pictures, so that was part of the reason,” he said.
In the series “Franklin” (streaming next month on Apple TV+), Douglas plays Benjamin Franklin during his eight-year tenure in Paris. That’s where the founding father spent most of the Revolutionary War, petitioning France for aid in the fight against the British.
To watch a trailer for “Franklin” click on the video player below:
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But while 18th-century France certainly qualifies as period, Douglas sees the series as every bit as contemporary as his other work. “For me, this series is such a reminder of how fragile democracy is,” he said. “When you start thinking about the time we first created our Constitution, and to see the kind of shape that we’re in now, it’s a reminder.”
The success of the revolution was by no means assured. Had the Americans failed, the would-be founders would have been hanged. Franklin, America’s first diplomat, understood the need to go slow and steady with the French. One telling quote from the series: “Diplomacy must never be a siege, but a seduction.”
“He got in a lot of trouble with his fellow Continental Congress members – John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, a couple of others,” said Douglas, “because it took eight years while he was over here to achieve what he wanted to.”
It was worth the wait. Franklin secured the support of the French; their money and arms were critical to the survival of the American Republic. Franklin left France at the age of 79, the current age of Douglas.
“Ben Franklin had one hell of a third act,” said Rocca. “The last third of his life was the most productive, by many accounts his happiest period. Is that something that inspires you?”
Actor and producer Michael Douglas.
CBS News
“Yeah, this has been a great time for me, but I’ve been very fortunate,” said Douglas. “Catherine and I have been together, it’ll be 25 years come this year.”
Douglas met actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1998 at a film festival. While Franklin took years to woo France, Douglas worked a little faster. Indeed, on their first date, Douglas blurted out to her, “I’m gonna be the father of your children.”
Rocca said, “Okay, now you were in your mid-late 50s at this point. When you said that, did you think, ‘Wait a minute. Do I really wanna have children at this age?'”
“With Catherine Zeta-Jones? Yeah!” Douglas laughed. “Yeah. I think we could do that. Twist my arm!”
They are the parents of Dylan and Carys, who are half-siblings to Cameron, Douglas’ son from his first marriage.
Douglas’ children and his film work are his legacy, as is a stretch of land down the coast from his alma mater. Today the Douglas Family Preserve in Santa Barbara is a favorite spot for dog walkers, recreational paragliders … and the man himself.
“I read about this in the paper,” Douglas said. “They were trying to save this spot here. So, I just signed up and they said, ‘If you, you know, contribute X, they’ll name the park after you.'”
Sixty years after he reluctantly stepped on stage, Michael Douglas is looking out, feeling very much at ease. “One of the joys I get is when people recognize you and say, ‘Hey, thanks for the park, you know? It’s great!’ So, to see it now and to see the importance means a lot.”
For more info:
The series “Franklin” debuts on Apple TV+ April 12
Story produced by John Goodwin. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
WASHINGTON —The Supreme Court has delayed resolving a South Carolina redistricting case for so long that a lower court has has been forced to step in, saying on Thursday that a congressional district it previously ruled was racially gerrymandered can be used in this year’s election.
Last year, a federal court ruled that the Charleston-area district held by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., was unlawfully drawn by removing thousands of Black voters.
But on Thursday, the same court said in an order that the map could be used for this year’s congressional election.
The three-judge panel wrote that “with the primary election procedures rapidly approaching, the appeal before the Supreme Court still pending, and no remedial plan in place, the ideal must bend to the practical.”
The decision constitutes a setback for Democrats, who might have gained a more favorable map if it was redrawn.
The Supreme Court has spent months considering the merits of whether map-drawers unlawfully considered race when drafting the map but has yet to issue a ruling despite both sides saying it needed to be resolved well before the election.
The justices have also failed to act on an emergency application brought by Republican state officials asking for the existing map to remain in place, at least for now.
In a nine-month term running from October to June dominated by cases involving former President Donald Trump, the justices have issued only 11 rulings in argued cases.
Oral arguments in the South Carolina case were held on Oct. 11, giving the justices ample time to rule.
State officials had argued their sole goal was to increase the Republican tilt in the district in drawing the map. But in January 2023, the lower court ruled race was of predominant concern when one of the state’s seven districts was drawn. Republicans led by South Carolina Senate President Thomas Alexander appealed the decision.
The three-judge panel had said the state did not have to take any action to draw a new map until after the Supreme Court resolved the appeal — on the understanding that the justices would act more quickly.
Republicans redrew the boundaries after the 2020 census to strengthen GOP control of what had become a competitive district. Democrat Joe Cunningham won the seat in 2018 and narrowly lost to Mace in 2020. Two years later, with a new map in place, Mace won by a wider margin.
The roughly 30,000 Black voters who were moved out of the district were placed into the district held by Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, who is Black. It is the only one of the seven congressional districts held by Democrats.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other civil rights groups alleged not only that Republicans unlawfully considered race when they drew the maps, but also that they also diluted the power of Black voters in doing so.
The claims were brought under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which requires that the law applies equally to everyone. The case arose under a different legal theory than was at issue in the major ruling this year in which civil rights advocates successfully challenged Republican-drawn maps in Alabama under the Voting Rights Act.
Your dream home could be within now that mortgage loan applications have declined.
Kevin Kozicki / Getty Images
New survey data shows that mortgage applications are down week-over-week, signaling that mortgage loan demand is declining despite slightly lower mortgage rates. According to the most recent Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, mortgage application volume decreased by 0.7% for the week of March 22, 2024, compared to one week prior.
“Mortgage application activity was muted last week despite slightly lower mortgage rates. The 30-year fixed rate edged lower to 6.93 percent, but that was not enough to stimulate borrower demand,” Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist, stated in the report. “Purchase applications were essentially unchanged, as homebuyers continue to hold out for lower mortgage rates and for more listings to hit the market.”
But while many would-be buyers are waiting for better mortgage rates, that may not be the best course of action in today’s market. With mortgage applications down on a weekly basis, it could make more sense to act now. Here’s why
Find out how affordable your mortgage loan could be now.
Mortgage applications are down. Here’s why buyers may want to act now.
There are a few reasons that lower mortgage application volume could signal that this is the time to act. Here are a few to consider:
It’s more likely that your offer will be accepted
The probability of your offer being accepted by the seller often hinges, at least in part, on buyer demand. After all, when there are more buyers in the market, there are typically more offers on desirable properties. But with fewer buyers in the market, sellers may be more likely to accept your offer, as there’s less competition from other buyers.
If you wait for lower mortgage rates, though, you may have to compete with a larger buyer pool, and you could miss out on the opportunity to own your dream home if competition is stiff in your market. If you act now, though, you’ll likely have fewer buyers to compete with, which could increase your chances of landing a contract on a home.
Get pre-approved for a mortgage loan today.
You could have more negotiating power
It can be easier to buy a home when there are fewer buyers in the market, and that’s not just true in terms of getting your offer accepted. Purchasing your home when buyer demand is lower could mean getting a better price on the home.
After all, sellers who receive multiple offers on their homes may be less likely to negotiate. And, in very competitive markets, buyers may need to offer over the asking price to be considered. However, when there are fewer buyers in the market, you may be able to negotiate with the seller on the price of the home.
If you wait, though, home prices could continue to climb.
“With our record low inventory, even when rates drop, there is not going to be enough supply for demand,” says Caryn Prall, chief of growth and industry at Keller Home Loans. “This will keep prices steady or increasing.”
You can still take advantage of lower rates in the future
Buying a home now doesn’t mean you’re locked into today’s high mortgage rates for the life of your loan. You may still be able to capitalize on any potential mortgage rate drops in the future. Here’s how:
By opting for an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM): ARM loans start with a fixed-rate period that can last from a couple of years to 10 years. That’s followed by an adjustable-rate period in which the mortgage rate on your loan can change according to the terms of your loan agreement. That means an adjustable-rate loan could allow you to capitalize on mortgage rate drops in the future. It’s important to note, though, that if rates go up, your ARM rate could increase in tandem.
By refinancing when rates decline: Buying a home now and refinancing your mortgage loan later could allow you to purchase a home while buyer competition is down while taking advantage of lower mortgage rates in the future.
Compare today’s leading mortgage loan options now.
The bottom line
With fewer buyers in the market, it could be a good time to land the home of your dreams at a reasonable price. But if you want to capitalize on the decline in competition from other buyers, you may want to act quickly. Demand could increase again if mortgage rates start to fall. And, buying a home now doesn’t mean you’re stuck with the mortgage rate forever. By opting for an ARM loan or refinancing to a new loan in the future, you could capitalize on today’s more favorable buyer landscape while securing a more affordable rate down the road.
Joshua Rodriguez
Joshua Rodriguez is a personal finance and investing writer with a passion for his craft. When he’s not working, he enjoys time with his wife, two kids, two dogs and two ducks.
SHARON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp’s glow. “Another big brown,” she said with a sigh.
It was a common type, one of many Wilson and colleagues had snagged on summer nights in the southern Michigan countryside. They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees.
The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission.
“It’s a bad suggestion if we do not catch one. It doesn’t look good,” said Allen Kurta, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied bats for more than 40 years.
The two bat varieties are designated as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out. Enacted in 1973 amid fear for iconic creatures such as the bald eagle, grizzly bear and gray wolf, it extends legal protection to 1,683 domestic species.
More than 99% of those listed as “endangered” — on the verge of extinction — or the less severe “threatened” have survived.
“The Endangered Species Act has been very successful,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in an Associated Press interview. “And I believe very strongly that we’re in a better place for it.”
Fifty years after the law took effect, environmental advocates and scientists say it’s as essential as ever. Habitat loss, pollution, climate change and disease are putting an estimated 1 million species worldwide at risk.
Yet the law has become so controversial that Congress hasn’t updated it since 1992 — and some worry it won’t last another half-century.
Conservative administrations and lawmakers have stepped up efforts to weaken it, backed by landowner and industry groups that contend the act s tifles property rights and economic growth. Members of Congress try increasingly to overrule government experts on protecting individual species.
The act is “well-intentioned but entirely outdated … twisted and morphed by radical litigants into a political firefight rather than an important piece of conservation law,” said Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, who in July announced a group of GOP lawmakers would propose changes.
Environmentalists accuse regulators of slow-walking new listings to appease critics and say Congress provides too little funding to fulfill the act’s mission.
“Its biggest challenge is it’s starving,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president of the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife.
Some experts say the law’s survival depends on rebuilding bipartisan support, no easy task in polarized times.
“The Endangered Species Act is our best tool to address biodiversity loss in the United States,” Senate Environment and Public Works chairman Tom Carper said during a May floor debate over whether the northern long-eared bat should keep its protection status granted in 2022.
“And we know that biodiversity is worth preserving for many reasons, whether it be to protect human health or because of a moral imperative to be good stewards of our one and only planet.”
Despite the Delaware Democrat’s plea, the Senate voted to nullify the bat’s endangered designation after opponents said disease, not economic development, was primarily responsible for the population decline.
That’s an ominous sign, said Kurta the Michigan scientist, donning waders to slosh across the mucky river bottom for the bat netting project in mid-June.
“Its population has dropped 90% in a very short period of time,” he said. “If that doesn’t make you go on the endangered species list, what’s going to?”
TURBULENT HISTORY
It’s “nothing short of astounding” how attitudes toward the law have changed, largely because few realized at first how far it would reach, said Holly Doremus, a University of California, Berkeley law professor.
Attention 50 years ago was riveted on iconic animals like the American alligator, Florida panther and California condor. Some had been pushed to the brink by habitat destruction or pollutants such as the pesticide DDT. People over-harvested other species or targeted them as nuisances.
The 1973 measure made it illegal to “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture or collect” listed animals and plants or ruin their habitats.
It ordered federal agencies not to authorize or fund actions likely to jeopardize their existence, although amendments later allowed permits for limited “take” — incidental killing — resulting from otherwise legal projects.
The act cleared Congress with what in hindsight appears stunning ease: unanimous Senate approval and a 390-12 House vote. President Richard Nixon, a Republican, signed it into law.
“It was not created by a bunch of hippies,” said Rebecca Hardin, a University of Michigan environmental anthropologist. “We had a sense as a country that we had done damage and we needed to heal.”
But backlash emerged as the statute spurred regulation of oil and gas development, logging, ranching and other industries. The endangered list grew to include little-known creatures — from the frosted flatwoods salamander to the tooth cave spider — and nearly 1,000 plants.
“It’s easy to get everybody to sign on with protecting whales and grizzly bears,” Doremus said. “But people didn’t anticipate that things they wouldn’t notice, or wouldn’t think beautiful, would need protection in ways that would block some economic activity.”
An early battle involved the snail darter, a tiny Southeastern fish that delayed construction of a Tennessee dam on a river then considered its only remaining home.
The northern spotted owl’s listing as threatened in 1990 sparked years of feuding between conservationists and the timber industry over management of Pacific Northwest forestland.
Rappaport Clark, who headed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Bill Clinton, said there were still enough GOP moderates to help Democrats fend off sweeping changes sought by hardline congressional Republicans.
“Fast-forward to today, and support has declined pretty dramatically,” she said. “The atmosphere is incredibly partisan. A slim Democratic majority in the Senate is the difference between keeping the law on life support and blowing it up.”
The Trump administration ended blanket protection for animals newly deemed threatened. It let federal authorities consider economic costs of protecting species and disregard habitat impacts from climate change.
A federal judge blocked some of Trump’s moves. The Biden administration repealed or announced plans to rewrite others.
But with a couple of Democratic defections, the Senate voted narrowly this spring to undo protections for a rare grouse known as the lesser prairie chicken as well as the northern long-eared bat. The House did likewise in July.
President Joe Biden threatened vetoes. But to wildlife advocates, the votes illustrate the act’s vulnerability — if not to repeal, then to sapping its strength through legislative, agency or court actions.
One pending bill would prohibit additional listings expected to cause “significant” economic harm. Another would remove most gray wolves and grizzly bears — subjects of decades-old legal and political struggles — from the protected list and bar courts from returning them.
“Science is supposed to be the fundamental principle of managing endangered species,” said Mike Leahy, a senior director of the National Wildlife Federation. “It’s getting increasingly overruled by politics. This is every wildlife conservationist’s worst nightmare.”
ELUSIVE MIDDLE GROUND
Federal regulators are caught in a crossfire over how many species the act should protect and for how long — and how to balance that with interests of property owners and industry.
Since the law took effect, 64 of roughly 1,780 listed U.S. species have rebounded enough to be removed, while 64 have improved from endangered to threatened. Eleven have been declared extinct, a label proposed for 23 others, including the ivory-billed woodpecker.
That’s a poor showing, said Jonathan Wood, vice president of law and policy with the Property and Environment Research Center, which represents landowners.
The act was supposed to function like a hospital emergency room, providing lifesaving but short-term treatment, Wood said. Instead, it resembles perpetual hospice care for too many species.
But species typically need at least a half-century to recover and most haven’t been listed that long, said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.
And they often languish a decade or more awaiting listing decisions, worsening their condition and prolonging their recovery, he said. The Fish and Wildlife Service has more than 300 under consideration.
The service “is not getting the job done,” Greenwald said. “Part is lack of funding but it’s mixed with timidity, fear of the backlash.”
Agency officials acknowledge struggling to keep up with listing proposals and strategies for restoring species. The work is complex; budgets are tight. Petitions and lawsuits abound. Congress provides millions to rescue popular animals such as Pacific salmon and steelhead trout while many species get a few thousand dollars annually.
To address the problem and mollify federal government critics, supporters of the act propose steering more conservation money to state and tribal programs. A bill to provide $1.4 billion annually cleared the House with bipartisan backing in 2022 but fell short in the Senate. Sponsors are trying again.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is using funds from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to improve strategies for getting species off the list sooner, Director Martha Williams told a House subcommittee in July.
It’s also seeking accommodation on another thorny issue: providing enough space where imperiled species can feed, shelter and reproduce.
The act empowers the government to identify “critical habitat” where economic development can be limited. Many early supporters believed public lands and waters — state and national parks and wildlife refuges — would meet the need, said Doremus, the California-Berkeley professor.
But now about two-thirds of listed species occupy private property. And many require permanent care. For example, removing the Kirtland’s warbler from the endangered list in 2019 was contingent on continued harvesting and replanting of Michigan jack pines where the tiny songbird nests.
Meeting the rising demand will require more deals with property owners instead of critical habitat designations, which lower property values and breed resentment, said Wood of the landowners group. Incentives could include paying owners or easing restrictions on timber cutting and other development as troubled species improve.
“You can’t police your way” to cooperation, he said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed regulatory changes this year to encourage voluntary efforts, hoping they’ll keep more species healthy enough to reduce listings. But environmentalists insist voluntary action is no substitute for legally enforceable protections.
“Did the makers of DDT voluntarily stop making it? No,” said Greenwald, arguing few landowners or businesses will sacrifice profits to help the environment. “We have to have strong laws and regulations if we want to address the climate and extinction crises and leave a livable planet for future generations.”
GRIM PROSPECTS
Stars and fireflies provided the only natural light on the June night after Michigan biologists Kurta and Wilson extended fine nylon mesh over smoothly flowing River Raisin, 90 minutes west of Detroit. Frogs croaked; crickets chirped. Mayflies — tasty morsels for bats — swarmed in the humid air.
Long feared by people, bats increasingly are valued for gobbling crop-destroying insects and pollinating fruit, giving U.S. agriculture a yearly $3 billion boost.
“The next time you have some tequila, thank the bat that pollinated the agave plant from which that tequila was made,” Kurta said, tinkering with an electronic device that detects bats as they swoop overhead.
Hour after hour crept by. Eight bats fluttered into the nets. The scientists took measurements, then freed them. None were the endangered species they sought.
A month later, Kurta reported that 16 nights of netting at eight sites had yielded 177 bats — but just one Indiana and no northern long-eared specimens.
“Disappointing,” he said, “but expected.”
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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Follow John Flesher on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com@johnflesher
A new college entrance exam that has become popular among Christian schools and conservative political groups may soon expand its footprint to include Florida’s public universities — following a boost from the DeSantis administration.
The Florida Board of Governors, which oversees the state’s public universities, is expected to vote at its August meeting on whether to accept Classic Learning Test scores for admissions, in addition to the SAT and the ACT. If the board approves it, Florida would become the first public university system in the country to accept the test.
The Classic Learning Test, or CLT, was created in 2015 as an alternative college entrance exam rooted in a teaching model that emphasizes the humanities, morality and classical literature. The test has found favor in recent years among some conservatives as an antidote to progressive influence, and it is now accepted by more than 200 predominantly private universities.
Florida’s consideration of the CLT follows a high-profile dispute between the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the College Board, which administers the SAT, over an Advanced Placement African American history course offered by the organization. After he accused the AP course of left-wing bias, DeSantis said Florida would look for alternatives to other College Board products.
Since the AP spat, Florida has accelerated the rise of classical education and the CLT. DeSantis signed a bill this year that opened the state’s Bright Futures college scholarship program to accept Classic Learning Test scores, in addition to ACT and SAT results, to determine eligibility.
After DeSantis appointed several conservatives as trustees of New College of Florida, in Sarasota, the public liberal arts school announced in May that it would accept the CLT.
“He wants to sort of shove his thumb in the eye of the College Board by essentially saying: ‘We don’t need your SATs anymore, either. We don’t need your African American studies course, and we don’t need you, so go away; we found an alternative,’” said Chester Finn Jr., a top official in the Education Department during the Reagan administration.
Jeremy Tate, the founder of the CLT, said what’s happening in Florida is part of a broader movement in education circles frustrated with progressive influence.
A top official at the Florida Education Department tweeted this year, “CLT not CRT!” referring to critical race theory, an academic study of racism’s pervasive role in society, which the state banned from public schools.
“It’s certainly a lot bigger than just the test itself,” Tate said. “I think everybody knows there’s something deeply, deeply wrong in mainstream education right now.”
The College Board said in a statement to NBC News that because standardized tests can be such keystones for students’ career trajectories, “it’s critical that those tests are well researched and carefully developed to ensure fairness,” and it said it has a “team of experts” to evaluate its exams.
The College Board posted an analysis this month that criticized the CLT’s methodology and rigor.
The ACT, a nonprofit organization, declined to comment.
Tate, the CLT founder, said the College Board has been trying to discredit his exam by saying it needs more participants to be proven. But that, he said, is untrue.
“They want to say unless you have 500,000 data points then any of your research is completely inaccurate, and that’s a good way to keep competitors out of the market,” he said.
The CLT was designed to eschew the Common Core curriculum standards and intentionally favor Aristotle, Benjamin Franklin and Jane Austen over 20th century progressive authors, Tate said. Christopher Newport University in Virginia became the first public university to accept the CLT in 2018. It quickly caught on with home-schoolers and private Christian schools and colleges.
Tate, a former college counselor with a master’s in religious studies, declined to share how many students take the CLT annually. He added that he’s talking with officials in two other states in addition to Florida, which he declined to identify.
The primary difference in the CLT lies in its choices for literature. The exam may include passages from Pope John Paul II or the Christian author C.S. Lewis, which Tate said prompted one public university to explicitly tell him that’s why it won’t use the CLT. Tate said that to “censor the entire Catholic and Christian tradition,” as he accuses the SAT and the ACT of doing, excludes important influences and foundations of Western civilization.
When Louisiana Christian University, in Pineville, began accepting the CLT in 2018, a top admissions official at the private school told a reporter, “We are very intentional about our Christian faith here, and the classic learning style and CLT don’t shy away from religion, religious topics or ethical topics.”
Similarly, Sarah Clark, the head of enrollment for Southeastern University, in Lakeland, Florida, said in an interview that her institution began accepting the test to expand its exposure to its “target audience,” which is largely the Christian and home-school population.
Out of 86 people on CLT’s advisory board, 59 are part of Christian organizations, such as religious schools, education groups and publishing companies. Ten board members work for conservative political groups, such as Kevin Roberts, the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, and Chris Rufo, a right-wing activist who has advised the DeSantis administration. The board also includes professors from Harvard and Princeton, as well as Green Party presidential candidate and left-wing activist Cornel West.
But backers of CLT worry that the momentum among red states — in particular Florida, where DeSantis is a major GOP presidential contender — is giving classical education an undeserved political reputation.
“You don’t want them battling against each other like the SAT is the liberal test and CLT is the conservative test — I don’t think that’s a great place to be,” said CLT board member Jessica Hooten Wilson, a literature professor at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, California. Hooten Wilson, who considers herself a moderate, said the CLT strikes a middle ground because it “doesn’t leave anybody out,” including religious thinkers.
Critics remain unconvinced.
Akil Bello, who ran a test preparation company and is a senior director at the civil rights education group FairTest, said the CLT’s focus on classical texts and century-old teaching methods doesn’t serve students well.
“It pretends that we haven’t moved forward 50 years and technology isn’t entirely different than it was and the way students interact with the world isn’t entirely different than it was,” Bello said. “The older the language you use, the more likely you’re not evaluating a student’s ability to understand what’s read — you’re evaluating their comfort with Old English.”
Finn, the former Reagan administration official who’s now a senior fellow at the right-leaning Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said that he’s not opposed to the CLT but that it has arrived amid momentum to do away with college entrance exams because of criticism that they skew toward wealthy students who can afford tutoring. The SAT and the ACT are already used by such a massive market share that the CLT’s influence is trivial at this point, he said.
“We’re talking about a puppy dog alongside two horses,” he said.
Tyler Kingkade
Tyler Kingkade is a national reporter for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.
Six migrant workers outside a North Carolina Walmart were struck by an SUV Sunday in what police allege was an intentional act.
The migrants were hospitalized with an array of injuries, but none were life-threatening, the Lincolnton Police Department said in a statement.
The motorist, described as an older white man, drove off and was still being sought Sunday night, police said.
Officials did not provide a make and model for the SUV, but in security video images distributed by police, it appears to be a dark color, possibly black. Authorities hope someone will recognize it and report it.
The incident was reported at the Walmart at 1:17 p.m., the department said.
“Six migrant workers were hit in what appears to be an intentional assault with a vehicle,” it said.
Lincolnton is about 35 miles northwest of Charlotte.
It wasn’t clear where the migrants are from. Although authorities believe the act was intentional, they haven not said it may have been an alleged hate crime.
“The motives of the suspect are still under investigation,” the department said.
Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
