This is one of the stranger stories of the year. ESPN broadcast a high school football game, having been convinced that one of the teams–Bishop Sycamore–contained some amazing recruits. After Bishop Sycamore lost by a whopping 58-0, ESPN checked out the school and couldn’t find any hard evidence that it exists.
To the extent that the school exists, it is located (or not) in Ohio, where the Republican governor and legislature are gaga for school choice.
Peter Greene wrote about Bishop Sycamore High School here.
No one is quite sure whether the school exists. It says it is a private school in the Columbus City school district, but the district doesn’t know them.
Was there ever a Bishop named “Sycamore?” No one knows.
This is my favorite part of the story. Governor DeWine was asked to comment:
Ohio Governor DeWine issued a statement saying, Hmm, that seems fishy. Maybe have the department of education look into it “to ensure the school is providing the educational opportunities Ohio students deserve.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What’s even worse is that in the recent #Ohio biennial budget, crammed with school privatization initiatives, there is a credit for kids who attend these fake private schools. Families can get a tax credit of up to $2,500/yr to send kids to this category of private schools known as “non-chartered, non-tax supported schools.”
#ALEC #SchoolPrivatization
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Ohio Goober Dewhine issued a statement:
“Hmm, that seems fishy…”
Hey Guv, maybe they had their fingers crossed
when they swore to:
“support and defend the Constitution…”
Go figure, it seems to be SNAFU…
“The Constitution requires a declaration of war from Congress before the president can legally wage war. No declaration, no waging of war. Everyone agrees that that is what the Constitution says. The Framers did not want the president to be deciding whether the nation goes to war. They chose to have Congress make that decision.
It is undisputed that there was never a congressional declaration of war against North Vietnam or Afghanistan. Given such, no president had the legal authority to order U.S. troops to invade and occupy either country.
Nonetheless, such orders were issued. At that point, U.S. soldiers had a choice: either support and defend the Constitution by disobeying those illegal orders to invade and occupy or faithfully and loyally obey the president and, in the process, violate the Constitution.”
Maybe it’s the “wiggle room” of semantic gymnastics.
As long as you DON’T call bombing and killing, or
other acts of defending/spreading “democracy” a war,
it’s balls to the wall.
As long as you call choice schools “Public”, it
robs Peter to pay Paul.
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DeWine. Is this his name or a reference to inebriation?
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Dunno,
He might be a member of the
Publius Limpus Vineyard, known to have
an unlimited supply of WHINE…
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Bob,
Would you mind reading my article Diane posted on Wednesday, and leave a comment. I value your opinion.
Darrell
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Will do so, Darrell.
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DeWine fathered 8 kids, took his oath on 9 Bibles.
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I like strange, quirky, esoteric books and have quite a library of them. But the weirdest books (it’s actually itself not a book but a library) in my collection, to be sure, are bibles. Weirder still are the things that people imagine about this book–the superstitious accretions around it that cause people, for example, to treat it differently from other similar collections (of laws, of histories, of mythologies) from other ancient cultures.
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I haven’t read much Greek mythology. Are the stories and admonitions less harmful to women’s rights?
I recall a person claiming that Biblical verse demands separation of the races.
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Recently reported from Wisconsin- the conviction of a teen who killed a 7 year old boy for not knowing 13 Bible verses.
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One parent of a Bishop Sycamore student told the Columbus Dispatch, “As far as I know, none of the kids does any school.” Hmmm. A school that doesn’t do any school? That’s the “outside of the box” kind of thinking that only the charter school sector can provide!
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no schooling, just the money attached to the lie of schooling
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lol
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We should be keeping an eye on something called The Sycamore Trust now operating in and around Norte Dame University. They are not a suspicious football team but they are up to no good.
Here is a sample of what they send out to their “community”.
“The transmogrification of Joe Biden from a defender of Catholic Church teachings to our “first anti-Catholic ‘Catholic’ president,” in the words of Catholic author and commentator Dr. Robert Royal, spells big trouble for the Church, persons of conscience, and the innocent unborn and their defenders.
In this Bulletin, we trace Biden’s metamorphosis, describe how his policies will affect Notre Dame, and conclude with Notre Dame’s reaction to date.
Throughout, remember that in 2016 Father Jenkins awarded Biden the Laetare Medal, an award given to a person whose “genius has illustrated the ideals of the Church.”
As you will see, this bulletin is unusually long. That is because Biden’s destructive program is extraordinarily sweeping. We hope what we say will be worth a few more minutes of your time.”
Take a look at their Board of Directors.
https://sycamoretrust.org/board/
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The linked bio’s include people with memberships in the “Catholic Medical Association” and the “Catholic Bar Association”.
Sycamore’s reports have 17,000 subscribers.
The knee jerk “anti-Catholic” charge against those who call out the pervasiveness of the church’s recent politicization is, as convenient as it is disingenuous.
Americans should read the history tab at Sycamore Trust. “Est. in 2006…concerned …radical reduction in the proportion of Catholics on the faculty…(the goal to) reverse secularization at the University….”
The SCOTUS decision in the Biel case sets precedent for religious organizations to limit hiring (give preference) to Catholics. The Espinosa SCOTUS decision rendered in the same summer of 2020, forced taxpayers to fund religious K-12. Similar tax funding positioned Catholic organizations as the U.S.’ 3rd largest employer. If it wasn’t the plan to counter waning interest in conservative religions which are anti-woman by sweetening the pot with job preference, it sure worked out that way e.g. SCOTUS Judge Barrett from Notre Dame’s faculty.
The linked Board bio’s include credentials like Heritage Foundation (Koch), Napa Institute and Legatus (Tim Busch’ organizations, Busch wrote, “The Remarkable Similarities between Catholicism and Charles Koch’s Recent Book”) and, positions like federal judge clerkships and membership on religious liberty working groups for a former U.S. Atty Gen.
Bio’s reference EPPC (a Wash. D.C. policy influencing group), Family Research Council, Heartbeat International Pregnancy Center, St. Paul Award for the New Evangelism, positions in fundraising for Catholic and other private universities, the Josephite Pro-Chastity…Committee, leadership in a Catholic high school in New Orleans, a Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist (1995-2013), etc.
Thank you Kathy for your vigilance.
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Incredible isn’t it. And all laid out quite clearly for everyone to see.
A massive and well-financed network. Sycamore Symbolism?
“The primary symbolism surround the Sycamore relates to love, protection and fertility.
It has strong links to nature and the elemental forces, especially resistance against the more destructive ones.”
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Protection, as interpreted by the conservative religious, equates to male domination and it also presents as preference for the sect and its members. The conservative, religious SCOTUS majority rules without regard to equal rights, without regard to democratic values and without regard to any interests other than those of the GOP wealthy.
When religions like conservative Christianity usurp the role of government, the vulnerable always suffer irreparable damage. The unholy alliance between Charles Koch and the Catholic hierarchy is predictable. Koch climate denial renders false all claims about respect for “nature” made by the Koch-conjoined conservative religious.
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WPDH radio in Poughkeepsie, NY would do a funny thing on snow days, when the DJs read off the names of schools that were closed down. That station has a strong signal so it was a very, very long list. They’d slip in a fake school and listeners would have to guess which school it was and call in.
“Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger”, “East Webatuck”, “Faber College” etc…
Ah…the old days.
Now things are fake in a such a tricky way.
And, it sure ain’t funny.
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Bedford Forrest High School and Duck Blind
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EXTRA CREDIT if anyone knows what movie “Faber College” is from…without “googling” it.
[It’s a film I viewed a lot differently when I watched it, a.) with my own teenage children next to me and b) in light of where my brain and our culture are now that we’re in the 21st century.]
Having said that…the scene with the fictional “Emily Dickinson College” in that same movie still made me chuckle. What can I say?
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9/7 Followup From The Guardian
Some players had to share helmets during the game, while ESPN’s commentators voiced concern for the footballers’ safety during the contest. The Ohio High School Athletic Association later said the school’s “physical location, practice facilities, and roster eligibility could not be verified” and one of Bishop Sycamore’s listed addresses turned out to be a college library. Another was a training facility with no classrooms. Talented players were allegedly lured to Bishop Sycamore by the promise of a Netflix documentary, only to discover that there were no buildings or lessons, let alone a TV show.
On Monday, a man identifying himself as Bishop Sycamore’s new coach said the school was not what it had appeared to be.
High school football has become an increasingly big business in the US
Was ESPN scammed by a fake high school? The real scandal goes much deeper
Read more
“We do not offer curriculum,” Tyren Jackson told WCMH-TV. “We are not a school. That’s not what Bishop Sycamore is, and I think that’s what the biggest misconception about us was, and that was our fault. Because that was a mistake on paperwork.”
In Bishop Sycamore’s filing with Ohio’s department of education it describes itself as “a [sic] innovative academically accredited school” and “one of the best academic institutions in the country.”
Roy Johnson, the team’s former coach was the subject of a fraud investigation and at least three lawsuits. He was also the subject of a warrant for failing to appear in a domestic violence case. Former Bishop Sycamore players also claimed he borrowed his plays from the Madden video game series. Johnson was fired last week.
Bishop Sycamore’s founder, Andre Peterson, has denied running a scam. “If it’s a scam and the kids are not going to school and not doing what they’re supposed to do, then I’m literally scamming myself,” Peterson told the Columbus Dispatch. “And most importantly, I’m hurting my own son.”
Ohio’s governor, GOP Mike DeWine, has ordered an investigation into the matter.
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