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Young Battles Houlahan for Chester and Berks Voters

Neil Young, a father and social studies teacher in the Great Valley School District, believes America is headed in the wrong direction and knew he had to do something about it.

So Young, who never ran for elected office before, threw his hat into the ring for Congress to represent Chester and part of Berks Counties.

Young, a Republican, is concerned about education, the border, energy, and the economy. He is challenging incumbent Democrat Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, who portrays herself as a moderate.

“She votes with Harris-Biden 99.1 percent of the time,” said Young.

Dr. Raffi Terzian, chair of the Chester County Republican Committee, said, “Neil Young is a great husband and father, as well as a dedicated lifelong educator. His authenticity, earnestness, and strong work ethic shine through in all he does. Actively involved in his community, Neil is deeply committed to enhancing the lives of everyone in the 6th Congressional District.”

“Our current representative is not effectively serving us, as she prioritizes divisive and partisan interests over the needs of her constituents,” Terzian said. “As a member of Congress, Neil will undoubtedly work tirelessly to steer our community and nation toward a brighter future.”

The district is rated D+4, although Republican voter registration activist Scott Presler has put it on his list to flip. Presler recently announced voter registrations in Bucks County flipped to Republican and Luzerne County is close to changing.

The Young family

“I think more teachers involved in politics would offer a better solution than life-long politicians,” said Young. “A lot of teachers would make great public servants.”

In Chester County, school districts spend more than $20,000 per year per pupil,  but “less than half of them read, write, or do math at grade level. To me, that’s not a good return on anyone’s investment.” Depending on the study, U.S. students rank from 18th to 30th in the world.

“I don’t want to do away with public schools, but I think public schools can be improved if they compete [with alternatives],” he said. “I think a lot of parents could find better options that fit their child’s learning [style].”

Houlahan touts the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. However, “we have only one dedicated STEM high school in all Chester County with 300 kids a year getting in,” he said.

Regarding the borders, Young said, “Almost anybody can look around and say this is a broken system. We’re seeing an influx of illegal immigration that we’ve never seen before. And we’ve got to fix that. It’s not sustainable.”

“You know, we’re restricting our energy output,” Young said. “What the current administration did on Day One. They opened the border and restricted energy output by not renewing leases and canceling pipelines.”

Those actions are helping to fuel inflation, he said.

“It’s one of the biggest drivers of inflation and increases in the cost of living,” said Young. “It’s unsustainable, particularly for lower and middle-class people living paycheck to paycheck.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said the border is secure. “You know that is not true,” said Young.

He said Houlahan voted against House Bill 2, which could have secured the border. It would have reinstituted the remain-in-Mexico policy, among other provisions. She also voted against six other border security bills [Res 1065, HR 7511, 957, 5283, 5525 and Res. 461], Young said.

Young said Houlahan’s votes are “against American energy independence are votes against national security.”

On April 4, 2023, Houlahan voted against keeping Title IX for girls in sports [HR724]. That law protects girls in education and sports. Still, the Biden-Harris administration has changed the law to force students to use certain pronouns, affirm queer theory, and not allow sex-segregated spaces. Moms for Liberty obtained an injunction to stop the changes in schools their children attend.

Guy Ciarracchi, a political commentator, ran against Houlahan in 2022.

“Critics focus on Neil being a first-time candidate—what he doesn’t know. But what Neil Young does know as a history teacher, wrestling coach, and dad is that America is in trouble because Democrat politicians are making bad decisions. What he knows is that we might be the generation that leaves our children worse off. And, he has commonsense solutions to make things better.”

Young grew up in Coatesville and Downingtown. He went to college at West Chester University.

“Everything good in my life happened here in Chester County,” said Young.

His wife, Jill, teaches art at High Point Baptist Academy in Berkes County, where their two youngest children, 13 and 11, are students. His oldest son is 20 and attends Williamson College of Trade in Media. His second son is 19 and at Liberty University.

“My wife and I struggled for a while with infertility,” said Young. “Our first child was born through IVF [in vitro fertilization]. We adopted our second child from Ethiopia. Then our younger two came naturally, and we decided long ago that we’re going to have however many we have, and we’re going to care for them.”

Young traveled repeatedly to Afghanistan to train teachers there how to teach. More teachers were needed to teach “the large influx of girls.”

“There was tremendous progress being made,” he said. Then, the Biden-Harris administration decided to withdraw.

“We didn’t break Afghanistan,” Young said. “We didn’t go in to colonize or take over. I think that’s what makes the United States unique. We went to help people and we stuck around and poured money into the economy of Afghanistan.”

“For me, it’s more personal and more tragic to see [what happened] because of political expediency,” he said. “We put a lot of lives at risk. I think it’s important that our politicians know that.”

 

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Students Fake Teachers’ Profiles on TikTok and Face No Real Consequences

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty.)

“There is nothing more dangerous than not holding children accountable,” said Neil Young, a middle school teacher who was the victim of a fake TikTok account created by his students.

Students at Great Valley Middle School in Chester County created twenty-two fictitious TikTok accounts of their teachers, according to a statement issued by the Great Valley School District on June 13, 2024. While the incidents occurred back in February this year, they were only recently reported upon by the New York Times. The counterfeited accounts contained disparaging posts, ranging from racist to homophobic to pornographic, according to the Great Valley Teachers’ Union president’s comments made at the March 18, 2024 meeting.

Social media impersonation isn’t discussed as often as its cousin, doxxing, in which someone releases a person’s personal information like a home address or phone number in order to subject the person to harassment, but the teachers who were victims of these actions say it was every bit as damaging or worse.

Neil Young, a veteran social studies teacher at Great Valley Middle School, who is married with four children, was one of the victims of the students’ destructive behavior. Students created a fake account with his name that insinuated that he was gay and involved with another teacher at the school. The students combined pictures to make it appear that the two were in bed together.

 

“This is not funny,” was Young’s first thought when he found out about the post. He could not understand why students would do this to him or to the other teachers who were targeted. “These are great teachers.”

According to Young, the district’s administrative office (not the administration at the school) initially said that they would take care of the problem, but he was unsatisfied with their response.

Young was impressed when teachers stood up and demanded accountability for what happened to them, especially when “they felt like they weren’t getting the resolution they wanted from the district and law enforcement.”

A teacher and coach for twenty-two years, Young understands that middle school students are impulsive and make mistakes; yet he has witnessed a change in their demeanor over the years. “We have empowered children which is a good thing, but the pendulum has swung too far.”

Students are “careless in the way they use technology and have no understanding of the reach they have via social media. When they make mistakes, they are not apologetic and they employ a mantra of ‘I have rights.’”

When asked what he attributes the changes in students to, Young said, “empowered kids have tied our hands when it comes to discipline.” He said that the district does not enforce a consistent discipline policy, resulting in disastrous consequences for both students and teachers.

“Discipline is tied directly to achievement.” Young said that the lack of discipline is ultimately harming the students and interfering with learning and academic outcomes.

He believes that the district’s overreliance on legal counsel led to a mischaracterization of this situation as a First Amendment issue for the students.

In their statement issued five months after the incidents, the district said, “the challenge presented that these accounts were created outside of the school and may have represented students’ right to free speech.”

Young disagrees with the district’s characterization of the egregious behavior. He said that students used their district-issued iPads to take some of the pictures used in the TikTok posts in the school building during school hours.

Additionally, he does not believe that the district adequately investigated the situation. Rather, “teachers did a lot of the investigative work on their own” to discover the fake accounts.

Young also faults law enforcement for their lack of appropriate responsiveness to the issue. According to him, teachers contacted both local police precincts and the Chester County DA’s office, and the concerns were “blown off.”

Another large part of the problem according to the teacher is the overreliance on technology. He believes that teachers have been replaced with technology and are little more than a “glorified chalkboard” in the classroom. While the district states that technology is central to learning, Young sees it as one tool. Students receive minimal instruction on the appropriate uses of technology, and he believes it is far too little.

When asked how he would have handled the situation, Young gave a detailed plan:

“The district should have conducted a thorough investigation of all the students involved, including confiscating the district-issued technology devices and reaching out to parents to include them in the process.” He said that the district should have immediately explained to parents their child’s role in the incident and asked for their help by looking at their private TikTok accounts. “These students needed severe, significant consequences — maybe a one week suspension.” Young said that the district should have brought in law enforcement to the school to meet with students and explain the seriousness of the issue. Finally, before returning to the classroom, there should have been a meeting between the teacher and student where the student apologized for their behavior and accepted responsibility for the harm caused to the teacher.

This seems like a reasonable course of action that would not conflict with any First Amendment rights and is consistent with the tenets of restorative justice where victim awareness is paramount to the process.

According to Young, the district did a minimal investigation that did not include asking parents to look at their student’s devices, required the students to complete a responsible technology lesson, and a few received a one-day suspension.

The veteran teacher believes that the district wanted to “keep parents in the dark” and “sweep the incident under the rug.” His statement was validated by at least two parents who expressed concern at the March school board meeting that they had not been notified about the “attack on our teachers and their families.” One parent told the board that these students needed “real consequences” and the district needed to “grow a spine and don’t put our heads in the sand.”

These sentiments are also shared by former school board member, Bruce Chambers, who served from 2009 to 2012 and ultimately resigned due to the” high level of dysfunction on the board” and a personal situation. Chambers said that the district claims it wants “parents as partners,” but their current policies indicate the contrary.

He cited the district policy 103.3. “Appropriate school employees will privately ask known transgender or gender expansive students how they would like to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the student’s home, and at conferences with the student’s parent/guardian.”

Chambers said that if the district wanted “parents as partners,” they would not withhold pertinent information intentionally from parents. The former board member said, “the district’s reaction to the situation is lame.”

Following the New York Times article, the district posted an open letter to the community with this closing:

“Your partnership is critical. As a school district, our greatest asset is our collaboration between home and school. As we plan for the next school year, I implore you also to use the summer to have conversations with your children about the responsible use of technology, especially social media. What seemingly feels like a joke has deep and long-lasting impacts, not just for the targeted person but for the students themselves. Our best defense is a collaborative one. I have always valued your partnership and will continue to do so as we move ahead.”

This statement leaves us with more questions than answers. The district would not answer specific questions posed via email and instead sent the generic statement.

If collaboration is the best defense, why didn’t the district immediately involve parents in the investigation and ask for their help? I am certain that many parents would have searched their child’s phone to see if there was any evidence pertinent to the investigation.

According to Young and the New York Times article, the principal initially sent an email to only the 8th grade parents alerting them to the situation approximately a week after it occurred. A second email was sent a few weeks later to all middle school families stating that some of the accounts were still active and contained “offensive content.” Prior to the national news story, the administration never sent a communication to all parents about the situation.

If the New York Times had not run the story, would the district ever have notified all families?

Unarguably, our children are growing up in a challenging online world, and school districts are struggling to keep up with the daily changes; yet, they have a moral, ethical, and legal responsibility to protect both students and teachers from egregious acts, in addition to being transparent about what is happening.

Neil Young has yet to receive an apology for what was done to him and his family. That might be a good starting point.

(Author’s note: Neil Young is currently on sabbatical from the Great Valley School District and is running for U.S. Congress in the 6th District.)

Houlahan, Dean Back Biden on Withholding Weapons From Israel

President Joe Biden’s threat to withhold some precision offensive weapons from Israel as it wages war on the terrorist army of Hamas has been met with an angry backlash from both political parties. And that divide among Democrats is on display in Pennsylvania, where U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has decried Biden’s “disappointing” decision, while local U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean and Chrissy Houlahan have endorsed it.

On Sunday, Biden’s Secretary of State Anthony Blinken repeated the administration’s threat, and said even more restrictions may follow if Israel pushes into the Gazan city of Rafah to wipe out what’s left of Hamas.

“If Israel launches this major military operation into Rafah, then there are certain systems that we are not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation,” Blinken told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

The backlash from supporters of Israel began on Wednesday when Biden said he had told the Israelis that going into Rafah would result in a loss of U.S. support.

“I’ve made it clear to Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and the war cabinet: They’re not going to get our support if they go [into] these population centers,” Biden told CNN.

Pennsylvania’s Fetterman responded via social media. “Hard disagree and deeply disappointing,” he tweeted.

“I strongly disagree with this decision and it should be immediately reversed. If there are any restrictions, it should be on Hamas, its enablers, and benefactors,” he added.

Montgomery County Democratic Congresswoman Madeline Dean, on the other hand, has been calling for Biden to restrict weapons to Israel for weeks. While her spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, Dean signed a letter urging Biden to withhold “certain offensive weaponry or other military support that can be used for an assault on Rafah, including offensive weaponry already signed into law.”

Dave Winkler, the Republican running against Dean, called her letter “despicable.”

“Withholding aid from Israel would be an unconscionable betrayal that would embolden the forces of terror and extremism hellbent on delegitimizing and annihilating the Jewish state. As a stalwart ally, the U.S. has a moral obligation to steadfastly support Israel’s ability to defend itself against the existential threats of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Hezbollah’s missile arsenals, and the indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilians by the terrorist thugs of Hamas.

Dean’s fellow Democrat, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan issued a lengthy statement saying she also agrees with Biden’s decision to withhold arms from the longtime U.S. ally.

“Recently, President Biden decided to temporarily withhold specific U.S. weapons to Israel until such time as he receives further assurances about Israel’s military operations and humanitarian considerations, specifically in Rafah. I don’t agree with every decision the president makes, but I agree with him here,” Houlahan said.

Houlahan’s GOP challenger Neil Young disagrees. “President Biden withholding arms from Israel is not only completely reckless, but it undermines American credibility on the world stage. Israel is our most trusted ally and they should not be left to stand alone. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Many Democrats, like our senator John Fetterman, have stood against Biden’s betrayal of Israel. Chrissy Houlahan’s support for this reckless policy prioritizes party allegiance over national interest. Her loyalty lies with her party, not with the American people or our allies.”

Both Houlahan and Dean are on the far-left Working Families Party list of congressional members who have demanded a ceasefire.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) declined to respond to a request for comment from DVJournal on the topic, but he told reporters late last week he disagrees with Biden’s decision to withhold weapons. However, he’s rarely mentioned the issue while Fetterman has spoken forcefully on behalf of Israel and its right to use force.

Casey’s Republican opponent Dave McCormick has praised Fetterman’s “moral clarity” regarding the Jewish state.

Nationally, both the Republican Jewish Coalition and Democratic Majority for Israel have issued statements opposing Biden’s treatment of the Jewish state.

“Joe Biden has cemented his legacy as the worst president for the Jewish community and the State of Israel ever,” said the RJC.

“We are deeply concerned about the administration’s decision to withhold weapons now and potentially impose further restrictions,” said the Democratic Majority for Israel’s Mark Mellman.

“A strong U.S.-Israel alliance like the one President Biden has created, plays a central role in preventing more war and making the path to eventual peace possible,” he added. “Calling the strength of that alliance into question is dangerous.”

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