Assault on education

[dfitzo53]

3 hours ago, Destino said:

I’ve spent too much time on twitter, but I’ve heard some education related chatter that is alarming.  I’m seeing many people claiming to be teachers saying that at teacher workshops and training much of what’s covered is pro communism and heavy on hard left advocacy… and there is no conservative or pro capitalist stuff at all.  Anyone know if this is true?  
 

The reason is ask is because it’s disengenious to argue that there nothing explicitly hard left in the curriculum, while the entire staff is being trained with material radically left as communism.  I can’t imagine the outrage if US teachers were all sent to christian camps for moral education.  It wouldn’t matter if they had any explicitly christian lesson plans, it would inevitably bleed over.  
 

Anyone know if it’s true?  It’s probably not, but I figured I’d share. 

I'm a teacher, but of course my experience only represents one school, or at most the handful of schools where I know some people.

 

I haven't seen any of this.

 

Like, at all.

[The Evil Genius]

Republicans really are the dumbest ****ing people.

 

 

[China]

They're still on about the furry stuff?  That crap was debunked months ago.  These people really need to get off of Facebook.

[China]

And now the fun begins...

 

DeSantis signs controversial bill restricting certain LGBTQ topics in the classroom

 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislation banning certain instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, approving the controversial measure that opponents have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law.

 

HB 1557, titled the "Parental Rights in Education" bill, was given final passage by Florida's GOP-controlled legislature earlier this month. The law is set to take effect in July.

The legislation set off a social and political firestorm in Florida when it was introduced by Republican lawmakers in January. Its passage comes as conservatives around the country are pushing a host of bills that would further marginalize members of the LGBTQ community. DeSantis, a staunch conservative with a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ causes, previously approved legislation targeting LGBTQ Floridians, including an anti-trans sports ban last year.

"We will continue to recognize that in the state of Florida, parents have a fundamental role in the education, health care and well-being of their children. We will not move from that," DeSantis, a Republican, said during Monday's bill signing.

DeSantis' move was met with immediate backlash from LGBTQ advocates, including the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that works on suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

‘It would be a disaster:’ Florida lawmakers discuss repealing Disney’s Reedy Creek government

 

he Reedy Creek Improvement District—created by state lawmakers in 1967—acts as Walt Disney World’s own government with two cities and land in Orange and Osceola counties.

 

“In effect, they’re their own city out there. They can zone the way they want. They can do things the way they want. They can even build a nuclear power plant if they want,” News 6 political analyst Jim Clark said.

 

Those rights are now being discussed among some Florida lawmakers who are thinking about repealing the Reedy Creek Improvement Act of 1967.

 

“I think that this is a feud that is escalating into a war between Florida Republicans and the Disney corporation which is the largest single-site employer in Florida,” Clark said.

 

The apparent feud started after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, according to Clark.

 

The law — which has been the subject of controversy, sparking protests around Walt Disney World after the company did not initially publicly condemn it — bans discussions on sexual identity in Florida classrooms in kindergarten through third grade and requires such conversations to be “age-appropriate” in successive grades, though the law does not define “age-appropriate.”

 

“For Disney to come out and put a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and that they are going to actively work to repeal it, I think, one was fundamentally dishonest but, two I think that crossed the line,” DeSantis said Tuesday.

 

This response came a day before Florida House Rep. Spencer Roach tweeted that legislators held two meetings in the past week to discuss repealing the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act.

 

“Disney has been extremely generous with Republican politicians in Florida. They give about $200,000 a year, including $12,000 to the state representative who is stirring this up,” Clark told News 6. “It would be a disaster for Disney. One of the reasons they came here in the mid-60s was the legislature’s promise that they could have self-government.”

 

Richard Foglesong, a retired Rollins College political science professor and the author of Married to the Mouse, said he believes talks of revoking the act is just a way of the Republican party showing what they stand for, but no real change will come out of those discussions.

 

“If you ask me whether it’s politically possible to take these privileges away from the Disney company, I don’t think so,” Foglesong said. “I think that cooler minds will prevail and that this is really a shot across the bow to try to bring the Disney company, Mickey Mouse if you will, into line with Governor DeSantis.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

On 3/27/2022 at 11:15 PM, China said:

Republicans Are Furious That People Are Calling Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill a “Don’t Say Gay” Bill

 

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

I have to assume someone will challenge the law in court under the 1st amendment.  Of course if it gets to the current Supreme Court, they would probably uphold it.

 

Trump Judge Who Defended Same-Sex Marriage Ban Will Review Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Law

 

On Thursday, a group of plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit against Florida’s “don’t say gay” measure, or H.B. 1557, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law three days ago. The lawsuit—which was brought by a group of students, parents, and teachers, along with Equality Florida—argues that the gag order violates free speech, due process, and equal protection. H.B. 1557, the suit declares, “would deny to an entire generation that LGBTQ people exist and have equal dignity. This effort to control young minds through state censorship—and to demean LGBTQ lives by denying their reality—is a grave abuse of power.”

 

It’s a strong argument, put forth by some of the nation’s top civil rights lawyers. But the lawsuit almost immediately hit a snag: It has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor, a Donald Trump appointee who is perhaps best known for defending Florida’s defunct ban on same-sex marriage. This assignment illustrates how Trump and Republicans stacked the deck against LGBTQ equality for decades to come by flooding the courts with reactionaries in just four years.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Texas teachers say they’re pushed to the brink by law requiring them to spend dozens of hours unpaid in training

 

It was one thing to ask Texas teachers — during an ongoing teacher’s shortage — to make extra room in their busy home routines for online classroom teaching for months, then to monitor the latest in vaccine and mask mandates while waiting and adjusting yet again for a return to the classroom.

 

But now, as teachers attempt to restore all the learning lost by their students during the pandemic, the Texas Legislature has insisted those who teach grades K-3 need to jump another hurdle: they need to complete a 60-to-120 hour course on reading, known as Reading Academies, if they want to keep their jobs in 2023.

 

And they must do it on their own time, unpaid.

 

For many like 38-year-old Christina Guerra, a special education teacher in the Rio Grande Valley, the course requirement is the final straw and it is sending teachers like her and others out the door.

 

“I don't want to do it,” she said. “I refuse to, and if they fire me, they fire me.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[GhostofSparta]

I know Texas is still mad about losing slavery all those years ago, so it looks like they're trying to find a way to bring it back.

[Destino]

Aren’t teachers salaried employees?  I’ve never received additional money for training my company provided.  Is it normal to pay people extra for training related to their field that being provided at no cost?  I guess I’d never even thought of it.  The only part that seems contentious is that they have to do it on their own time.  

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[The Evil Genius]

 

[China]

 

[China]

Huntington East Middle School principal being investigated for allegedly telling students to not report sexual assault

 

A Cabell County principal is under investigation tonight, accused of telling female students not to report unwanted sexual conduct if they dress suggestively.

 

Two students and others at the Cabell County Schools Board Meeting on April 5, 2022, made allegations that the principal at Huntington East Middle School, De Morrow-Perry, took girls into the cafeteria of Huntington East Middle School on April 1, 2022, to talk to them about the dress code.

 

The students then go on to say that Morrow-Perry told them to not wear pajamas, crop tops and ripped jeans, and to not show their shoulders because “boys are going to touch [them] and joke about touching [them].”

 

They say that she told them that if they did get touched inappropriately as a result of wearing a certain item of clothing, to not tell them because the school will, “do nothing about it.”

 

Jedd Flowers, Director of Communications with Cabell County Schools, tells 13 News that the school district is aware of the allegations and launched an investigation on Monday, April 4, 2022.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[gbear]

Maybe i am off, but as I catch up on this thread, I am surprised at "furies."  I thought that jut referred to kids who liked the Warrior Cat series of books by Erin Hunter.  

[The Evil Genius]

11 minutes ago, gbear said:

Maybe i am off, but as I catch up on this thread, I am surprised at "furies."  I thought that jut referred to kids who liked the Warrior Cat series of books by Erin Hunter.  

 

Conservatives are gullible. 

[mojo]

https://tennesseestar.com/2022/03/22/cherokee-county-school-board-shuts-down-mom-for-asserting-that-explicit-book-from-school-library-is-inappropriate/

 

So a parent reads a passage from a book available in the school library but is shut down by the liberal school board bc there might be children listening to the live stream of the meeting.

 

[The Evil Genius]

I strongly suspect Homegoing is absolutely age appropriate for high school kids (which the article conspicuously doesn't identify as the recipients of the book in question). 

Edited April 6, 2022 by The Evil Genius

[tshile]

1 hour ago, The Evil Genius said:

I strongly suspect Homegoing is absolutely age appropriate for high school kids (which the article conspicuously doesn't identify as the recipients of the book in question). 

Sure they do. 
 

well. Maybe the article doesn’t. But the video does. 

 

specifically she stated it’s on the AP list of required reading. As far as I’m aware that specifically means high school. Even more specifically - junior/senior level. I think? I don’t recall any of my ap classes requiring I be a junior or senior explicitly, but the prerequisites basically ensured it… but it’s been a while. I’m old…

 

that said I don’t believe books with graphic sexual scenes need to be AP required reading… but I’m also against policing books in libraries. I would settle for removing it from the required reading list, but leaving it in the library system. 
 

Although I guess I’m just conflicted cause I also view the idea of trying to ‘protect’ high schoolers from sexual content as hysterical. It’s like these people were the lamest high schoolers ever 😂 

 

but also the objection to her speaking is kind of dumb. What children are listening to a live stream of a  school board meeting. I do it as an adult with a child in the school system, and I’d rather dig my eyes out with a spoon. 

Edited April 6, 2022 by tshile

[China]

3 hours ago, gbear said:

Maybe i am off, but as I catch up on this thread, I am surprised at "furies."  I thought that jut referred to kids who liked the Warrior Cat series of books by Erin Hunter.  

 

How sweet.  You are so innocent.  There are whole conventions of furries.  Never google furry porn (unless you're into that sort of thing).

[Larry]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

Although I guess I’m just conflicted cause I also view the idea of trying to ‘protect’ high schoolers from sexual content as hysterical. It’s like these people were the lamest high schoolers ever 😂 

They're not "trying to 'protect' high schoolers from sexual content". 
 

Like almost everything on the GOP platform, their position requires a cover story to try to conceal the actual position. 
 

In at least some of the cases, the fact that the cover story is an obvious lie is even part of its appeal. "Yeah, we both know that I'm displaying that 'confederate flag' because I'm a racist. What you gonna do about it?"

 

In this case, the actual agenda is forbidding any literature that contains a character who is, let's say 'non heterosexual'. Or who even has characteristics that somebody (who's actively trying to find it) thinks might be a symbol of those groups. "Protecting children from sex" is just the cover story. 
 

That's why they're flying into outrage when teachers decide that they'll forbid the mention of heterosexual characters, too. "Everybody knows that law was intended to be selectively enforced against only gay people."

[tshile]

Well in this particular case it’s a heterosexual scene that’s supposedly offensive. 
 

but yeah, generally speaking you’re correct. I get that. 
 

kind of like how voter fraud is really about keeping certain people from having obstacles to  legitimate voting. 
 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[LD0506]

On 4/6/2022 at 3:56 PM, The Evil Genius said:

 

Conservatives are gullible. 

 

 

This needs to be their avatar

[PokerPacker]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:04 AM, LD0506 said:

 

 

This needs to be their avatar

That's a bit on-the-nose, isn't it?

[Cooked Crack]