Republican Assault on Public Education (1 Viewer)

[MT15]

This probably needs its own thread. It ties in with a lot of different R culture wars: Attacks on universities, attacks on CRT and “woke”. Classifying teachers and librarians as “groomers”. Pushing vouchers to send tax money to private, often religious, schools. Betsy DeVos was an advocate for all these policies that will weaken public education, and there are several billionaires who also want to dismantle public education. Public education may have its faults, but it is responsible for an amazing amount of upward mobility. Kids from poor areas can still get a college prep education in a public school.

Vouchers (sometimes disguised as “school choice”) are a particular peeve of mine. Public money is diverted from poor schools to wealthy private schools, which aren’t required to offer accommodations for special needs or challenged students. Families with special needs kids are left out. Rural areas often suffer disproportionately because there are no private schools to attend, but their public schools still see the reduction in funding. Often the families who take advantage of the voucher money are upper class and the private schools simply raise tuition knowing the families are getting taxpayer money now.

Greg Abbot is being particularly vile in this area. No surprise. Voters will have to make a statement about public education. If we want to halt the growing divide in this country between the “haves” and “have-nots”, we need to pay attention to public education.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

They're in denial that they are different than the other folk that white republicans are hateful and racist towards.

exactly its like the black conservative trumpers seem to have 24 7 style meltdowns everytime stuff like woke wokeness cancel culture dei and critical race theory comes up whenever black left wingers brings it up

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[MT15]

In TX you now cannot teach from Plato’s writings. TX, what are you doing?

Texas A&M Bans Plato (further updates) - Daily Nous

Drop the race and gender material from your course and the Plato readings, or teach a different course. You have a day to decide. That's a paraphrase of what Martin Peterson, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, was told by university officials today about his upcoming "Contemporary...

dailynous.com

 

[camdudetenger2018]

In TX you now cannot teach from Plato’s writings. TX, what are you doing?

Texas A&M Bans Plato (further updates) - Daily Nous

Drop the race and gender material from your course and the Plato readings, or teach a different course. You have a day to decide. That's a paraphrase of what Martin Peterson, professor of philosophy at Texas A&M University, was told by university officials today about his upcoming "Contemporary...

dailynous.com

isnt that part of the greek mythology

 

[MT15]

isnt that part of the greek mythology

No, Plato was a very real man. The writings they have banned concerned censorship, in case you want a demonstration of irony.

 

[LA 2 L.A.]

isnt that part of the greek mythology

Plato was a Greek philosopher who's teachings still have a foundational influence on Western culture.

Banning any of Plato's writings is just more proof that the Republicans are lying when they say they want to return America to the values of Western culture. They are just using Western culture as a replacement for saying what they truly want, which is to make America for white men only again.

 

[camdudetenger2018]

No, Plato was a very real man. The writings they have banned concerned censorship, in case you want a demonstration of irony.

oh ok

 

[camdudetenger2018]

Plato was a Greek philosopher who's teachings still have a foundational influence on Western culture.

Banning any of Plato's writings is just more proof that the Republicans are lying when they say they want to return America to the values of Western culture. They are just using Western culture as a replacement for saying what they truly want, which is to make America for white men only again.

i thought he was someone from the greek mytholgy

 

[Optimus Prime]

Idaho officials violated the U.S. and state constitutions when they pushed a public school teacher to take down a classroom banner that featured the words “Everyone is Welcome Here” and hands with various skin tones, according to a federal lawsuit.

In the suit, filed Tuesday, former Lewis & Clark Middle School teacher Sarah Inama alleges school officials told her to remove the banner in 2025, even though it had adorned her classroom for years without complaint.

That all changed in early 2025, the lawsuit alleges, as the West Ada School District in Meridian prepared for the likely passage of HB 41, a state law that outlawed most political and ideological displays in classrooms.

Inama said school officials approached her in early February of that year and insisted she take the banner down, explaining that the message of the poster was “an opinion that not everyone agrees with.”

Inama said she told her principal that such thinking “sounds racist,” and he allegedly responded, “I know it’s a bummer.”

The sixth-grade teacher initially took down the sign, but returned it to her classroom later that month, after students reached out, wondering why she had removed it.

In an email, she told the principal she would “die to know that any students felt like I had changed my stance.”……….

Idaho teacher sues after her ‘Everyone is Welcome’ banner hung at school is outlawed

The teacher claimed that siding with those who wanted to take down her banner was ‘appeasing individuals with racist perspectives over celebrating the diversity and beauty of all our students’

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[Optimus Prime]

Seems Bad! Texas Is Targeting School Districts Where Students Protested Against ICE

In an unhinged statement, Attorney General Ken Paxton said he refuses to let Texas schools become “breeding grounds for the radical Left’s open borders agenda.”

www.jezebel.com

 

[MT15]

Just saw this - and while it’s great news - I’m afraid the damage has been largely done. Lots of school districts have already complied with this admin’s illegal directives.

Added: reducing further in the comments - it appears that the Dept of Education has declined to appeal the judgement against its efforts.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The better educated women are they want use that education on, like a career and stuff, and are not doing their only real job, having babies

 

[Dragon]

Right, because the real reason people aren’t having kids is women reading books — not housing costs, job insecurity, and zero support for families.

So if society wants more babies, maybe try making life affordable for the people who are supposed to raise them — you know, healthcare, paid leave for both parents, job security, childcare, education. But sure, blaming women for getting educated is probably cheaper.

But whenever these ideas come up, they’re dismissed as “socialism,” so instead we watch birth rates fall while inequality rises and the wealthiest few accumulate ever more resources.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Right, because the real reason people aren’t having kids is women reading books — not housing costs, job insecurity, and zero support for families.

So if society wants more babies, maybe try making life affordable for the people who are supposed to raise them — you know, healthcare, paid leave for both parents, job security, childcare, education. But sure, blaming women for getting educated is probably cheaper.

But whenever these ideas come up, they’re dismissed as “socialism,” so instead we watch birth rates fall while inequality rises and the wealthiest few accumulate ever more resources.

100%

 

[Optimus Prime]

The big story: The Florida Department of Education has a new email hotline for public school students and staff who believe their religious rights have been violated.

Asserting the department’s commitment to constitutional protections for voluntary prayer and religious expression, as outlined in recent federal guidance, education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas on Tuesday unveiled FLFaith@fldoe.org as a place to submit complaints.

In a letter addressed to parents, Kamoutsas said department officials would investigate each email received, reporting every complaint and any legal charges to the federal government. He offered examples of what should be expected from the schools, such as treating religious speech the same as secular speech.

“An essay with religious content should be graded with the same grading standards as a secular essay,” he wrote. “Religious student organizations should be treated the same as secular student organizations.”

The federal rules are not new. But the latest set of guidelines are intended to replace those promulgated by the Biden Administration.

They state that while individuals may pray in school, they may not do so on behalf of the school and they may not coerce or require others to participate. Also, schools may regulate student speech that disrupts course work or invades the rights of others..............

Florida looks to protect religious rights in public schools

A roundup of Florida education news from around the state

www.tampabay.com

 

[MT15]

Florida continues to be the Hungary of the US. Just awful, led by horrible people.

 

[Optimus Prime]

The Tennessee Senate on Thursday passed a bill requiring public schools to display copies of the Ten Commandments in a “prominent” place alongside historical documents such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.

Critics said the bill inappropriately mixes church and state.

“Our children need to be learning about reading, writing, arithmetic, science, tech to get them ready to be a world-class generation of kids who can push this country forward, not be indoctrinated to what the Bible says here and there,” Sen. London Lamar, a Memphis-area Democrat, said during floor debate. “That is the responsibility of the church, their parents, their families and whatever private entities they want to engage with in order to receive the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro, of Nashville, said legislators should spend more time trying to follow the commandments themselves and warned the bill, which passed 27 to 6, would prompt costly legal battles.

“It’s inevitable that taxpayers will end up paying for litigation,” he said at a press conference.……

Anger as Tennessee Senate passes bill forcing schools to display the Ten Commandments

A handful of Republican states are pushing to install the Ten Commandments in schools, setting up a potential Supreme Court ruling on the matter

www.independent.co.uk