DeSantis' War on Education

[Gunnar]

Ron DeSantis’s authoritarian war on education is reaching new heights

From phony election police to a war on science, Mehdi has detailed the many far-right authoritarian dangers posed by Ron DeSantis. But now, Florida's GOP governor is scaring teachers out of teaching. And Mehdi’s calling this what it is: an attack on democracy. After initially self-censoring his course, University of Central Florida assistant sociology professor Jonathan Cox is taking a stand. He joins Mehdi to weigh in.

Does anyone here share my alarm and outrage over Ron DeSantis' open war against academic integrity and freedom of speech? The dishonesty and hypocrisy of that man is practically palpable! To him, freedom of speech means only the freedom to speak out against, censor and condemn others (especially academics) who espouse and teach truths that make hard right Republicans and bigots like himself uncomfortable. It becomes ever more obvious that what he means by "woke" is embracing cultural diversity and inclusion and opposition to others who don't share his bigotry and hatred against any and all whose race, religion, ethnic background and sexual orientation differ from his own. His goal is to dumb down American voters even more than conservatives have already succeeded in doing by discouraging independent, critical thinking and analysis, and learning from past injustices and mistakes that have harmed our country. He also wants to ban teaching about past champions of social justice and racial fairness and equality, like MLK and Frederik Douglass in our public schools.

[ajax18]

I have an annoymous source that confirms to Adam Schiff that Gov. DeSantis has a backchannel bank to Putin. Would it be too early to broadcast this on CNN in preparation for the 2024 election? Or maybe we should have the Biden DOJ start surveillance of the DeSantis campaign first?

Doug Wilder contended that parents had no say in what is taught in public schools. His bid for governor of Virginia didn't go so well.

[Father Francis]

I have an annoymous source that confirms to Adam Schiff that Gov. DeSantis has a backchannel bank to Putin. Would it be too early to broadcast this on CNN in preparation for the 2024 election? Or maybe we should have the Biden DOJ start surveillance of the DeSantis campaign first?

Doug Wilder contended that parents had no say in what is taught in public schools. His bid for governor of Virginia didn't go so well.

Waiting for your posts on Santo's donations from Russian oligarchs.

[Gunnar]

I have an annoymous source that confirms to Adam Schiff that Gov. DeSantis has a backchannel bank to Putin. Would it be too early to broadcast this on CNN in preparation for the 2024 election? Or maybe we should have the Biden DOJ start surveillance of the DeSantis campaign first?

Doug Wilder contended that parents had no say in what is taught in public schools. His bid for governor of Virginia didn't go so well.

Doug Wilder would have been wiser to merely say that parents shouldn't have unlimited say in what is taught in public schools, rather than that they have no say at all. The fact is that few parents have all the necessary education and expertise to be the sole or final arbiters of everything their children need to be taught in school to become successful and well-rounded adults. But they certainly have the right to know what their children are being taught and some idea of the qualifications of their teachers. You surely must realize that there are many ignorant, misinformed and bigoted parents who are very poor judges of what their children need or ought to know. There are, for example, flat earth believers who are outraged about schools teaching the heliocentric solar system and spinning spherical earth concepts to their children, or the evidence supporting biological evolution.

Should parents have the right to forbid teaching evolution or modern astronomy in their children's science classes?

[Gunnar]

I have an annoymous source that confirms to Adam Schiff that Gov. DeSantis has a backchannel bank to Putin. Would it be too early to broadcast this on CNN in preparation for the 2024 election? Or maybe we should have the Biden DOJ start surveillance of the DeSantis campaign first?

Doug Wilder contended that parents had no say in what is taught in public schools. His bid for governor of Virginia didn't go so well.

Waiting for your posts on Santo's donations from Russian oligarchs.

Frankly, I would not be greatly surprised to find that DeSantis did indeed sympathize with Putin or was influenced by Putin in some way. He certainly seems to aspire to becoming a full fledged autocratic authority and power like Putin.

[Doctor Steuss]

I have an annoymous source that confirms to Adam Schiff that Gov. DeSantis has a backchannel bank to Putin. Would it be too early to broadcast this on CNN in preparation for the 2024 election? Or maybe we should have the Biden DOJ start surveillance of the DeSantis campaign first?

Doug Wilder contended that parents had no say in what is taught in public schools. His bid for governor of Virginia didn't go so well.

I think welfare queen socialist DeSantis only likes spending other people's money when it's the money of hard working American taxpayers. Not sure spending Putin's money fits his character.

[Moksha]

Being anti-science and anti-education means that DeSantis understands Republican voters.

[ajax18]

Should parents have the right to forbid teaching evolution or modern astronomy in their children's science classes?

No, and I don't think that's what Florida and Virginia parents were saying during the governors' elections. They're saying that you don't have the right to inculcate young children with the belief that homosexuality and marriage is on an equal moral level to heterosexual marriage. They're saying that white children should not be labeled as oppressors and black children as victims for something that happened 150 years ago.

[Doctor Steuss]

Should parents have the right to forbid teaching evolution or modern astronomy in their children's science classes?

No, and I don't think that's what Florida and Virginia parents were saying during the governors' elections. They're saying that you don't have the right to inculcate young children with the belief that homosexuality and marriage is on an equal moral level to heterosexual marriage. They're saying that white children should not be labeled as oppressors and black children as victims for something that happened 150 years ago.

I always find it curious that so many white people, when taught about America's history of slavery, seem to identify with the slave holders more-so than the abolitionists.

[Xenophon]

I always find it curious that so many white people, when taught about America's history of slavery, seem to identify with the slave holders more-so than the abolitionists.

I distinctly recall a little teaching scenario we were put through in middle school. The premise was very TTRPG where we were meant to play the founders of a fictional country that bared a striking resemblance to the good ol' USofA. The program had "advisors" that tried to steer us to effectively establishing the constitution most of which advocating for fully replicating the Constitution and Bill of Rights exactly (super messed up when I think back to it but what can be done with Texas public education ). The assignment was clearly meant to smooth over some of those tougher discussions under the guise of "this was a terrible thing and no one actually wanted it... but look how good it was for the economy" or "women just aren't ready for that kind of responsibility, what are we to do?".

I'll always be pleased that we took some point reductions for veering our pretend country horribly off course by abolishing slavery and extending voting rights to all. Makes me wonder how many young students were pushed to other decisions and how that might impact their current perspectives on education.