Quo Vadis GOP?

[garbon]

What is an unsolicited theory?

[Sheilbh]

What is an unsolicited theory?

Shoreditch men talking about feminism

[crazy canuck]

Well, this doesn't seem dystopian at all.

https://eu.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2023/01/23/fearing-prosecution-manatee-county-teachers-cover-up-classroom-books/69832276007/

Manatee County teachers close class libraries, fearing prosecution under new Florida law

STEVEN WALKER   Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Some Manatee County teachers have covered their classroom libraries with construction paper or otherwise eliminated students' access to make sure they comply with new Florida law requiring all library books to be approved by a certified media specialist.

The Manatee County School District directed teachers to remove all books that had not yet been approved by a specialist from their classroom libraries, Kevin Chapman, the district's chief of staff, said Monday. Chapman said many of the books teachers make available to students in their classrooms are likely already approved through the district's library system, but many teachers have chosen to close access altogether, since making unvetted books available could lead to felony prosecution.

The district did not, however, directly advise teachers to shut down classroom libraries and cover them up, Chapman said.

The policy comes in response to HB 1467, which requires all reading material in schools to be selected by an employee with a valid education media specialist certificate. In a message sent from the Manatee district to principals, the material must be "free of pornography" and "appropriate for the age level and group." New training approved by the State Board of Education also asks media specialists to avoid materials with "unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination."

Don Falls, a history teacher at Manatee High School, said some of his colleagues have already covered their bookshelves and he plans to join them.

"If you have a lot of books like I do, probably several hundred, it is not practical to run all of them through (the vetting process) so we have to cover them up," he said. "It is not only ridiculous but a very scary attack on fundamental rights."

Falls was involved in a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over the Stop WOKE Act, which banned the teaching of critical race theory in Florida schools despite it not being in the state's curriculum. He said the law violates a teacher's First Amendment rights.

Jean Faulk, a history and journalism teacher at Bayshore High, had to remove books on democracy and writings from John Adams because they weren't vetted in the district's library system. Her bookshelves are now only lined with reference books, she said.

"This is totally a political move by the governor," Faulk said. "It has nothing to do with the students."

She said her school's administration sent out a directive to teachers asking them to put away or cover up all books in classroom libraries. Faulk said the books from her classroom libraries would now go to other local libraries or Goodwill.

Manatee Education Association President Pat Barber said the union advised its teachers to listen to principals and comply with the law, erring on the side of caution.

"It's a scary thing to have elementary teachers have to worry about being charged with a third-degree felony because of trying to help students develop a love of reading," Barber said.

Several Manatee teachers have taken to social media to post images of their classroom libraries covered to prevent students from taking books. Posts call the vetting process "cumbersome" and said the process of comparing the books on their shelves with the list of approved books is "incredibly difficult."

Each of Manatee County's more than 60 schools has at least one certified media center specialist to vet books, Chapman said. The district and schools have begun making calls for volunteers to help teachers go through their classroom libraries and inventory what was already approved and what needs to be approved.

There is no deadline or timeline as to when classroom books would need to be vetted by, he said.

I hope the "employees with a valid education media specialist certificate" get snazzy titles like Commissar, Blockwart, Preservers of Purity of Mind, or Loyalty Officers.

There has already been book burning in Florida, official designations for the pure of mind can't be far behind

[Syt]

What is an unsolicited theory?

I'm guessing CRT, 1619 curriculum, anything sex/gender related ... this being Florida maybe also evolution or gravity?

[Jacob]

I expect books on climate science, germ theory, current events, American history, evolution, biology, comparative religion, fantasy, anything with non-straight people.in them, sex education, and politics would all be off limits.

[HisMajestyBOB]

African American history too.

[garbon]

What is an unsolicited theory?

I'm guessing CRT, 1619 curriculum, anything sex/gender related ... this being Florida maybe also evolution or gravity?

I wonder who is responsible for soliciting.

[Syt]

Is conviction of third-degree felony enough to lose voting rights in Florida?

[The Brain]

Is the Bible banned?

[The Minsky Moment]

Is the Bible banned?

Only if the law is applied as written.

[Syt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/us/governor-desantis-higher-education-chris-rufo.html

DeSantis Takes On the Education Establishment, and Builds His Brand

A proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to overhaul higher education would mandate courses in Western civilization, eliminate diversity programs and reduce the protections of tenure.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, as he positions himself for a run for president next year, has become an increasingly vocal culture warrior, vowing to take on liberal orthodoxy and its champions, whether they are at Disney, on Martha's Vineyard or in the state's public libraries.

But his crusade has perhaps played out most dramatically in classrooms and on university campuses. He has banned instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade, limited what schools and employers can teach about racism and other aspects of history and rejected math textbooks en masse for what the state called "indoctrination." Most recently, he banned the College Board's Advanced Placement courses in African American studies for high school students.

On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis, a Republican, took his most aggressive swing yet at the education establishment, announcing a proposed overhaul of the state's higher education system that would eliminate what he called "ideological conformity." If enacted, courses in Western civilization would be mandated, diversity and equity programs would be eliminated, and the protections of tenure would be reduced.

His plan for the state's education system is in lock step with other recent moves — banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, shipping a planeload of Venezuelan migrants to Martha's Vineyard and stripping Disney, a once politically untouchable corporate giant in Florida, of favors it has enjoyed for half a century.

His pugilistic approach was rewarded by voters who re-elected him by a 19 percentage-point margin in November.

Appearing on Tuesday at the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, one of the state's 28 publicly funded state and community colleges, Mr. DeSantis vowed to turn the page on agendas that he said were "hostile to academic freedom" in Florida's higher education system. The programs "impose ideological conformity to try to provoke political activism," Mr. DeSantis said. "That's not what we believe is appropriate for the state of Florida."

He had already moved to overhaul the leadership of the New College of Florida, a small liberal arts school in Sarasota that has struggled with enrollment, but calls itself a place for "freethinkers." It is regarded as among the most progressive of Florida's 12 public universities.

Mr. DeSantis pointed to low enrollment and test scores at New College as part of the justification for seeking change there.

"If it was a private school, making those choices, that's fine, I mean, what are you going to do," he said. "But this is paid for by your tax dollars."

The college's board of trustees, with six new conservative members appointed by Governor DeSantis, voted in a raucous meeting on Tuesday afternoon to replace the president, and agreed to appoint Richard Corcoran, a former state education commissioner, as the interim president beginning in March.

(Because Mr. Corcoran cannot serve until March, the board appointed an interim for the interim, Bradley Thiessen, the college's director of institutional research.)

Mr. Corcoran will replace Patricia Okker, a longtime English professor and college administrator who was appointed in 2021.

While expressing her love for both the college and its students, Dr. Okker called the move a hostile takeover. "I do not believe that students are being indoctrinated here at New College," she said. "They are taught, they read Marx and they argue with Marx. They take world religions, they do not become Buddhists in February and turn into Christians in March."

Governor DeSantis also announced on Tuesday that he had asked the Legislature to immediately free up $15 million to recruit new faculty and provide scholarships for New College.

In all, he requested from the Legislature $100 million a year for state universities.

"We're putting our money where our mouth is," he said.

New College is small, with nearly 700 students, but the shake-up reverberated throughout Florida, as did Mr. DeSantis's proposed overhaul.

Andrew Gothard, president of the state's faculty union, said the governor's statements on the state's system of higher education were perhaps his most aggressive yet.

"There's this idea that Ron DeSantis thinks he and the Legislature have the right to tell Florida students what classes they can take and what degree programs," said Dr. Gothard, who is on leave from his faculty job at Florida Atlantic University. "He says out of one side of his mouth that he believes in freedom and then he passes and proposes legislation and policies that are the exact opposite."

At the board meeting, students, parents and professors defended the school and criticized the board members for acting unilaterally without their input.

Betsy Braden, who identified herself as the parent of a transgender student, said her daughter had thrived at the school.

"It seems many of the students that come here have determined that they don't necessarily fit into other schools," Ms. Braden said. "They embrace their differences and exhibit incredible bravery in staking a path forward. They thrive, they blossom, they go out into the world for the betterment of society. This is well documented. Why would you take this away from us?"

Mr. Corcoran, a DeSantis ally, had been mentioned as a possible president of Florida State University, but his candidacy was dropped following questions about whether he had a conflict of interest or the appropriate academic background.

A letter from Carlos Trujillo, the president of Continental Strategy, a consulting firm where Mr. Corcoran is a partner, said the firm hoped that his title at New College would become permanent.

Not since George W. Bush ran in 2000 to be "the education president" has a Republican seeking the Oval Office made school reform a central agenda item. That may have been because, for years, Democrats had a double-digit advantage in polling on education.

But since the pandemic started in 2020, when many Democratic-led states kept schools closed longer than Republican states did, often under pressure from teachers' unions, some polling has suggested education now plays better for Republicans. And Glenn Youngkin's 2021 victory in the Virginia governor's race, after a campaign focused on "parents' rights" in public schools, was seen as a signal of the political potency of education with voters.

Mr. DeSantis's attack on diversity, equity and inclusion programs coincides with the recent criticisms of such programs by conservative organizations and think tanks.

Examples of such initiatives include campus sessions on "microaggressions" — subtle slights usually based on race or gender — as well as requirements that candidates for faculty jobs submit statements describing their commitment to diversity.

"That's basically like making people take a political oath," Mr. DeSantis said on Tuesday. He also attacked the programs for placing a "drain on resources and contributing to higher costs."

Supporters of D.E.I. programs and diverse curriculums say they help students understand the broader world as well as their own biases and beliefs, improving their ability to engage in personal relationships as well as in the workplace.

Mr. DeSantis's embrace of civics education, as well as the establishment of special civics programs at several of the state's 12 public universities, dovetails with the growth of similar programs around the country, some partially funded by conservative donors.

The programs emphasize the study of Western civilization and economics, as well as the thinking of Western philosophers, frequently focusing on the Greeks and Romans. Critics of the programs say they sometimes gloss over the pitfalls of Western thinking and ignore the philosophies of non-Western civilizations.

"The core curriculum must be grounded in actual history, the actual philosophy that has shaped Western civilization," Mr. DeSantis said. "We don't want students to go through, at taxpayer expense, and graduate with a degree in Zombie studies."

The shake-up of New College, which also included the election of a new board chairwoman, may be ongoing and dramatic, given the new six board members appointed by Mr. DeSantis.

They include Christopher Rufo, a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute who is known for his vigorous attacks on "critical race theory," an academic concept that historical patterns of racism are ingrained in law and other modern institutions.

At the time of his appointment, Mr. Rufo, who lives and works in Washington State, tweeted that he was "recapturing" higher education.

Another new board member is Eddie Speir, who runs a Christian private school in Florida. He had recommended in a Substack posting before the meeting that the contracts of all the school's faculty and staff be canceled.

The other new appointees include Matthew Spalding, dean of the Washington, D.C., campus of Hillsdale College, a private college in Michigan known for its conservative and Christian orientations. An aide to the governor has said that Hillsdale, which says it offers a classical education, is widely regarded as the governor's model for remaking New College.

In addition to the governor's six new appointees, the university system's board of governors recently named a seventh member, Ryan T. Anderson, the head of a conservative think tank, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which applies the Judeo-Christian tradition to contemporary questions of law, culture, and politics. His selection was viewed as giving Mr. DeSantis a majority vote on the 13-member board.

[garbon]

Sounds like his own program of ideological conformity.

[grumbler]

DeSantis believes that everyone shoud be free to believe whatever they want, so long as they believe in the same things he does.

[The Brain]

courses in Western civilization would be mandated

Would liking kitsch statues be required to pass?

[Syt]