All Things Kansas.
https://www.kansascrimson.com/boards/
DeSantis gets more attention because all Trump does is play the greatest hits.
All it tells me is that Desantis is the one making the most noise right now since he is an active politician using Florida's tax dollars to audition for the nomination.
That rings like an appropriate metaphor.jfish26 wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 9:54 amDeSantis gets more attention because all Trump does is play the greatest hits.
But to smaller and smaller audiences and with somehow less-but-sweatier energy; if MAGA was a band, it's gone from arena shows to outdoor amphitheaters to concert venues to "tribal casino ballroom at 4pm on a Tuesday".
Florida is sleepwalking toward public health disaster here.zsn wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 9:47 am
Germane to our discussion, here’s an objective measurement
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/1 ... rtion-bans
Adam Tritt, a high school English teacher in Palm Bay, Florida, was shocked when his school’s librarian – eager to comply with Florida’s new law restricting “inappropriate” books in schools – removed one-third of the books on his classroom shelves, including a collection of Emily Dickinson’s poetry that was not on her list of approved books.
Vivian Taylor, a seventh-grade teacher in Miami, says she was told to hardly discuss Emmett Till – the 14-year-old victim of one of the US’s most notorious lynchings – in her civics classes because under Florida’s year-old “stop woke” law, “people say you’re not supposed to talk about that because it will make children uncomfortable”.
Carol Cleaver, a middle-school science teacher in Pensacola, says that when LGBTQ+ students who are feeling hopeless or depressed approach her to discuss their emotional troubles, she, different from before, often balks at telling them about a crisis support hotline for young LGBTQ+ people. She fears that if she mentions it, she will get in trouble under the Parental Rights in Education bill (known as the “don’t say gay” law) backed by Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis.
As the summer holidays approach, Florida teachers are feeling anxious, confused and beaten down by new laws, championed by DeSantis, that limit how issues of race can be taught, what teachers can say about sex, especially about homosexuality, and what books are permitted in schools. In promoting this legislation, DeSantis angered many teachers when he denounced “indoctrination in our schools” and let his press secretary accuse teachers of “grooming” students.
In interviews with the Guardian, Florida teachers said they’re feeling more disrespected, unappreciated and under attack than ever before, worried that they’ll be fired or otherwise punished if they run afoul of the controversial – and often vague – new laws. As a result of these laws and their emboldening parents to challenge and even castigate teachers, many Florida teachers say they’re considering either giving up teaching or finding a teaching job in another state – all when Florida, which ranks 48th among states in teacher pay according to a recent study, is already suffering from a shortage of 5,300 teachers. Florida teachers complain that DeSantis – who is expected to announce plans to run for the Republican presidential nomination – has targeted them as part of a culture war aimed at winning over GOP voters.
[...]
“The legislation says students shall not be made to feel guilt, anguish or discomfort because of their race or heritage,” Robinson said. “Whoever taught a lesson and said, ‘White kids, how are you feeling?’ When has a teacher ever done that?”
Teaching about the slave ship Amistad and about slaves dying and being thrown overboard “will make you uncomfortable”, Robinson added. “But what teacher will say, ‘Let’s talk about how that might make white kids feel uncomfortable?’ That’s beyond ludicrous.”
“I don’t tell my kids what to think,” Robinson said. “I tell them, ‘I love you if you’re a Democrat. I love you if you’re a Republican. I love you if you’re an independent. It’s not my job to tell you what to think. It’s my job to help you become a better thinker.’”
For 15 years, Robinson has had a personal library in his classroom with hundreds of books. “They’re there as a model of interest in books – world history, African American history, American history, classics,” Robinson said. “Now I have to worry that if a student uses a book, someone might say the book is an example of critical race theory, and I’ll face a possible third-degree felony.”
[...]
Dineen, the middle school teacher in Stuart, said teachers face attacks from many sides – the governor, legislature, principals and parents. “The problem is it feels like nowhere is safe,” she said. “It feels like you can be reported by anyone at any time. It feels very much like 1984 or the McCarthy era [of the 1950s]. You don’t know who to trust.”
Dineen added: “They are trying to attract teachers to Florida because of a huge number of vacant positions, yet they disrespect us at every turn. It’s quite self-defeating.”
Cleaver also notes an erosion of trust and respect, fueled in part by DeSantis’s attacking educators who opposed in-class teaching during the pandemic’s early months. “Am I not being trusted after 19 years of teaching, after being elected teacher of the year?” Cleaver said. “I help write curriculum for the entire school district. Why am I suddenly being considered untrustworthy? Why is the Florida legislature obsessing over books about penguins when they have to solve the teacher shortage crisis and the mental health crisis affecting so many students left as orphans by the pandemic?”
Cleaver is gay and says that adds “a little extra anxiety for me”. “I’m not allowed to talk about anything gay, but I’m teaching a roomful of kids that are hyper-aware of the LGBTQ+ community and have a billion questions,” she said. “How am I supposed to answer? Am I supposed to pretend that gay people don’t exist? These students have constant access to cellphones, computers and the internet, and they have real misconceptions and real questions that I would like to answer. But I may risk my career by responding. I’m becoming afraid of being honest with my students. I don’t like that.”
With a master’s degree and 19 years of experience, Cleaver makes $48,000 a year, just $500 more than the statewide minimum for teachers and $37,000 less than – 44% less than – a friend of hers who teaches outside Pittsburgh.
Teaching in north-west Florida near the Alabama border, Cleaver says: “If you go across the state line, you will make $14,000 more per year. A lot of people are looking at that opportunity. Florida is literally in a situation where Alabama looks better.”
