Ever since Glenn Youngkin squeaked to victory on a bad-faith platform that exploited suburban fears about public schools, Republicans everywhere have been adopting the playbook. Yell about “parental rights” and attack the phantom CRT menace. Lambast “equity” programs, especially if commitments to those can be juxtaposed against changes to academic programs that are tailored to higher-achieving students like honors classes.
Obviously we all know beyond being a cynical attempt to win elections, the real agenda behind this attack on education is to dumb down the future electorate since poorly educated people tend to vote more conservative. It’s also about trying to redirect taxpayer dollars to fund public schools to for-profit companies that run charter schools and also to religious-based private schools. In Florida, Ron DeSantis has taken it a bit further and, in the name of protesting “liberal indoctrination” at post-secondary education (something that doesn’t actually exist, like CRT being taught in grade schools, but the dumbed down and frightened electorate doesn’t grasp this) but deliberately doing things like trying to turn a public school into a bastion of right-wing, reactionary education (see what’s happening at the New College). But this has all gone completely meta now. Even as Republicans complain that the focus on equity in K-12 is resulting in things like honors programs being emphasized, DeSantis (whose policies and rhetoric are copied as much as Youngkin’s) is planning to do with AP courses IN THEIR ENTIRETY in Florida high schools. Because they’re too woke or something. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/...-ap-courses-florida/ Make it make sense. |
I can't make it make sense. I'm sorry. Read that DeSantis had such a landslide victory, and a massive mandate, so of course he wants to make his stamp on public education.
(?? I don't know why his stamp would be to dumb down his state. I can't help with what the conservatives see as "education") The silver lining is that FL students are having none of this, are planning walkouts for all these crazy policies, and they are the voters or soon-to-be voters! They are aware and active! |
I can only think that he doesn't want the students to go to out of state schools for college? It's like he's building an iron curtain around Florida. I can't make sense of it either. Maybe they are going to secede? |
DeSantis is going this route because it works.
Preying on fear by holding up isolated incidents and making it sound like a widespread threat is Politics 101…and both sides do it. Republicans just do it better. Remember: facts don’t matter because most people are either too dumb to do their homework or simply don’t care. The only way to truly avoid such nonsense is to anticipate how the other side will use things against you. That’s why it’s important to rein in the fringe. Expect more of this as we head into the next presidential campaign. The primaries will be open season on facts. |
I think that some parents in nova had legitimate complaints. They felt that one candidate was listening to those complaints. Loudoun was a mess. Don’t oversell to make your arguments. |
DeSantis/FL are not only going after AP courses, they're also looking at a "classical and Christian" alternative to the SAT.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politic...-sat/?lctg=136252390 |
It sounds like this may be a better alternative, in line with the French approach to teaching classic literature and philosophy. SAT encourages a lot of rote memorization vs critical thinking, and this CLT test may be an improvement. |
Do the French also include Christian dogma in their teaching approach? |
Excellent. Go find some excellent candidates that want to sell themselves on these excellent issues. Good luck. |
Have you looked at the test? Its western literature and philosophy. Western civ is of a christian tradition. That doesnt make it dogma any more than alegbra being Islamic. |
This "they don't even teach CRT" line has to be the most tired and disingenuous part of this entire debate.
The right just got in the habit of calling it CRT because the left refuses to name it, and "CRT" is snappier than "race essentialism & everything is racism" - so just think of it that way, and then maybe you'll understand. It doesn't mean "we don't want schools teaching kids about slavery," it means "we don't want schools teaching kids from stupid powerpoints about phantom white supremacy." Google "Tema Okun" if you're still confused, and yes, ideas like hers pop up regularly in public and private schools, and to many normal educated people, seem utterly insane. So, the parent perception in many cases is that things like gifted tracks and even basic reading (Google "Lucy Calkins controversy" or similar) are getting the short end of the stick while far-left teachers (Google "libs of TikTok") are pushing incoherent, time-wasting nonsense on the children in their place. Meanwhile the parents are being told to STFU and foot the bill and "trust the experts," as if real experts would be caught dead pushing any of the BS that regularly comes home in the kids' school folders. So... if you're curious why McAuliffe lost. |
They aren’t issuing narrow restrictions. They are encouraging bigoted parents, fundamentalist prudes, and bad faith pandering politicians to attack enlightened teachers and school officials. It’s encouraging dipshits to vent all their anger, greed, and foolishness against educators who are doing their jobs too well. |
BTW, your gaslighting about R's wanting to dumb down the electorate is truly epic. Which side, R or D, is more in favor of tracking by ability, and spending $$ on innovation & gifted education instead of pouring it down the bottomless drain of corrupt, failing districts? What produces a dumb, compliant electorate is precisely the stuff many Democrats seem to want - drilling students in unthinking conformity to whatever buzzword political goal is at the top of the list this month - so that instead of learning independent thinking and actual skills, they can be "activists," or something. |
Which political side wants to get rid of standardized tests?
Which political side wants to get rid of grades? So again, which political side wants to dumb down the electorate? |
Well, no, they should be teaching children about different kinds of families, etc. which has nothing to do with teaching about “sex.” I am also against banning books. If that’s your thing, leave my country. |