#School Curriculums

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Judd Legum at Popular Information:

In May 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed Florida House Bill 1069, a law that requires sex education classes in the state to conform to right-wing ideology. Specifically, the law requires all sex education classes to teach students that sex is binary, "either male or female," even though that is inaccurate. It also mandates that students are instructed that sex is defined exclusively by "internal and external genitalia present at birth," and these sex roles are "binary, stable, and unchangeable." This requirement erases the existence of trans and nonbinary people. Schools also must "teach abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage as the expected standard for all school-age students" and "the benefits of monogamous heterosexual marriage."

To enforce these new rules and other aspects of the DeSantis administration's political agenda, HB 1069 also requires "all materials used to teach reproductive health" to be approved in advance by the Florida Department of Education (FDE) or use textbooks pre-approved by the state. Previously, sex education curricula were approved by district school boards. Florida parents can opt-out of sex education lessons on behalf of their children. 

The FDE instructed school districts to submit their materials for sex education by September 30, 2023. The school districts met the deadline, but the FDE never responded. Florida counties were placed in a no-win situation as not teaching sex education, a mandatory course, at all is a violation of state law.  Several Florida school districts — including Hillsborough, Orange and Polk Counties, three of Florida's largest — decided not to teach sex education at all during the 2023-24 school year, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Other counties, including Broward and Seminole Counties, taught sex education classes without getting the legally required approval. 

The FDE has ignored requests for comment and public records requests seeking an explanation for the delay.  Now, a new school year is underway in Florida, and the FDE still has not approved any of the submitted sex education materials — or provided any response at all. Orange County hoped to make up for last school year's missed lessons when school started this August, "but now those plans are on hold."  Schools are reluctant to use the state's pre-approved texts because they are glaringly incomplete. For example, one textbook "preaches abstinence as the only effective way to prevent STDs and pregnancy and does not mention contraception." To avoid issues, the textbook advises students to "go on group dates rather than spend one-on-one time with a partner."

Popular Information takes a deep dive into why Florida students at several school districts aren’t being taught sex ed at all, even though it is a a mandatory course.

[lessonincanvases]

I’m taking the term world tour away from artists and management they can have it back when they’ve shown they know how to use it properly

[fayvpor]

how dare u articles not include the date it was last modified and the full authors names

do you not know.

the PAIN!

and TORMENT!!! youve caused readers of your stupdi article to feel????

do you REALIZE!

that 87% of your readers are students desperately searching for sources for a randomly specific topic for a project??????!!!!!!!!!!

do you not know how we have SOBBED and SUFFERED after finding that our perfect source couldnt have a perfect citation??????

DO YOU KNOW HOW WE KNOW WE NEED TO BRUSH OUR TEETH TWICE A DAY BUT WE ONLY NEED THAT BECAUSE WE NEED PROOF TO JUSTIFY OUR STATEMENTS????

*sobs in ib student*

[hummingbird-hunter]

Tankies really have one argument to defend their genocide denial and that is "western sources are propaganda and you can't trust them". Ah, yes, the most westernest of sources, my Ukrainian grandma.

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

At a certain point blaming the school system for failing to teach you every fact becomes an excuse to absolve yourself from learning on your own time as an adult. Maybe you had bad teachers and curricula, maybe you never did the assigned reading, maybe you were taught propaganda, but it’s okay to start now. It’s okay to learn geography from online games. It’s okay to get entry level books from the library on a subject. It’s okay to explore Wikipedia and other reputable websites as a start. You can learn as an adult. You should continue learning as an adult.

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

April 15th is National American Sign Language (ASL) Day, observed annually to celebrate the ASL community and its contributions to inclusivity, and to encourage folks to learn the language. Regarded as a natural language, sign language has likely existed for as long as there has been a need to communicate, however, the emergence of ASL is largely credited to Thomas Gallaudet (1787-1851) founder of the American School for the Deaf. Uniting deaf children from the western hemisphere the American School for the Deaf was fertile soil for language contact, developing ASL from French Sign Language, village sign languages, and home sign systems. Today, more than a half-million people throughout the United States use ASL to communicate as their native language. 

In recognition of the day, we’re sharing another book from our Historical Curriculum Collection the Basic Pre-School Signed English Dictionary published by Gallaudet College Press in 1973. Signed English features drawn signs with written instructions to represent 975 words most frequently used by and with pre-school children. The editors also include sign markers and the American Manual Alphabet to be used in conjunction with the vocabulary, encouraging a language that is adaptable and offers a more complete English model of communication. 

Signed English was edited in part by Harry Bornstein and Karen Saulnier who worked on several signing books for young readers throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and illustrated by Jack Fennell and Ann Silver. 

Read other Milestone Monday posts here! 

– Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[iamnmbr3]

Harry: Try for some remorse. I've seen what you'll be otherwise.

Voldemort: What do you mean you've seen what I'll be?

Harry: You know. In the afterlife. Dumbledore says hi btw.

Voldemort: THERE'S AN AFTERLIFE?! AND NO ONE TOLD ME?! I didn't even need to make Horcruxes?

Harry: yeah. i mean now you'll just suffer eternally bc your soul is damaged. you could put yourself together again except i killed all the pieces. sorry about that.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

it’s hilarious to me that fushiguro went back to his old middle school and everyone talked about how his sister, who went to middle school with him, was the one taking care of him because I’m convinced that seventeen year old gojo had his ass in a chair every pta meeting starting shit with the other moms and the entire administration collectively said “that man cannot even take care of himself” and decided twelve year old tsumiki was the only possible caretaker

[alwaysbewoke]

because she broke up a fight. BECAUSE SHE BROKE UP A FUCKING FIGHT!!!!!

THIS is why i refuse to send my black child to a public school. They are not here for us. SMFH!!

[steveharrington]

took a mental health day from work then found out june 5th is the day ferris bueller took off…. wow……. more proof i’m cameron frye kin

[fionvancia]

okay but no lie this time i am actually gonna try my best to not get side-tracked from my studies at least until after i take my psat 8/9. wish me luck i will see you guys once it's october ninth (the day after i take my psat 8/9 .. i'm so so scared to take it omg what if i make bad on it. what if i somehow 'fail' it. what if i miss a question that was EASY just because i wasn't paying attention or because i was feeling tired. oh nononononono i'm so scared to take this)

mini rant in the tags

[justinspoliticalcorner]

John Whitehouse at MMFA:

On July 9, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters announced that a number of people — many of them key figures in right-wing media — would be rewriting the social studies curriculum in the state.

The list includes right-wing hosts with ties to Walters like Steve Deace, Dennis Prager, and Stacy Washington. Also included is Kevin Roberts, the head of The Heritage Foundation, which has organized Project 2025.

Walters announced an “executive review committee” to revise Oklahoma’s social studies curriculum. Members include Dennis Prager, Robert Pondiscio, David Barton, Kevin Roberts, Everett Piper, John Dwyer, David Goodwin, Mark Bauerlein, Steve Deace, and Stacy Washington. [Oklahoma State Department of Education, 7/9/24]

After implementing a mandate that the state’s public schools teach the Bible, Walters claimed that right-wing commentator and pastor Jackson Lahmeyer, who has promised to “embrace Christian nationalism” and previously ran for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma, encouraged him to implement such a policy last year. [Media Matters, 7/8/24]

Walters has approved PragerU Kids — which is widely criticized for pushing right-wing propaganda, such as including distorted histories about slavery in its history lessons — as curriculum for Oklahoma public schools. In one supposedly educational video, for instance, a cartoon version of Fredrick Douglass describes slavery as a “compromise to achieve something great.” [MSNBC, 9/7/23; Media Matters, 9/8/23; NBC, 8/10/23]

Dennis Prager is an anti-LGBTQ pundit who has hosted The Dennis Prager Show since 1999. In 2009, he founded the conservative nonprofit organization PragerU, which publishes short videos on political and international issues.

David Barton is a pseudo-historian and Christian nationalist well-known for spreading the idea that the country was supposed to be a Christian nation. Barton is the founder of WallBuilders.

Kevin Roberts is the president of the Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank leading Project 2025.

Steve Deace is a host for BlazeTV who has made many anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ remarks.

Stacy Washington is a commentator, radio host, and Air Force veteran who has appeared in many right-wing outlets. She was formerly a host of a program aired on American Family Radio, the radio arm of extreme anti-LGBTQ group American Family Association, before the network culled much of its programming and its dedicated Urban Family Communications network.

Right-wing indoctrination artist Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Schools Ryan Walters announced that he is having a team rewrite the state’s social studies curriculum, with many of its names right-wing media figures such as Everett Piper, serial history revisionist David Barton, indoctrination mill head Dennis Prager, and pundit Steve Deace.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: Oklahoma’s head of education hires Christian Nationalists to revise social studies currciculum

[makorragal-312]

In my honest opinion...

I truly don't see Chris staying in Texas past the summer, let alone start the new school year there. This isn't even me being a Buclkey-Dia family truther or me being on my anti-Diaz parents vendetta, but just because...

...it's Texas.

[flashhwing]

“uh duh I paid attention in history class, I got an A” skill issue. I slept through every single history class and still got an A

[kebriones]

He emancipated himself from this discipline asdfhfj

[uncanny-tranny]

By implying that children are too stupid and rude to learn about the world and learn how the world works and how to interact with others, you are casting responsibility away from the people who are responsible for that child's upbringing and placing the blame on the children (who don't have the autonomy given to them to be allowed to decide what they want) who can't help what they do and do not learn, often.

If the children aren't okay, then investigate why before turning to thought-terminating clichés of, "Well, the kids are just stupid and dumb and aren't even worth the effort because they're lazy!"