'Absurd' firing of Georgia teacher shows how GOP laws are pushing classroom censorship: analysis
1 year, 5 months ago

'Absurd' firing of Georgia teacher shows how GOP laws are pushing classroom censorship: analysis

Raw Story  

Washington Post opinion columnists Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman on Wednesday highlighted the firing of a 5th grade teacher in Georgia that they say highlights the ways GOP-backed laws banning the teachings of "divisive" concepts have created a chilling effect that has resulted in classroom censorship. The teacher in question, Katherine Rinderle, is facing termination after she read her class a children's book called "My Shadow is Purple" that critics say broaches the topic of gender identity, although it mentions nothing about transgender or LGBTQ issues. IN OTHER NEWS: Josh Hawley's fake quote about America's Christian founding has a dark origin story Rinderle's attorney, Craig Goodmark, tells Sargent and Waldman that it is ridiculous that a complaint from a single parent is now enough to trigger a dismissal. “This is one parent’s view of what’s ‘divisive’ being adopted by a whole district.” Cobb County School District defended its decision and told Sargent and Waldman that other parents in the past have complained about Rinderle's choice of classroom material.

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History of this topic

A Georgia school board fires a teacher for reading a book to students about gender identity
1 year, 4 months ago

A Georgia school board fires a teacher for reading a book to students about gender identity

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — A Georgia school board voted along party lines Thursday to fire a teacher after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class. Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers earlier that year enacted laws barring the teaching of “divisive concepts” and creating a …

Georgia tribunal rejects recommendation to fire teacher over controversial book
1 year, 4 months ago

Georgia tribunal rejects recommendation to fire teacher over controversial book

Associated Press  

MARIETTA, Ga. — A trio of retired educators has rejected a suburban Atlanta school district’s recommendation to fire a teacher who was removed from the classroom after she was accused of improperly reading a book on gender fluidity to her fifth-grade class. Officials in Cobb County, Georgia’s second-largest school district, argue Rinderle broke the school district’s rules against teaching on …

A Georgia teacher wants to overturn her firing for reading a book to students about gender identity
1 year, 4 months ago

A Georgia teacher wants to overturn her firing for reading a book to students about gender identity

Associated Press  

MARIETTA, Ga. — A Georgia public school teacher took the stand Thursday trying to reverse her firing after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class. Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book “My Shadow Is Purple” at Due …

Oklahoma Republican Under Fire By Republicans
1 year, 6 months ago

Oklahoma Republican Under Fire By Republicans

Huff Post  

Ryan Walters, the Oklahoma state superintendent, has taken to attacking teachers as he fights culture wars in public schools. Since being sworn in, Walters has made several appearances on Fox News, calling Oklahoma teachers “Marxist” over their support for pay equity and decisions they make about what books to have in their classrooms, and arguing that “parents will be in …

Georgia school’s book bans may break civil rights law, federal officials warn
1 year, 7 months ago

Georgia school’s book bans may break civil rights law, federal officials warn

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Education has found that a suburban Atlanta school district’s decision to remove some books from its libraries may have created a hostile environment that violated federal laws against race and sex discrimination. The Forsyth County school district settled the complaint, agreeing to explain the book removal process to students and offer “supportive measures” to …

'Acts of harassment': Education Dept warns book bans are violating kids' civil rights
1 year, 7 months ago

'Acts of harassment': Education Dept warns book bans are violating kids' civil rights

Raw Story  

The Department of Education is warning that a Georgia school district's ban of books related to race and sexual orientation creates a "hostile environment" for students that could constitute a violation of federal civil rights law, reportedThe Washington Post on Monday. "The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights released its findings in a letter Friday wrapping up its investigation into …

Column: Book-banning is on the rise, as part of the far-right’s assault on democracy
2 years, 4 months ago

Column: Book-banning is on the rise, as part of the far-right’s assault on democracy

LA Times  

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel “Maus,” about his parents’ experience during the Holocaust and as survivors, was banned by a Tennessee school board this year, among many other works targeted by crusaders against the freedom of information. Nossel ties book-banning campaigns to other efforts to control educational standards — “what we call ‘educational gag orders,’ bans on the teaching of certain …

Georgia lawmakers OK parent rights, divisive concepts ban
2 years, 8 months ago

Georgia lawmakers OK parent rights, divisive concepts ban

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers sent a bill to increase parental oversight of schools to Gov. House Bill 1084, which bans the teaching of “divisive concepts” on race in Georgia public schools, went back to the House for representatives to agree to changes after passing the Senate 32-21 on Friday. “CRT is wrong, it’s destructive and it views American history through …

GOP Outraged By Ketanji Brown Jackson's Link To School Teaching Anti-Racism
2 years, 9 months ago

GOP Outraged By Ketanji Brown Jackson's Link To School Teaching Anti-Racism

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Republicans targeted U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday over her connection to a school that teaches anti-racism, branding the curriculum under the GOP boogeyman of “critical race theory.” In an email blast telling supporters that Jackson serves on the board of trustees at Georgetown Day School — a private school in Washington, D.C., that …

Republicans seek to spotlight politics of schools in Georgia
2 years, 11 months ago

Republicans seek to spotlight politics of schools in Georgia

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — Social conservatives are looking to push education policy to the forefront when Georgia lawmakers begin meeting Monday, driven by a national tumult over the pandemic and race. But conservatives also want to give parents a greater ability to examine school curricula, restrict sex education, ban transgender girls from playing high school sports and guarantee religious freedom for students. …

Florida bans ‘critical race theory’ from its classrooms
3 years, 6 months ago

Florida bans ‘critical race theory’ from its classrooms

Associated Press  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s state Board of Education banned “critical race theory” from public school classrooms Thursday, adopting new rules it said would shield schoolchildren from curricula that could “distort historical events.” Florida’s move was widely expected as a national debate intensifies about how race should be used as a lens in classrooms to examine the country’s tumultuous history. Ron …

Kemp urges safeguards against teaching on race in Georgia
3 years, 7 months ago

Kemp urges safeguards against teaching on race in Georgia

Associated Press  

ATLANTA — With rank-and-file Republicans in arms over fears that their public school students are being indoctrinated that the United States is inherently racist, Gov. Georgia’s Republican governor wrote a letter to the state Board of Education, whose members he appoints, urging them “to take immediate steps to ensure that Critical Race Theory and its dangerous ideology do not take …

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