(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . In a story torn from 'The Simpsons,' a Florida principal is forced out over Michelangelo's 'David' [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-03-23 The Tallahassee Democrat: Hope Carrasquilla had been principal for less than a year at Tallahassee Classical School in Leon County before she resigned from her position during an emergency board meeting Monday. “It saddens me that my time here had to end this way,” Carrasquilla told the Tallahassee Democrat. Carrasquilla said last week she was told by the school’s board chair, Barney Bishop, that she would have to resign or she would be fired. She believes the catalyst for the ultimatum was complaints about an art lesson on the Renaissance period. If you’re wondering if you’ve seen this story before—well, yeah, you probably have. It was a December 1990 episode of The Simpsons—definitively proving that no absurdity is actually absurd enough not to physically manifest in our current ayahuasca fart of a reality. In the Simpsons version, Marge becomes concerned about TV cartoon violence, targeting the über-rambunctious Itchy & Scratchy. But eventually the group Marge organized, Springfieldians for Nonviolence, Understanding and Helping (SNUH), protests the arrival of Michelangelo’s iconic David at the Springfield Museum, and Marge realizes her original crusade has put her town on a dangerous slippery slope. While Bishop, the school board chair, admitted he gave Carrasquilla the “quit-or-be-fired” ultimatum, he said his lawyer wouldn’t allow him to say why he forced the issue. But Carrasquilla notes that two parents complained that they should have been notified of the offending art lesson beforehand, while another claimed that it was pornographic. Ironically, the school is actually required to teach its sixth graders about Renaissance art. Though apparently one of the most famous and celebrated works of Renaissance art would have been somehow more palatable to these parents if it had been rockin’ Zubaz pants. Of course, this is all part of the recent movement, spearheaded by Florida and its culture-war antihero Gov. Ron DeSantis, to empower parents (i.e., indulge their barmy nonsense) when it comes to teaching their kids about basic sociological and biological realities—like the fact that gay people (or apparently, people with penises)—exist. In fact, on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that DeSantis is moving to expand his revolting “Don't Say Gay” law to apply to still more Florida students. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ′ administration is moving to forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the controversial law critics call “Don’t Say Gay” as the Republican governor continues to focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run. The proposal, which would not require legislative approval, is scheduled for a vote next month before the state Board of Education and has been put forward by the state Education Department, both of which are led by appointees of the governor. The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity from grades 4 to 12, unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take. The initial law that DeSantis championed last spring bans those lessons in kindergarten through the third grade. The change was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel. RELATED STORY: DeSantis bill lays out a right-wing takeover of Florida public colleges and universities “Pornography” —a Tallahassee Classical School parent. Of course, not all parents are onboard with Florida’s Genitalia Gestapo. Carrie Boyd, a parent with a third grader and a seventh grader at the school, said Carrasquilla’s resignation surprised her and other parents. She told the Tallahassee Democrat that she’s noticed a “paradigm shift” at the school, and noted the “non-secular” tone coming from administrators. “It’s starting to feel like the school is becoming part of an agenda,” Boyd said. Gee, where’d she ever get that idea? This parent who sent her kids to a school affiliated with a bunch of dangerous, fuzzy-headed ideologues is surprised that they’re pushing weird ideologies! That’s right: Tallahassee Classical School is currently (and proudly) affiliated with Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian college in Michigan. And Hillsdale has become a model for what DeSantis and his confederates would like higher education to become in their state. Earlier this year, DeSantis packed the board of New College, a liberal arts school in Sarasota, with six appointees in what the Tallahassee Democrat described as a “conservative takeover of the school.” And the governor’s administration was crystal clear about why he was doing it. “It is our hope that New College of Florida will become Florida’s classical college, more along the lines of a Hillsdale of the South,” said James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff. RELATED STORY: A tiny, largely unknown Christian college is at the epicenter of today's dark conservative movement It’s Republicans, of course, who benefit most from a less-educated populace, as this interactive piece from Politico explains. Democrats continued to perform best in districts where more voters have a bachelor’s degree, while Republicans won more districts where fewer voters are college-educated. ... The educational divide has been building for years but accelerated dramatically during the Trump era. As recently as the 2012 presidential election, for example, college-educated voters were narrowly split, with college-educated white voters favoring GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But in the 2020 presidential election, Biden won 68 percent of congressional districts where at least 30 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree. Donald Trump won 64 percent of districts where less than 30 percent are college-educated — and, what’s more, Trump’s showing includes carrying 96 percent of districts that were both below that education threshold and at least 70 percent white. And from The Washington Post: Voters with and without college degrees were more likely to support Republicans this year than in 2018 — a stronger year for Democrats. But voters without college degrees shifted more sharply toward the GOP than college-educated ones across racial and gender lines: White voters without degrees moved seven points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved three points Black voters without degrees moved eight points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved four points Latino voters without degrees moved 10 points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated ones moved five points Men without degrees moved seven points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated men moved one point Women without degrees moved eight points toward Republicans this year, while college-educated women moved seven points In other words: shape their minds, shape their votes. It’s such an obvious strategy, Donald Trump said it out loud with no hesitation during the 2016 election. And it’s not just U.S. voters; a similar correlation can be found in hard-right movements in Europe. But why? It's not about these voters being less intelligent or well-informed. Matthew Goodwin, a researcher on the hard-right and senior fellow at the Chatham House think tank, says education levels can be a good guide to value system a voter subscribes to. "That isn't simply about objective qualifications but is also linked intimately with a divide over values and culture," Goodwin tells Newsweek . "You often find … that people who have lower levels of education and fewer qualifications also tend to subscribe to more socially conservative and more authoritarian positions." It isn't clear what the causal relationship between education and conservative values is, says Goodwin; while there is some research in France, for example, that suggests going to university exposes you to new ideas and networks and therefore changes your value system, it isn't conclusive. Florida’s New College changed David Duke’s godson’s ideology entirely, so maybe there’s something to that. Meanwhile, Bishop—Tallahassee Classical’s board chair—appears totally onboard with DeSantis’ recent moves intended to shield kids from basic realities about the world. No doubt the next roiling online controversy won’t be about how dogs would wear pants but whether they should be required to do so. “We agree with everything the governor is doing in the educational arena. We support him because he’s right,” Bishop said. “The whole woke indoctrination going on about pronouns and drag queens isn’t appropriate in school.” Translation: Kids should learn about human sexuality on the playground and within the steamy pages of the Sears Catalog underwear sections like American schoolchildren have done for decades! What could possibly go wrong? [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/23/2159807/-In-a-story-torn-from-The-Simpsons-a-Florida-principal-is-forced-out-over-Michelangelo-s-David Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/