> The new Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking include lists of books that might be included on the state competency exam. To give students a better chance of mastering the material, the district switched to one novel and excerpts from five to seven different books, including plays.
So the change has absolutely nothing to do with Florida's rules banning sexual materials.
This seems like someone choosing to use this unrelated change to push their political narrative.
I don't think there's much interesting or intellectually satisfying about this.
It's hard for me to see how you've reached that conclusion.
> “It was also in consideration of the law,” said school district spokeswoman Tanya Arja, referring to the newly expanded Parental Rights in Education Act. The measure, promoted and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, tells schools to steer clear of content and class discussion that is sexual in nature unless it is related to a standard, such as health class.
> Students will be assigned pages from the classics, which might include “Macbeth,” “Hamlet” and the time-honored teen favorite, “Romeo and Juliet.” But if they want to read them in their entirety, they will likely have to do it on their own time.
> “There’s some raunchiness in Shakespeare,” said Joseph Cool, a reading teacher at Gaither High School. “Because that’s what sold tickets during his time.” In staying with excerpts, the schools can teach about Shakespeare while avoiding anything racy or sexual.
> But teachers are advised, during class lessons, to stay with the approved guidelines, which call for excerpts. If not, in extreme circumstances, they might have to defend themselves against a parent complaint or a disciplinary case at their school.
> "content and class discussion that is sexual in nature unless it is related to a standard, such as health class"
"sexual in nature" is the essential attribute that must be related to the standard. We know this for two reasons:
1) because it is specifically clarified by the phrase "such as health class"
2) because we have read the legislation in question and the Florida state Department of Education's statements on what they allow and don't allow
Sexuality is not related to a standard for english class. It may be related to a standard for a health class, but health classes also don't tend to study Shakespeare.
Which forces them to use excerpts instead of nothing at all.
The Florida DoE literally just the other day handed down an edict that AP Psych classes weren't allowed to cover gender and sexual orientation, and had to be slapped by the College Board with a reminder, as if knowing this somehow isn't literally the state DoE's job, that the College Board requires it to be included for the course to count, forcing the DoE to backpedal.
HN has taken such a hard-right turn these past few years I've begun intentionally optimizing my karma-motivated behaviour for fluctuations in karma. Which is to say, I mentally overlay my actual karma score with a shadow score that increases whenever someone engages with something I write, either by replying, downvoting, or upvoting. A GOP downvote pile-on is now pretty good evidence of having said something truthful, especially when it's accompanied by an equally strong (or stronger) updraft of upvotes from other tendencies.
I've had half a mind to produce a browser plugin to do this for me, and apply it to everyone else as well, making the posts with the most engagement grow in `font-weight` and `font-size`, but the project is stymied by the number of snapshots and the amount of scraping I'd have to do; plus, there'd always be the possibility of missing an interaction.
> A GOP downvote pile-on is now pretty good evidence of having said something truthful, especially when it's accompanied by an equally strong (or stronger) updraft of upvotes from other tendencies.
You aren't american. Why do you even care? So many foreigners like you have an unhealthy obsession with american politics, culture, etc. Honestly, don't you have anything going on in your own country to occupy your time? It never occurs to me to waste my time discussing other countries' politics in other countries' forum. The propagandists say that it's the russians or the chinese that are meddling in american politics, but that hasn't been my experience online. It's foreigners like you. I just don't get it.
Babe, I've spent at least half my adult life living in the USA. Not only that, but I'm from literal Canada, which is basically a thin, one-dimensional strip extending from the Pacific to the Atlantic, right above your circus, suspended like a trapeze. We are saturated in your news, your media, and your politics.
You honestly think that people living half an hour from the border don't get an opinion? When did America get in the business of deciding who could have opinions, anyway? So much for the land of free speech. RIP
> POV: Republicans are now afraid of [checks notes] Canadian 'foreign meddling'.
This is the first time I've ever been mistaken for being a republican. Not surprised my comment went right over your head. Your brain is so fried with politics that you can't understand that I'm trying to help you. Nothing you say or do will affect politics. You might as well go scream at a mountain for being in the way. I used to think highly of canadians. But the more canadians I run into, the more pathetic they come across. Maybe it's because the good canadians live their lives while the bad waste their time screaming about other countries' politics. Or maybe familiarity breeds contempt.
Go get a life instead of worrying about foreign politics. And let me clue you in on a little secret, both the republican and the democratic party are shit and they both work for the same master. If there is anything more pathetic than a trumptard, it's a canadian obsessed with republicans or democrats.
So the change has absolutely nothing to do with Florida's rules banning sexual materials.
This seems like someone choosing to use this unrelated change to push their political narrative.
I don't think there's much interesting or intellectually satisfying about this.