Republicans will say anything crazy and insulting about public schools as a way to radicalize parents against them. The worst example: the repeated claim that schools are installing litter boxes in bathrooms for children who identify as cats or dogs.
No one knows for sure where this started–could have been Moms for Liberty or the National Parents Union or some other money-grubbing rightwing extremists.
The AP reported:
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats.
Sen. Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican, repeated the false claim during a public, televised debate on a bill intended to help school children who have behavioral problems. His comments quickly went viral, with one Twitter video garnering more than 300,000 views as of Monday afternoon, and drew an onslaught of online criticism and ridicule.
Bostelman initially said he was “shocked” when he heard stories that children were dressing as cats and dogs while at school, with claims that schools were accommodating them with litter boxes.
“They meow and they bark and they interact with their teachers in this fashion,” Bostelman said during legislative debate. “And now schools are wanting to put litter boxes in the schools for these children to use. How is this sanitary?”
The rumor has persisted in a private Facebook group, “Protect Nebraska Children,” and also surfaced last month in an Iowa school district, forcing the superintendent to write to parents that it was “simply and emphatically not true…”
The false claim that children who identify as cats are using litter boxes in school bathrooms has spread across the internet since at least December, when a member of the public brought it up at a school board meeting for Midland Public Schools northwest of Detroit.
The claim was debunked by the district’s superintendent, who issued a statement that said there had “never been litter boxes within MPS schools.”
Still, the baseless rumor has spread across the country, and become fuel for political candidates, amid the culture wars and legislative action involving gender identification in schools.
Hours after his remarks, Bostelman backtracked and acknowledged that the story wasn’t true. He said he checked into the claims with state Sen. Lynne Walz, a Democrat who leads the Legislature’s Education Committee, and confirmed there were no such incidents.…
The furor over public school restrooms comes as a growing number of conservative states seek laws to ban transgender students from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.
People who believe this nonsense should actually visit a public school, talk to the principal, talk to teachers and students before they spread it and make fools of themselves.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Once a lie has legs, it seldom stops walking. Hitler’s Nazi Party came to power thanks to repeated lies that grew legs. According to Forbes, “Trump’s wealth has increased by several hundred million dollars” since he left the White House because of his endless lies. Not because he’s an honest and successful businessman.
The Republican Party has become an expert at using lies to win elections. The GOP of Trump has also become an expert at adding legs to those easy-to-remember for dummies, simple lies.
Too many elected Democrats allegedly have morals and apparently struggle to not lie and don’t know how to add legs to the lies that slip out now and then. And they do not know how to lie to dummies so the dummies believe those lies for life.
Remember when Bill Clinton was impeached for telling a lie about not having a tryst in the Oval Office with a willing adult aide. Eventually Clinton admitted his lie and apologized.
Does anyone think Trump or most elected Republicans will ever admit they lied and say they are sorry, for anything?
How many women have come forward alleging that Trump sexually abused them and how man times has Trump admitted he did it?
The most recent Trump story: the White House photographer planned to write a book with the best photographs she had taken. She asked Trump to write the foreword, as some previous presidents had done. He said he would do it but only if he got a share of the royalties. She hesitated, and he published his own book, using her photographs, and selling for up to $270 (with autograph). Don Trump Jr. was the publisher. “All the money belong to me!”
Does a Democratic legislator ever–EVER–do anything this stupid? Just askin’.
Of course it is a HUGE lie about the litter boxes in the bathrooms, but anyone who roams the halls of a public MS or HS will see that it looks like a Halloween costume parade every day of the week. Social media, anime, deviant art influence on display all the time. I just hope the parents document with pictures! Kids will be kids.
OMG I thought your kid was in a private school. How many public middle and high schools have you roamed through recently? I really feel badly for you because I think you are a good person who has lost all reason and trying to make “public schools” the scapegoat for your personal situation when it is not. I am truly sorry for your situation but you are looking for help in the wrong places if those folks are warning you about “deviant art influence on display all the time”. You can’t help your kid if you reject reality itself.
Litter boxes? Pedophiles. Book burners. Openly racist and homophobic. Mandatory reporting of youngsters who are trans. These are sick people – right along with the people who vote for them – and hide behind the “Oh, they just say that to get donations – they don’t believe it.”
Hope #1
An “I think I might be trans” Spartacus / Rudy / Newsroom moment!
Picture EVERY student in a anti-gay mandatory reporting states of Texas and Florida high school lines up at the counselors office and states “I think I might be trans!” and the counselors have to document their contact with every parent
Hope #2
Ads, billboards, fliers, and digital –
Child: “Daddy, did you vote for that racist, book burner, homophobic, child harming candidate?”
and…
That self-harm and ideation rates among children worrying about gender identity do not skyrocket beyond their current #1 rate when children not only have to worry about teasing among peers but reporting by their trusted teachers
The Nebraska Catholic Conference posted a 2017 legislative update that referenced Bostelman in regard to a pro-life bill. The Conference’s director asked Nebraskans to thank Bruce Bostelman for his vote that supported the Conference’s views.
A study that correlates pro-life voting and general stupidity/inability to engage in rational thought would be interesting.
Correlation or not –
If a bona fide Republican wants to speak out as conservative, ultra-conservative, pro-life, pro-gun, pro-anti taxes – they are entitled to their position; HOWEVER how do they and why aren’t they confronted for aligning with and being silent about the racists and homophobics and crazies.
How is it that the “legitimate” “old school” Republicans SAY NOTHING about the Marjorie Greenes and others’ insidious sick comments?
Why are there not 98 votes in the Senate to censor Cruz and Hawley?
Guns, anti-tax, religious liberty and/or anti-abortion are talking points that provide cover for the real issues. For example, Bill Barr, a conservative Catholic who said religion should be introduced at every opportunity, expanded the death penalty during his tenure as U.S. Attorney General.
The primary goals are men over women, whites over blacks, Christians over non-Christians and straights over gays (from the Taplin blog).
There’s a good chance the woman, Lisa Hansen, who started this lie is connected to one of these astroturf “parent” groups. Previously she spoke out at the Midland, MI school board against masking and their test-to-stay policy. Not for nothing, she is a top-selling Mary Kay saleswoman so she knows a little something about proselytizing.
she has her hands in many financial “cookie” jars?
Gross! Remember when anti-LBGT ex-Senator Larry Craig was caught lewd and disorderly in the airport men’s restroom? I suppose that imagining kids becoming trans-species is what happens when a lawmaker is romantically obsessed with a farm animal or two.
Who can forget the “wide stance.”
Obviously, bizarre, insulting and also representative of our political culture, circa 2022.
I’m particularly interested in your phrase “insane lie”, Diane.
It makes me wonder,like, what is the TYPOLOGY of lies told about schools?
Big or small lies..
Downright evil lies or those untruths that are innocent and relatively harmless…
The lies told by people who have never worked a single moment as a teacher but want to attack public schools constantly versus the sorts of stories some educators might whisper to themselves like after an especially punishing day in the classroom. (“It really wasn’t that bad”.)
And, yes, “insane lies” as opposed to, what, rational lies?
I guess the subject of honesty and education has always interested me because, of course, I work in a classroom, I’m standing in front of children.The bar has got to be higher for teachers and, really, all the adults who set foot in a school. As I like to say, teachers are NOT selling aluminum siding or used cars (though a friend of mine was a longtime used car salesman and he’s an especially decent guy.)
And, I have been asked to lie now and then during my 34 year teaching career. Oh, yes, siree. By individuals as well as huge bureaucracies. (For example the truly insane lie that standardized testing has become in our society.)
So, I especially admire the honest people I encounter on this blog.
And, just like there are all sorts of lies, honesty comes in many forms, too. Prose or SomeDamPoetry.
For example, there’s the go home and have time to weigh your decision type of honesty. That’s very different from those moments when you have to make a snap judgment call. Go along or tell them to go to hell, right now.
Such is living.
Though like many people I’m really worried about our country at large right now. When does the PILE of lies some people are willing to lap up become so huge and vile that a tipping point is reached and an entire culture starts to puke itself apart?
Or, at least a major political party…
There is a typology of lies.
Some are so clever that they fool a lot of people, like Trump’s nutty claim that he won the 2020 election, despite losing 60 lawsuits, including two before the Supreme Court.
There are many more kinds of lies.
An insane lie is one that makes me laugh, it’s so crazy.
I like that, I really do. It makes you laugh.
There may be kitty litter in classrooms for an entirely different reason: active shooter lockdowns.
At community colleges, five-gallon buckets with kitty litter in them is the solution for those who have to go to the bathroom sooner than the lockdown is over.
I doubt Republicans would want to draw attention to that reason for having it.
“People who believe this nonsense should actually visit a public school, talk to the principal, talk to teachers and students before they spread it and make fools of themselves.”
Too late. They made fools of themselves by believing it.
Obviously false because public school budgets are often too tight to afford all of that cat litter. 😉
Great line, Mercedes!
Diane, good evening! Sorry for the off topic comment but I did not know how to reach you elsewhere. I’m a big fan (read all your books, quote you when I can) and I’m looking forward to being in community with you and others in Philadelphia soon. I’m working on a portion of my first book, a defense of public schools here in my inner-city neighborhood, which has been slowly been eroded by much poorer charter substitutes (We have the infamous Gompers Charter near us, perhaps you’ve heard of it). I’m struggling with Grissom’s study in 2014 which seemed to kick off some weird press that NCLB was fine and dandy and made teachers like me “happier”. I’m highlighting the stress placed on us to essentially conform to NCLB policy during the early 2000s so as to explain why teacher retention was difficult at my school during this time. This study is a thorn in my side. Wondering if you could sort of give me a starting point where I can locate rationale that does not support those findings, as they do not match my experience or previous reading at all. Thank you for all you do in support of our public schools. Thomas Courtney, Teacher, San Diego
The stress of complying with NCLB? You mean the stress of trying to comply with a federal law that was clearly unconstitutional because it was literally impossible for any school district in the country to comply with (i.e. 100% proficiency in math and ELA). You mean the stress of of having to show improvement in every one of a dozen different sub-groups regardless of sample size and despite having changing cohorts. You mean the stress of Duncan’s DOE doubling-down on testing through horrendous Common Core standards and companion (PARCC and SBAC) tests that were nothing mor than academic death traps for the disadvantaged. You mean the stress of trying to get IEP and 504 students to pass the same tests that the future valedictorian struggled with. You mean the stress of being evaluated on test scores in the face of chronic absenteeism, social promotion, dysfunctional home lives, and unsupportive administrators. The only happy teachers I knew were the ones who were retiring.
“The only happy teachers I knew were the ones who were retiring. . . and/or those who were becoming adminimals.”
Dear Thomas,
I remember Gompers well—the school named for a famous labor leader that fought teachers who wanted to join a union.
My books mail the failure of NCLB, especially Reign of Error and SLAYING GOLIATH
Thomas-
I hope your book is inclusive of the big issues and that it is successful.
Bill Gates’ alleged intent to create a for-profit education monopoly (facilitated by national standards) was similar in timing to the intent of the Charles Koch network to thwart taxation that supported public schools.
Citizens of San Diego may not be aware of a third threat, the Catholic Church. In Indiana, Catholics take credit for the initiation and passage of school choice legislation. Media report that the VP of EdChoice in Kentucky is also the associate director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky. In some states, the state Catholic Conferences cohost school choice rallies with the Koch’s AFP.
California communities should be made aware of the link between Ryan Girdusky who founded the 1776 PAC to fund the campaigns of school board members opposed to CRT and Pat Buchanan.
A freelance writer posted an article (6-15-2021) in a San Diego media outlet that talked about a surge in Catholic school enrollment. She wrote, “private schools have an advantage …decisions can be made quickly without debate among teachers’ unions, school boards and families.” Ignoring the conservative religious’ preference for authoritarianism and their desire to eliminate unions is unwise. Some Catholic schools have altered the recited U.S. Pledge of Allegiance to include church doctrine (NYT).
In 2020, 63% of white Catholics who attend church regularly voted for Trump.
Melinda Gates attended Catholic schools and her ex-husband said in an interview that he participated in the church that his wife attended. The Catholic school chain, Cristo Rey, which is in 17 states, received funding from Gates.
In 2020, the conservative Catholic majority on SCOTUS exempted religious schools from civil rights employment law (Biel v. St.James Catholic school) and they forced taxpayers to fund religious schools (Espinosa v. Montana).
Thank you so much Linda! This is exactly what I needed. Much of my book is based on me sitting down with a pen, finding folks like Dianne Ravitch and Lisa Delpit, and coming to terms with what I had seen, been a part of, and what ill-intentioned others are doing to public schools now. I’m flying out to NPE this Friday and I’m excited to know I’ll have kindred spirits. Can’t thank you enough for this information. Much appreciated.
Dear Dr. Ravitch! I have both of those books here on my shelf, next to Lisa Delpit’s. Reign of Error and Cultural Conflict are gifted to every student teacher who walks in my door. I enjoyed Lisa’s introduction in Multiplication is For White People detailing your talk with her. Felt like a talk I’ve had a few times myself here in California. I’ve quoted you many times. Thanks so much to you and Linda and the others for responding. Keep up the strong work. Looking forward to learning more in Philadelphia this weekend.
Thank you, Thomas.