PBS ran a special about the love affair between America’s far-right extremists and Hungary’s authoritarian leader Viktor Orban. Here is the transcript. It’s worth reading to understand the extremism and not-so-latent fascism embedded in America’s right wing.
Archives for category: Academic Freedom
The Oklahoma State Board of Education lowered the rating of two districts—Tulsa and Mustang—for offering lessons or training that violated state bans on “critical race theory.”
Let’s be clear: hardly anyone in the state of Oklahoma knows what “critical race theory” is.
The board punished the two districts because they asked students or teachers to reflect on the meaning of racism.
In Mustang, one teacher complained.
Tulsa is a majority-minority district, but it made the mistake of teaching something other than lily-white stories about America., where racism might have long ago existed. Teaching about racism today is intolerable.
Representatives for the Tulsa and Mustang school districts did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday. In a statement to the Oklahoman, Tulsa Public Schools denied that the training stated that people of a certain race were inherently racist, saying it would “never support such a training,” but the system defended the need for implicit bias training.
“In Tulsa, we are teaching our children an accurate — and at times painful, difficult, and uncomfortable — history about our shared human experience,” the district told the newspaper. “We also teach in a beautifully diverse community and need our team to work together to be prepared to do that well.”
Charles Bradley, the superintendent of Mustang Public Schools, said in a statement published by News 9 that he was “shocked” by the board’s demotion, which he called a “harsh action.”
H.B. 1775 prohibits teaching that any individual “bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.” It also bans any course material that would make a student “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex.”
Message: Never teach the truth!
At a meeting in Tampa recently, the organization of far-right agitators called “Moms for Liberty” took aim at public schools, teachers, and curriculum. They believe their children are indoctrinated in public schools, which is utter nonsense. What is clear is that they want to indoctrinate all children into their racist, bigoted worldview.
The so-called “Moms” are terrified by teaching about racism and gender. They want the power to censor books they don’t like. They want to stifle teachers who teach the truth about American history.
Their first national conference was addressed by Fovernor Ron DeSantis, Senator Rick Scott, and Betsy DeVos, all of whom are contemptuous of public schools.
Who are the Moms for Liberty? They are the female version of the John Birch Society. The latter spied Communists everywhere. The Moms are terrified that someone might teach children that racism was and is a blight on our country.
Known largely for speaking out against mask mandates in the pandemic, demanding access to school curricula, rooting out offensive or explicit content in literature and voicing their suspicions about the pervasiveness of “woke ideology” at school board meetings across the country, members of Moms For Liberty said they now hope to expand their political influence and the scope of parental rights laws, which exist in about one third of states.
The Houston Chronicle reports that a participant in the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol is likely to be elected to the Texas State Board of Education. She has pledged to fight “critical race theory” (i.e. teaching about racism) and to support charter schools.
Underscoring Texas lawmakers’ rightward lurch on education issues in recent years, the candidate likely to replace a moderate Republican on the State Board of Education in a district outside Houston is a right-wing activist who participated in protests at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
After winning the primary in March, the front-runner in the District 7 race is Julie Pickren, a former trustee for Alvin Independent School District. Pickren was voted off that board last year after her participation in the protest at the U.S. Capitol was revealed — the basis of a campaign against her by the Brazoria County NAACP.
Pickren is a former delegate to the GOP’s national and state conventions, her LinkedIn says, and on Facebook she blamed antifa, rather than Trump supporters, for violence during the Capitol riot, a claim that other Republicans have made without proof. She declined a request for an interview….
Republicans have moved further to the right on education issues in Texas over the past 18 months. Earlier this summer, Gov. Greg Abbott announced his support for private school vouchers and endorsed a “Parental Bill of Rights” to give parents more power over what and how their kids are taught in schools. Last year, the Legislature passed and Abbott signed a slew of conservative bills relating to education, including restrictions on how social studies can be taught and on transgender children playing school sports.
At the local level, school board politics have become increasingly heated, with often angry discussions over diversity and equity policies in the schools. Parent groups have organized PACs in opposition to what they view as progressive activism in education, raising substantial amounts of money to reshape local school boards around the state.
Next year’s State Board of Education is set to be more conservative, with Robinson leaving as well as two other Republicans who lost their March primaries to opponents supported by right-wing PACs. There are currently nine Republicans and six Democrats serving on the board.
The board’s core responsibilities include writing Texas’ public school curriculums, managing the permanent fund that backs debt taken out by schools, and deciding whether to allow new charter schools in the state; Pickren has said she supports adding more of them.
Moderate pushed out
The District 7 seat opened up last year, when the Legislature during redistricting moved incumbent Matt Robinson into a different district so he couldn’t run for re-election. Robinson, a doctor from Friendswood, has said he feels Republican political leaders in the state did this intentionally because they did not believe he was sufficiently supportive of charter schools and other conservative policy goals.
In a rare move in today’s increasingly polarized politics, Robinson is endorsing the Democrat in the race, Galveston ISD teacher Dan Hochman, to be his successor.
Why?
“Because he’s running against Julie Pickren. And she will be bad for public education,” Robinson said.
In lists of the most important issues to her campaign, Pickren has named ridding public schools of critical race theory, an academic theory that critics use as a catchall term to describe diversity and equity initiatives as well as discussion of systemic or historical racism. Pickren is also supportive of “parents rights” initiatives such as those espoused by Abbott.
“She is leading a fight, an assault on public education that’s going on right now. It’s not among all Republicans, but it’s among a good number and she’s kind of leading that fight. And the idea that critical race theory is going on in most schools and most districts, which is entirely false. So her overall approach is, in my view, anti-public education,” Robinson said…
‘ Soul of public education ’
Hochman acknowledged that he’s facing an uphill climb in the race, as the district leans conservative. Pickren’s campaign has spent about $40,000 so far, while Hochman’s has spent about $10,000. Hochman said his campaign bank account currently had less than $100 in it…
“It really, truly is a fight for the soul of public education in the state of Texas, which is failing right now,” Hochman said of the race. Hochman added that he would oppose expansion of charter schools.
“I’m up against a woman who is clearly anti-public education. She’s being funded by the far right, whose agenda has been publicly clear that they want to dismantle public education and replace it with private schools and charter schools so they can push through a far-right Christian agenda in schooling. And that’s not like a conspiracy, that’s been pretty much out in the open.”
edward.mckinley@chron.com
Lloyd Lofthouse, author, former Marine, and former teacher, explains what it means to be woke. Some Republican politicians—notably Ron DeSantis— are trying to suppress “wokeness.”
Lloyd writes:
Anyone that attacks what’s known as “woke ideology” is supporting zombie thinking and belongs to a fascist cult of ignorance.
Wokeness means someone that is highly literate, well educated, well read, is a life long learner, questions claims and uses critical thinking, problem solving and rational logic to find out if there is any truth to what these fascist zombies are shouting.
Question: Are you woke?
As expected, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which stood for half a century as a guarantee of women’s reproductive rights. About half or more states have already passed or are about to pass laws banning abortions, even for women who were victims of rape or incest, even for women whose life is in danger. The “right to life” so prized by anti-abortion activists does not include the life of the woman.
As was not quite so expected, the Supreme Court gutted the Miranda rights of people who are arrested. Police may fail to tell prisoners of their legal rights, including their right to remain silent.
The Trump Court is remaking and redefining the law in a radical way. There is nothing “conservative” about their willingness to toss out precedent. There is something very radical about the jackhammer they are using to change social and legal norms.
Women will die because of the Court’s decision to throw out Roe, which several of them pledged in public not to do. The old coat hanger routine and the unlicensed abortionists will return. Women who can afford to flee to a state where abortion is available will do so. Those who can self-medicate with Internet anti-abortion drugs will do so, although some states are trying to ban Internet abortion drugs (will they open every package to every woman of child-bearing age?).
The Court’s decision on New York’s gun law is terrifying. Be prepared to see armed men (and women, don’t forget Congresswoman Lauren Bobert) strolling through your neighborhood or shopping malls. If the six justices actually think that open carry is a fine idea, why won’t they permit it in their own courtroom?
Make no mistake: the current majority on the Supreme Court is not conservative; it is radical, in its reckless disregard for precedent and the safety of citizens.
The Court is not libertarian; its decisions require millions of people to abide by their cramped view of the way things ought to be. The state must fund religious schools, no matter how bigoted and discriminatory they are, if the state funds any private schools. States and cities must not protect their public by enacting laws that prevent them from openly carrying a deadly weapon.
We can expect even more intrusive decisions, valuing property rights over human rights, corporate rights over workers’ rights.
We will be living with this narrow-minded, bossy, intrusive Court for many years. My generation has failed. I look to the enlightened young people, the product of America’s much-maligned public schools, to reverse course in the future and preserve this fragile experiment in democracy from the ideologues who seek to destroy it.
For an insightful assessment of how the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion will affect women in Texas, read this article in The Texas Monthly.
An excerpt:
An excerpt: As trigger laws go into effect around the country, Texans seeking surgical abortions will likely find themselves in either Kansas or New Mexico, the two nearest states where the procedure will remain legal—though both have a limited number of clinics, which is likely to make scheduling an appointment difficult. Kansas has four clinics, which currently serve 530,000 potential patients of reproductive age. Now the state’s clinics will be the nearest alternative for 7.7 million such patients, according to theGuttmacher Institute, a nonprofit group that researches reproductive health. New Mexico, which has seven clinics, will be the nearest option for 1.9 million potential patients, the vast majority of whom will be Texans.
What about abortion pills?
Medication abortions, which are nonsurgical and administered by taking a two-dose regimen of pills that terminate a pregnancy, are currently illegal in Texas after the seventh week of pregnancy; after HB 1280 goes into effect on July 24, medication abortions, which are currently the most common type of abortions in Texas, are included in the total ban on the procedure in the state.
As of last December, Texas law also forbids the shipment of pills that induce an abortion “by courier, delivery, or mail service.” It’s unclear how Texas officials plan to enforce this law, as many U.S. and international organizations offer the pills by mail, or whether those who seek care after a self-administered abortion could face criminal charges under HB 1280, depending on how the law is applied.
Legislators see the Supreme Court ruling as a green light to outlaw abortion and criminalize anyone who performs one. The penalties are as stiff as murder.
I am tired of rightwing politicians distorting our language to suit their bigoted ideology.
They have the nerve, for example, to quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he spoke at the March on Washington in 1963 and said he hoped for the day when his children would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Dr. King was projecting a vision of a world without racism, when people would see each other as friends, neighbors, and fellow human beings.
But rightwing politicians twist his words to insist that we should ignore racism right now, stop teaching about it, and pretend it does not exist. They use his words to justify prohibitions on teaching about or discussing the racism in the here and now. They use his appeal for an unrealized future to blind us to a cruel present.
I propose that we make a conscientious effort to reclaim the plain meaning of words.
One of the hot-button words that has been appropriated by rightwing politicians is “woke.” They are trying to turn it into a shameful word. I looked up the definition of WOKE. It means being aware of injustice and inequality, specifically when referring to racism. I strive to be aware of injustice and inequality and racial discrimination and to do whatever I can to change things for the better. Shouldn’t we all do that?
My acronym for WOKE is “Wide Open to Knowledge and Enlightenment.”
What would you say about someone who is not WOKE? They are “asleep,” “unconscious,” “indifferent.” They are “Mind Closed, Mouth Open.”
Yes, I am WOKE. I want Dr. King’s dream someday to be true. It is not true now.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida believes it is terrible to be woke. He demeans those he says are woke. He claims that the woke are politically correct and are intimidated by organized efforts to reduce racism in schools and the workplace. He thinks that being woke is so dreadful that it must be made illegal.
He urged the Florida legislature to pass “anti-woke” legislation in March. And they did. The so-called STOP WOKE” Act means “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act.”
This legislation is intended specifically to silence discussions and study of racism. It bans the teaching of critical race theory in schools and colleges and bans diversity training in the workplace.
Governor DeSantis doesn’t want people to be opposed to injustice and inequality. He doesn’t want them to be opposed to racism. Such awareness makes some people feel uncomfortable, he says. We should teach nothing that makes anyone uncomfortable.
Who is uncomfortable when racism is discussed? In my experience, the people who don’t want any discussion of racism are either racist or are embarrassed by their acts of racism in the past.
To protect the tender sensibilities of white people, we must avoid any discussion that makes them or their children uncomfortable. We must not take the risk that they or their children might feel uncomfortable for terrible things that happened long ago. So don’t talk about them. Don’t read books that discuss slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, or segregation. Don’t mention the distant past or the wrongs of the present. Don’t dare to talk about discrimination against black people, or the passage of laws that impair their right to vote, or the persistence of racially segregated schools.
Not only is it wrong to be woke, in the eyes of those who prefer to stifle all recognition of racial discrimination, it is absolutely forbidden for teachers or professors to examine the causes of racism and its persistence today in our laws and policies. Making a conscientious effort to understand the causes of racism and to seek remedies is called “critical race theory” (CRT).
The attacks on critical race theory are intended to intimidate teachers and to prevent students from learning about racism, past or present.
In states that have banned the teaching of critical race theory, the legislators can’t define CRT, so they make it illegal to teach “divisive concepts” or anything that makes some students “uncomfortable.”
When a white supremacist massacred ten Black people in Buffalo, New York, teachers in anti-CRT states were not sure if they were allowed to teach about what happened. Would they lose their jobs if they taught the truth?
The states that prohibit the teaching of critical race theory are banning the teaching of honest history, for fear that someone might be uncomfortable when they learn the facts about what was done to Black people in our history. Some states have explicitly banned Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “The 1619 Project,” because it might make some white people uncomfortable. I may be wrong, but I can’t recall a state that ever passed a law censoring a single book. This book is obviously very powerful and very frightening to those who feel the need to ban it. It cannot be refuted by the DeSantis faction so it must be banned.
The same states that want to ban honest teaching about racism are also banning books about gender identity and sexuality. The legislatures in Republican states think that the schools are filled with pedophiles. The rightwing zealots claim that teachers are “grooming” their students to become gay or transgender. They pass laws like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans teaching about gender identity and sexuality in grades K-3 (where gender identity and sexuality are not taught) and tolerate only “age-appropriate” discussion of gender identity and sexuality in other grades.
Like the STOP WOKE law, the “Don’t Say Gay” law is vague, which makes teachers fearful of teaching anything related to gender or sexuality. If schools can’t teach about gender identity, then they cannot teach about married couples of any gender. If you take them literally, you should not refer to Moms and Dads, men and women. Dare we teach young children about heterosexuality? Apparently not, if you follow the letter of the law.
The groups that are behind these attacks are familiar to us. They are Moms for Liberty, Moms for America, Parents Defending Freedom, and a bevy of other groups funded by rightwing billionaires.
Not coincidentally, these are the same groups that are fighting to pass funding for charter schools and vouchers.
What is their motive? They want to destroy not only freedom of thought but public schools.
Recently, I watched the far-right provocateur Chris Rufo give a speech at Hillsdale College. He called on his audience to act in a speech titled “Laying Siege to the Institutions.” (Please watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Hh0GqoJcE). Rufo claims credit for making CRT a national issue. He boasts that a few years ago, CRT had virtually no public recognition. Thanks to his lies and distortions, most people have heard of it and some think it is a radical, Marxist plot to destroy America by turning race against race. Because he says so.
This is absurd.
For the past four decades, CRT was known as a law school study of the origins of systemic racism and the extent to which it is embedded in our laws and institutions. Its founder was Derrick Bell of Harvard Law School. He was a friend of mine. He was not a Marxist or a radical. He was a great American who wanted America to live up to its promises. Unlike Rufo, he didn’t believe in gag orders and bans. He believed in study, scholarship, debate and discussion.
Chris Rufo offers one solution to all the problems he sees: school choice.
To him, the public school is the most dangerous of all institutions, because it teaches equality, justice, and critical thinking. It teaches students to respect others. It teaches them to abhor racism and other forms of bigotry. It teaches students about American history without censoring the unpleasant and horrifying parts. The laws passed to ban CRT and to gag teachers have one purpose: Teach lies, not honest history.
Here is what I suggest.
Fight censorship.
Fight privatization of our public assets.
Read without fear.
Read “The 1619 Project,” which will open your minds. Read critiques of “The 1619 Project” by reputable scholars, not by rightwing ideologues.
Think about it. Discuss and debate the issues.
Say gay.
Stand up to the craven politicians who attack your freedoms.
Vote against them when you have the chance.
Fearlessly defend the freedom to read, the freedom to teach, and the freedom to learn.
Work towards the day when we treat each other with respect.
Wake up.
I received the following statement by hundreds of Swedish teachers, protesting against the odious effects of privatization in education. They signed this post.
We teachers do not want to have it like this anymore
Published 28 Apr 2022 at 06.00
Filippa Mannerheim, high school teacher, Stockholm.
HP Tran, primary school teacher, Gothenburg.
Sara Persson, primary school teacher, Västervik.Photo: Sara Winsnes
Marcus Erhagen, high school teacher, Örebro.
Per Edberg, preschool teacher, Umeå.
We teachers demand a change. We demand that you politicians make sure to fix the institutionalized, corruption-promoting defects you yourself have built into the school system so that we teachers can focus on teaching Sweden’s children, 285 teachers write in a call against the marketized school.
This is a debate article. It is the writer who stands for the opinions in the text.
DEBATE. We who write this article do so even though we do not really have the time or energy. We write it even though it is not our job. We write it even though it should not have been needed and had not been needed in any other country than Sweden.
But as things stand now, we feel we have no choice.
We in Sweden today have large, commercial school groups that expand at the expense of the municipal school and make a profit through lower teacher density, fewer qualified teachers, fewer costly students and lower teacher salaries than municipal schools. Group schools receive permission from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate to start in municipalities even though the municipalities themselves say no and there is no need.
We do not want it like this.
Today, through the free right of establishment and the unregulated offer, a school can be opened anywhere and look any way. A teaching position can be anything for anyone. Nothing on the school grounds is regulated. Nothing is planned based on society’s needs.
We do not want it this way.
In the past, independent schools had lower school fees because the municipality must ensure that all students can go to a school close to home. The municipality can not choose the organization that is cheapest, it can independent schools. The municipality can not put students in line, it can independent schools. The municipality can not profile its schools so that some students feel that the school is not suitable for them, independent schools can. The municipality’s assignments are larger and more expensive, but the tuition fees are just as large. A majority of the Riksdag’s parties refuse to change this.
We do not want it this way.
The revolving doors between politicians and independent school companies are freshly blown and the close ties that exist between politicians, lobbyists and the business community are becoming increasingly tighter when former politicians take seats in school management or continue their careers as lobbyists.
It’s time to listen to the voters. It’s time to listen to us teachers. It is time to climb out of the school market swamp and act as elected politicians again.
Public opinion in Sweden is clearly against the private gains made in welfare and school. Nevertheless, this is not reflected in the Riksdag decisions that are made.
We do not want it this way.
School companies and large real estate companies today buy school properties so that the companies can make money at school even if politicians decide on a profit ban. They want to be able to move money from profits in school to profits in real estate companies. Instead of hiring teachers, the school fees are used for the real estate companies’ return requirements.
We do not want it this way.
We have politicians who drum up “freedom of choice” as a mantra as soon as criticism is directed at the system, but the free choice they defend is in fact the school groups, which through targeted marketing to parents with high-performing children, have the choice to only give school to the “cheapest The students. Everything is as it should be in the best of worlds, the majority of our parliamentary parties believe.
But we do not want it this way.
The Swedish school once made class trips possible. The school was good at getting the majority of students to succeed – even children without a study background. Today, Sweden has the most unequal school of all the Nordic countries. Swedish school torn apart.
Instead of a cohesive compensatory school, we now have listed company schools, groups with fake coats of arms, schools that call themselves international and that have teaching in a language other than Swedish. We have religious schools with dubious values.
We teachers do not want it like this anymore. We demand a change. We demand that you politicians make sure to remedy the institutionalized, corruption-promoting defects you yourself have built into the school system so that we teachers can focus on teaching Sweden’s children. And avoid writing articles like this in the future.
It’s time to listen to the voters. It’s time to listen to us teachers. It is time to climb out of the school market swamp and act as elected politicians again.
We teachers do not want it like this anymore.
Rolf Wallander, subject teacher years 4-6, Haninge
Miranda Chang, F-6 teacher, Gislaved
HP Tran, primary school teacher, Gothenburg
Helena Tarras-Wahlberg, teacher, Ängelholm
Anna Bränström, high school teacher, Sundbyberg municipality
Maria Karlsson, high school teacher, Knivsta
Jonas Linderoth, Professor of Pedagogy University of Gothenburg
Pia Ennemuist, elementary school teacher, leisure educator, Värmdö
Therese Wikström, high school teacher, Ale
Erik Winerö, high school teacher / doctoral student educational science, Lerum
Alexander Nilsson, high school teacher, Trelleborg
Marie Pettersson, special educator, Skövde
Therese Andersson, elementary school teacher, Örebro
teacher , Stockholm
Magnus Svensson, university lecturer, teacher educator, Eskilstuna.
Ann-Christine Norman, upper secondary school teacher, Boden
Daniel Runhage, primary school teacher, Malmö
Per Edberg, preschool teacher, Umeå
Filippa Mannerheim, upper secondary school teacher, Stockholm
Anton Ek, primary school teacher. Falun
Felix Björk, music teacher student, Stockholm
Aron Ihse Trägårdh, elementary teacher student, Malmö
Anthon Brunzell, subject teacher student, Lund
Björn Dahlman, teacher, Ekerö
Terese Crona Lindström, teacher in after-school center, Ängelholm
Simon Kvassman, subject teacher and teacher student, Örebro
Birch Petter
MagnusBäcklund, teacher Hörby
Jenny Winberg, teacher, Västerås
Edvin Jensen, high school teacher, Linköping
Maria Olsson, retired high school teacher, Ale
Martin Ahlstedt, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Pernilla Wallgren, elementary school teacher, Stockholm
Lena Karlsson Saranpää, elementary school teacher, Motala
Maja Anselius, Special educator
, , primary school teacher, Stockholm
Erika Tidblom, teacher, Norrköping
Magnus Dahlström, high school teacher, Malmö
Tilde Jansson, high school teacher, Stockholm
Lena Danelius, high school teacher, Lund
Daniel Lund, high school teacher, Norrköping
Rasmus Hardeström, teacher, Linköping
Maria Hals, high school teacher, Danderyd
Joel Larsson, High school, Danderyd
Maria Jarlsdotte r former principal, Ängelholm
Per Johansson, high school teacher, Ängelholm
Karl Engqvist, primary school teacher, Arvika.
Olof Persson, High school teacher, Strömsund
Lotta Lindvall, preschool teacher in preschool class, Motala
Birgitta Hultkrantz, Municipal adult teacher Stockholm
Jonas Hemström, deputy principal, Stockholm
Andreas Olofsson, high school teacher, Ljungby
Petter Cronberg, teacher, Nyhamnsläge
, elementary school teacher, elementary school
NyborgDanderyd
Kristina Lundin, high school teacher, Köping
Ulla Åkerström, leg. teachers who left school, Gothenburg
Johanna Verme, high school teacher student, Lerum
Jesper Berglund, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Lisa Göland, high school teacher, Linköping
Petra Särnhammar, school librarian and high school teacher, Linköping
Linda Odén, high school teacher, Gråbo
Lars Ljunggren, high school teacher, Falun
Åsa Tadell, high school teacher
Maria Gustavson, teacher, Västerås
Fredrik Sandström, teacher, Arboga
Tom Bergström, vocational teacher, Sala
Petra Lindström, teacher, Gnesta
Pontus Bierich, Teacher, Kungälv
Linnea Argårds, teacher, Örebro
Martin Viklund, teacher, Hudiksvall
Gunnar Wike, primary school teacher, Västerås
Anders Törnlund , teacher, Huddinge
Jan Kjellin, preschool teacher, Falun
Fredrik Björkman, high school teacher, Malmö
Elisabeth Ahrent, teacher Simrishamn
Johan Carlsson, high school teacher, Upplands Väsby
Fredrik Törnqvist, high school teacher, Stockholm
Magnus Almström, high school teacher, Borås
Helena Edvardsson, elementary school teacher, Gothenburg
Christoffer Eriksson, high school teacher , Uppsala
Kari Nilsson, teacher, Malmö
Elin Persson, after-school center teacher, Danderyd
Anna Östman, primary school teacher, Huddinge
Rickard Himre, upper secondary school teacher, Stockholm
Fredrik Clausson, upper secondary school teacher, Lund
Nils Rickdorff Lahrin, upper secondary school teacher, Uppsala
Björn Johannesson, primary school teacher, Gothenburg
Maryna Grip, primary school teacher, Söderhamn
Jan Magnusson,
Lotta Gedik-Cederberg, primary school teacher, Malmö
Jenny Vide, primary school teacher, Uppsala
Mathias Israelsson, primary school teacher, Gothenburg
Lilian Birath, high school teacher, Svedala
Anna Heimer, preschool teacher, Partille
Patrik Unné, special educator
Margareta Melin, primary school teacher, Kungälv
Jonas Fried, Gothenburg primary school
teacher , elementary school teacher, Ryd
Sara Persson, elementary school teacher, Västervik
Maria Himre, high school teacher, Stockholm
Marie Karlsson, elementary school teacher, Svedala
Olof Loklint, elementary school teacher, Västerås
Niclas Djupström, high school teacher, Skövde
Gunnel Alm, high school teacher, Norrköping
Bodil Ejwertz, teacher, Tylyl
, teacher , Sundbyberg
Helen a Svanängen, university lecturer, Jönköping
Isabella Åkerlund, teacher, Karlstad
Maria Hilber, preschool teacher, Huddinge
Isabella Verner, high school teacher, Stockholm
Malin Ahlgren, high school teacher, Stockholm
Elinor Löfstaf, teacher, Västerås
Peter Sjöde IDH teacher Jönköping
Svensson Gothenburg
MånsPettersson, high school teacher, Stockholm
Anders Lindborg, high school teacher Varberg
Karin Berg, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Peter Alm, high school teacher, Uppsala
Marina Nordin, teacher, Stockholm
Calle Andén, primary school teacher, Gotland
Niclas Ländin, deputy principal, Sollentuna
Hedvig Bolmgren, special teacher / special educator,
Östhammar Rosenberg, primary school teacher, Klippan
Fredrik Hornegård, teacher, Stockholm
EwaLiz Larsson, primary school teacher, Karlskrona
Tobias Nilsson, special teacher, Lund
Anna Nylander, high school teacher, Lysekil.
Marika Lindholm, teacher, former. principal, Stockholm
Emma Sjödin, high school teacher, Stockholm
Shpetim Ademi, high school teacher, Kristianstad.
Johanna Andersson, high school teacher, Malmö
Bernt Andersson, leg. teacher of music and English, SiS in Lidköping
Magnus Karlberg Teacher / leisure educator Stockholm
Ellinor Brantås, elementary school teacher, Järfälla
Johanna Ramstedt, elementary school teacher, Stockholm
Linda Bäckström, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Niklas Aronsson, high school teacher Gothenburg
Hjalmar Holgersson, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Pelle Flemark, high school
Eva Söderberg, certified teacher of handicrafts / Swedish, Gothenburg
Kedikova, high school teacher, Norrköping
Anna Lundin, music teacher, Västerås
Helene Johansson, elementary / high school teacher, Uddevalla
Jakob Winnberg, high school teacher, Växjö
Solveig Ivarsson, elementary school teacher, Svenljunga
Jan Gustavsson, Norrman Lotman,
Zumi, elementary school teacher, Ulricehamn
Anna Klingström, high school teacher, Sala
Fredrik Månsson, high school teacher, Norrköping
Christina W. Källström, high school teacher, Katrineholm
Emma Solum Holst, high school teacher, Borlänge
Alexandra Georgieva, elementary school teacher, Gothenburg
Carina Lindström, music teacher in elementary school,
Södertarje high school Lina teacher, Stockholm
Helena Wessel, school secretary former high school teacher, Stockholm
Katarina Hjärpe, school librarian, Malmö
Mattias Forsberg, high school teacher, Arvika
Henrik Estvik, high school teacher, Stockholm
Maria Ruukel, elementary school teacher, Valdemarsvik
Åsa Andersson, elementary school teacher, Västerås
Jonathan Wikström, elementary school teacher,
L primary school teacher, Stockholm
Staffan Lindström, music teacher in primary school, Södertälje
Carin Hammarström, teacher, Malmö
Hans-Uno Karlsson, retired primary school teacher, Hajom
Jennie Gudmundsson, leg. teacher ma / bi 7–9, Ängelholm
Ragnar Suneson retired language teacher 7–9, Tranås
Cecilia Ekdahl Schewenius, subject teacher / assistant professor, Kungshamn
Jan Wärmegård, primary school teacher, Stockholm
Cecilia F. Kroon, teacher, Staffanstorp
Gunilla Martinsson, teacher Falkenberg
Maria Henriksson, language teacher Mora
Anna Liljekvist, teacher, Nacka
Cecilia Svensson, teacher F-3, Sundsvall
Inga-Lill Lagerlöf, retired teacher, Tierp
Hanna Wallinder, teacher, Malmö
Helén Enqvist, language teacher years 6–9, Botkyrka
Annette Säterberg, high school teacher, Kungsbacka
Ingemar Abrahamsson, handicraft teacher, Gothenburg
Lotta Carlson, subject teacher Ma / No, Kungsbacka
Carola Svensson, adult teacher, Norrköping
Marie Wislander, teacher, Tjörn
Maria Jansson, special teacher, Stockholm
Jonny Wester, music teacher, Hylte
Miriam Järlebark, teacher SFI, Örebro
Film Katja
Roselli Åsell, teacher, Hofors
Jan Gustavsson, Municipal adult teacher, Norrköping
Helen Egardt, high school teacher, Lidingö
Thomas Bergström, high school teacher Ludvika
Mikael Winblad, teacher e, Strängnäs
Ann-Sofie Johansson, high school teacher, Västerås
Pia Brodersen, special educator, Stockholm
Ulla Sunden, teacher, Gothenburg
Mirjam Cameron Sedwall, teacher, Stockholm
Linda Söderberg, teacher, Timrå
Robert Warrebäck, teacher, Stockholm
Jenny Vad-Schütt, teacher, Täby
Johan Thorssell, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Cecilia Rosenqvist, subject teacher, Simrishamn
Rebecka Beijer, high school teacher, Eskilstuna
Jaana Vilén, special teacher, Karlskoga
Carola Sjöstrand, teacher, Jönköping
Elisabeth Broman, former elementary school teacher, Österåker
Sabina Granstrand, teacher Frida, Samstad
4-6 Gothenburg
Louise Halldin, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Birgitta Jensen, deputy principal, Emmaboda
Pia Thomasson, 7 – 9 teachers, Ängelholm
Sanna Dabolins, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Linda Gunnarsson, teacher, Härryda
Bengt Johansson, teacher, Nacka
Malin Hökby, high school teacher, Nacka
Anna Näslund War, primary school teacher 4–6, Karlskrona
Ingela Bursjöö, teacher, Gothenburg
Hasse Annerbo, primary school teacher 1–7 Falun
Åsa Hartzell, upper secondary school teacher, Stockholm
Jessica Andersson Sjöstrand, upper secondary school teacher, Växjö
Marie Rehnström, middle school teacher, Härryda
Johanna Stigmark, SFI teacher, Södertälje
Maria Knutsson-Torvaldsen, primary school teacher, Ockelbo
Frida Lotfi, upper secondary school teacher, Danderyd
Kenneth Pilström, retired teacher, Kil
Anders teacher, Norrköping
Cecilia Rehnqvist, teacher, Malmö
Petter Träff, high school teacher, Malmö
Maria Trulsson, teacher, Gothenburg
Kristina Broberg, elementary school teacher, Uddevalla
Nilla Wikberg, special educator, Uppsala
Elin Jonasson, teacher student, Mönsterås
Robert Alexandersson, middle school teacher, Kristinehamn
high school teacher Micke Hjalmarsson Motala
David Reljanovic, high school teacher, Borås
Edith Marelli, high school teacher, Malmö
Sophia Ivanovic, teacher Nässjö
Robert Svensson, teacher Trollhättan
Sara Berggren, teacher, Sundsvall
Nicklas Ivarsson, teacher, Trelleborg
Per Olov Nordin, philosophy Master, retired, Söderhamn
Susanne Lindgren, speci Luleå
Anna Svensson, high school e-teacher, Skara
Magdalena Gyllenlood, high school teacher, Nacka
Marie Sandström, high school teacher, Vara
Maria Sköld, teacher, Haninge
Amanda Terlevic, high school teacher, Gothenburg
Kerstin Meurling, teacher, Kulturskolan, Sundsvall
Maria L. Persson, teacher, Varberg
Susanne Lärkeryd, teacher,
Skellefte Utter, upper secondary school teacher, Gothenburg
Elin Bergström, leisure teacher, Sundsvall
Nicolas Micic, teacher, Huddinge
Jennie Frisk, primary school teacher, Uppsala
Åsa Fondin, special teacher, Landskrona
Stina Carlsson, primary school teacher ma / NO 1-7, Dalsed
Johanna Leinås, teacher, Täby
Christer Hällkvist, high school teacher, Linköping
Susan Persson-Payne, teacher, Eskilstuna
Jenny Svensson, high school teacher, Halmstad
Johan Fransson, high school teacher, Linköping
Staffan Melin, primary school teacher, Gothenburg
Karin Wilsson, principal, Mark municipality
Majlis Seppänen, teacher, Boden
Niclas Skott, teacher, Gothenburg
Anton Svensson , teacher, Växjö
Klas Holmgren, teacher, Borlänge
My Landberg, teacher, Järfälla
Joakim Lindström, teacher, Huddinge
Josefine Forsberg, primary school teacher, Umeå
Kerstin Rödén, special educator, Östersund
Helena Eidenson, primary school teacher, Sigtuna
Rolf Back, mathematics teacher, Falun
Lars Persson, technology teacher, Sölvesborg
Ola Lindholm, teacher, Karlstad
Marcus Erhagen, high school teacher, Örebro
Göteborg Hjertén, teacher
Finnhigh school teacher, Uppsala
Jenny Dahlin, high school teacher, Mark municipality
Eva Almestad, preschool teacher, Sundsvall
Olof Dahl, fil. dr, high school teacher, Mölndal
Åsa Marmebro, teacher, Kungälv
Ulrihca Malmberg, high school teacher, Stockholm
Sara Fransson, high school teacher, Huddinge
Debora Påhlsson, teacher, Båstad
Birgitta Olsson, teacher, Karlskrona
Karin Linderyd, high school teacher, Motala
High school students in several districts in Iowa have staged walkouts to protest legislation that affects their education. Students want their teachers to have the freedom to teach, and they want the freedom to learn. Iowa legislators don’t want either.
In light of recent education bills at the Iowa Legislature, whether it’s promoting vouchers for private schools or restricting what teachers are allowed to mention in class, many Iowa students are getting fed up. And they’re standing up.
Friday afternoon in Johnston, a group of close to 100 students walked out of class and stood on school grounds to talk about those bills, explain how they’re impacting Iowa students and teachers, and encourage their peers to register to vote and to elect different legislators.
“I think the biggest thing now is putting people in positions of power that actually will do the work and will care and represent the student voices that are speaking out about this,” said Waverly Zhao, a junior at Johnston High School who helped lead the walkout.
The walkout was organized by students and two student organizations, Johnston Community of Racial Equity (CORE) Club and Iowa WTF.
And Johnston was only one of several with recent walkouts. Thursday, students walked out at Ankeny and other events have been planned for public and private high schools in Ames, West Des Moines, Des Moines, and possibly Waukee. All are organized by student groups, and generally around the same issue of not having their voices heard about their educations. Students have also held walkouts in recent months in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Waterloo.
Specifically, students are calling out House File 2577, the bill that requires teachers to post every single piece of classroom material online, and Senate File 2369, the bill which allows vouchers for private schools and includes a parents’ bill of rights. Both have only passed in their chambers.
Students are also calling out House File 802, the law that prohibits so-called “divisive concepts” being taught in school, which passed last year…
HF 802 prohibited teachers from teaching “divisive concepts” and targets ideas such as systemic or institutionalized racism and sexism, and how those have shaped the way the country was built and how it functions now. Students say they’ve already seen it cause a chilling effect in their classrooms.
“As a student of color, it’s been hard enough in the district, and with the recent legislation, it’s harder to discuss racism and harder for us to combat that in schools,” said Anita Danakar, a Johnston high schooler.
For example, she said her history teacher made sure to tell students they weren’t trying to make student feel guilty when they talked about redlining in class.
Zhao said in her history and social studies classes teachers are talking less about racism and sexism so they don’t cross any lines. A history lesson she had about the 3/5ths compromise in the Constitution left most of the class confused, Zhao said, because the teacher was never quite able to explain why it existed….
Overall, the students said they want to learn about these topics in school, from a trusted source and in an environment where they can ask questions.
“This entire attitude that [says] these students are not mature enough to learn and have mature conversations in the classroom about race, gender, sexuality, to say we can’t even talk about that in an educational environment is disgusting,” said Nicholas Arick, a 17-year-old student who plans to vote in the next presidential election. “It’s saying these students don’t deserve to learn about these things, and eventually when they get out of high school, they’re be ignorant and they won’t know what they’re voting for.”
The Oklahoma legislature just passed a bill guaranteeing the free speech rights of professors and students in Oklahoma higher education. It has been sent to Governor Kevin Stitt for his signature.
The sponsor of HB 3543, Rep. Chad Caldwell, (R)-Enid, said the goal is to protect students who may not have the same viewpoints as their classmates and professors.
“We shouldn’t have a professor worried about getting fired if they say this or that,” Rep. Caldwell said. “We shouldn’t have a student that has to worry about, if I don’t take a Republican view or a liberal view that I’m going to get an ‘F’ on a paper. That shouldn’t be something that’s going on at any of our colleges or universities.”
The legislature apparently forgot that they banned the teaching of “critical race theory” in 2021 and discouraged teaching the facts about the horrific Tulsa Massacre. Kathryn Schumaker, the Edith Kinney Gaylord presidential professor in the department of classics and letters at the University of Oklahoma, wrote at the time that the law banning discussion of racism would make it impossible to teach history honestly on campus.
She wrote in The Washington Post:
The law is aimed at eradicating the supposed scourge of critical race theory (CRT) from state classrooms and campuses, a cause that has become a right-wing talking point over the course of the past few months. Oklahoma educators and academics have denounced the law, noting that it will deter teachers from discussing Oklahoma’s fraught racial past of Native American dispossession, lynching and racial terror.
For example, as we mark the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre in late May, state political leaders are making it clear that they would like Oklahomans to leave the past behind. In 2001, a state commission report called for reparations and public recognition of the legacy of the massacre. But this new law undermines efforts to reckon with our collective past, and it will chill classroom discussions of this history. H.B. 1775 instructs educators to emphasize that although the perpetrators of the Tulsa Race Massacre did bad things, their actions do not shape the world we live in — even though White rioters murdered scores of Black Tulsans and destroyed more than 1,200 buildings in the Black Greenwood neighborhood, annihilating decades of accumulated Black wealth.
Meanwhile, a seventh-grade science teacher at Jenks Middle School was fired for refusing to remove a rainbow-colored flag from a display of flags in his classroom.
Oklahoma suffers from a severe case of schizophrhrenia or hypocrisy.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the free speech law is used to defend teaching critical race theory in higher education.
Thanks to John Thompson of Oklahoma for the updates from his state.
