4 ms·

Thanks for the info - but this implies that following the state curriculum would be a pretty easy defence, wouldn't it? So if a teacher wanted to teach about "s

Thanks for the info - but this implies that following the state curriculum would be a pretty easy defence, wouldn't it? So if a teacher wanted to teach about "sexual orientation and gender identity", even outside of the "existing state standards", they could still do so as part of "reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take" [1] [2]. The closest reference I can find for the legal stuff is here: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1557/BillText/er/PDF https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2022/1557/BillText/er/... Everything in that text talks about the parent taking legal action against the school district, not the teacher [3] - same as when citizens sue "the cops", they are usually suing the city that runs that police department, not the individual police officer. So if a teacher is following the rules laid down by their employer (which one assumes would be in accordance with state law), they would presumably be provided counsel by their employer in order to ensure that the employer can actually mount a legal defense? So it sounds no different to being a state employee in a lot of places. Or am I still missing something? [1] "The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity through 12th grade unless required by existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take" [2] "Educators have said they don’t expect a major change in lesson plans given that teachers adhere to state education curriculums" [3] "If a concern is not resolved by the school district, a 129 parent may: ... (I) [elided] (II) Bring an action against the school district to obtain a declaratory judgment that the school district procedure or practice violates this paragraph and seek injunctive relief. A court may award damages and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs to a parent who receives declaratory or injunctive relief. "

rayiner 4y ago
> they could still do so as part of "reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take" Wait, so it’s okay to teach about sexuality in the class where it’s most likely to be a relevant topic of discussion?
tombert 4y ago
Sure, but when there’s zero repercussions to a frivolous lawsuit, there’s likely to be a frivolous lawsuit. If a parent can easily lie and try and extort money, it can still be an awful, expensive, exhausting process for my wife. Even if it doesn’t cost us any money directly (which to be completely honest I don’t buy), there’s still the exhausting and awful process of having to defend herself in court. Edit: I would also like to point out that even if you were right on the technicalities, you understand why this would be an immensely unappealing thing for a prospective teacher. It would be much easier to simply move to a state that doesn’t have a vague, poorly defined, conspiratorial law that is likely to make our lives unpleasant.
- ghufran_syed 3y ago
  that makes sense - in my line of work, lawsuits are an occupational hazard, I imagine it should not be the case for teachers! But I also think both that it’s easy to overstate the risk of some of these things and it would completely suck to be on the receiving end It’ll be interesting to see if the pay rate generally goes up for teachers in florida if they end up with many other teachers making that same decision
- skissane 3y ago
  > you understand why this would be an immensely unappealing thing for a prospective teacher Does how it is experienced depend on which “tribe” the teacher is more aligned with? I imagine a teacher who feels closer to the “blue tribe” is going to experience this as an attack on them and their profession, while a “red tribe” teacher is more likely to feel that the target is someone other than them, and may even agree with the law (or at least the intention behind it). I know US teachers (and public school especially) tend to skew more “blue” than “red”, but I think the latter group are likely a larger percentage of them than many would think, especially in “red states”.
  - ModernMech 3y ago
    When the anti-woke mobs come for teachers, they won’t care about their political affiliations. Leopards eat all faces.
  - tombert 3y ago
    The thing that concerns me is that there’s very little consequence for outright lying. Even if we did buy into the groomer conspiracies and play everything exactly how Ron Desantis wanted, that won’t necessarily stop an unscrupulous parent from just outright lying and making our lives difficult. I don’t think a majority of parents would do that (conservative or otherwise), but all it really takes is one to make our lives frustrating.

rayiner 4y ago

> they could still do so as part of "reproductive health instruction that students can choose not to take" Wait, so it’s okay to teach about sexuality in the class where it’s most likely to be a relevant topic of discussion?

tombert 4y ago

Sure, but when there’s zero repercussions to a frivolous lawsuit, there’s likely to be a frivolous lawsuit. If a parent can easily lie and try and extort money, it can still be an awful, expensive, exhausting process for my wife. Even if it doesn’t cost us any money directly (which to be completely honest I don’t buy), there’s still the exhausting and awful process of having to defend herself in court. Edit: I would also like to point out that even if you were right on the technicalities, you understand why this would be an immensely unappealing thing for a prospective teacher. It would be much easier to simply move to a state that doesn’t have a vague, poorly defined, conspiratorial law that is likely to make our lives unpleasant.

ghufran_syed 3y ago
that makes sense - in my line of work, lawsuits are an occupational hazard, I imagine it should not be the case for teachers! But I also think both that it’s easy to overstate the risk of some of these things and it would completely suck to be on the receiving end It’ll be interesting to see if the pay rate generally goes up for teachers in florida if they end up with many other teachers making that same decision
skissane 3y ago
> you understand why this would be an immensely unappealing thing for a prospective teacher Does how it is experienced depend on which “tribe” the teacher is more aligned with? I imagine a teacher who feels closer to the “blue tribe” is going to experience this as an attack on them and their profession, while a “red tribe” teacher is more likely to feel that the target is someone other than them, and may even agree with the law (or at least the intention behind it). I know US teachers (and public school especially) tend to skew more “blue” than “red”, but I think the latter group are likely a larger percentage of them than many would think, especially in “red states”.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  When the anti-woke mobs come for teachers, they won’t care about their political affiliations. Leopards eat all faces.
- tombert 3y ago
  The thing that concerns me is that there’s very little consequence for outright lying. Even if we did buy into the groomer conspiracies and play everything exactly how Ron Desantis wanted, that won’t necessarily stop an unscrupulous parent from just outright lying and making our lives difficult. I don’t think a majority of parents would do that (conservative or otherwise), but all it really takes is one to make our lives frustrating.