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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"...unanswered questions point us at the nuance missing in the Moms for Liberty outrage and panic factory, the nuance that recognizes that reasonable intelligent people can disagree about the value of certain books. In the real world, there's a huge difference between showing six year olds graphic depictions of the ways one can use a penis and a non-graphic depiction of LGBTQ persons. There's a vast gulf between grooming some small child for sexual abuse and simply acknowledging there are some LGBTQ persons in the world (and possibly in the classroom or the homes of class members). There's a planet-seized difference between saying 'LGBTQ persons are not extraordinary or unnatural' and saying 'You should become an LGBTQ person.' And yet, in the Moms for Liberty universe, there is no difference between any of those things." -- by Peter Greene, 60 Minutes Asked Moms for Liberty The Right Questions
FIGHTING BACK AGAINST M4L
60 Minutes Asked Moms for Liberty The Right Questions
Peter Greene uses his pro-public education voice. This post takes down the misnamed "Moms for Liberty" who want to censor books.
From Peter Greene, Curmudgucation on Substack
Reporter Scott Pelley gets right to the heart of several issues. The difference between giving parents the tools to control what their own children can read (something the district also provides in spades) and trying to control what other parents can let their children read. The outrage-enhancing technique of treating isolated mistakes as proof of some widespread conspiracy.
In the midst of it all, the Moms for Liberty, with Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich finally seen in the footage from an interview they sat for way back in October of 2023.
The piece is tough on them. The parents that are set up to represent the district are Republican, conservative, combat veterans. Pelley in repeated voice overs points out that the Moms are evasive and avoid answering question but instead retreating to their talking points (he does not point out that they are seasoned political coms professionals, but he doesn't portray them as cookie-baking domestics, either). Some of the talking points were so six months ago. "We don't co-parent with the government," said the women whose demands include forcing the government to help them with the part of parenting that involves keeping an eye on what your children read and watch.
Florida District Alters Illustrations in Classic Children’s Books to Appease Moms for Liberty
Diane Ravitch joins the chorus of voices against "Moms for Liberty."
From Diane Ravitch
The local leader of Moms for Liberty was outraged! There was a book in the elementary school library that depicted a naked child! Another showed the naked butt of a goblin! What depravity!
Judd Legum and Tesnim Zekeria at Popular Information have the story, which actually happened in Indian River County, Florida, when Jennifer Pippen of Moms for Liberty complained about Maurice Sendak’s classic In the Night Kitchen.
Pippen said the book was “pornographic” because it showed a naked little boy in a bathtub; if you peered closely, you could see that the little boy had a penis. Shocking!
INDIANA NEWS
Vic’s Statehouse Notes #384 – A new and negative precedent
The Indiana Coalition for Public Education provides timely information about what's happening in the State General Assembly.
From Indiana Coalition for Public Education
This morning the Senate Appropriations Committee approved HB 1001 which gives state money to parents of general education students who are siblings of special education students currently getting Education Scholarship Accounts (ESA’s) to run unaccountable homeschools.
The committee’s final vote was 11-3, with Senators Qaddoura, Randolph and Yoder dissenting. Before the final vote, Senator Qaddoura, who strongly supports public education, offered an amendment to delete the entire section giving ESA accounts to siblings. His amendment failed on a party line vote, 4-10.
Senator Mishler, chair of the Appropriations Committee, has killed ESA proposals more than once in previous sessions. He did not kill this one. He said he was voting yes because the program would fit within the $10 million appropriation already in place for next year.
This is a sad milestone. It is the first time that general education students, the siblings, have been approved for ESA’s in Indiana.
MSD of Steuben County may cut elementary school with highest test scores, cites lack of expected growth
From WANE.com
Residents in small Pleasant Lake, Indiana are up in arms to save one of the town’s oldest residents: Pleasant Lake Elementary.
In the middle of a Feb. 20 board meeting for the Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Steuben County, the district shared some disconcerting enrollment stats.
“Given what you do have out there (in Pleasant Lake), household size and people moving in, you’re going to be bouncing between 80 and 100 (students),” said Jerome McKibbon with the McKibbon Group, a demographic research firm. “Just not enough population housing is out there to warrant it.”
The inability to grow.
A death sentence for a school building that dates back to 1915, although McKibbon said that’s all the more reason for the district to move on.
FORT WAYNE AREA NEWS
SACS outgoing superintendent to lead Grow Allen
From the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette**
Park Ginder’s involvement in local education will continue after he retires as the Southwest Allen County Schools superintendent in June.
The longtime public educator will be the inaugural executive director of Grow Allen, the organization announced Thursday.
The Fort Wayne-based group, which celebrated its launch last fall, is leading an initiative to improve student career development and boost northeast Indiana’s economic vitality.
†Note: NEIFPE's In Case You Missed It is posted by the end of the day every Monday except after holiday weekends or as otherwise noted.
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