Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis last year recruited thousands of public school teachers and paid them thousands of dollars out of taxpayer funds to attend training on teaching what he called “civics,” but a report states the program focused on “the tenets of Christian nationalism,” and included at least one quote from the Christian bible.

“Training materials produced by the Florida Department of Education direct middle and high school teachers to indoctrinate students in the tenets of Christian nationalism, a right-wing effort to merge Christian and American identities,” Popular Information founder Judd Legum revealed in his exclusive report Tuesday.

“A three-day training course on civic education, conducted throughout Florida in the summer of 2023, included a presentation on the ‘Influences of the Judeo-Christian Tradition’ on the founding of the United States,” Legum writes. “According to speaker notes accompanying one slide, teachers were told that ‘Christianity challenged the notion that religion should be subservient to the goals of the state,’ and the same hierarchy is reflected in America’s founding documents. That slide quotes the Bible to assert that ‘[c]ivil government must be respected, but the state is not God.’ Teachers were told the same principle is embedded in the Declaration of Independence.”

Legum included a screenshot from the training that bears the logos of the Florida Department of Education and DeSantis’ “Civics Literacy Excellence Initiative.”

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It reads in part: “‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.’ Matthew 22:21.”

“The next slide in the deck,” Legum continues, “quotes an article by Peter Lillback, the president of Westminster Theological Seminary and the founder of The Providence Forum, an organization that promotes and defends Christian nationalism. The group’s executive director, Jerry Newcombe, writes a weekly column for World Net Daily— a far-right site known for publishing hundreds of stories falsely suggesting Obama was a Muslim born in Africa.”

That slide “argues that there would be no freedom, no republic, and no constitution without religion. The speaker notes accompanying the slide emphasize that ‘the separation of Church and State did not mean the separation of God and government,’ and all the founders were ‘steeped in the Judeo-Christian tradition.'”

In a March of 2023 press release, DeSantis’s office trumpeted: “Today, Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted Florida’s continued commitment to expanding civics education in Florida schools and announced that the first 4,500 teachers have completed the Civics Seal of Excellence endorsement course and will receive a $3,000 bonus.”

The statement claimed the course was “at capacity with 20,000 teachers making their commitment to civics education, and there are additional 14,000 teachers on the waiting list for this first of a kind civics teacher professional development program.”

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It also pointed to a 2022 program, saying “Florida’s Civic Literacy Excellence Initiative also included a three-day Civics Excellence teacher training course in the summer of 2022 for teachers to increase their knowledge of civics in addition to the creation of supplemental materials for civics lessons including the Civics Reading List and the Portraits of Patriotism video series to further student interaction with civics.”

Some teachers called that 2022 program’s teachings “cherry-picked,” NBC News (video below) reported at the time. Others were “shocked to learn what they were expected to teach their students.”

“They told us what to think and what our opinions were,” one teacher told NBC News, calling it “very unsettling.”

One slide in that program NBC News reported claimed it is a “misconception” that “The Founders desired strict separation of church and state and the Founders only wanted to protect freedom of worship.”

In 2022 The Washington Post reported, “New civics training for Florida public school teachers comes with a dose of Christian dogma, some teachers say, and they worry that it also sanitizes history and promotes inaccuracies.”

Watch that NBC News video below or at this link.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in the GOP-controlled Florida State Legislature have been major allies of the Religious Right, pushing a socially conservative agenda in public schools. State lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow religious chaplains to offer students counseling in public schools, and the bills awaits DeSantis' signature.

In an opinion column published on March 17, MSNBC's Zeeshan Aleem argues that if DeSantis does sign the bill into law, it will be an egregious violation of the United States' separation of church and state.

The Religious Right and Christian nationalists have been claiming that there is no such thing as separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution, but the Constitution's First Amendment clearly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The late Norman Lear's People for the American Way, over the years, has emphasized that while the U.S. promises freedom of religion, government has no business promoting one religion over another.

READ MORE:'Christian nationalism' is a dangerous perversion of both religion and politics: conservative

Aleem warns, "The emerging crusade to install school chaplains should be understood as an outgrowth of rising Christian nationalism, and an alarming threat to America’s students. It violates the spirit of the First Amendment for public schools to hire religious administrators who have the opportunity to indoctrinate students with their religious beliefs."

The MSNBC columnist notes that the Florida bill's "requirements for serving as a volunteer chaplain are virtually nonexistent."

"Public schools inviting chaplains onto campus raises obvious First Amendment questions," Aleem explains. "School districts will be picking and choosing religious figures to come onto campus to provide children with services that would typically be carried out by a school counselor — guidance on issues such as academics, relationships, mental health, trouble at home, bullying and future career ideas. But instead of drawing from education and training specific to counseling young people, chaplains would be drawing from their spiritual beliefs."

The columnist adds, "At the bare minimum, this means schools would be priming students to think of specific religions as an educational resource."

READ MORE: 'Handmaid’s Tale': Biden campaign blasts Trump Christian nationalism plans

The "specific religions" part, according to Aleem, is important. Although Christian nationalists believe the U.S. is a "Christian nation," there is nothing in the Constitution that favors Christianity over Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other religion.

"Chaplains infiltrating public schools would constitute state-sponsored promotion of religion, in violation of the First Amendment's commitments to a secular state," Aleem writes. "In Florida's bill, parents would have to consent to allow their child to see such a cleric, but in some other states’ bills — including Texas’ policy — no consent is required."

READ MORE: Far-right group that calls Biden 'the antichrist' is now the 'center of gravity' in evangelicalism

Zeeshan Aleem's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

The Republican nominee to lead all of North Carolina’s 2500 public schools over 200 charter schools has said she would like a televised extra-judicial execution of Democratic former President Barack Obama for treason, and issued a call to assassinate then-President-elect Joe Biden as a traitor.

CNN’s KFile reports conservative activist Michele Morrow has “called public schools ‘socialism centers’ and ‘indoctrination centers.’” She is “a registered nurse and grassroots activist who homeschooled her children,” and “ran on a platform of supporting parental rights and opposing critical race theory.”

Morrow “has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.”

In May of 2020, Morrow wrote on Twitter, “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” in response, CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck report, “to a user sharing a conspiracy theory who suggested sending Obama to prison at Guantanamo Bay.”

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“I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death,” Morrow said of President Obama.

Also in May of 2020, Morrow “responded to a fake Time Magazine cover that featured art of Obama in an electric chair asking if he should be executed.”

“’Death to ALL traitors!!’ Morrow responded.”

Later that same year, in December, Morrow suggested killing President-Elect Joe Biden. In response to a social media post that asked, “Will you follow Joe Biden’s advice and wear a mask for 100 days?” Morrow replied: “Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica.”

CNN also reports between 2019 and 2021, “Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.”

See the social media posts above or at this link.

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The American Association of University Professors announced a "rare sanction" on Florida's New College Monday as a result of Governor Ron DeSantis' right-wing "takeover" of the state school last year, The Daily Beast reports.

Citing "egregious and extensive standards violations during its conservative takeover last year" by the failed GOP presidential candidate, the nonprofit wrote in its report the decision to sanction the school was due to "'unprecedented politically motivated takeover' that was a 'complete departure from shared governance.'"

Per the Beast, "The association said it publicly sanctions schools 'for the purpose of informing Association members, the profession at large, and the public that unsatisfactory conditions of academic government exist at the institutions in question.'"

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The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in October that at the start of the 2023-24 school year, Interim Provost Brad Thiessen confirmed "27% of the student body had decided not to return—or about 186 students" after the governor's takeover, which included appointing six new conservative board members.

"These actions have seriously impaired, if not irreparably damaged, the collective and individual functions of the New College faculty," a press release from the organization said.

Noting that New College's change in environment has sparked a mass exodus of professors as well, Florida A&M University law professor LeRoy Pernell said, “What we are witnessing in Florida is an intellectual reign of terror. There is a tremendous sense of dread right now, not just among faculty; it’s tangible among students and staff as well. People are intellectually and physically scared. We are being named an enemy of the state."

READ MORE: Twice as many students drop out of Florida college after DeSantis takeover

The Daily Beast's full report is here (subscription required).

As a part of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' ongoing culture wars, the Sunshine State's board of education on Wednesday approved rules that "will limit the use of public funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, activities, and policies, as well as remove a sociology class from a list of required courses" from the state's colleges, The Daily Beast reports.

Per the report, the general sociology course will be replaced by "an American history course at Florida's 28 state colleges."

Regarding the new class, "Education Commission Manny Diaz said Wednesday that while the sociology course would still be available, it would no longer be a general education course, because 'within the general education code, courses may not distort significant historical events or include curriculum that teaches identity politics or theories.'"

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Florida Department of Education, according to the Beast, issued a statement saying the revised course, called, "'Introductory Survey to 1877' will provide students an 'accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course.'"

In October, The New Republic reported that as a result of DeSantis' education takeover, the University of South Florida's Sarasota campus saw "27 percent of its student body drop out" marking "the lowest retention rate of first year students" in the school's history.

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The Daily Beast's full report is here (subscription required).

Anxiety for many Arkansas librarians is at an all-time-high under new "state laws governing the availability of books and the sharing of ideas in schools," according to a Monday, January 1 report from News From The States.

Per the report, "Act 372 would create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider 'obscene' or 'harmful to minors' — two terms that the law does not define — and put the availability of challenged books in the hands of elected officials.".

Another piece of legislation, called the LEARNS Act "prohibits 'indoctrination' of children in schools but does not define the term. Those who oppose 'indoctrination' in libraries and classrooms often cite LGBTQ+ topics and systemic racism as the information they do not want children to have."

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Pulaski Heights Middle School librarian Brittani Brooks, however, isn't worried, and "is confident that none of the books in her library run afoul of the undefined terms in Act 372 and the LEARNS Act."

A December 1, 2023 report from News From The States noted "Eighteen plaintiffs sued the state in June over Act 372 of 2023," and"U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks temporarily blocked two sections" of the bill "in July, shortly before the law was scheduled to go into effect."

Now, the news outlet reports the suit "will go to trial in October 2024, but the unchallenged sections of the law are likely to remain up to interpretation regardless of whether" Judge Brooks "declares the challenged sections unconstitutional."

News From The States reports:

All school and public libraries already had procedures in place to handle book challenges before Act 372 was introduced this year. Brooks reminded the House Judiciary Committee that school libraries must have content reconsideration policies in order to be accredited by the state Department of Education.

She also said school librarians across Arkansas were removing books from shelves 'behind closed doors,' since other states have also passed policies limiting what topics can be shared or discussed in schools.

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Brooks said, "One thing I always tell people is, 'We know we don't indoctrinate kids. We don’t,' she said. '…I’m not going to go around proving that I don’t. They would have to prove that I do."

She noted, "I think the unspoken intention [of the law and its supporters] was more about fear, miscommunication and self-censorship, and I think they’ve achieved that, and it’s only going to get worse in schools."

In his ruling, Judge Brooks wrote the "'lack of clarity seems to have been by design' in the blocked portion of Act 372 giving city or county elected officials the power to relocate library books," and that "by keeping the pivotal terms vague, local governing bodies have greater flexibility to assess a given challenge however they please rather than how the Constitution dictates."

News From The State's full report is here.

Oklahoma's newly approved religious charter school, which proponents hope will serve as the basis of a legal test case before the U.S. Supreme Court that could alter the principle of separation of church and state, is being boosted by a number of right-wing groups with ties to Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, according to new reporting—including a legal clinic with links to some of the high court's most conservative justices.

As Common Dreamsreported in July, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board earlier this year gave preliminary approval for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, which would be the country's first publicly funded religious school if it survives legal challenges. The school board also approved a contract with the institution in October.

Politico on Friday detailed groups that are aiding the effort to open St. Isidore, including a legal clinic at the University of Notre Dame that was announced shortly before Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed.

At the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Initiative (RLI), law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett is representing St. Isidore in a case before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which was initiated by state Republican Attorney General Gentner Drummond. The state argues that the establishment of St. Isidore violates both the Oklahoma and U.S. constitutions; the state requires charters schools to be nonsectarian by statute.

Since representing the school, Garnett has also joined the board of the right-wing Federalist Society, which has ties to the Supreme Court's conservative justices and which has helped reshape the federal court system, pushing for the confirmations of far-right judges.

Garnett is close personal friends with Barrett and has hosted Justice Clarence Thomas at her home in South Bend, while Brendan Wilson, a corporate attorney who joined the clinic's legal team in 2021, purchased Barrett's home for nearly $1 million around the time that the RLI began advocating for right-wing causes at the Supreme Court by filing amicus briefs.

That real estate deal drew scrutiny from ethics watchdogs earlier this year, as reports surfaced of Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito accepting luxury trips and other financial gifts from Republican donors.

The RLI also announced in 2020 that its director, Stephanie Barclay, would take a leave of absence to serve as a clerk for another conservative Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch—during the same period that the clinic was working with St. Isidore.

In 2022, the clinic funded a trip to Rome for Alito.

Paul Collins, a legal studies professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told Politico that St. Isidore's work with the Leo-linked RLI shows that "the Christian conservative legal movement... has its fingerprints all over what's going on in Oklahoma."

"They recognize the opportunity to get a state to fund a religious institution is a watershed moment," Collins told the outlet. "They have a very, very sympathetic audience at the Supreme Court. When you have that on the Supreme Court you're going to put a lot of resources into bringing these cases quickly."

A spokesperson for Leo declined to comment for Politico's article. A spokesperson for RLI declined to tell the outlet whether Barclay had been involved in work on behalf of St. Isidore before, during, or after she worked with Gorsuch, and whether Garnett and Wilson had discussed the school's case with any justices.

Alliance Defending Freedom, the right-wing group that has lobbied to curtail reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights through the courts, is representing the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, and counts among its financial benefactors the Donors Trust, a group that government watchdog Accountable.US called the "'Dark Money ATM' for Hate Groups" last month.

Leo's Judicial Education Project, which pushes for the appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices and promoted views that deny the scientific consensus on climate change, has counted Donors Trust as its main beneficiary.

Peter Greene, a retired teacher and blogger who focuses on education issues, said the push for a publicly funded Christian school "has attracted all the usual Christianist power."

— (@)

Changing the Supreme Court's interpretation of separation of church and state, said progressive news outlet The Tennessee Holler, "has always been their goal."

A new report entitled "Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida's Public Higher Education System," produced by the American Association of University Professors, sounds the alarm on the "destruction" governor and 2024 GOP candidate Ron DeSantis "is inflicting upon his state's colleges and universities," according to a December 7 MSNBC op-ed by Georgetown University professor Jacques Berlinerblau.

"Reading through 'Political Interference,' the author of Campus Confidential: How College Works, and Doesn't, For Professors, Parents and Students writes, "I was struck by the staggering number and variety of extremist conservative missions that are being launched against higher education. These range from donors practicing what I call 'viewpoint philanthropy' (providing funding for partisan pet projects) to attempts by the Legislature to fund a 'Freedom Institute' whose academic goal, of course, would be to end 'cancel culture.'" He emphasizes, "This air, land and sea invasion of Florida's campuses entails lawsuits, legislative skulduggery and hostile takeovers of boards and committees."

Berlinerblau emphasizes, "The study — which will dismay professors, students and parents alike — concludes with an ominous warning about mounting authoritarian threats to scholars across the globe."

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The report reads:

'We call on all professional organizations, unions, faculty, students, staff, administrators, and communities across the country to fight such ‘reforms’ tooth and nail and to offer support to colleagues and unions in Florida and beyond, however they can. The survival of the institution of higher education free from political interference and the ideological agenda of autocrats—a cornerstone of democratic societies—hangs in the balance. Being a bystander is no longer an option.'

Berlinerblau notes the "lengthy, meticulously researched" report's "pages are populated with incidents and characters that seem spun from a campus novel, a genre of fiction that lampoons the extreme dysfunction of the frisbee-strewn quad. Unintentionally, the AAUP's report illuminates DeSantis' role as a comedy content creator."

The "consequences" of the governor's takeover, the professor adds, "are now evident," as over 40 percent of the state's New College faculty has quit this year. He emphasizes, "At other state schools, 'professors are leaving the state in droves, either retiring or accepting offers in other states [...] Many are leaving the state, often to take positions at less prestigious institutions with more onerous teaching loads.'"

Noting that "Republicans are not only good at dismantling democratic institutions, but enriching themselves in the process," Beerlinderblau writes, "'Political Interference' exposes how GOP patronage networks are filling in the gaps created by DeSantis' purges. It should come as no surprise then that sitting on one New College presidential search committee was Bridget Ziegler, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty (whose husband has been accused of rape, allegations he has denied)."

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Berlinerblau's full op-ed is here.

Students, faculty and community members are calling on Youngstown State University's board of trustees to reverse its "secretive" decision to select US Representative Bill Johnson (R-OH) as its next president during an unexpected "emergency meeting," The Daily Beast reports.

Per the report, the board's 8-1 vote went against "resounding boos and shouts of 'Shame!'" in response to the right-wing lawmaker's "anti-abortion, election-denying, [ex-President Donald] Trump-endorsing" reputation.

"Everybody's got their hair on fire because they think I’m going to bring my politics here," Johnson said during a November press conference, according to the Daily Beast. "But if everybody else is allowed to bring their politics and ideology here and I'm not, how is that fair?"

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The report notes he also recently told local CBS affiliate WKBN, "People say that I'm this, that, or the other, and there's no foundation of truth in any of that. If they would just sit down and talk to me first, and then draw their conclusion, I think we'd be a lot further down the road."

However, YSU board member Molly Seals, who voted against the congressman, told The Daily Beast that she's "gravely concerned about the way Johnson talks about 'liberal' indoctrination on college campuses being responsible for declining enrollment, and hears echoes of 'some of the language and words we've heard in… political agendas' when he speaks."

She added, "What I as a board member would like to see is a step back, and to go through this process again in an appropriate way," because according to Seals, "the community response has been 'very significant,'" as "alumni, students, past board members and trustees" believe Johnson was selected "for other [reasons] than what is in the best interest of the university."

The Beast notes, "The optics didn't help: three trustees appointed by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine had given tens of thousands of dollars to Johnson's congressional campaigns, and the entire affair to this point had been conducted almost completely behind closed doors."

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Top university donors, according to the report, have already "pulled their financial support in response" to the GOP lawmaker's appointment, "and actor and YSU alum Ed O'Neill, star of the classic sitcom Married… with Children,has vowed to return the honorary doctorate the university awarded him in 2013."

Additionally, "A group of YSU alumni, including the university's only Rhodes Scholar, penned an open letter asking the trustees to revisit the procedure and conduct a more transparent search for a new president. And although it garnered more than 2,000 signatures, as did a petition on Change.org, the request for trustees to revisit the procedure and conduct a transparent search for a new president has so far fallen on deaf ears."

The Beast emphasizes, as "one of the largest employers in the area," a drop in YSU's donations could significantly "depress the wider regional economy."

Seals told the news outlet, "I wish I knew what would happen next. I don't know what will happen next."

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The Daily Beast's full report is available here (subscription required).

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is promoting his far-Christian right beliefs in his latest fundraising email, which asks, “Does America Need More God, Patriot?”

Johnson, who last year was the lead sponsor of a federal “Don’t Say Gay” bill, lamented in his email that an increasing number of high school students identify as LGBTQ+. He also claimed “America is hanging on by a thread,” “I fear America may be beyond redemption,” and said, “we live in a depraved culture.”

“I’m uneasy, Patriot,” Johnson’s email, sent via the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC), begins, as Insider reported. (Google cache copy here.) “This is Speaker Mike Johnson, and I just had to send this email. I’ve been thinking about the state of our country, and I cannot conclude anything other than America is hanging on by a thread. Our culture has fallen so far since the founding of our country, and it’s just getting worse.”

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“Just consider the frightening drop in church attendance over the past several decades,” he continues. “1 in 4 high school students identifies as something other than straight- what are they being taught in school? God is mocked openly in the public square. And you don’t even want to see the filth that passes for popular culture these days.”

“Let’s face it- we live in a depraved culture. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but I fear God may allow our nation to enter into a time of judgment for our collective sins.”

Insider points to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that it says finds “25.7% of high school students do not identify as straight, with 3.2% identifying as gay or lesbian, 11.9% identifying as bisexual, and 9% identifying as something else, or questioning.” Insider adds, “it’s been no secret that Johnson is an evangelical conservative who has previously supported the criminalization of gay sex.”

Johnson has spent a large portion of his career pursuing an anti-LGBTQ agenda.

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The Daily Beast on Tuesday revealed that before Johnson was elected to Congress, his “ardent religious beliefs and Christian nationalist ideology brought him to serve, often for free, clients affiliated with some of the nation’s most extreme anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ groups in the country—including agitators connected to militant movements with a penchant for violent expression.”

The news outlet examined Johnson’s legal clients from his time as a Louisiana attorney who later worked for a far-Christian right organization now designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. That “review turned up one former Johnson client who said the government ‘should be a terror’ to abortion providers and the LGBTQ community.”

Tennessee Republican state Rep. John Ragan repeatedly appeared unwilling or unable to answer if feeding low-income children is in itself good, when questioned about his remarks suggesting federal funds used to feed low-income children should be refused if they cannot be shown to improve the students’ performance.

Eight lawmakers appointed to the state’s newly-created Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding have been tasked by the Speaker of the House and Lt. Governor, both Republicans, to find a way to reject at least $1.8 billion in federal funds for education. Tennessee would be the first state in the nation to do so.

“Is there any circumstance where feeding low income kids would be a bad thing?” Rep. Ragan was asked Wednesday by The Tennessee Holler, a progressive news site founded by former Democratic congressional candidate Justin Kanew.

After pausing, Ragan replied, “I’m sorry, the purpose of your question evades me.”

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Ragan was also asked, “Don’t you think feeding kids is good in general?”

“I’m sorry, that’s nothing to do with what I asked about” earlier in the week, the Republican lawmaker replied.

But as The Tennessee Holler shows in the video below, Ragan questioned if taking federal funds was worthwhile if students’ performance did not increase.

“We get this money, that’s supposedly aimed at the most needy students and the lowest performing students. What’s the measure of improvement for this money coming in? How much has it improved the performance of these students?” Ragan had said on Tuesday.

Later in the video, the lawmaker was asked, “what is the emphasis on school lunches then if not, you know, tying food to student performance, then, where do your questions around the lunches come from?”

Ragan, appearing to answer that question, says: “The question revolves around the tie was brought up today among federal funding sources, whether or not one is tied to another, whether or not we have efficiencies in one that can be transported across to another one, or inefficiencies, inefficiencies that can be resolved.”

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Again, asked, “Isn’t feeding low income kids just a good thing period?” Rep. Ragan refused to answer the question directly, but pivoted to “data.”

“The reason I asked the question” about performance, Ragan replied, “was to gain data so that we had a feel for how much money goes into that program and if we can make it more efficient, that is to say, eliminate waste – you ignored the questions I asked about waste – if we can eliminate waste, I would take that money and put it towards one of the other programs to make more, and or increase the program. You can’t segregate those things apart. When I ask for data it’s to be able to make decisions, analyze the data.”

“The implications you raised over questions are meaningless because the questions are to get information,” Ragan concluded.

Watch The Tennessee Holler’s video below or at this link.

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A Tennessee Republican state lawmaker is arguing federal funds to feed school children from low-income families should not be accepted unless it can be proven that the program will increase test scores.

GOP Rep. John Ragan, who has a history of targeting school students from low-income households, told the legislature’s Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding he was concerned about “tying ourselves to the federal government,” and inquired about the amount of “waste” in the federal program, according to a video clip posted by The Tennessee Holler. The Working Group’s purpose is to determine how the State of Tennessee can reject $1.8 billion in federal education funds.

“The question that is, in the top of my mind, is how – we get this money that’s supposedly aimed at the most needy students and the lowest performing students. What’s the measure of improvement? For this money coming in? How much has it improved the performance of these students?

Rep. Ragan also claimed, “if we are tying ourselves to the federal government by accepting their money to do this thing, then it would seem to me that we as a state should be looking for the improvements that this money is purportedly going to make. Otherwise we’re just throwing money at something and being potentially wasteful.”

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“Yesterday,” Ragan continued, referring to a prior meeting, “a question was addressed concerning the nutrition program related to the waste that’s involved in that. To my knowledge, there is no measurement of that waste.”

Tennessee is exploring becoming the first state in the nation to reject $1.8 billion in federal education funding.

The Joint Working Group on Federal Education Funding was appointed by embattled House Republican Speaker Cameron Sexton and Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, and is comprised of six Republicans and two Democrats from both the House and Senate.

Its purpose is to “review what funding state and local governments in Tennessee receive from the federal government, how the funding is used, whether the state could provide the same services, and whether it would be feasible to reject the funds,” according to The Tennessean. “Tennessee receives $1.8 billion in Title I, IDEA, and other federal program funding each year, which support low-income students, students with disabilities, and school lunch programs.”

But The Tennessean also reports the Working Group’s members have been tasked not with whether to reject the funds, but “with recommending a strategy for how to reject the federal funds.”

Democratic Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is running to unseat Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), was the target of Speaker Sexton who tried but failed to expel her earlier this year from the legislature. (Sexton successfully had expelled two Black Democrats, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who later were returned to the legislature by voters.)

READ MORE: Mike Johnson Put Anti-Porn Software on His Phone – Could National Security Secrets Be at Risk?

Responding to the video clip of Rep. Ragan, Johnson, a retired special education teacher, wrote on social media: “Sure, because how do we know kids with food in their bellies perform better? (there is research for that.) How do we know kids with speech problems improve w/speech therapy? (Research for that too.) Guess 7 yr olds need to prove to him they’re working for those meals.”

In 2020 Rep. Ragan targeted school students whose families were behind on paying their lunch bills. Ragan’s amendment, which passed the House according to The Tennessean, “Allows schools to deny students who don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch the opportunity to participate in school events and activities, to graduate, or to receive a diploma if they don’t use their own work money to pay off the lunch debt.”

It also “Requires schools to tell parents and guardians they may be reported to the Department of Children’s Services for investigation of child abuse or neglect related to the accumulation of meal debt,” and “Removes the word ‘stigmatize’ from the line saying schools shall not ‘publicly identify or stigmatize a student who cannot pay for a meal.'”

A Florida woman is calling for police to investigate and arrest a librarian over a young adult novel, Miami New Times reports.

Per the report, right-wing group Moms for Liberty member Jennifer Tapley, a 2024 Santa Rosa County school board candidate, "tells officers that a school librarian kept the contested literature on the shelves at Jay High School despite complaints about its content."

In body cam footage from October 25, which Popular Information journalist Jedd Legum obtained and published to YouTube, Tapley can be seen talking to an officer in the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office lobby saying, "The governor says this is child pornography. It's a serious crime...just as serious as if I handed a Playboy to her right now, right here, in front of you," as she points to a girl standing next to her.

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The newspaper notes "according to a Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office report obtained by Legum through a public records request, the sheriff's office quickly referred Tapley's report to the Santa Rosa County School District before closing its case."

In the video, the officer can also be seen exiting the sheriff's office after engaging with Lapley, and then speaking with a fellow officer in the parking lot, telling him, "Now look at this law.... It's not our thing, it's a school district thing. They're saying that a crime has been committed...is being committed in all of these schools."

The other officer then brushes off the claim with a smirk.

According to the report, "HB 1069, a 2023 Florida law cited by Tapley in her meeting with deputies, requires public schools to remove a book within five days of receiving a challenge if the challenger claims the book has pornographic or sexual content. The book has to stay out of circulation until the challenge is resolved."

READ MORE: Moms for Liberty: ‘Joyful warriors’ or anti-government conspiracists?

Miami New Times reports:

The book in question is Storm and Fury, a popular young adult novel by Jennifer L. Armentrout that features an 18-year-old main character and a battle between gargoyles and demons. It includes several passages with sexual themes, including one makeout session that almost escalates to sex. Barnes and Noble recommends the book for readers 14 to 18. While the school district’s website has a list of challenged books, Legum notes that he did not locate Storm and Fury among them.

The newspaper notes, "As previously reported by New Times, Florida was recently named the number one state in the country for school book bans."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Members of Moms for Liberty in Florida report Librarians to Policeyoutu.be

Miami New Times' full report is available at this link.

Education experts are lauding Pennsylvania's upcoming school board elections as the most critical the state has seen in years, Politico reports.

"This campaign is like nothing I've ever seen," ex-Republican and Central Bucks incumbent board member Karen Smith told the news outlet. "I have 50 volunteers who are doing everything from door knocking, to making phone calls, to making signs. The amount of money that’s being spent on this race, the amount of volunteerism is like nothing we've ever seen here before. But then the negativity, the vitriol, the intensity, and the lying is like nothing I’ve ever seen or could have imagined."

Politico reports:

A venture capitalist put up hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend conservative control of his hometown Philadelphia-area board and support other school campaigns. A Republican political committee is supporting candidates in Cumberland County, a red-leaning area west of Harrisburg where Democrats made gains during recent gubernatorial and presidential elections.

Local chapters of Moms for Liberty, a national group that's grown into the biggest name in Republican school politics, and the conservative 1776 Project PAC have endorsed candidates in counties throughout the state.

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Additionally, the report notes "A recent Brookings Institution analysis concluded Pennsylvania was one of Moms for Liberty’s biggest strongholds outside of Florida and New York, following the group's raucous summertime rally with GOP presidential candidates in Philadelphia."

Nonpartisan group Education Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Susan Spicka told Politico, "For children in Pennsylvania, this is the most high-stakes election of their entire lives. Because once you get five people on a school board who are going to operate as a bloc, they can do pretty much anything they want."

However, a local GOP operative told Politico they worry that "some board candidates are running their races in an overly partisan way."

Former Moms for Liberty Pennsylvania state coordinator Lois Kaneshiki said she doesn't think the school board campaigns "should be run like a state house or a state senate campaign."

READ MORE: Christian nationalist GOP lawmaker cites the Book of Genesis to explain her vote

She added, "If you run them too partisan, you're going to lose. You've got to run them differently, and the left understands this. They are very good at it, and I would say we are not."

Still, Stephen Mass, the GOP school board candidate running again Smith told Politico, "The bad part is we get riled up a little bit too much. I don't know why it's gotten that vicious. The good part is people are paying attention. They should be. It's unfortunate that it's come with a lot of real negativity and divisiveness."

Progressive Change Campaign Committee director of candidate services Hannah Riddle told the news outlet, "We'll learn a lot from Pennsylvania. We'll learn a lot not just on what to expect in school board races next year, but what to expect up and down the ticket as well."

Politico's full report is available at this link.

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a concerted effort to give the New College of Florida — a liberal artists institution in Sarasota — a MAGA makeover, much to the chagrin of progressive New College students and professors.

In an editorial published on October 26, the South Florida Sun Sentinel's editorial board slams DeSantis' college and university policies — focusing on the "cronyism" involved in some trustee appointments. Some of DeSantis' allies, the board complains, don't even live in Florida.

"Working remotely has become immensely popular since the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is ridiculous that two of the University of Florida's new highest-ranking and highest-paid officers will continue to reside in the Washington, D.C. area, some 775 miles from Gainesville," the Sun Sentinel writers explain. "UF President Ben Sasse, himself a former Washington insider, has made himself an avatar of cronyism by appointing those people, who worked for him when he was a U.S. senator from Nebraska. Cronyism is flourishing in Florida."

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The board continues, "Two of New College's new right-wing trustees have never lived in the state, and its new permanent president, Richard Corcoran, is a former (Florida) House speaker who passed on running for governor in 2018 — leaving room for Ron DeSantis, who appointed him commissioner of education once Corcoran was term-limited out of the (Florida State) Legislature two years later."

Conservative former Sen. Sasse (R-Nebraska) isn't known for having ultra-MAGA views. In fact, he has been vehemently of former President Donald Trump at times. And when Sasse chose academia over the U.S. Senate and successfully applied for the position of University of Florida president, it showed how uncomfortable he was with Trumpism.

But Sasse, as UF president, is drawing criticism for "cronyism" along with DeSantis.

The Sun Sentinel's editorial board notes, "Raymond Sass, who was Sasse's Senate chief of staff, is UF's vice president for innovation and partnerships, a new position…. (Sass) won't have to reside at the university to do it. Sass will work remotely from Maryland, the (Independent Florida) Alligator said."

READ MORE: Highest dropout rate in Florida college's history fueled by DeSantis' 'censorship': report

Read The South Florida Sun Sentinel's full editorial at this link (subscription required).

A Florida college reported this week it has seen "27 percent of its student body drop out" since Florida governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron Desantis' recent takeover, marking "the lowest retention rate of first year students in" the University of South Florida's Sarasota campus' history, The New Republic (TNR) reports.

Per the news outlet, "What DeSantis once described as a culture of 'woke indoctrination' has been replaced by one of censorship: Student murals have been painted over, and student orientation leaders were forbidden from wearing pins expressing support for Black Lives Matter or the LGBTQ+ community, reported The New York Times."

Last month, The Guardian reported, "Approximately 125 undergraduates have transferred to other colleges and universities or dropped out in the face of what some have likened to a hostile, rightwing takeover of NCF. Hampshire College in Massachusetts has admitted 36 New College students ahead of the fall semester after it guaranteed admission to all applicants in good academic standing at the state-run college and pledged not to increase their existing tuition costs."

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TNR reports:

The college's leadership team has been upended: Six members of the board of trustees have been replaced by DeSantis allies, while the college's president was ousted and replaced with the administration’s former education commissioner, Richard Corcoran. The school has also suffered a faculty exodus, the elimination of the college's diversity office, and the firing of its academic librarian.

The Guardian notes the "exodus of staff represents a staggering 40% of the entire faculty who were employed during the spring semester of the 2022-23 academic year."

READ MORE: 'Exaggerations': DeSantis-appointed college board member’s new book full of 'factual missteps'

The New Republic's full report is available at this link. The Guardian's report is here (subscription required).

Under Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey's leadership, approximately $16,500 of early childhood education instructional materials containing "so-called 'woke' content" were trashed by Alabama Department of Education officials this year, Truthout reports.

More specifically, according to the report, the materials were designed to "help educators positively navigate concepts like race, sexuality and gender identity in classrooms."

Truthout reports, "Upon receiving a complaint from a state legislator — who criticized the discussion of white privilege, systemic racism and LGBTQ families within the text — Ivey's office contacted" then-director of the Alabama Department of Childhood Education, Barbara Cooper, who bought "the manual intended for pre-K educators and entitled 'Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education" written by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

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Cooper, per the report, "agreed to denounce the manuals as being inconsistent with Alabama's laws, describing them as 'unacceptable' for use within the state. Nevertheless, Ivey forced Cooper's resignation in mid-April, and her last day in office was on May 1."

NAEYC officials wrote in a public letter, "Our nation has a long history of educators, parents, and policymakers who have put their lives and livelihoods on the line in support of progress for children and families; Dr. Barbara Cooper, one of NAEYC’s Governing Board members who was forced out of her state leadership position in Alabama over the use of NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) book, is the latest but likely not the last."

Additionally, the report notes an NAEYC spokesperson told AL.com, "'While not a curriculum, [the manual] is a responsive, educator-developed, educator-informed and research-based resource that has been honed over multiple generations to support teachers in helping all children thrive."

READ MORE: Democratic rep’s role in redrawn congressional maps becomes key in Supreme Court redistricting case

Truthout's full report is available at this link.