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Thursday, August 24th, 2023

Republicans Have Introduced 377 ‘Educational Intimidation’ Bills Since 2021: PEN America

Author:     Jake Johnson
Source:     Common Dreams
Publication Date:     Aug 23, 2023
 Link: Republicans Have Introduced 377 ‘Educational Intimidation’ Bills Since 2021: PEN America
Stephan:  

I have been writing about the Republican effort to dismantle public education and degrade university education for almost 30 years now. Particularly in Red states this strategy and the tactics to implement it have been playing out, as two generations of Americans have voted to make themselves and their children willfully ignorant, and turn them into easily manipulated peasants. But I have to confess that until I read this piece I had not realized how extensive the Republican effort has been. Think about it, 377 bills designed to degrade education and turn schools into indoctrination centers. It is exactly what is done in North Korea, and the voters in those states don’t seem to comprehend what is being done, and continue to vote christofascists into office so they can continue these efforts. It is so very sad, and it is going to have a generation-long effect of diminishing America.

A student holds a placard during a rally protesting Florida education policies on April 21, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. 
Credit: Paul Hennessy / Anadolu Agency / Getty

Over the past two and a half years, Republicans across the United States have introduced nearly 380 bills aimed at establishing a climate of fear among educators, librarians, and other school officials, according to a report released Wednesday by the free expression group PEN America.

Distinct from the outright censorship measures that GOP lawmakers have unveiled in a number of U.S. states in recent years, “educational intimidation” bills “pressure educators to be more timid in the content they teach, pressure librarians to be more restrictive in the books they make available to students, and pressure students to limit their self-expression, without imposing direct prohibitions,” the new report notes.

“Put simply, these ‘educational intimidation’ provisions, as we dub them, empower the use of intimidation tactics to cast a broad chilling effect over K-12 classrooms by mandating new and intrusive forms of inspection or monitoring of schools, as well as […]

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