A high school teacher and two students sued Arkansas on Monday over the state’s ban on critical race theory and “indoctrination” in public schools, asking a federal judge to strike down the restrictions as unconstitutional.

The lawsuit by the teacher and students from Little Rock Central High School, site of the historic 1957 racial desegregation crisis, stems from the state’s decision last year that an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies would not count toward state credit.

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Yeah, because a famously anti-science trial against a teacher accused of teaching science in science class is a GREAT jurisprudence to look to! 🙄

    • Wooster@startrek.website
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      9 months ago

      It’s not about the material in question, it’s about if a state employed teacher has the right to override the curriculum. They do not.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah, I still call bullshit. Legislating against the right of a teacher to teach well-documented science in science class isn’t about the teacher “overriding the curriculum”.

        It’s about the state trying to override reality with lies and compelling teachers to do so as well.

        • Wooster@startrek.website
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          9 months ago

          Say I believed the earth is flat, and provided ‘well documented science’ that the earth is flat. Who’s to say that I shouldn’t be doing that? Or what if in social studies class I provided proof that men were superior to women?

          The law is clearly in the moral wrong in our current situation, but in general it provides more protections than it does harm. The problem isn’t with Tennessee vs Scopes. The problem is with the Republican agenda.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Say I believed the earth is flat, and provided ‘well documented science’ that the earth is flat

            That’s not equivalent since there is no such thing.

            Who’s to say that I shouldn’t be doing that?

            Every person who doesn’t subscribe to your fringe hypothesis. So roughly 8.1 billion people.

            Or what if in social studies class I provided proof that men were superior to women?

            Again, you don’t seem at all familiar with how scientific proof works.

            The law is clearly in the moral wrong in our current situation

            Also: factually and in every other way.

            in general it provides more protections than it does harm

            Nope. It’s states trying to remove every mention of LGBTQ+ people and racial equality, not rogue teachers.

            The problem isn’t with Tennessee vs Scopes. The problem is with the Republican agenda.

    • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      You don’t have to like it for it to be the reality of the situation, and the fact is that the precedent is extremely relevant. Your little fantasy world where teachers choose the material ignores the other side of the equation too, as I’m sure you wouldn’t want some evangelical deciding on his own to override the curriculum to suit his beliefs.

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Your little fantasy world where teachers choose the material

        I’m not talking about teachers choosing the material. I’m talking about scientific consensus arrived at through abundantly peer reviewed proof dictating what is taught in science classes, not the equivalent of the Catholic Church insisting that the sun revolves around the earth.

        I’m sure you wouldn’t want some evangelical deciding on his own to override the curriculum to suit his beliefs.

        Sure wouldn’t. For the reasons I already mentioned.

        Science is real and testable no matter whether you believe it or not. It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s not equivalent to creationism.

        • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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          9 months ago

          That’s a fun idea you have but you’re wrong. Who decides what the scientific consensus is? Is there some governing body that is accepted as the source of truth on what constitutes “abundantly” peer reviewed proof? No? Then it’s still subjective.

          • stanleytweedle@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Is there some governing body that is accepted as the source of truth on what constitutes “abundantly” peer reviewed proof? No? Then it’s still subjective.

            The fun part of living in a society with low public education standards is that this argument can work for anything from creationism to holocaust denial. Doesn’t matter if the Earth is a sphere, only matters if the schoolboard has the collective IQ to understand the abundant proof that the Earth is round. If they don’t- then the shape of the Earth is just ‘subjective’ ;)

            • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              That’s exactly the point. The only remedy to this problem, given the structure of our government, is through the legislature. If you live in one of the shithole states, that’s going to be a challenge.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            That’s a fun idea you have

            Could you possibly be any more condescending?

            but you’re wrong

            I objectively am not, according to the best way of arriving at truth without opinion or faith.

            Who decides what the scientific consensus is?

            Who do you fucking think? You can’t possibly be this ignorant of how science works and what a consensus is and expect to be taken seriously when discussing science.

            Is there some governing body that is accepted as the source of truth on what constitutes “abundantly” peer reviewed proof?

            No, that’s nowhere near what a scientific consensus is. Since you apparently ARE that clueless, allow me to inform you:

            Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time

            In this case, “evolution is how life works” being the almost universally held position of anyone with expert knowledge about biology that isn’t paid by pseudoscientific and usually religious organizations to pretend otherwise.

            Then it’s still subjective.

            Nope. That’s not what that word means. A scientific consensus is the most objective thing there is in human knowledge.

            Since you seem to have trouble with the meaning of key words, let me clarify: objective and subjective are antonyms. Antonyms are words with opposite meaning.

            • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              Hard not to be condescending in the face of such a childlike understanding of the world. Everything you’re arguing would be true in an ideal world, but that’s not what we have. I mean, have you been living under a rock while the science around climate change has been politicized and manipulated by monied interests?

              I’ll remind you we are talking about the courts, and the autonomy of the States to make their own laws, and not about what makes good science.

              And don’t police my tone while acting like an ass all over this thread, as you lack any moral high ground.

              • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                I’ll remind you we are talking about the courts

                Ah, now I see the problem. I’m talking about what makes sense while you’re talking about what a broken legal system wrongly thinks make sense.

                the science around climate change has been politicized and manipulated by monied interests?

                Corrupt people trying to deny the science doesn’t change the science. That’s why I alluded to the very few scientists not being part of the overwhelming consensus being paid for lying.

                autonomy of the States to make their own laws

                Yeah, because “state’s rights” have always been an argument used for good laws… 🙄

                and not about what makes good science.

                Call me old-fashioned, but I am of the opinion that science education should be about good science, not the ideological opinions of demagogues without so much as a relevant degree.

                Hard not to be condescending in the face of such

                Right back at you. You’d give Dunning and Kruger daily aneurysms if you had been a part of their famous study.