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UPDATE: Michigan fights back [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
February 6, 2023
274 views
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• A conservative group called the Great Schools Initiative (GSI) launched a plan called “Operation Opt-Out” to exploit a Michigan statute that allows parents to opt their children out of sex education in order to erase LGBTQ people from public schools.
• GSI created its own opt-out form to target anything during the school day that acknowledges the existence of LGBTQ people, such as a teacher wearing a rainbow pin or any book with LGBTQ characters.
• GSI has partnered with the Thomas More Society, a far-right legal organization, to enforce the GSI opt-out forms with aggressive legal action.
• The Michigan Department of Education has pushed back against GSI’s plot, stating that parents are not legally entitled to opt children out of programs, practices, and resources outside of sexual education.
• Two Michigan school districts — Rochester and Troy — have already said they will not accept GSI’s form.
• GSI’s organizers are not ready to give up and are planning to challenge the Michigan Department of Education’s memo.
• A Michigan Senate committee is considering legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity or expression to the state’s anti-discrimination law.

Published February 6, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post UPDATE: Michigan fights back

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Why the College Board watered-down its new course on Black history [Tesnim Zekeria, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
February 2, 2023
272 views
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• The College Board released a revised framework for its new Advanced Placement (AP) course for African American Studies on February 1, 2021.
• The revisions address nearly all of the objections raised by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and other right-wing critics, including the removal of lessons on Black Lives Matter, the case for reparations, and queer studies.
• The College Board insists that any suggestion that politics played a role in the revisions is “a gross misrepresentation of the content of the course and the process by which it was developed.”
• In 2019, the College Board made over $1.1 billion dollars in revenue, and its CEO, David Coleman, took home more than $2.5 million in compensation in 2020.
• Nearly 600 African American Studies faculty from colleges and universities across the country signed a letter protesting DeSantis’ ban of the course in Florida, calling it “censorship and a frontal attack on academic freedom.”

Published February 2, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Tesnim Zekeria’s original post Why the College Board watered-down its new course on Black history

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UPDATE: Florida Commissioner of Education attacks Popular Information [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
February 1, 2023
239 views
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• Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. recently lashed out at Popular Information’s reporting on Florida classroom libraries, calling it “fake news from media activists too lazy to read [Florida] law.”
• Popular Information’s reporting was accurate and later confirmed by other outlets, including the Washington Post.
• Diaz told the National Review that teachers who packed up their classroom libraries were simply participating in a “stunt” intended to damage DeSantis politically.
• Diaz’s recommendations to teachers directly contradicts the training produced by his own agency, the Florida Department of Education.
• The Florida Department of Education will not answer basic questions about what kind of books are permitted in Florida schools.
• Right-wing activists hostile to Florida teachers are seizing on the opportunity to “get into the school Libraries” and determine whether teachers are “following the laws.”
• Chad Choate, the chair of the Manatee County School Board who was appointed by DeSantis, was the featured speaker at a meeting of the Manatee Patriots on Tuesday night.

Published February 1, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post UPDATE: Florida Commissioner of Education attacks Popular Information

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Kroger workers allege massive wage theft: “I’m tired of having to beg” [Tesnim Zekeria, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 31, 2023
160 views
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• Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the country, launched “MyTime” in 2022, claiming it would simplify day-to-day work.
• Since its roll-out, MyTime has caused a host of problems, including missing pay and incomplete checks, leaving many workers unable to pay rent or bills.
• Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Kroger from coast-to-coast, accusing the grocery giant of wage theft.
• Kroger claims to have resolved most issues, but UFCW President Marc Perrone says thousands across the country have still not received their most recent paycheck.
• Kroger workers are low-wage and vulnerable, with a 2022 study finding that 75% of surveyed workers across three regions were food insecure and 14% were homeless or had been homeless in the previous year.
• Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has asked for resources to educate workers about their rights and hire more investigators to handle claims.

Published January 31, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Tesnim Zekeria’s original post Kroger workers allege massive wage theft: “I’m tired of having to beg”

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Inside the audacious new scheme to erase LGBTQ people from Michigan schools [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 30, 2023
158 views
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• Great Schools Initiative (GSI): A newly-formed conservative group launching a plan to remake Michigan public schools by exploiting a Michigan statute that allows parents to opt their children out of sex education.
• Led by co-founders Nathan Pawl, Matthew Nelson, and Monica Yatooma, GSI seeks to redefine “sex education” to include a teacher wearing a rainbow pin, teaching about the women’s suffrage movement, the availability of a gender-neutral bathroom, any book with LGBTQ characters, and any acknowledgment of LGBTQ pride week.
• GSI plans to overwhelm Michigan schools with litigation, funded by the far-right Thomas More Society. The group has access to the LET THEM BE Facebook group, which has over 55,000 members.
• GSI’s website features testimonials from fake Michigan parents, and it is unclear who is funding the group’s operations.

Published January 30, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Inside the audacious new scheme to erase LGBTQ people from Michigan schools

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Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 26, 2023
230 views
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• North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor (R) has proposed legislation that would prohibit public libraries from maintaining books with LGBTQ characters and themes.
• The legislation defines a “sexually explicit” book as one that contains a “visual depiction” of twelve items, including “sexual identity” and “gender identity.”
• Librarians argue that the legislation would require them to remove most books with LGBTQ characters, and that it promotes censorship and book bans.
• The legislation provides that librarians that make prohibited materials available would face “up to 30 days imprisonment” and a $1500 fine.
• Lefor introduced the legislation because the book “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human” was available in public libraries.
• The legislation is likely unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court has ruled that governments are not permitted to remove materials from libraries because they disapprove of the content.
• Lefor is supported by some of the most prominent corporations in the United States, including Johnson & Johnson, AT&T, NextEra Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Marathon Petroleum.

Published January 26, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Major corporations back book-banning North Dakota legislator

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Spill it [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 25, 2023
249 views
S

• Popular Information has exposed an extraordinary assault on academic freedom in Florida.
• Bruce Friedman in Clay County has removed over 100 books from school libraries and is seeking to remove thousands more.
• Vicki Baggett in Escambia County is trying to ban 150 books from school libraries, including one about a legendary sprinter who overcame racial prejudice. Baggett allegedly said she opposed interracial marriage in class.
• Florida schools are using the “”Don’t Say Gay”” law to justify the erasure of LGBTQ people.
• Teachers in Manatee County are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.

Published January 25, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Spill it

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Twitter can’t handle the truth [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 24, 2023
288 views
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• Popular Information reported that the Manatee County School District instructed teachers to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.
• The directive was issued as part of an effort to comply with new laws and regulations championed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
• After the report was posted on Twitter, a “Community Note” was appended stating that “all books are not being removed from classroom libraries”, which is inaccurate.
• Teachers in Manatee County have been told to remove all books from their classroom libraries.
• The Community Note feature has been championed by Elon Musk, the billionaire who purchased Twitter for $44 billion in the fall.
• Musk has argued that Community Notes will be a corrective and cannot be biased towards the right, but since taking over Twitter, he has repeatedly catered to the far-right.

Published January 24, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Twitter can’t handle the truth

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Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 23, 2023
258 views
F

• Teachers in Manatee County, Florida, are being told to make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution, in order to comply with new laws and regulations championed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
• The policy is based on the premise that teachers and librarians are using books to “”groom”” students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.
• The law requires that all library books selected be free of pornography and material prohibited under s. 847.012, suited to student needs and their ability to comprehend the material presented, and appropriate for the grade level and age group for which the materials are used or made available.
• Teachers must make their classroom libraries inaccessible to students until they can establish that each book has been approved by a librarian.
• The process of restoring student access to classroom libraries is complex and requires cross-checking each book in their classroom library with the district library catalog, and any book not currently held in the district libraries must be individually evaluated and approved by a librarian.
• The review must also be consistent with a complex training, which was heavily influenced by right-wing groups like Moms For Liberty and approved by the Florida Department of Education just last week.
• The Parental Rights In Education Act prohibits all instruction on “”sexual orientation or gender identity”” in K-3 classrooms and instruction in other grades that is “”not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.””
• The teacher training approved by the Florida Department of Education, however, does not inform librarians that the Parental Rights in Education Act and Stop WOKE ACT do not apply to library books.
• Manatee County schools have already removed several books from school libraries because they contain LGBTQ characters or themes.

Published January 23, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution

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The untimely death of Larry Price Jr. [Judd Legum, Popular Information]

By Spencer Chen
In [Popular Information]
January 19, 2023
186 views
T

• Larry Eugene Price Jr., a severely mentally ill man living in poverty in Fort Smith, Arkansas, died in jail after spending a year in pretrial solitary confinement.
• Price was arrested after he began yelling and cursing at officers at the police station, and was charged with “terroristic threatening in the first degree.”
• Price was unable to post bail, and was placed in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, seven days a week.
• His mental health deteriorated, and he refused to take his prescribed medication. He eventually stopped eating and drinking, and was found unresponsive in a pool of standing water and urine.
• Price’s death is a consequence of systemic issues in the American criminal justice system, including criminalizing poverty and the torture of solitary confinement.
• People with mental illnesses are more likely to be incarcerated than given proper treatment, and many police lack the training to respond to mental health crises.

Published January 19, 2023
Visit Popular Information to read Judd Legum’s original post The untimely death of Larry Price Jr.

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