Peter Greene has a great update on the “furry story that will not die” - the myth that students are arriving at school “identifying” as animals and requiring litter boxes in restrooms.
Living in Tennessee, I had to watch a legislative hearing where this belief was spouted by an elected state Senator - and not disputed by the Executive Director of the Charter School Commission.
As Greene notes, this is happening across the country.
Here’s how he summarizes the discussion:
Regrettably, almost none of the coverage asks obvious questions. Like, do furries self-identify as animals? And do furries use litter boxes? The answer is no to both. Furries are best understood as animal cosplay, and like your neighbor who dresses up as Captain Kirk or Wolverine or a Rennaissance Faire sword-bearing barbarian, they know who they are in "real life" nor do they wear their costumes to work.
But the "identify as" that folks use when they spread the stories is a tell-- furry panic is a barely-masked version of LGBTQ+ panic, cut from the same cloth as the old "If we let the gays get married today, will people be marrying their dogs tomorrow."
Furry panic highlights several features of the current landscape. It is ready-made for the parents' rights movement, which is in turn ready-made for the current election cycle. It also dovetails nicely with the drive to reduce trust in public schools so that they can be dismantled and replaced with a privatized system. It's a story that serves too many peoples' purposes to be allowed to die.
North Carolina Keeps Moving Toward Merit Pay
I’ve written recently about North Carolina’s seemingly inevitable move toward merit pay.
North Carolina educator and blogger Justin Parmenter further breaks down the merit pay scheme in a video that also features his cats:
I mean, Justin’s cats are great - and the merit pay scheme is abysmal.
North Carolina was once a national leader in teacher compensation and in education innovation.
Now, they seem to aspire to be the next Florida - a wild west of privatization and a crazy (and sadly low) level of teacher compensation.
Rather than raising pay 20% or more across the board, NC is looking at an unproven merit pay scheme. Don’t take my word for it - ask Justin’s cats!