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Comment by 2OEH8eoCRo0 | Hacker News Reader

It's a bit harsh but I mean, all it boils down to is: Teachers shall teach the curriculum.

Which for some, (like me), is ludicrous. My own take is that children learn best (or for some, learn at all) when their interest in something is piqued or they are inspired by a teacher. (I only did homework for teachers I liked throughout my time in elementary and high school.) I claim most of what we learn in school is completely irrelevant to our lives anyway (with a clear exception of learning to read at all). My wife rose to an executive position in a big company without knowing her 'times tables'. "Teaching the curriculum" also leads to the textbooks that came into use after the "No child left behind" legislation. When I read them, I was simultaneously outraged and wanted to cry at (a) how dry they were (b) how memorization-focused they were (c) (for Euclidian Geometry) how much wrong information they contained.

With billions of books in the world, having a very short white list of books means the chances of a teacher suggesting a book that would inspire a particular kid plummets. We get a little closer to Farenheit 451 every passing day.

> interest in something is piqued or they are inspired by a teacher

Don't you see how this is a direct example of teachers having outsized influence on students, and how they shouldn't be allowed to 'teach' them whatever the please?

People put education on some kind of pedestal. Like it's a magical place of discovery. No, it's to provide basic literacy and math skills to the poor so they can function in society.

I can't tell whether you're making that argument in earnest, or you left out the /s sarcasm tag.

Completely in earnest.

> My wife rose to an executive position in a big company without knowing her 'times tables'.

Well that alone explains a lot of the problems this country is in, and is not the stunning argument for your side you may believe it to be.

Perhaps. She did know how to use a calculator, and generally she does better at arithmetic things than I do (balancing the checkbook, eg.) because she knows she's not good, whereas I know I'm good, so I'm more careless. Also, math wasn't and isn't important in many jobs, including hers. So "explains a lot of the problems this country is in" isn't the stunning argument for your side you may believe it to be. No offense intended.

That is weird. I guess we can agree to that principle but do we need to be draconian about it? Do we need laws to make teachers focus on curriculum?

Didn't you ever read a book that wasn't prescribed by the curriculum?

I don't think so but it's Florida. I don't live in Florida. The majority in Florida must somehow be OK with this and it's their teachers and children.

Don't take my nuance to mean that I approve of this or think it's a good idea.

Why do you think the majority of Floridians are OK with this? Does it matter to American politicians that the majority of Americans are in favor of access to abortions? The noisy people and PACs who donate to campaigns are against it and that's all that matters.

> Why do you think the majority of Floridians are OK with this?

I don't know. I don't live in Florida. If it's not against the law why should I care?

> Does it matter to American politicians that the majority of Americans are in favor of access to abortions?

Abortion is legal in my state. ¯ \ _ ( ツ ) _ / ¯

Conceptually, if the government defines the teaching, at what point do the people run the government and at what point does the government run the people?

Also, politics in America are way more messy than that. The choice becomes "People you agree 50% with or people you agree 20% with?". I would bet that if this were put to a statewide vote, it would not pass.

The community/voters define the government and the government defines the teaching.

Which entity is more in touch with the wants and needs of Florida voters: Florida's state and local governments or the federal government in Washington?

The hiring of teachers is approved by community elected school boards.

FL laws take that power from communities and puts it in State level hands. Your point is upside-down and tries to paint heavy handed big-government rules as better in fact.

Also who said anything about DC? The point was about letting teachers, parents, and yes, minors; make choices for kids. This is whitewashing extremist beliefs over communities that very well may disagree, exactly what you imply this protects lol.

I wouldn’t have thought laws like this were needed, but then there are things like this:

https://youtu.be/TwucVRj_mdc

Cool, but do you have any sources that haven't been produced by an organization well-known for repeated lies and fraud?

I am not familiar with them being well known for lies or fraud. Showing actual video seems like a way to avoid that. The videos seem to speak for themselves. Even if taken out of context it looks reaaaally bad.

They are on the record as faking these videos before, as in, scripting and making them up.

Can you link some sources please, ideally from neutral organizations?

First, define, specifically, what you consider a neutral organization.

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