School Board Shake-Ups & Meteorite Discoveries
December 1, 2022
A Real-Life Political Science Lesson
Dozens of Florida school board candidates backed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis during the midterm elections have reached office, and they’re now raining hellfire on educational administrators who enacted Covid mandates. The right-leaning school boards of two Florida school districts have given their superintendents the boot, both within the span of one week. DeSantis threw his weight behind over two dozen candidates, using his political clout and funding to boost their elections.
In Sarasota County, new board members immediately started firing upon their superintendent the day they took their seats. On Tuesday night, Sarasota board members attacked Superintendent Brennan Asplen’s job security at a special meeting called solely to discuss his contract. They brought into question Saratoga students’ reading performance, school mask mandates, and the district’s lack of transparency under his leadership. Asplen had seen the writing on the wall and offered his resignation Monday night before the meeting, but fought back against the board, saying that his time in office only spanned the pandemic (which affected learning outcomes across the nation) and that his mask mandates lasted only three weeks.
In Brevard county, the scene was similar. Superintendent Mark Mullins was ousted by the new school board, led by Megan Wright, a DeSantis-backed new board member who was in office for about four hours before questioning Mullins’ leadership. Though teachers lined up in support of Asplen in Sarasota, they did not show support for Mullins in Brevard. The Brevard Federation of Teachers claimed that the district didn’t do enough to deal with student discipline issues or staffing shortages during the pandemic.
Now, the school districts face a new problem: finding replacement superintendents. Teachers’ unions hope new candidates will provide better support in the classroom, though they hope boards will avoid politically-motivated picks. “Firing is the easy part,” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association. “The hard part is finding the right person.” (Politico)
Some Good News
- Dwayne Johnson Visits 7-Eleven Where He Used to Shoplift as a Kid to ‘Right the Wrong’ (People)
- UC postdoctoral scholars and researchers reach tentative deal but strike continues (LAT, $)
Inching Towards Progress
- A court in Tokyo has decided to uphold Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage, but also acknowledges that the ban is a violation of human rights. While the court struck down a compensation case brought by four same-sex couples, Japanese LGBTQ rights campaigners say the decision might still be a positive outcome for their cause.
- “This is actually a fairly positive ruling,” said Nobuhito Sawasaki, one of the lawyers involved in the case. “While marriage remains between a man and a woman… (the court) also said that the current situation with no legal protections for same-sex families is not good, suggesting something must be done about it,”
- Currently, the Japanese constitution states marriage is defined by the mutual consent of both sexes. This blocks same-sex couples from inheriting assets from one another, denies them parental rights over each other’s children, and can make hospital visits hard. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s conservative ruling party has yet to declare any changes in national LGBTQ rights despite support from many high-level government members. (BBC)
Variations On A Racist Question
- On Tuesday, British charity founder Ngozi Fulani was repeatedly and aggressively questioned about her racial background by the lady-in-waiting of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Lady Susan Hussey, the godmother of Prince William and a key figure of Buckingham Palace, resigned after Fulani talked about her interactions with Hussey in an interview with the Independent, saying that the incident was “bigger than one individual. It’s institutional racism.”
- According to Fulani’s own account of their conversation, the 83-year-old Baroness Hussey fired off an almost-comedic flurry of questions, asking Fulani some variation of “Okay, but where are you really from?” a full seven times in succession. An eyewitness to the conversation called it “offensive, racist and unwelcoming.”
- Fulani said that coming to the media with her story took some deliberation. “As a black person, I found myself in this place where I wanted to say something but what happened would automatically be seen as my fault, it would bring [my charity] Sistah Space down,” she said. Buckingham Palace called Hussey’s statements “unacceptable and deeply regrettable,” with a spokesperson for Prince William declaring that “it is right that the individual has stepped aside with immediate effect.” (BBC)
Additional World News
- China’s former president Jiang Zemin, who ruled after Tiananmen, dies at 96 (WaPo, $)
- Russian, Chinese bombers fly joint patrols over Pacific (AP)
- Five Palestinian men killed in West Bank violence (BBC)
- Former Russian finance minister Kudrin announces departure from Audit Chamber (Reuters)
- Indian billionaire Adani’s firm wins bid to develop vast Mumbai slum (CNN)
- Students killed as bomb blast hits Afghan school (BBC)
- Jailed Belarus opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova ‘in intensive care’ (Guardian)
“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Progressing Past Pelosi
- House Democrats met Wednesday morning to select Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s successor, and they made a historic decision. Caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries of New York will take Pelosi’s spot, making him the first Black person to lead one of the two major parties in either chamber of Congress.
- Jeffries ran unopposed, and at 52, he is about three decades younger than the current Democratic leadership. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn also announced they’d be stepping down, ushering in a new group of leaders. (CNN)
Sipping Coffee, Eating Donuts, And Operating Murder Robots
- Thanks to an 8-3 vote that followed a two-hour debate, San Francisco police have been given the power to use potentially lethal, remote-controlled robots despite strong objections from multiple groups. Supervisor Connie Chan, a member of the committee, said that she understood the concerns but “according to state law, we are required to approve the use of these equipments. So here we are, and it’s definitely not an easy discussion.”
- A small bit of comfort can be taken in knowing that the SFPD does not arm their robots with guns, nor do they plan to, but they do have robots equipped with explosive charges “to contact, incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspect” – but don’t worry, they’ll only be used in emergency situations. Only a few high-ranking officers have the power to authorize the use of the robots, and only after all other options have been exhausted. (Al Jazeera)
Additional USA News
- Mark Meadows Ordered to Testify in Trump Investigation (NYT, $)
- Lava is spilling toward a key Hawaiian highway as 2 volcanoes erupt simultaneously (CNN)
- ‘I live in Texas’: Herschel Walker speech adds to Georgia Senate run problems (Guardian)
- A newly unsealed affidavit details the clues that led investigators to the suspect in Delphi teen girl killings (CNN)
- Woman who helped hide Vanessa Guillén’s body pleads guilty (NBC)
- U.S. seeks to limit flaring and methane leaks from public lands drilling (Reuters)
- Biden cranks up his courtship of top donors ahead of the 2024 presidential election (NBC)
Extraterrestrial Scientific Intervention
- Scientists at the University of Alberta have found some shiny new toys to play with thanks to mineral samples taken from a slice of the El Ali meteorite, the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered. Researchers say they’ve discovered two new minerals not yet found on Earth from the meteorite, and confirmation of a third new mineral is pending review.
- “Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what’s been found before,” said Chris Herd, curator of the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection. ”That’s what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science.”
- While the minerals had been synthesized by humans before, they have never been found in nature. Researchers from many different disciplines are frothing at the mouth over the discovery, hoping to learn more about how the meteorite was formed, potential uses for the new minerals, and the possibility of the meteorite playing host to even more new minerals. (USA Today)
Additional Reads
- Chinese astronauts board space station in historic mission (Reuters)
- Ashkenazi Jews Have Become More Genetically Similar Over Time (NYT, $)
- Bodies-in-suitcases suspect appears in New Zealand court (NPR)
- Disney warns restructuring could result in impairment charges (Reuters)
- Members of Congress reacted with bipartisan glee after the U.S. men’s soccer team beat Iran to advance in the World Cup (Politico)
- Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter, dies aged 79 (BBC)