Ron DeSantis’s Education Dept. Is Investigating a Fifth-Grade Teacher for Showing Students a Disney Movie

Despite what Ron DeSantis likes to claim, Florida is not, in fact, the “freest” state in the nation. How do we know this for sure? Well, we’re guessing that in whatever happens to actually be the freest state in the nation, a fifth-grade teacher would not find themself under investigation for the crime of showing their students a Disney movie.

That’s right, folks: Florida teacher Jenna Barbee is under investigation by the state’s board of education for showing her students the 2022 movie Strange World, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. While Barbee says the material related to the class’s earth science curriculum—it’s about a group of people that finds a plant that becomes an energy source for their society—and that all parents had signed permission slips allowing their kids to watch it, one later complained. That parent is reportedly Shannon Rodriguez, who claimed at a recent Hernando County School Board meeting that Barbee violated school policy because she didn’t have the movie cleared by the administration. We’re also guessing, by her comments on the matter, that Rodriguez did not like that Barbee showed a movie with an openly gay character, which is obviously a no-no in Florida.

“It is not a teacher’s job to impose their beliefs upon a child: religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, any of the above. But allowing movies such as this assist teachers in opening a door, and please hear me, they assist teachers in opening the door for conversations that have no place in our classrooms,” Rodriguez said. She added: “As a leader in this community, I’m not going to stand by and allow this minority to infiltrate our schools.” Without mentioning Barbee’s name, Hernando County’s school district confirmed to the Tallahassee Democrat that a fifth-grade teacher is under investigation for showing Strange World, and that a parent had complained to the school’s principal about it supposedly being inappropriate. According to the outlet, a letter sent to the teacher says that the Department of Education’s Office of Professional Practices Services “has determined an investigation is warranted into allegations that you engaged in inappropriate conduct.” DeSantis signed the bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law last year, banning teachers from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade; last month, the law was expanded through 12th grade.

Meanwhile, in other news from the “freest” state in the nation:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislation to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all state universities, which he called a “distraction from the core mission.”

“This is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination, and that has no place in our public institutions,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Sarasota. “If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to (the University of California) Berkeley,” DeSantis added. “There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but for us with our tax dollars, we want to focus on the classical mission of what a university is supposed to be.”

Under the new law, state universities in Florida are banned from using state or federal funds on any programs that “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political or social activism.” It also states that general education courses “may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics” based on “theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.” As a reminder, the governor of Florida thinks its wrong to teach students the factually accurate piece of history that America was built on stolen land: