美国国家公共电台 NPR--Hundreds of Floridians attend contentious school board meeting in Hernando County

Hundreds of Floridians attend contentious¹ school board meeting in Hernando County

Transcript²

Conservative forces are growing on several school boards in Florida. But in one county, some school board members have held back a right-wing attempt to remove a superintendent³.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The kind of school board meeting we are about to hear could have taken place in any one of many states in recent years. In this case, the meeting was in Florida. A local school board faces pressure from above. Governor Ron DeSantis is working to reshape schools. The school board also faces pressure from outside. An activist⁴ group tried to remove the local superintendent. WUSF's Meghan Bowman went to see how it turned out.

MEGHAN BOWMAN, BYLINE⁵: It was a raucous⁶ meeting in Hernando County, just north of Tampa.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Please come to order.

BOWMAN: On the one side - members of Moms for Liberty, the conservative group that's pushing book bans across the state. On the other hand, over a hundred people wearing green T-shirts that said #Strattonstays. They showed up to support Superintendent John Stratton.

(BOOING)

BOWMAN: They're booing board member Shannon Rodriguez. She joined the Hernando School Board last year, backed by Moms for Liberty.

SHANNON RODRIGUEZ: We do not want to have equity⁷ and inclusion in our schools. We want to keep our schools traditional, the way that they were. We don't want any of the woke or the indoctrination.

BOWMAN: She's under fire for reporting a teacher to the state for showing the Disney movie "Strange World," which has a gay character in it. At this meeting, Rodriguez used Florida's recently passed so-called Stop Woke Act as ammunition⁸ to remove Stratton.

RODRIGUEZ: We have the LGBTQ training conference that we sent teachers to and paid for. We have the pornographic books that stayed in the schools forever and ever.

BOWMAN: The new law restricts discussions on gender⁹ and sexuality issues in the classroom and how race is taught. Rodriguez had reinforcements in the audience. Monty Floyd is vice¹⁰ chair of the Hernando County chapter of Moms for Liberty.

MONTY FLOYD: The many failures of this district fall solely¹¹ on the shoulders of Mr. Stratton, the ruling majority on our board and their legion of hard-left agitators¹².

BOWMAN: But the majority of the 600 or so who showed up wanted Stratton to stay, including a 14-year-old student, Justin Caratollo (ph).

JUSTIN CARATOLLO: Maybe some of you have forgotten the golden rule. Maybe some of you have forgotten that gay people, people of color and people that don't observe Christianity have existed.

BOWMAN: A recent NPR poll shows a majority of respondents said teachers should be trusted to make decisions about what they're teaching. But more Republicans than Democrats¹³ believe parents should have that power. The same poll shows book bans are not popular, even with Republicans. The battle over who controls the classrooms in Florida is having an effect on staffing, says Lisa Masserio. She's the president of a local teachers association and told the board the number of resignations of educators has doubled since last year.

LISA MASSERIO: There have been politically motivated attacks from the state level, from certain elements within our community and from local politicians affecting morale¹⁴ and making educators question whether this is the right place for them. Losing dozens of teachers has detrimental¹⁵ effects on our students.

BOWMAN: After hours of public comments, the board decided¹⁶ to keep Stratton in a close 3-to-2 vote. Resistance to the Stop Woke Act in more liberal parts of Florida is nothing new, but Hernando County generally leans more conservative. Superintendent Stratton says he now hopes for a cease-fire in the rhetoric¹⁷ and infighting.

JOHN STRATTON: We want to do our jobs. I'm thankful for everyone out there that summer is coming, so we can reset¹⁸ and get something back on track. 'Cause we're not fighting porn. We're not fighting indoctrination. We're not fighting these things.

BOWMAN: The battle over who will control schools is likely to continue in Florida. In 2024, voters will decide if school board elections will be partisan¹⁹.

For NPR News, I'm Meghan Bowman in Tampa.

1 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

12 agitators   

n.（尤指政治变革的）鼓动者( agitator的名词复数 )；煽动者；搅拌器；搅拌机

参考例句：

• The mud is too viscous, you must have all the agitators run. 泥浆太稠，你们得让所有的搅拌机都开着。 来自辞典例句
• Agitators urged the peasants to revolt/revolution. 煽动者怂恿农民叛变（革命）。 来自辞典例句

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

15 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

18 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

19 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。