New ideas in schools are not dangerous

It is beyond ironic that the title of Ron DeSantis’s forthcoming memoir is “The Courage to be Free” — ironic because the governor’s legislative program seems based in fear.

Here in early February we are reminded of acts of bravery such as the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts, and the Woolworth’s sit-ins in Nashville that had such a big part in sparking the civil rights movement.

Juxtaposed with those anniversaries we have DeSantis warning of the dangers of students being “indoctrinated” if they so much as study certain aspects of Black history, or queer theory, or even such basic texts as MLK’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”

The governor seeks to conflate the study of such topics with becoming advocates for the principles they espouse, as if academic focus is consonant with religious belief. The purpose of a liberal education is to be exposed to as many disparate ideas as possible, in the process learning to synthesize and form one’s own set of values.

DeSantis did not graduate from such institutions as Yale and Harvard without being exposed to many ideas that must have challenged his core values. He seems to have emerged with his conservative tenets intact. Yet he seeks to deprive the citizens of his state of a similar educational experience.

Not much courage is evident in the governor’s shrill warnings about the dangers of being exposed to new ideas. But that attitude has a long history, and it should frighten anyone who cares about education in a democracy.

Russ Kesler Orlando