Florida Principal Forced Out in the Ongoing War on Education

The principal of Florida’s Tallahassee Classical School is out of a job after three parents complained that their sixth-grade children were shown Michelangelo’s 16th century “David” sculpture, with one parent claiming that their child was exposed to pornography, the Tallahassee Democrat first reported.

The complaint arose from a Renaissance art lesson where students were shown Michelangelo's statue of David. The iconic statue is one of the most famous in Western history.  The 17-foot statue depicts a naked David, the Biblical figure who kills the giant Goliath.   The lesson, given to 11 and 12-year-olds, also included references to Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" painting and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". 

Principal Hope Carrasaquilla of Tallahassee Classical School said she resigned after she was given an ultimatum by the school board chair to resign or be fired.   The Tallahassee Democrat reported that Carrasquilla did not know the reason she was asked to resign, but believed it was related to the complaints over the lesson. Carrasquilla had been principal for less than one year.  She was the school’s third principal since it opened in the fall of 2020.   There is no reporting on the reason for the high turnover in such a critical position.

Carrasquilla said she has taught in classical education for a decade and knew that “once in a while you get a parent who gets upset about Renaissance art.”  School board chair Barney Bishop inadvertently admitted to his bias when he disclosed that he was currently lobbying for state legislation that would give parents even more input in primary education. “Parental rights trump everything else,” Bishop said. “[Parents don't] like the woke indoctrination that [is] going on,” he added.   Last year, Bishop lobbied in favor of Florida's "don't say gay" bill, saying that if parents "don’t draw a line in the sand now,‭ ‬the next thing we know, we will have drag queens in elementary schools.‭”

Bishop has also admitted to his belief that teachers are not authorities on education.   In a rant during a Slate interview, Bishop said, "Parents choose [our] school because they want a certain kind of education. We’re not gonna have courses from the College Board. We’re not gonna teach 1619 or CRT crap."  He went on to say that even the use of the word "pornography" is inappropriate in a classroom-- regardless of the students' ages.

Former principle Carrasquilla said in an interview that many other parents and faculty members were upset about her ouster and have been reaching out with support.  Without a trace of irony, Bishop told the media that Carrasquilla was trying to “gin up a lot of publicity” by sharing her experience.

The Tallahassee Classical school is a public charter institution that focuses on "classical learning", a teaching philosophy centered on a traditional Western liberal arts education. The teachers at the school are also forbidden to discuss sex identity or sexual orientation with its students.  "Classical learning" is also popular within the Christian homeschooling movement.  The Tallahassee Classical School is affiliated with Hillsdale College, a conservative Christian institution that has sought to expand its influence over the last decade by helping set up public charter schools. 

Hillsdale has raised funds for the charter school network by pledging to fight “leftist” and “distorted” teaching of American history, such as the lessons about slavery contained in The New York Times’ 1619 Project, the newspaper reported last year.  “We don’t use pronouns,” Bishop said. “We don’t teach CRT and we don’t ever mention 1619 — those are not appropriate subjects for our kids.”