Florida teacher accused of calling 8th-grader ‘misogynist’ over conservative views; Attorney General seeks her dismissal

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier A Florida school district is reviewing allegations involving a history teacher accused of repeatedly singling out an eighth-grade student over his conservative views and calling him a “misogynist”.Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier raised the allegations in a letter sent to Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Terry Connor and the school board. The teacher, Liz Ballard, works at Pine View School in Osprey.According to Uthmeier, the student had told Ballard that his parents did not want him taking part in political discussions at school. The attorney general alleges that she nevertheless continued to use him as the “conservative perspective” during classroom debates and pressured him to defend political positions in front of other students.Uthmeier further alleged that Ballard called the student a “misogynist”, circulated the description around the school and questioned his father's influence.“Ms. Ballard singled out this student and, in defiance of his parents’ express instructions, pressured him to defend political positions on demand in front of his classmates,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter.He said the allegations, if established, co...