Wisconsin Teacher Dances In Drag For Students. District Says Parents Mostly Don’t Care

Teacher Matthew Kashdan’s act is not sitting well with parents who believe public schools aren’t the place for drag queen cotillions.

Wisconsin high school closes out its Fine Arts Week with a drag performance by its very own French teacher



Middleton High School closed out its Fine Arts Week by featuring its French teacher in a drag show, Empower Wisconsin has reported.

What are the details?

Matthew Kashdan, the school's French teacher, "strutted onto the auditorium stage in a high-cut, blue sequinned dress, red boots and blond wig, lip-syncing and dancing to 'Rain on Me' by pop divas Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande," the outlet reported Tuesday. "It was a surprise to the assembled students."

Shannan Valladolid, the district's director of information and public relations, told Empower Wisconsin that Fine Arts Week is chock-full of "performances that are enjoyed by students and staff alike."

"Performances range from music to dance to martial arts, culinary arts, visual arts, language arts, and other arts that fit our extensive definition of The Arts," Valladolid added.

What else?

At least one parent was furious over the performance and told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna that she is aghast that there are school professionals who would "destroy [students'] innocence for their own pleasure."

"I send my children to school and entrust them to teachers that I have to believe are professionals who won’t destroy their innocence for their own pleasure," the unnamed parent complained. "If MATTHEW KASHDAN makes a decision to perform his drag show at school, what else does he do in his classroom with a roomful of children? What kind of educators thought this was appropriate? Drag shows are 'fine arts?' If a teacher is a pole dancer or stripper, can they also perform for my children? ... I don’t care what MATTHEW KASHDAN does outside of school. I DO CARE what he does at Middleton High School."

Valladolid added that as of Tuesday morning, one parent reached out to complain about the performance.

"The school is reviewing protocols and processes going forward to make sure all perspectives are considered," she said, noting that parent permission to attend the events has never been a component to the popular annual week.

Black police officer who was fired for using the N-word gets his job back



The black Florida police officer who was fired for using the N-word while on duty has been reinstated after he insisted that he didn't mean it in a derogatory manner.

What's a brief history here?

A random audit of Tampa Police Officer Delvin White's bodycam footage showed that the officer used the N-word on several occasions during 2020, and at least once during an exchange with a black teen during an arrest.

Following the audit, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan fired White for "violations of policy that prohibit discriminatory conduct."

White, however, said that he never intended for the word to be offensive, and merely used it as a way of expressing "culture and experiences among the African-American community."

Content warning: Rough language:

What are the details?

Tampa's Civil Service Board on Monday decided that the termination was not appropriate for the infraction, according to a Daily Mail report, and voted 3-0 to reinstate the officer effective immediately.

"I do not want to see the city lose an employee like that who obviously does his job above and beyond," one board member said, "a difficult job, let's face it, in very difficult circumstances. It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face."

In the footage, White can be heard using the word twice while arresting a student in November.

The unnamed student can be heard saying, "Man, make me, bro. You trippin.'"

White responds, "I told you, n*****, we ain't playing games with your ass."

The teen later says, "You don't know what a n***** be going through."

White, a resource officer at Middleton High School, reportedly told his superiors that he did not mean for the use of the word to be derogatory and instead said that the word is "commonly used in today's society as a means of shared culture and experiences among the African-American community."

Ahead of the Monday vote, Dugan said, "This isn't about racism, this is about professionalism. Office White isn't playing golf with his frat brothers, he's not playing poker, he's wearing the uniform of a Tampa Police Department officer and speaking to a student that way."

He also added that the city's employee manual prohibits the use of any racial slurs, according to the New York Post.

White, an eight-year department veteran, did not receive back pay upon his reinstatement.

Following the hearing, White said that he hoped to return to Middletown High School to continue his career.

"I was made to be an SRO," he said.