Was a Teacher Fired for Not ‘Meowing at Student Who Identifies as a Cat’?

In January 2022, right-leaning websites and observers responded with outrage and bemusement to the story of Bridget Maas, a substitute teacher in California, reporting that she had been “fired” because she failed or refused to “meow” at a student who, reportedly, identified as a cat. 

For example, on Jan. 16 the website Newspunch posted an article with the headline “Woke School Fires Teacher for Not ‘Meowing’ Back at Student Who Identifies as a Cat.” Similar articles, all of which asserted that Maas had been fired for not publicly acknowledging or accepting a...