At least four conservative Florida organizations are working from the same list of books they want out of Florida public schools. They share their challenge forms, scare our school boards into usurping their policies with threats about violating Chapter 847 of the Florida statutes, and they spew intolerance for our already marginalized communities at school board meetings. This is a carefully orchestrated effort, and their lobbying has paid off in the form of HB1467, HB1557, and HB7 passing through our Legislature during the 2022 session.
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THE WHY
'Culture War' issues that hit our public schools help ensure voters stay interested through the midterms. Special interest groups are relying on moderate and nonpartisan parents to get annoyed and further divert their attention.
They are counting on parents to see social media posts and headlines that read “pornography battle at school” and “indoctrination of students furthers the racial divide” and be too busy to investigate further. Instead, those words are taken at face value so that doubt and distrust build for the public school system. Ultimately, their hope is that it leads parents to explore other options – for-profit options – that divert tax dollars away from public schools.
It’s Manifest Destiny. Funds attached to student headcount slowly shift away. Teachers look for better pay options in the private sector. Class sizes increase as our Educators struggle to manage the oversized classes and the increased administrative work that comes with “full transparency” all while ensuring parents’ rights are equally met along with the students’.
This isn’t what the majority of Florida parents want that have opted into their local public schools. We want every child to receive a high quality education in a supportive environment that prepares them for adult life in a diverse world. We look to our public schools to help us raise educated, thoughtful, social and emotionally intelligent, critical thinkers. We believe that public school decisions should be student-centered and ensure no child is excluded from the conversation. Most importantly, we know the right of an education belongs to the student and there is a limit as to how much a parent’s beliefs should dictate the information and ideas that are made available in the school house.
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THE HOW
A good library has something to offend everyone. It’s a common statement that reinforces the American tradition of inclusion of all beliefs.
Certified Media Specialists attain master’s degrees and receive ongoing training which qualifies them to develop collections. With this advanced toolkit they are able to develop library collections that reflect the diversity of their particular community or school.
The implication by government officials and conservative organizations that they would intentionally include books that are harmful undermines their best efforts and erodes public trust.
THE "PARENTAL RIGHTS" LAWS
Every person has a right to receive an education via our public school system. Beyond the basic subjects such as reading, writing, and mathematics, schools provide important critical thinking and social emotional learning.
Books and classroom instruction currently being targeted will censor the voices of traditionally marginalized people and experiences.
The passage of HB 1467 and HB 1069 have directed districts to "err on the side of caution" which has come to favor censorship. HB 1557 (amended with HB 1069) removes all nationally recommended instruction about the different types of people and family structures designed to reduce bullying from grades K-8, and limits it to a vague “age appropriate” standard going forward. HB 7 chills the instruction of African American History by threatening legal action should a student or their parent perceive the lesson as imposing feelings of guilt or anguish upon them for the actions of others that happened to be of the same race, color, sex, or national origin.
If this is not stopped, it will have long-term ramifications on society.
THE TARGETS
There have been enough book banning efforts across the state to see the commonalities in the books and speech they are targeting. Even before these bills were signed into law, they have felt perfectly comfortable going after the already less prevalent marginalized voices on the shelves.
On average across multiple states, about 25% of the titles that have had censorship attempts made on them have LGBTQ+ characters or themes while many of the others include an honest look at the Black or Indigenous lived experience.
You will hear them say they aren’t targeting a specific group. To the contrary, they say they are focused on removing “pornography” and “CRT” or other "indoctrination" that furthers the divide in schools. But, they cannot hide their intolerance for certain groups when they go after elementary aged picture books that discuss a child (or animal) with parents of the same sex. Or when they demand books about Harvey Milk, Ruby Bridges, or other historical figures be removed from shelves or discouraged from being included in classroom reading lists.
Still not sure this is intentional?
When given the opportunity on the challenge form to make a suggestion for a book that covers the same themes or ideas, they regularly leave this answer blank.
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THE SOLUTION
The first step in quelling this movement to censor speech in schools is to assert your right to speak up.
If school board meetings are impossible to attend, send an email or make a phone call. Show up to rallies and book readings that are in support of students’ rights to access information and ideas at school. Most of all, when the time comes vote for the candidates that believe all students should always be put first in public education.
The second step is supporting your educators and school boards when challenges arise. Make sure they know you are in favor of more information, not less, being available to students. Applaud them for transparency in the process and sticking to their policies by keeping the books on the shelves while under challenge.
Encourage them to incorporate 1:1 discussions with the challengers before the process moves onto review, so they can ensure a less restrictive solution (removing access to only the challenger’s student) isn’t an agreeable solution. And finally, don’t let them accept challenge forms that are incomplete or show evidence that the challenger isn’t submitting in good faith.
It will take a collective effort from everyone that believes in the power of public education to make it out of this era of censorship.