DeSantis Signs Curriculum Transparency Bill Giving Parents a Say on Books, Teaching Material
“We believe parents not only have a role, they have the fundamental role to be involved in the education of their kids, and that’s how it’s going to be in the state of Florida.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that gives parents a voice in teaching materials and library books while also placing term limits on school board members.
From FOX 13 Orlando:
Friday, he visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, starting his presentation by touting past pieces of education-related legislation, such as bringing an end to the Florida Standards Assessment and in-person learning during the early onset of the pandemic.
“We believe parents not only have a role, they have the fundamental role to be involved in the education of their kids, and that’s how it’s going to be in the state of Florida,” he said before signing HB-1467.
While lawmakers have long considered placing term limits on school-board members, perhaps the most controversial part of the bill is aimed at giving parents and members of the public increased access to the process of selecting and removing school library books and instructional materials.
The committees that make book and instructional material recommendations to a school board must include parents and students:
Each district school board must establish a process by which the parent of a public school student or a resident of the county may contest the district school board’s adoption of a specific instructional material. The parent or resident must file a petition, on a form provided by the school board, within 30 calendar days after the adoption of the instructional material by the school board. The school board must make the form available to the public and publish the form on the school district’s website. The form must be signed by the parent or resident, include the required contact information, and state the objection to the instructional material based on the criteria of s. 1006.31(2) or s. 1006.40(3)(d). Within 30 days after the 30-day period has expired, the school board must, for all petitions timely received, conduct at least one open public hearing before an unbiased and qualified hearing officer.
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Meetings of committees convened for the purpose of ranking, eliminating, or selecting instructional materials for recommendation to the district school board must be noticed and open to the public in accordance with s. 386.011. Any committees convened for such purposes must include parents of district students.
Another part says that every elementary school must post “a list of all materials maintained in the school library media center or required as part of a school or grade-level reading list.”
The new law states school board members can only serve four years.
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Comments
A Choice… uh, choice. Conservation of principles for our principals (our Posterity).
Every classroom needs to be streamed so that parents and other interested parties can monitor what their children are being taught Streamed content should be monitored by computers which flag sections based on questionable content.
This should be for all schools, including those in inner cities. All children are precious and should be protected from indoctrination.
Kind of like an inverse Twitter, eh? With “algorithms” that “flag disinformation.”
Best Governor in the nation resides in Florida!
Yes. A “Florida man”!
Shouldn’t parents already be looking at their kids’ schoolbooks? Or does this include books that students aren’t permitted to take home?
A lot of what they teach isn’t in books.
We homeschooled our child for fifth grade, during an extended family voyage. The school system was required by law to provide the books, since we were teaching to their curriculum and not to a special one of our own. They told us we had to teach him Math, Science, Social Studies, Spelling, Art, Reading, and Writing. But they had textbooks only for Social Studies and Math.
I asked them: “What about spelling? I need the book for that.”
“We don’t have a book. The teachers just make photocopies as they need them.”
“Then can I get a set of photocopies?”
“No, the teachers make it up as they go along.”
“Can’t you even give me a list of the words you expect him to be able to know how to spell by the end of the school year?”
“No.”
This was my introduction to the real state of things at public schools. And this was a “highly rated” suburban school in a lily-white enclave of Massachusetts.
And this was before the “digital age,” so I have no idea how much worse things might be now.
This is what abandoning insane nonsense about how the problem is too much government in favor of actually providing solutions to problems looks like. Hurrah for Florida hurrah for DeSantis.
Do you even hear yourself?
You are mindlessly cheering government DeSantis passing a restriction to curb out-of-control government education machine.
If “too much government” weren’t in charge of education in the first place, the problem never would have arisen.
SMH.
You have cognitive dissonance, are dishonest or not as smart as you seem.
Governor Ron DeSantis just expanded the power of the Florida state government exponentially. I don’t know what you learned about law enforcement but enforcement of laws like this (from the central Florida government) are enforced by (wait for it) GOVERNMENT! So government now is forcing elementary schools to do what it wants it to do.
This isn’t the first time Florida has dramatically expanded government for a good cause either.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/03/florida-passes-the-stop-w-o-k-e-act-targeting-critical-race-theory/
From the article
“WOKE stands for “Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees” and prohibits critical race training in schools and corporations.”
So yes Ron DeSantis is increasing government in order to get things done and yes I absolutely support that agenda. I am favor of governing jus as Ronald Raegan and Barry Goldwater did in 1984 when Raegan signed legislation written by Goldwater that BANNED cable companies from enforcement of editorial policies, a decision that has resulted in Fox News not being shut down by cable companies. Because like a pair of statesmen they GOVERNED (like Ron DeSantis is doing) Tucker Carlson and others have not been removed from the cable airwaves.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_Communications_Policy_Act_of_1984
That is the Republican Party legacy destroyed in the Bush years, a time period when we GOVERNED.
Here in Florida DeSantis continues to steamroll the left as well as laying the gauntlet down to anyone who opposes him. Running for re-election against sub par opponents DeSantis is taking a few pages out of the Gov. Youngkin playbook on education and parental rights and knows that though the enemy of the people (the media) will trash him, but the voters will be applauding these measures. Go DeSantis.
We need so many more like him
Just so long as they don’t go around removing books just because a small handful of parents object. There will be no books in the school libraries if they do. Everyone is offended by Something.
The local community objection is a good reason to remove books and has been for some time. You don’t want to remove Ibran X Kendi from the school library? How about Fifty Shades of Grey?
The school is the place values are passed on, they will either be our values or the lefts values, and because we don’t have control of any institution outside of government the government way is the only way we have to influence education.
it’s pretty simple, let the student/family owns their education tax money, if you prefer that not to have input it to what is being taught to your children you’ll have a choice, if you want transparency you’ll have a choice. pro-choice isn’t just for abortion/infanticide
This is a weak-tea version of the real solution needed, which is to get the government out of the education business 100%.
What is the sense in people paying taxes just so the government can return them a voucher for some smaller amount earmarked it for their kid — as if the government is doing them a favor — when if the parents had simply retained the original amount they could have gotten Junior whatever level of education they wanted?
By the way for those who have not yet encountered it, I recommend an inspiring monograph on this subject by John Taylor Gatto — three-time New York City Teacher of the Year, who retired with a public statement in the WSJ that he was “no longer willing to hurt children”.
The piece is called Bootie Zimmer’s Choice:
And if the family can’t actually afford private school their children won’t learn how to read?
Nobody is voting for that, what they are voting for is using government to change our school system to something worth funding.