[It is happening in Florida. How are teachers and parents liking it? Censorship is always a good thing.]
A series of new laws in Florida that bolster parental rights in education, call for curriculum transparency and say no one should be taught to feel guilt for actions in the past by those of the same race or sex, are stifling educators and creating problems in the classroom, according to some teachers and students.
"We have drawn a very clear line in the sand that says our school system is for educating kids, not indoctrinating kids," said Gov. Ron DeSantis in July at the Moms for Liberty conference in Tampa. He would repeat that refrain as he campaigned for conservative school board members across the state ahead of the Aug. 23 primary election.
But as buses rolled into Booker High School on a recent Friday morning, just over a week into the school year, senior Nora Mitchell took issue with the governor's words.
"We are not being indoctrinated," said Mitchell. "Students actually care about these issues. We just want the issues of our BIPOC community of our LGBTQ plus community, we want those issues to be illustrated in the classroom, and we want schools to be safe again."
Since the start of the year on Aug. 10, "the energy on campus has changed. Teachers are frustrated, they are stressed out, and understandably so," Mitchell said. "They can't teach to the fullest extent. Teachers who want to teach about all encompassing issues, talk about current events, they are prevented from doing so."
Sebastian Martinez, who graduated from Booker in 2021 and returned for a visit with teachers and friends on Friday, said "legislation like this definitely moves us backwards. It's socially regressive and dangerous to all students."
The law’s vague wording has created a lot of uncertainty, according to Gail Foreman, who teaches history at Booker High. Now, students that want to be called a different name or pronoun must ask a counselor and the principal, who must ask the parents, who can grant or deny permission.
"I have a lot of students that would use preferred names, and they can't use them until we get the paperwork done. So I'm using last names," said Foreman.
The changes are due to the new Parental Rights in Education law, sometimes called "Don't Say Gay." It says all parents must be notified of any change to their child's mental, physical or emotional well-being.
“My gay kids and my transgender kids seem awfully quiet this year. And it's worrying me, because one of them asked me yesterday, 'Miss Foreman, are we really safe on this campus? Are we going to start dealing with gay bashing, homophobia?' I said, 'No, you're safe in the building, we're going to provide safety for all of our students.' But in my heart, I don't know that that's true."
Sarasota district officials denied a reporter's request to visit a classroom. So Foreman and Jeremy Baldwin, who teaches government and economics at Booker High, agreed to meet early one morning before school started on a sidewalk outside the school.
"It's really frustrating being vocal about it out here, and then being in the classroom with the kids who need to get that acknowledgement and I have got to be sterile. I can't say anything to affirm them or support them," Baldwin said.
Last year, Baldwin was asked to remove a flag in his classroom that had rainbow colors and the word "co-exist." This year, he said the changes have been extensive.
"Everything that we teach in the classroom has to be documented. So from day one, I'm supposed to know what I'm going to do on the last day of school and be able to document every site I use, every text I use. And our classroom libraries are off the table, they're gone, because we have to have a media specialist -- who are not even employed in Sarasota — look at each and vet all of our materials and there's no one there to do it. So the books are basically all banned," said Baldwin
Some teaches have taken additional steps to keep students from accessing books in their classrooms, Foreman said.
"Some of us have covered our bookcases up with paper. I just told the kids it's off limits," she said. "I have tape up and they took it down yesterday. I went and got some police tape. So I'm going to put that up today."
(full article online)
The Stop Woke Act, Parental Rights in Education law, and new rules about curriculum transparency are changing school practices across the state.
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