By
Jeffrey S. Solochek Times staff
Published Feb. 16
Our Florida schools are struggling with all this divisiveness… Governor DeSantis has been using our precious children for his political aspirations…
Leave our schools alone!!...
We must vote him out in 2026…But we do have an opportunity to reelect President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris this year!!
Orange County School Board Member Alicia Farrant joins Gov. Ron DeSantis in Orlando for a news conference discussing book challenges in Florida schools. DeSantis called for reforms to the process, saying “bad actors” have hijacked the system….
The big story: Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida is not banning school books.
He does have a problem, though, with activists he says are advancing a narrative that it’s happening. During a Thursday news conference, DeSantis criticized community residents who “object to every book under the sun,” along with educators who remove numerous titles from circulation and then blame the state law.
Books with graphic sex do not belong in schools, he said. But that doesn’t mean getting rid of classics just because sex is mentioned, DeSantis continued, suggesting that taking such actions is not in students’ best interest.
“If people are abusing the process to try to muddy the waters, then I think we need to have some reforms,” he said.
Floridians who have been filing book challenges, and those who have opposed many of them, said a better written law could help resolve the issue. Read more here.
One Orange County School Board member framed the book challenge debate as a battle between good and evil, Florida Politics reports.
Also at the news conference, DeSantis and education commissioner Manny Diaz blasted a Miami-Dade County school for seeking parent permission to let children attend a Black History Month speech. The issue, Diaz said, was much the same — misinterpretation of state law to perpetuate a false narrative, the Miami Herald reports.
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 