Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to ban some books in Florida schools. Teachers report ‘fear’ and ‘confusion’ over the HB 1467 requirement that all books be pre-approved by a ‘media specialist’ at Florida’s Dept. of Education.

 

Unbelievably,  the new requirement means violations could be considered third-degree felonies.

This is not the first time DeSantis has tried to control what’s taught in schools. Just this week he rejected a new proposed AP African American studies program saying it imposed a “political agenda.” (Note to DeSantis: it’s called history.)

Teachers are being told they could box up their personal classroom libraries, cover them up or enter the books into the district’s cataloging system in order to check their approval and keep them on shelves.

“It’s unconscionable to me that teachers would be put in a position that their good deed of providing classroom libraries for their students in order to instill the love of reading could possibly result in a felony,” said Pat Barber, head of the teachers union.