Florida is proceeding with a revised training program for local public school officials who police classroom and library bookshelves. The revised program includes changed language that free speech groups claimed misinterpreted state law, resulting in needless book removal.
This week, before the State Board of Education voted in approval, K-12 Chancellor Paul Burns stated their desire to provide clarifying language based on feedback from stakeholders.
This vote followed over six months of inquiries and concerns from these organizations and others, prompted by the October memorandum of the Florida Department of Education telling school administrators to pull out any book containing sexual conduct due to a law approved by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Advocates such as Stephana Ferrell, the Florida Freedom to Read Project's co-founder and director of research and insight, praised the state for its decision but pointed out that some problems with the training remain that may lead to the unnecessary removal of books.
Ferrell was also disappointed with the delay in implementing the change, citing that they did not take action until the First Amendment watchdog organization Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) brought up the possibility of litigation.
FIRE said that Florida's guidelines disregarded a carveout that required the removal of any works with sexual content for any grade level or age group for which such use is inappropriate or unsuitable, which is an elevated evaluation expectation. FIRE added that the clause was only intended for book challenges, not to demand the proactive removal of other books.
A week before the vote, FIRE added its voice to the opposition after learning that the original proposed training contained language similar to the memorandum. In Florida law, sexual conduct refers to a wide range of sexual actions. FIRE wrote in a news release that some books referencing sex, such as classic literature, may be suitable for an 18-year-old high school senior but not to a 10-year-old child in the fourth grade.
This resulted in the revision of the proposal to clarify the difference. The Florida Freedom to Read Project posted a statement on social media, "We appreciate the adoption of the last minute amendment that resolves the confusing language and advises districts to conduct a thorough review of materials rather than permanently removing based on a single excerpt." The organization has been among the most vocal opponents of the state's recommendations and the law.
The issue with the training revision involved more than its contents. The Florida Department of Education formed a workshop group, half of which were members of Moms for Liberty, the most vocal opponents of public school book confiscation.
Advocates who are fighting for book access expressed disapproval of this decision, which showed the state's eagerness to appease the conservative group that has long backed Gov. DeSantis.
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According to Ferrell, the training clarified that policies aimed at controlling instructional materials do not apply to library books. For instance, some counties have pulled out LGBTQ-related titles because of a rule that limits teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools. However, to eliminate all possibility of confusion or conflation and remove irrelevant section in the training, she suggested that the state remove slides on instructional materials entirely.
Furthermore, the revised training refers to legislation from 2024 that DeSantis requested and passed, which restricts the number of books someone not a student's parent or guardian may challenge. The Florida Education Association's president, Andrew Spar, stated that while he was grateful for some adjustments, the training materials were the only cause of confusion.
On May 29, Spar informed the State Board of Education that when the training was first implemented, he listened to many media specialists around the state with concerns about the presentation and the contents being discussed in those training meetings. Hence, he encouraged everyone to come out of school to work with them to make sure that the law's intent was communicated without any confusion.
Aaron Terr, FIRE's director of public advocacy, said that this change is a win for Florida's students in an emailed statement. He also said the change should help stop the excessive censorship in Florida school libraries. Many of these libraries have removed hundreds of classic and contemporary books without evaluating their suitability for students.
According to Burns, changes improve the learning environment by ensuring we always have excellent materials. The verified training, however, continued to cause concerns for the Florida Freedom to Read Project, taking issue with a slide that advised teachers to "err on the side of caution" when removing books from classrooms.
In a follow-up phone interview, Ferrell stated that she still does not think the training presentation slides, which reference earlier criminal legislation prohibiting the dissemination of harmful materials to minors and warning of crimes if violated, provide enough context. Any book that meets the high threshold for that standard cannot be sold to a minor in a bookstore.
However, when the original version of the training was introduced in 2023, those references confused and scared teachers, which led to an increase in the removal of books from classrooms and school libraries.
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