• guojing@lemmy.ml
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    2 years ago

    In a message sent from the Manatee district to principals, the material must be “free of pornography” and “appropriate for the age level and group.”

    That sounds quite reasonable.

    There is no deadline or timeline as to when classroom books would need to be vetted by, he said.

    So basically these teachers are making a big drama out of nothing.

    • Arthur Besse@lemmy.mlOP
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      2 years ago

      That sounds quite reasonable.

      So basically these teachers are making a big drama out of nothing.

      I believe my summary in the title of this post is completely accurate, even if the manatee school district is not taking the law as seriously as their teachers are.

      Florida has literally moved their schools from a system which banned some books to one which bans all books by default until each book is individually approved.

      Here is another story about it.

      Here is the actual law.

      Here are some excerpts of the law:

      148       1. Each book made available to students through a school
      149  district library media center or included in a recommended or
      150  assigned school or grade-level reading list must be selected by
      151  a school district employee who holds a valid educational media
      152  specialist certificate, regardless of whether the book is
      153  purchased, donated, or otherwise made available to students.
      

      171       3. Each elementary school must publish on its website, in
      172  a searchable format prescribed by the department, a list of all
      173  materials maintained in the school library media center or
      174  required as part of a school or grade-level reading list.
      175      (e) Public participation.—Publish on its website, in a
      176  searchable format prescribed by the department, a list of all
      177  instructional materials, including those used to provide
      178  instruction required by s. 1003.42. Each district school board
      179  must:
      180       1.  Provide access to all materials, excluding teacher
      181  editions, in accordance with s. 1006.283(2)(b)8.a. before the
      182  district school board takes any official action on such
      183  materials. This process must include reasonable safeguards
      184  against the unauthorized use, reproduction, and distribution of
      185  instructional materials considered for adoption.
      186       2.  Select, approve, adopt, or purchase all materials as a
      187  separate line item on the agenda and must provide a reasonable
      188  opportunity for public comment. The use of materials described
      189  in this paragraph may not be selected, approved, or adopted as
      190  part of a consent agenda.
      

      So basically these teachers are making a big drama out of nothing.

      Reading the actual law, do you still think so?

      • guojing@lemmy.ml
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        2 years ago

        Yes, of course there need to be some restrictions for the books which are made available in schools. Or would you find it okay if a teacher added cryptofascist books to the school library? That might be hard to notice for people who are not familiar with the topic, so it makes sense to have an approval process.

        • tardigrada@beehaw.org
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          2 years ago

          There have been no problems so far with books available in schools. And even if there were such problems, the solution can’t be to ban all books by default, at least not in a free society. What comes next? Do parents have to ask the government what they are allowed to teach their children?

          Something like that opens the door to a paternalistic state where those in power decide what should be read and what is considered “wrong”.