| Florida's Legislature dove headlong into the culture wars during its first two weeks of session, with schools at the forefront. Discussion was animated and passionate as lawmakers and members of the public addressed issues including race, gender identity and parental rights and responsibilities. The conversation laid clear one essential fact: Not everyone shares the same views on the purpose of public education.
— Jeffrey S. Solochek, jsolochek@tampabay.com |
| Are schools for textbook knowledge only? Or should they offer more? |
| If the past five years offer any insights, one would be that Florida has come to expect more from schools than ever before. Consider the things they've been asked to do to protect their students and classrooms since the 2018 shooting in Parkland, the mental health services they're expected to provide, and the new areas of instruction — such as lessons on child trafficking — they're to add to the curriculum.
Yet to hear the lawmakers pushing for more parental authority over schools, one could be forgiven for concluding that the non-academic side of the equation has become an unwanted interference to many. Consider this interchange between Republican state Rep. Randy Fine, a frequent critic of what he calls "government schools," and LGBTQ advocate Jon Harris Maurer of Equality Florida, from Thursday's review of HB 1557. That's a bill labeled Parental Rights, and it includes a provision barring elementary school discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation. Maurer urged the House Education Committee to remove the provision, suggesting schools should be open to conversations about all people. Fine — the House PreK-12 Appropriations chairman — asked why those discussions shouldn't be left to parents at home. "The purpose of the school system is to educate our young folks," Maurer responded. "And they should be able to learn about all topics, all sorts of people, the folks who are in their classes and their families. This should be an acceptable topic, just like any other issue — race, religion, national origin. Why would we single out sexual orientation and gender identity and say, no, that's something that young people can't learn about?" A bit later, the Rev. Russell Meyer reminded lawmakers that many youths who have come out as LGBTQ to their parents have been thrown out. Not every child has open-minded families who welcome the discussions Fine suggested, Meyer said. "If our schools are going to be safe and going to be able to help all of our children in a highly diverse society — and we are highly diverse — we have to have a way to speak about things age appropriately without any kind of suppression," he said. To them, the schools represented much more than textbook learning. To many on the committee, which passed the measure 15-5, the social needs came in a distant second. Fine, who didn't sponsor the bill but led the push, called the debate "very easy." |
| "Do you think government ought to be in charge? Or do you think parents should be in charge?" he said. "These discussions should be happening at home. When you talk about what we're going to teach in schools, and what schools should be focused on, I want you to know what we're not focusing on when we're talking about this." He referred to the state's Algebra I end-of-course exam, a high school graduation requirement, and said that less than half of test takers passed in the spring. (State records show 49 percent scored a Level 3 or above.) "I can have discussions about sexuality with my kids at home, and I'm lucky I can have a discussion about algebra with my son at home," Fine said. "But a lot of parents can't do the latter, so we need schools to be focused on teaching kids what only schools can do, and leave this stuff up to the parents." Lawmakers have taken a similar stance in pressing for limitations on lessons about race in society and history. They argued that schools have no business telling students what to think about things like slavery and civil rights, and should be sticking to the facts only. Advocates for allowing the full discussion to take place on race raised fears that the Black experience, like the LGBTQ view, could be excised from the schools. They worried that schools designed to serve everyone, for the public good, might become a place that favors one set of views over another. The debate over what Florida's public schools are supposed to be, and for whom, looks likely to intensify in the coming weeks as these bills and others advance. Just listen for the term parents' rights, and tune in. |
| TAMPA BAY EDUCATION ROUNDUP |
| [DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times] |
| Several Florida schools have stopped contact tracing. Some Pasco County students want the practice to resume, saying its absence has created confusion and chaos. Many students and staff have missed school because of COVID. Hillsborough County district leaders called on the state to again waive the consequences of spring test results, saying the absences have caused too many missed lessons.
A federal judge put a hold on the University of Florida's conflict of interest policy. Judge Mark Walker, a UF graduate, blasted the university for its unwillingness to protect faculty members' free speech.
The Governor's Office is reviewing actions by its Department of Education. Lawmakers raised questions about the department's handing of a bid for services to the Jefferson County school district. Stay on top of regional and state education issues. Visit the Tampa Bay Times online for the latest news. |
