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Jan 7 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
It was a long week in the “free” state’s censorship news. Did you catch it all?

We’ll repost the stories you need to know to fight censorship here in the thread below for you.

#FreeTheBooks #FReadom #DeSantisDestroysFlorida
Here is @JuddLegum story that reveals DeSantis’ lawyers have gotten away with arguing one thing in court so HB1557 is not infringing on constitutional rights while the FLDOE does what could otherwise be considered unconstitutional.
Over 20,000 titles have been banned from FL prison libraries. This number is unlike anything seen in any other state.

It’s almost as if the DeSantis Administration wants to discourage rehabilitation.
New data we received revealed 3,975 students are without school library check out access because their parents either haven’t turned in the form or they forgot to indicate their selection.

Less than 0.01% of students there have parent restrictions.
The Governor ignores the current court’s ruling and keeps up his attacks on higher Ed.

There were a few stories this week concerning higher Ed.
One of the nation’s largest universities (UCF) has censored its professors and its courses under threat of Gov. DeSantis and HB7.
DeSantis appointed Rufo in his further efforts to “eliminate political ideology” from public education. (Biggest eye roll ever).

cltampa.com/news/desantis-…
Now, this news was reported over the holiday break, but @DuvalSchools will have their first SB Meeting on Monday, so we are sharing again…

There were 70+ inclusive titles of the 179 Essential Voices books that leadership decided wouldn’t go to classroom shelves.
Also news out of Duval, the theater department also gets censored. Nevermind that it is a voluntary endeavor that requires parent support to participate.
Down to @PolkSchoolsNews where CCDF continues to delay over 34,000 books from making it onto the shelves in two new schools because they “have a right” to review and approve all the books.

theledger.com/story/news/edu…
Last - because we NEED you to take action - The proposed library training was released this week for public comment.

It promotes self-censorship & blurs the line between curriculum & library media (making way for HB7/HB1557 to impact libraries). Plus more…@FloridaMediaEd

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More from @FLFreedomRead

Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Jan 5
Thanks to the OG language of the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” and the scare tactics of the new legislation, students in Citrus Schools had to have a parent opted-in form completed to use the school library. ImageImage
We are waiting for the actual numbers, but we have heard reports from parents in the district that some teachers are not taking their classrooms to the media center at all because too many of the kids in the class still do not have forms turned in.
DeSantis’ signature education legislation has tailored education for the helicopter parents that want a say on whether or not they are given a bandaid. That’s not the average parent. We trust our schools will take care of the boo-boos and give them access to available resources.
Read 5 tweets
Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Jan 3
Since @EducationFL didn't include a transcript/cc, we are trying to upload the full training to YouTube with those features. This is a screen recording of the portion where they advise MS to consider if they would read the book aloud to determine appropriateness. @FloridaMediaEd
Here is that same slide on 12/19/22. The "indoctrination" was added AFTER the last meeting of the workgroup and was NEVER a discussion point of the group! This is the FLDOE trying to further confuse HB1557 and HB7 language into the library collection development process!
The narration intro to this slide is: "There is some overlap between the selection criteria for instructional & library materials. We will start this portion of the training with the areas where THERE IS OVERLAP..."

(1st bullet - library books by design are solicited reading) Slide from training includes Library Materials with the crit
Read 7 tweets
Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Jan 3
The narration is now available to hear for the MS training, and it IS concerning!

They added the argument that MS should consider if they would be comfortable reading the book aloud in a public meeting to determine whether it’s appropriate for self-selection in the library!
The difference between reading aloud to a general audience and self-selection is unsolicited vs. solicited reading/learning.

EVERYONE has a First Amendment right to choose for themselves what speech/ideas they can access to read on their own.
Having a government representative deny someone access to a book to read quietly to themselves because YOU (as the govt rep) would feel uncomfortable reading it aloud to a general audience of all ages is CENSORSHIP and not FREEDOM.
Read 5 tweets
Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Jan 2
Read 7 tweets
Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Dec 21, 2022
Earlier this month @diversebooks and @PENamerica helped to bring attention to books being withheld from shelves in @DuvalSchools. We now have an updated list of which titles are being exchanged for other books and won’t be in classrooms. Here are K-3 lists. @SouthernLegal Books include Julian is a M...Books include 10,000 Dresse...Books include When Aiden Be...
Here are the lists for grades 4 & 5.

Do you notice a theme to the books that our students in Duval won’t have access to in the classroom for SELF-SELECTED reading?

@ACLUFL @splcenter Books include Separate is N...Books include Color of My W...
These are the books being “held for review” until more guidance is given in the media specialist training or from an FLDOE memo.

Here are the K-3 lists of withheld for review books.

@splcenter @SouthernLegal @ACLUFL Books include My Two Moms a...Books include Family is a F...Books include Radiant Child...Books include Henry Aaron’s...
Read 4 tweets
Florida Freedom to Read Project Profile picture
Dec 19, 2022
Today in the middle of revealing his plan to get more conservative voices on the School Board, DeSantis said he plans to “prioritize increasing teacher pay and teacher recruitment.”

That’s a promise we’ve heard for years under Republican rule, and they have not delivered.
For those that would like to read more from this report, here is the source:

edlawcenter.org/assets/files/p…
Here is how DeSantis’ proclaimed “record” funding for education compares nationally per student.

The actual $ amount may have been a record number, but it was a smaller percentage of the revenue pot (meaning not properly adjusted for current economy). Florida is -$3,937 with the average funding of $11,509 - Sta
Read 5 tweets

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