Thread by @JuddLegum

1. Florida teachers are being told to remove all books from their classroom libraries OR FACE FELONY PROSECUTION

The new policy is based on the premise that teachers are using books to "groom" students or indoctrinate them with leftist ideologies.

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popular.info/p/florida-teac…

2. Officials from the Manatee County School District confirmed the new policy to popular.info.

The policy was communicated to principals in a meeting last Wednesday.

Teachers are in the process of being informed now.

3. Teachers in Manatee County lamented the news on social media. "My heart is broken for Florida students today as I am forced to pack up my classroom library," one Manatee teacher wrote on Facebook.

4. Another Manatee teacher called the directive "a travesty to education" that interfered with efforts to "connect with books and develop [a] love of lifelong learning."

5. The new policy in Manatee, which is likely to be duplicated across Florida, was issued in response to HB 1467, which was signed into law by DeSantis last March.

That law established that teachers could not be trusted to select books appropriate for their students.

6. Instead, all books in libraries or used in classroom instruction must be selected by a "media specialist" (aka, a librarian).

This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal.

popular.info/p/florida-teac…

7. The Manatee County School District is mandating that teachers make their classroom libraries inaccessible until they can establish that each book is approved by a librarian

Some teachers packed up their classroom libraries. Others covered up the books with construction paper

8. Restoring student access to classroom libraries is a complex process. First, someone must cross-check each book in their classroom library with the district library catalog

Any book not currently held in the district libraries must be evaluated and approved by a librarian

9. And that's just the beginning. Materials prepared for an upcoming Manatee County School Board meeting include a 21-point list of procedures to ensure that classroom libraries comply with the new rules.

10. As a result, one Manatee teacher reported being forced to take Sneezy the Snowman and Dragons Love Tacos off the shelves pending review. Other teachers, fearing criminal liability, are telling students not to bring in "unvetted" books from home.

11. Librarians in Manatee County are now expected to review thousands of books in classroom libraries to ensure compliance with the new law. Any mistake could result in criminal charges. Manatee has 64 public schools and 3,000 teachers, many of whom maintain classroom libraries.

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13. The librarian's review of classroom books must also be consistent with a complex training, which was heavily influenced by right-wing groups like Moms For Liberty and approved by the Florida Department of Education just last week.

14. Popular Information asked Manatee Schools Chief of Staff Kevin Chapman if librarians & teachers were expected to remove books that violated the Parental Rights In Education Act, known as "Don't Say Gay" or the Stop WOKE Act, which limits classroom discussion of racial issues

15. Chapman did not answer the question, saying only that librarians are expected to apply the training issued by the Florida Department of Education last week.

That training, Chapman says, includes "new definitions of inappropriate material."

16. "Don't Say Gay" prohibits all instruction on "sexual orientation or gender identity" in K-3 classrooms and instruction in other grades that is "not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate." But the law applies only to "[c]lassroom instruction" — not library books.

17. The Stop WOKE Act is also limited to classroom instruction.

The teacher training approved by the Florida Department of Education, however, does not inform librarians that "Don't Say Gay" and "Stop WOKE" do not apply to library books.

18. Rather, librarians are told: "There is some overlap between the selection criteria for instructional and library materials." One slide says that library books and instructional materials cannot include "unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination."

19. A subsequent slide provides a list of "unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination," which includes information about "sexual orientation or gender identity." It also includes a variety of topics related to race.

20. The training instructs librarians to "err on the side of caution."

As Popular Information reported earlier this month, Manatee County schools have already removed several books from school libraries because they contain LGBTQ characters or themes.

popular.info/p/dont-say-gay…

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