Hey America, is everything okay down there? Y'all have some truly dystopian stuff going on there. Felony prosecution for showing kids books that the Governor didn't approve of? Yikes.
It’s Florida. And, no, things aren’t okay.
Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
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Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#42This is a remarkably crude and revanchist move from Republican politicians. It’s embarrassing but mostly bluster and spectacle. It won’t work, and there are already for more effective and sophisticated forms of media control wielded by their allies (See Jane Meyer’s Dark Money , or Messengers of the Right ). But at the end of the day it’s school-wars red meat for the rubes, and that’s good enough for De Santis.
> It’s embarrassing but mostly bluster and spectacle. It won’t work
What they are doing is plain FUD - fear, uncertainty and doubt. And hell yes it works. Vague laws absolutely work, just look at recent cases where women had to wait days for a life-saving abortion because of insanely vague laws, e.g. [1].
[1] https://abcnews.go.com/Health/idaho-woman-shares-19-day-misc...
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#43We live in a world of “sanctuary this” and “Do not comply with that” and “I will not enforce the other”. In other words, we live in a world where a nontrivial percentage of the population, especially many in influential positions, have decided that they don’t need to obey laws they disagree with. How else are you going to get people to comply with the law? Note that I am not asserting that any law is “good” or “bad”.…
The kinds of "using public sentiment" that actually get things often done tend to involve willfully and intentionally breaking the law, as wildcat strikers, civil rights marchers, and sit-in protestors can attest.
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#44When was the last time a kid said, gee, I'll read the books randomly lying around the classroom?
All the time. Source: was a kid, and know lots of teachers.
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#45In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. Prepare for “route around the damage” moment whe…
Classroom libraries are a big deal. Every step taken that makes a teacher's job riskier, less pleasant, or less like what they want to be doing (teaching kids, without having to worry about whether some plainly-positive action is legal), drives good teachers out of the profession.
What's the difference between a classroom library and the school library? I'm German, I've never heard of classroom libraries or anything similar in Germany. We have school libraries that provide the standard text books and most of the novels etc, but they're generally not walk-ins where you pick something to read.
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a bit harsh but I mean, all it boils down to is: Teachers shall teach the curriculum.
That is weird. I guess we can agree to that principle but do we need to be draconian about it? Do we need laws to make teachers focus on curriculum? Didn't you ever read a book that wasn't prescribed by the curriculum?
I wouldn’t have thought laws like this were needed, but then there are things like this:
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#47If anybody thinks this is a good idea, I'm looking forward to reading your opinions.
What would be the other end? At both extremes there is content that more centrist sides disapprove. Should either of the ends be allowed? Or should it swap around as either side gains power in politics?
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#48In Florida, school librarians are called "media specialists" and hold media specialist certificates. A rule passed by the Florida Department of Education last week states that a "library media center" includes any books made available to students, including in classrooms. This means that classroom libraries that are curated by teachers, not librarians, are now illegal. Prepare for “route around the damage” moment whe…
> Prepare for “route around the damage” moment where districts are going to start requiring teachers to get media specialist certified just to avoid the legal headache.
If the certificate is a prerequisite for all teachers to get jobs then they risk their employment if they're caught with the prohibited texts. So this would only result in teachers culling their libraries to avoid losing their job.
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#49Hey America, is everything okay down there? Y'all have some truly dystopian stuff going on there. Felony prosecution for showing kids books that the Governor didn't approve of? Yikes.
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Conflating Spain with events in another European country, as if the EU (of which Ukraine isn't even part of) were comparable to the United States, is ridiculous. You clearly have no grasp of history or geography, let alone modern politics.
Re: Unapproved books now a felony in Manatee County schools
#50 > If the book is available in the district libraries, that means it was approved by a media specialist and can be made available to students again. But any book not currently held in the district libraries must be individually evaluated and approved by a librarian.