Florida Education Chief Orders Schools to Preemptively Remove Books, Ties Compliance to Funding

The useful part

Florida Official Demands More School Book Bans ✕ Florida does not maintain a state-sanctioned book ban list because it is not part of the state's laws governing school and school library materials. Now, for the second year in a row, Florida's Commissioner of Education is demanding schools across the state ban more books. The directive, sent to every public school and charter in the state, threatens districts with compliance, lest they see the state Department of Education revoke funding and place more scrutiny on them.

How it works

• The letter, which can be read in full here, praises the work being done in Clay, Escambia, and Nassau County schools, where massive numbers of books have been banned.
• Districts must follow Florida law and State Board of Education rules by providing only materials that are age- and developmentally appropriate.
• Superintendents, library media specialists, and other personnel involved in the selection and maintenance of instructional and library materials must follow the laws and rules associated with this process.
• It outlines several steps, including following the Department of Education's own protocols, not accepting any donations, inventorying classroom libraries, and involving parents in the book removal review...
• Mack began his tenure in late June of this year, following the leave of former commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, who went to serve on the board of a state college.

What to take from it

The state keeps moving their targets because they're learning who is–and is not–willing to push back. That will be happening, whether or not any of it is documented–and indeed, it's likely little will be documented because the fear of being seen as complicit with right-wing political demands is as shameful as engaging with it in the first place. Last summer, the former Commissioner of Education and State Attorney General crafted a list of over 50 titles they believed all schools should remove.

Example or evidence

• Henry Mack, Florida's newest Commissioner of Education, sent a seven-page letter to all public school superintendents and charter school leaders on September 23.
• Bans in Clay County have been initiated almost entirely by one individual in the district–and it's a district that's questioned having school libraries at all.
• Unfortunately, parents continue to find a shocking amount of material that fails that test.
• Literary Activism News you can use plus tips and tools for the fight against censorship and other bookish activism!

Details worth keeping

Whatever it may be, it is unacceptable and must end. Sign Up By signing up you agree to our terms of use. Mack emphasizes that schools should be proactive assessing all of their materials and pushing them through the review process before a complaint is raised.

Related coverage

• Bookriot: Florida's Commissioner of Education demands schools remove thousands of books.
• Thenation: Katrina vanden Heuvel, John Nichols, The Nation The Florida Senate candidate responded to Republican book-banning schemes by opening a bookstore.
• Bookriot: Last week, a judge approved a lawsuit against Utah's state-sanctioned book bans. This week, the state banned seven more books.