Victoria Spagnuolo ‘25
In late January, some Florida students arrived at school to find their classroom bookshelves vacant or completely covered, hidden under a sheet of paper.
Last April, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Stop W.O.K.E.” act, prohibiting schools from discussing discrimination and privilege based on race, LGBTQ+ issues, oppression, economic inequity, or whether someone "bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress" because of the racial history in the U.S. The title of W.O.K.E. in the bill stands for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”
Over 1 million books in Duval County schools in Florida are subject to review due to three state laws.:
House Bill 1557: “Parental Rights in Education Act,” also known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law — prohibits any in-school discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 classrooms.
House Bill 7: The “Stop W.O.K.E.” Act — prohibits the teaching of lessons regarding topics that may make someone feel guilty or uncomfortable in relation to their racial or sexual identity.
House Bill 1467, which took effect in July – requires schools’ book collections to be age-appropriate — specifically having no signs of pornography or content that is considered harmful to minors.
These three laws have led schools to remove many “controversial” books from their shelves. In October, the Florida Board of Education passed new rules indicating that teachers who are found violating HB 1557 or HB 7 could have their teaching certificates revoked. Fear of violating the laws and losing their job over some books has led many teachers to ban any book that comes even slightly close to the laws.
“It’s a bleak situation in parts of Florida. We’ve got teachers teaching on eggshells, in classrooms with no books,” said Jonathan Friedman, PEN America’s director of Free Expression and Education programs.
When books were taken away at one school, “the kids began crying and writing letters to the principal, saying, ‘Please don’t take my books, please don’t do this,’” a board member of the Florida Association for Media in Education told the Washington Post.
These bans are not improving students’ learning experience, just the opposite. Banning books regarding the uncomfortable truths that many people experience in terms of their racial, ethnic, and/or sexual identity, especially in our current society, does not make them not exist. Getting rid of books does not erase history, it is only causing us to go backwards.
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