News
From Florida Citizens Alliance
The Florida Citizens Alliance (FLCA) achieved a victory at the recent State Board of Education meeting on June 4th when the Superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools was summoned by the Board to speak on why his schools were continuing to hold books identified as obscene by the Florida Department of Education on their libraries’ shelves. The Superintendent stated he had removed 6 obscene books from his schools’ shelves, and shared that another 50+ books are being reviewed by his district that are also on the DOE’s list of obscene books.
When asked by the Board to read an excerpt of one of the 50+ books aloud at the meeting, the Superintendent stated that he could not read it publicly. The State Board of Education asked him many questions about why the books were on the shelves in the first place. The Commissioner of Education also stated that the responsibility for the books staying and being removed is the Superintendent’s, and that the Superintendent could remove the rest of the 50+ books at any time.
These 50+ books and the 6 removed came to light due to our work this past legislative session with HB 1539, which failed to be taken up on the Senate side. This exchange at the State Board of Education legitimizes and shows the need for Florida to pass legislation that removes the loophole that Hillsborough County has used to keep these very books on the shelves. This issue extends to more than just Hillsborough County, and we have identified this loophole being used in several counties across Florida.
Thanks to Deb Boelkes, We the People
