February 6, 2023

Florida teachers face prison if they have the wrong books in their classroom

 Washington Post -   School officials in at least two [Florida] counties, Manatee and Duval, have directed teachers  to remove or wrap up their classroom libraries, according to records obtained by The Washington Post. The removals come in response to fresh guidance issued by the Florida Department of Education in mid-January, after the State Board of Education ruled that a law restricting the books a district may possess applies not only to schoolwide libraries but to teachers’ classroom collections, too. . . .The new law comes atop an older one that makes distributing “harmful materials” to minors, including obscene and pornographic materials, a third-degree felony — meaning that a teacher could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, a spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Education said.. . . School officials have warned teachers that their classroom libraries may expose them to the stiffest punishments.

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