Staff Reports
In Florida, Republicans and Governor Ron DeSantis have changed a law about challenging school books because they say it is causing problems. Democrats had warned them this would happen but they didn’t listen. The law used to let anyone – even if they aren’t a parent or live in the school district – challenge books as much as they want. This led to a lot of books being taken off the shelves. Now, the law limits people who don’t have kids in the school district to only one challenge each month.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has acknowledged that a law he enacted two years ago making it easier for people to challenge books in schools and libraries has caused problems for school districts. https://t.co/yd7OePloKL
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) April 17, 2024
Governor DeSantis says liberal activists are misusing the law, but a group called PEN America says that’s not true. They say most of the challenges are being made by conservative people and groups. The challenges are often about books that talk about LGBTQ+ identities, characters of color, race, and racism, and sexual experiences. The law change hopes to stop people who don’t have kids in the district from making a lot of challenges.
This law change happened because Florida is responsible for most of the book bans in the whole country this school year. One person in a conservative area of Florida even challenged 40 books in just one week. Some people are saying this is a big mess that DeSantis made and he’s trying to get away from it now that there are problems. This isn’t the only time he’s had to change ideas he used to talk about a lot while running for a big political job.
An example that Governor DeSantis’ office gave is about a person who challenged books in several school districts over things like the Bible, dictionaries, and thesauruses. The person, Chaz Stevens, is happy that he was mentioned and says he just wants to make society better. He also jokes that he’s an idiot but a smart guy at the same time.
People who warned DeSantis about this law say that challenging books too much is the problem, not the specific people who are challenging them. They think the law was too vague and it’s causing problems.
