Erin Brown, a teacher in St. Johns County, Florida, usually has a gay pride flag in her classroom. High School Gay Straight Her Alliance As a staff sponsor for her club, she wants her students to know they are safe with her.
But this year, Brown found himself quietly repurposing the flag.
It is no longer on full display, but rather hangs as a “rainbow backdrop” partially hidden between posters, photos, calendars, and other trinkets on the class bulletin board.
The change reflects the fear, uncertainty, and fear that many educators in Florida are feeling this year as new laws come into force that limit education on gender identity, sexual orientation, and race, and expand oversight of books. It is a symbol of confusion.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has championed the law, said public schools should focus on teaching leading academics rather than promoting liberal ideologies, and parents have the right to know what is being taught in the classroom. It claims that there is
“Our school system is meant to educate our children, not to indoctrinate them,” he said last month, a parent group that has become a powerful force in school politics. I spoke at my mother’s conference.
This change has significant stakes for school districts, who could be sued for violations of laws focused on LGBTQ identity. Within the first few weeks of school, teachers in some parts of the state removed stickers indicating they support LGBTQ students, checked every book on the classroom shelf, and in at least one case, I was asked to remove the rainbow paper from the classroom. Post-decoration classroom doors sparked complaints from parents, according to interviews with teachers, union officials, and gay rights advocates across Florida.
Mr. Brown said of the new law, “I feel unsafe.” She said that, like other educators, she made mistakes carefully this year, so she rearranged her flag with pride.
Across the country this year, state legislatures introduced at least 137 bills seeking to limit education on topics such as race, gender, LGBTQ issues and American history, according to a report by the free speech group PEN America, and last year. Bills that focused overwhelmingly on K-12 schools and were almost exclusively sponsored by Republican lawmakers most commonly addressed race. The number of bills awarded has increased, up from five last year to 23, according to a PEN America study.
“The second front of public education is open,” said Jeremy C. Young, lead author of the report, which identified seven bills enacted, including two in Florida. “I denounce public education for indoctrinating students on the basis of race, and I make the same accusations of indoctrinating them with LGBTQ propaganda.”
About being transgender in America
Nowhere is it more visible than Florida. In Florida, Governor DeSantis made issues surrounding gender identity and race education central to his platform, denouncing parental oversight in education during his re-election campaign, and some political commentators. I’m theorizing. , running for president in 2024.
Such policies have gained support in battleground states, with a majority of Mr. DeSantis’ backed candidates on the Florida Board of Education winning elections this week, according to at least one recent poll.
His office did not respond to a request for comment.
One of Florida’s new laws, the Child Custody in Education Act, bans education on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade, while education in the higher grades is age-appropriate. says it must. Dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics, the law allows changes in student services, such as when a transgender or nonbinary student wants to use new restroom or locker facilities, or is about to change his or her name. Schools are also required to notify parents about Pronouns at school.
Another law, known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” restricts education about race and racism. This includes prohibiting instruction that makes students feel responsible, guilty or distressed for what other members of their race have done in the past.
Not all teachers are vigilant.
Some people believe that their job is clear. Teaching literacy and math, not race or sexuality. Additionally, some say that some controversial concepts were never part of the curriculum in the first place.
“No difference at all,” predicts Scott Davey, a seventh-grade civics teacher in the Tampa Bay area. He teaches state outlined curricula with a focus on government, including the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. “We teach benchmarks,” he said. “That’s enough to keep us busy.”
But others described the feeling of trying to thread a political needle. For example, the law stipulates that teachers cannot make students believe that they are innately privileged or oppressed by their race.
“I never used the word oppression in my classroom,” said Renell Augustine, who teaches African-American history at a high school in Davy, Florida.
He said he presents historical facts and allows students to draw their own conclusions.
Still, he said, “It’s really hard to think that reading all that history, looking at all these circumstances, presenting all this evidence, and coming to the conclusion that these children have some kind of oppression.” difficult.
Perhaps most complicated, according to teachers, students sometimes bring up race, gender identity, and politics on their own. Thinking about whether Scout, the tomboy character in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” isn’t transgender, or entering illegally during a citizenship class.
Rebecca McDermott, who teaches a gifted class for elementary school students in Duval County, heard her students use the word “gay” to insult each other. I asked him to ponder what the term meant.
“There was a lot they didn’t know,” said McDermott, who is gay and has two children with his wife. “It’s just what they’ve heard.”
Now she wonders if it’s best to avoid. She’s been practicing in her head this year what she might say. we are here to learn. Let’s move on. “
State officials say the Parents’ Rights in Education Act limits education about sexual orientation and gender identity, rather than just discussion.
In response to lawsuits challenging the law, state officials said gay teachers could display family photos, employees could intervene against bullying based on gender and sexuality, and schools could He said he could host clubs for LGBTQ students. do not have.
Still, the law has left some educators wondering. Where does discussion end and where does guidance begin?
“Because the goal was a chilling effect, it was always vague and written to wipe out that effect,” said senior political director of Equality Florida, the LGBTQ advocacy group suing Florida. said Joe Saunders, who is
The Florida Department of Education declined to comment, citing pending lawsuits.
Students also wonder what is allowed. Her sophomore Adrianna Gutierrez, 15, of Hialeah, Florida, is a lesbian and said she was overwhelmed when she first heard about the law. “Oh my god, I wouldn’t be able to express who I am,” she said.
She later found out that she could, in fact, talk about her identity at school.
Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County Board of Education member who recently won re-election with Mr. DeSantis’ endorsement, said the law was “completely misrepresented as a catchphrase I forbid you to say.” .to give more air.
Ziegler, whose husband is the vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party, has disputed reports that school officials must notify parents when a student comes out as gay, saying that this would impose restrictions on children’s education services. Said it doesn’t matter. But if you want to change your name in school paperwork, for example because of your gender identity, “that’s another story.”
“Parents should be involved, not cut out,” she said.
For Cheryl Posey, a school psychologist in the Orlando area, the new requirements pose a “great ethical challenge.”
When students confide in her about their gender identity and sexuality, she said it’s her habit to ask if there’s someone at home she can talk to safely.
“I want to work with my parents,” she said. However, if the student is not ready to come out, the student will be bound by professional ethics that require confidentiality unless the student poses a danger to himself or others.
She is unsure of what she will do if a student needs to be kicked out. (The law allows school districts to withhold information that could lead to abuse, abandonment, or neglect.)
“Honestly, I’m really at a loss,” said Posey. “I feel like I’m trying to walk a tightrope between law and ethics.”
Even classics like “The Great Gatsby” are taking on new meaning this year as politics looms over the classroom.
“Gatsby is the futility of the American dream,” said Kathryn Clark, a St. Johns County English teacher who teaches the novel each year. “If I talk about the futility of the American Dream, is that brainwashing them? Am I selling them on this anti-American ideology?”
“We are all nervous,” she said.
Patricia Mazzey contributed to the report. Kirsten Noyce Contributed to research.