Faced with pressure from parents empowered by the new state education law, the Miami-Dade County Board of Education opposes the adoption of two new textbooks next year, giving students sex education for the next few months. Does not give a curriculum.
The board voted 5 to 3 in April to adopt the textbook, a decision that supporters call parental rights measures in education, but opponents “don’t say gay.” The law.
The protest prompted a hearing in June. The district overseer appointed a hearing officer to hear the petitioner’s story. They rejected the petition and urged the school board to proceed with the adoption of textbooks. On Wednesday, the board voted 5-4 to disapprove of the new textbook.
The school board’s decision has been curriculum in Florida since Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in March prohibiting classroom instruction and discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in some elementary school grades. The latest developments in how is formed.
Wednesday’s vote wasn’t the first time the curriculum was rejected in Florida. In April, the state rejected 42 of 132 math textbooks for use in public schools because of “banned topics.”
The textbook in question on Wednesday—the middle and high school edition of “Comprehensive Health Skills” — covers topics such as pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted diseases, and understanding sexuality. The book also covers drugs and alcohol, stress management and relationships.
Carla Hernandez Mats, president of Dade’s United Teachers, said in a statement Wednesday that she was disappointed to see the board overturn the decision from April, saying “voices of radicals on the political agenda.” He added that which student should not be decided. learning.
“We are worried about the ongoing attempts by radical groups to censor books,” she said. “Our teachers are parents’ partners and we believe we need to allow children to opt out of offensive content. We have parents’ voices and other children Not respect the choices they make for their children. “
Alex Serrano, director of the Miami-Dade branch of freedom advocates, spoke at a meeting against the adoption of textbooks. That’s because the material can violate Florida law.
“Most of the content isn’t age-appropriate, violates parental rights, is scientifically inaccurate, and isn’t true,” says Serrano.
The hours of the school board meeting on Wednesday were sometimes tense. At one point, a woman was accompanied by a police officer, and at another point, members of the school board demanded a five-minute break after drawing a few ridicule from attendees.
After the recess, Vice-Chair Steve Garon III said 38 of the more than 40 people who spoke at the conference were in favor of the new textbook.
“That’s 90 percent of the speakers we talked about today — you do math,” Gallon said. “For me, that data provides a greater opportunity to condemn and condemn this story that there is such widespread opposition to the adoption of these materials by the board.”
Marika Lynch, the three mothers, spoke at a meeting in favor of adopting the textbook, saying “the stakes are really too high.”
“We want our children to be ready when the time comes,” Lynch said. “Would you like this information to be provided by a teacher trained to do this in an age-appropriate way, or would you like to get the information over the phone?”
Kahlil Sankara, who attended Miami-Dade Public School before graduating from Florida International University, said at a conference that he had never had sex education while he was growing up. Sankara said he has friends in the HIV-infected area, while other friends have babies in middle school or high school.
“I think the results were harmful to me and my community,” Sankara said. “It did nothing but instill fear and lack of proper knowledge in us.”
Florida law requires approval of reproductive health materials to be available for public reviews and comments, so Lourdes Diaz, Chief Academic Officer at Miami-Dade Public School, approves the new materials. He said it would take some time before it was done. Students without that curriculum so far.