TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Two major pieces of legislation pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the Florida Legislature have put public school teachers in the crosshairs of the Republican-waged culture wars and created confusion over just what they can teach in class, critics say.
Passed mostly along party lines by the GOP-controlled Legislature, the bills had not yet been sent to the governor’s office as of Friday. If signed into law as expected, they would restrict what teachers can say about sexual orientation, gender identity, racism and white privilege, as well as give parents more say on banning what they consider to be objectionable learning material.
But education leaders worry that the rhetoric around the measures makes teachers and school administrators out to be villains in an imaginary war for the hearts and minds of schoolchildren, even as sponsors describe them as focusing on parental freedom and educational transparency.
