Parental Rights in Education Requires district school boards to adopt procedures that comport with certain provisions of law for notifying student's parent of specified information requires such procedures to reinforce fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing & control of their children prohibits school district from adopting procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from notifying parent about specified information or that encourage student to withhold from parent such information prohibits school district personnel from discouraging or prohibiting parental notification & involvement in critical decisions affecting student's mental, emotional, or physical well-being prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels requires school districts to notify parents of healthcare services authorizes parent to bring action against school district to obtain declaratory judgment provides for additional award of injunctive relief, damages, & reasonable attorney fees & court costs to certain parents. Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write.Glossary of Legislative Terms CS/CS/HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education “They won’t tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. “We’ve seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, ‘Oh, don’t worry, don’t pick your gender yet,’” DeSantis said at a news conference in Miami on Monday. When asked about his thoughts on the legislation Monday, the Republican governor said the bills made sense. Ron DeSantis support the bills?ĭeSantis has been a supporter of the movement to allow parents to assert more control over their children’s schools, and this bill is no exception. “The chilling effect is real,” Smith said. There is no developmentally inappropriate curriculum about sexual orientation or gender identity being taught to young kids, she contended.Ībsent that, the bill will succeed only in stopping teachers from having honest conversations with students, she said. Nadine Smith, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Florida, which opposes the bills, said the measures attempt to solve a nonexistent problem. “That sentence in the bill seems to have two different standards,” Smith said. To Smith, that could mean restrictions even in classrooms with older kids. If interpreted broadly, the section wouldn’t just apply to primary school students, it would apply to any policies that are not “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate,” he said. Bob Chapek’s silence on the Florida bill sparked outrage from LGBTQ advocacy groups. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, one of the few openly gay members of the Florida Legislature, noted the relevant section comes with an important conjunction: or. Disney CEO Bob Chapek broke his silence about Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill. “This bill is neither clear nor specific.” Parents and Teachers in Florida Debate So-Called Don’t Say Gay Bill March 20, 202202:30 The bill has even prompted President Joe Biden who has seldom weighed in on the recent slate of state. “When I write my lesson plans as per the Florida Department of Education, they must be clear and specific,” said Myndee Washington, a Pasco County teacher who testified at Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing. However, critics have argued that whatever the intentions of its authors, the bills’ language is vague. In an interview Monday, Baxley noted the bill singles out “primary grade levels” - instruction for young kids. Children and students ask a lot of questions.” “Conversations are going to happen,” Harding said at a House committee meeting in January where lawmakers voted to move the bill forward. Joe Harding, R-Williston, say the measure is meant to stop schools from creating curricula geared toward educating young children about gender or sexual orientation before they are mature enough to handle it.Ĭlassroom presentations, school clubs and other less formal discussions between students and teachers involving gender or sexuality would be allowed under the bill, they say. This is by far the major sticking point in the legislation. What does it mean for a district to not “encourage classroom discussion” about gender identity? The Deep Dishonesty of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Disney employees protest against Florida's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill in Glendale, Calif., March 22, 2022.
As of Tuesday, the bills had cleared one committee in the House and one in the Senate.