Reading Books by Black Authors to Kids? Only if Parents Say OK
Florida, it seems, is at it again.
Some parents in the Sunshine State are outraged that their childrens school is asking them to sign permission slips allowing a book by a Black author to be read to their kids.
I had to give permission for this or else my child would not participate??? parent Charles Walter, wrote on Feb. 13 on X, formerly known as Twitter. Attached to the post: a Miami-Dade County Public Schools permission slip.
I had to give permission for this or else my child would not participate??? he wrote.
The activity is described on the form as a read aloud from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the library on Feb. 13. Next to types of guest that may attend the activity or event, it reads: fireman/doctor/artist.
As one commenter responded to Walters post, By an African-American is the strangest choice of phrasing that could possibly be used here. Why not use the authors/readers name or the books title or give context on the books subject matter? ANYTHING normal.
The Fundamental Rights of Parents
The permission slip, sent home earlier this week by Coral Way K-8 Bilingual School in Miami, was designed to comply with the guidelines of Floridas Parental Rights in Education Law.
The law, which went into effect in July 2022, requires district school boards to notify a students parent of specified information that reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing & control of their children.
And this isnt the first time a school has put Blackness on a permission slip. The Coral Way controversy comes a week after iPrep Academy, also part of Miami-Dade schools, sent home a permission slip about students participating in class and school wide presentations showcasing the achievements and recognizing the rich and diverse traditions, histories, and innumerable contributions of the Black communities.
After news of Coral Ways permission slip went viral on social media on Tuesday, Education officials backpedaled.
This is a hoax, Manny Diaz, the states education commissioner, wrote on X. Florida does not require a permission slip to teach African American history or to celebrate Black History Month. Any school that does this is completely in the wrong.
Officials from the Miami-Dade school district, however, said the district was merely trying to comply with the law.
We realize that the description of the event may have caused confusion, and we are working with our schools to reemphasize the importance of clarity for parents for activities they believe require permission, the district said in a statement. In compliance with the law, the permission slips were sent home because guest speakers would participate during a school-authorized education-related activity.
A Broader Attack on Public Education
At a roundtable event on Tuesday in Washington D.C., U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, a former teacher and school administrator, said the diversity backlash happening in the nations schools is aimed at dividing schools, similar to disputes over COVID-19 masks and critical race theory.
I do believe there are very deliberate attempts to attack public education so that a private voucher option sounds better, Cardona said.
And Cardona specifically called out attacks on Black history and authors.
Black curriculum. Books that promote the beauty of diversity and how this country was founded. Attacks on accurate facts of history. Ive never seen that, Cardona said. To me, thats an attempt to create division in education so that you can try to sell a better option. Im confident that our parents and our educators and our students can see through that.
Cardona suggested that instead of Florida officials focusing on banning books, they should start thinking about banning assault weapons.
Local School Boards Matter
The controversy over the permission slip also puts the role of school boards in the spotlight. In an increasingly politicized landscape, school boards have evolved from independent bodies primarily concerned with student achievement to front-line representatives for their states political establishment. Experts say school boards, which are usually elected by the public and decide which textbooks will be adopted, a districts curriculum, teacher pay, and more, can be packed with people beholden to a specific agenda in this case, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis anti-woke agenda.
At a Miami-Dade County Public Schools school board meeting last week that was posted online, board member Steve Gallon III expressed his concern about whether the permission slip policy is being implemented fairly and if a teacher would be required to obtain permission from parents for other historical lessons, like having a Holocaust survivor speak.
I dont want this to be a narrative that is restricted to Black history and African American history, Gallon said.
As one X user wrote, replacing school boards with DeSantis clones, it wont be long before everyone thinks the same way.
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Officials from the Miami-Dade school district, however, said the district was merely trying to comply with the law.
We realize that the description of the event may have caused confusion, and we are working with our schools to reemphasize the importance of clarity for parents for activities they believe require permission, the district said in a statement. In compliance with the law, the permission slips were sent home because guest speakers would participate during a school-authorized education-related activity.