– I don’t know how we ended up in a situation where politics can be so cruel that books are taken from students and everyone just thinks it’s normal, Brian Covey says sadly as we drive past his former workplace.
At the beginning of the year, Covey taught mathematics to middle schoolers as a permanent substitute, but now he is unemployed.
In late January, hundreds of Florida schools emptied their bookshelves in panic. The schools did not want to get into trouble when the new political rules governing school literature were about to come into effect.
According to them, the school’s media specialist must go through all the books available to the children and check whether they comply with the rules of the Ministry of Education.
When Covey’s school library was emptied, he shot a video of it and shared it on Twitter. The video spread like wildfire, and in the end, the journalist asked the governor of Florida for a comment on the video at a press conference. Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that the video gives a false impression.
Shortly after the press conference, Covey’s employer announced that his employment had been terminated.
Covey had found himself at the center of a political battle that was shaking all of Florida. Its main character is the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, who is running an unofficial presidential campaign at the expense of school children.
The Republican star politician wants to prevent “school indoctrination”
DeSantis is a star Republican politician who has garnered attention for political campaigns focused on schools and children.
DeSantis has pushed through several laws that he says oppose the “indoctrination that happens in schools” of children.
For example, DeSantis has enacted the “Parental Rights in Education” bill package and the “Stop Woke” bill, which directly affect education in the state.
The parents’ right legal package limits how sexual and gender minorities can be discussed with schoolchildren under the fourth grade. For older students, the law says that the teaching must be “appropriate for the age group”, but leaves it undefined.
In practice, however, the law has been interpreted as restricting talking about homosexuality widely, because parents can complain about teachers almost arbitrarily thanks to the vagueness of the law.
Let’s stop the woke law again limits how structural racism can be taught. The law prohibits teachers from talking about topics that could make anyone feel uncomfortable based on gender, skin color or religion.
In practice, it becomes considerably more difficult to talk about, for example, racist oppression in the United States in classrooms. However, the law does not precisely define what is allowed and what is not.
Vague laws silence teachers
According to Covey, the vagueness of the laws is a huge deterrent for teachers who are worried about losing their jobs and teaching licenses. According to Covey, it has also silenced teachers in the middle of the fight.
He himself does not regret the publication of the bookshelf video, even though he lost his job. According to him, the fight in schools is about something more important than one job, the education of hundreds of thousands of children.
– In my opinion, this is already another huge turmoil on the children’s school path. But unlike during the pandemic, it’s now impossible to justify to children why their education is suffering, says Covey.
DeSantis and the Republicans have justified the laws with the protection of children and the fact that children do not end up reading inappropriate material. According to Covey, the argument is hollow, because children can find inappropriate material online if they want, not in the school library.
Instead, you would need to read books for learning.
School politics can be DeSantis’ way into national politics
Covey estimates that DeSantis uses school politics as a platform to push for national politics.
Although DeSantis has yet to announce the start of his campaign, it seems clear that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
Then it’s up to the primaries Donald Trump.
The most enthusiastic Republican voters, who have favored the radical wing of the party around the country, decide on the nominations.