Ugh…as we saw coming, Florida’s bans on almost-everything-Black in education have found their way toward influencing Black History Month.
Do any of y’all recall having to ask your parents to sign off on Black History Month? Me neither - partly because those lessons weren’t anything beyond the watered down stories of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Well, apparently, the parents of students attending iPrep Academy were sent notices asking them to sign off on whether they want their children to take part in any Black History Month activities, according to Local 10 News. These activities include basic presentations “honoring the achievements, traditions and contributions of the Black community,” the slip read.
“I was shocked. I’m concerned. I’m concerned as a citizen,” said iPrep parent Jill Peeling. “It’s a step too far, I mean, this is Black History Month, it’s supposed to be a celebration.”
Gov. Ron “Anti-Woke” DeSantis gave the Florida Department of Education the green light to implement “don’t say racist” restrictions in school curriculum and allowed parents more freedoms to dictate the material in which their children engage.
Statewide, teachers were faced with the tough decision on how to celebrate the boldness of Harriet Tubman without diving into the ever-looming issue of what she was working against: say it with me...racism!
According to one school official, the DOE’s restrictions are exactly the issue with the iPrep situation.
Read more from Local 10 News:
Miami-Dade School Board Member Steve Gallon said it all has to do with getting parental consent when individuals come on campus.
“This is a policy that’s an extension of a new state board rule,” said Gallon.
It’s a policy that was just enacted last year in November, an extension of the Parental Bill Of Rights.
“We have to follow the law,” Gallon said. “We have to implement the rules that are adopted by the State Board of Education, but we cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater and we have to square some obligations we have to academic freedom.”
While acknowledging the new challenges to education, Gallon admitted to Local 10 that it was quite unsettling that the school system is now forced to protect themselves against the state. He also told the outlet he’s going to address the concern of the permission slip with the board.
“Any insinuation that students need permission to study African American history is absolutely false,” said the Florida Department of Education