Legislators will also debate a bill that would allow school library books to be challenged by individuals with no connection to the schools or the children who attend them. In addition, politicians will hear bills that may increase state testing, eliminate vital mental health programs for students, and expand access to Bright Futures. It is so important to tell our elected officials what we want for children, teachers, and public schools.
Read the update below and visit the Advocacy Dashboard to quickly take action for students. We make it easy to contact your legislators via email and/or social media. Together, we can advocate for policies that invest in children and support their future.
The House passed a measure to require media specialists at each school to list all library materials for the public to view. In spite of recent political rhetoric, this bill actually undermines parental and student rights by allowing one individual who may not even have children in public schools or live in the community to issue a challenge that could deprive all students access to books. One person should not get to dictate what another parent's child can read. The Senate Rules Committee will debate this on Tuesday.
Tell the Senate to avoid the slippery slope of censorship and focus instead on providing students the resources they need to recover from impacts caused by the pandemic.
Bills moving through the House would slash $200 million from public school budgets in some of the state's largest school districts representing over a million students. The so called "Putting Parents First" proposal is political retaliation against districts with school boards that implemented mask requirements during extreme COVID outbreaks. Now is not the time to cut resources from children who have been so impacted by the pandemic.
Parents put their children first and don't want their education short changed for political games. Contact lawmakers today.
Before session began, state leaders and the governor promised an end to the FSA and a reduction in state testing overall. The testing bills moving through the Florida Senate and House may actually add more testing throughout the year. The Senate will vote on the bill this week and the House is poised to vote on their version of the proposal soon.
Tell your elected officials to end the excessive amount of time children spend testing not learning.
The House passed a bill that eliminates vital, mental health programs and accurate, high-quality teaching for our children. The full Senate will likely vote on the same proposal later this week. Children have suffered tremendous impacts from disruptions caused by the pandemic. They need these important programs now more than ever.
We must demand that schools have the resources to meet every child’s needs with social-emotional programs and a high-quality curriculum to create a better future for us all.
A proposal to change requirements for Bright Futures scholarships is moving through the House and the Senate. This would expand access to scholarships for students who need or want to have valuable, paid work experience instead of volunteer service in order to qualify.
Tell your representative and senator to expand access to scholarships for deserving students.
