Samuel Case, FISM News
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is reportedly looking to expand the state’s Parental Rights in Education law to high school students.
The law, smeared by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, currently bans formal classroom instruction on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” topics with kids in the third grade or younger, or “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
A revised version of the bill includes restrictions on these topics to grades four through twelve, except when “expressly required by state academic standards,” according to the proposed State Board of Education rule.
“Parents have the right and God-given responsibility to guide their children’s upbringing,” said Republican Clay Yarborough, the bill’s sponsor in the senate.
“They should not have to worry their students are receiving classroom instruction on topics and materials parents feel are not age-appropriate,” he added.
At the same time, Florida lawmakers are considering a lesser expansion covering pre-K through eighth grade, per the Orlando Sentinel, while looking to ban public school employees from referring to students’ gender pronouns that do not match their biological sex.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attacked the amendment on Wednesday, calling it “completely, utterly wrong” and “part of a disturbing and dangerous trend that we’re seeing across the nation.”
Students should be spending their time in school learning core academic subjects, not being force-fed radical gender and sexual ideology.
In Florida, we’re preserving the right of kids to be kids. pic.twitter.com/9WPmbn3vhK
— Manny Diaz Jr. (@CommMannyDiazJr) March 22, 2023
The Board of Education will vote on the proposal on April 19.