IPrep Academy, a school in the Miami-Dade area, became the center of controversy this week when parents received a permission slip asking them to consent to their children’s attendance at Black History Month events. A school board member blamed DeSantis’s new educational laws.
Asking permission
The form that parents received asks if they will allow their children to participate in “class and school-wide presentations showcasing the achievements and recognizing the rich and diverse traditions, histories, and innumerable contributions of the Black communities.”
Wider context
In the US, Canada, Ireland, and the UK, February is recognized and observed as Black History Month. Organizations, including schools, run various events to celebrate and educate people about Black history.
Horrified
“I was shocked,” one parent told Local 10. “I’m concerned. “I’m concerned as a citizen.”
Not right
“Something feels off here,” the parent continued. “The fact that the school needs to cover themselves against the state feels even worse.”
Top-down policy
“This is a policy that’s an extension of a new state board rule,” Miami-Dad School Board Member Steve Gallon explained. “We have to follow the law.”
No choice
“We have to implement the rules that are adopted by the State Board of Education,” he said. In November, Florida expanded what is called the Parental Bill of Rights.
Dark decisions
Florida has passed two significant acts concerning parental rights in education recently: the Parental Rights in Education Act, colloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, and the Stop WOKE Act, short for “Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees.”
The reality
“The reality of the ‘parents’ rights’ movement,” New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie explained in March 2023, “is that it is meant to empower a conservative and reactionary minority of parents to dictate education and curriculums to the rest of the community.”
Major issue
“We cannot throw the baby out with the bath water,” Gallon warned. “We have to square some obligations we have to academic freedom.”
Imbalance
“When parents become involved in making that decision, keeping some kids out, some kids in, you have unequal learning,” Florida International University Professor Marvin Dunn, an expert in African-American history, told Local 10.
Reactionary crackdown
“The intent of the DeSantis attack on education is to make schools more cautious, to make teachers more cautious about what they teach, and it’s working,” Dunn explained. “It’s not about banning books necessarily, it’s about banning ideas.”
National example
In March 2023, Republicans in the US House of Representatives passed a national “Parents Bill of Rights.” According to the New Republic, the bill aimed “to police teachers and school staff and thus obstruct the independent flow of education for students.”
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