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In Hindsight, It Was A Very Bad Amendment

ByAccountabaloney

How an Attempt to ensure the teaching of African American History has created a bureaucratic nightmare for Florida’s School Districts

In 2023, in an attempt to ensure all districts were teaching African American History, lawmakers made compliance with f.s.1003.42: Required Instruction a bureaucratic nightmare for district-managed public schools and exempted charter schools from both the bureaucracy and the punitive enforcement measures.

I just got home from a few days in Tallahassee, advocating for public education. In addition to meeting with lawmakers, I was able to speak at a few committee meetings about my pet peeve: bills amending Florida Statute 1003.42: Required Instruction. (If you like, you can see my public comments at 1:31:00 here and at 12:55 here.)

In my experience, it appears most bill sponsors proposing additions to f.s. 1003.42: Required Instruction do NOT know that the statute ONLY applies to district-managed public schools (charter schools are exempt from the statute and private voucher schools are exempt from almost everything). It has, also, been my experience, that even fewer policymakers voting on those bills are aware of the charter school exception. In fact, when I spoke before the State Board of Education, in August 2017, it was a complete surprise to then-Vice Chair Marva Johnson that the rule changes they were making to “Substance Use and Abuse Health Education” only applied to public schools. Then-Commissioner Richard Corcoran explained to her that charter schools were choice schools so parents could choose whether or not they wanted their children to be exposed to the “required instruction.” (At least Corcoran was aware of the charter exemption…)

Since the passage of HB551 in 2023, the reporting requirements for f.s. 1003.42 have become an onerous bureaucratic burden for district personnel and failure to gain FLDOE approval may result in financial penalties.

Initially, reporting on Required Instruction was limited to Holocaust Education and the teaching of African American History. Districts were required to sign a check-the-box attestation similar to this.

Now, each school district, in addition to completing the above document, is required to annually submit and post a detailed implementation plan on EVERY item of required instruction, from African American History to the elementary principles of agriculture, kindness to animals, internet safety and every other topic on the Require Instruction list. The report must detail instructional delivery methods, a description of the instructional materials, and the professional qualifications of the instructional personnel. The plan must be submitted to the Commissioner of Education on a FLDOE-created digital form, with no drop down menus, requiring staff to individually type information regarding all topics of required instruction. If the submitted plan or reported instruction fails to meet FLDOE requirements, the district has at least 45 days to revise it. Noncompliance may lead to action by the State Board of Education, including loss of funding.

Again, charter schools are exempt from the instruction requirements, the onerous reporting AND the threatened loss of funding.

How Did We Get Here?

African American History has been a part of Required Instruction since Section 1003.42 was created in 2002. In my district, the standards are woven into social studies standards because, in my opinion, African American History is American History.

Then the Culture Wars happened.

In 2021 and 2022, a flurry of culture war bills and administrative rules were passed in Florida, and the teaching of Critical Race Theory, and specifically “The 1619 Project,” was officially banned from Florida’s public schools. 2022’s HB7 amended f.s.1003.42, saying “Instructional personnel may facilitate discussions regarding racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination… but classroom instruction and curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view inconsistent with the state academic standards.” At the same time, Rep. Christopher Benjamin (D-107) worked with the HB7 sponsor to clarify what Florida would be able to teach with regard to African-American studies.

Then, in January 2023, Governor DeSantis rejected an Advanced Placement course covering African American studies — saying the class indoctrinated students to “a political agenda” and Commissioner of Education, Manny Diaz Jr, said “We proudly require the teaching of African American history. We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education.”

In response to the rejection of AP African American Studies, Rep. Benjamin wanted to ensure the required instruction African-American studies was occurring so he proposed 2023 HB551, which used the same language used to ensure Holocaust Education was occurring: “Each school district must annually certify and provide evidence to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, that the requirements of this paragraph are met.”

When Benjamin presented HB551 at its first committee stop, he presented an amendment designed to codify enforcement of the teaching of the African American History standards. The amendment, he admitted, had been written after a conversation with the Chancellor of Public Schools and added the language:

Unfortunately, lines 74 and 75 were outside the statutory language for African American History, so now the reporting requirements applied to the ENTIRE list of required instruction. At no time was it made clear to the committee that they were voting for anything other than ensuring accurate African American History was taught in our schools. The bill’s Senate companion never included the amendment language. HB511 went on to pass both the Senate and the House unanimously.

Ironically, the senate companion to HB551 (SB804) was carried by Senator Simon, who during that same legislative session began the process of deregulating our overburdened public school districts.

So here we are. In an attempt to ensure all districts were teaching African American History, lawmakers have made compliance with f.s. 1003.42 a bureaucratic nightmare for district-managed public schools and exempted charter schools from both the bureaucracy and the punitive enforcement measures.

What can be done? I have ideas.

  • Whenever bills propose amendments to f.s. 1003.42, help me make the sponsors and those lawmakers hearing the bills aware that:
    • Amending f.s. 1003.42 creates an excessive bureacratic burden on public schools, and
    • Charter schools are exempt from both the required instruction and the bureaucratic burden.
  • Encourage lawmakers to stop passing bills that amend f.s.1003.42 until the exemption for charter schools is removed.
    • This session that means House bills 737, 811, 921, 1255, 1261, 1307, 1381 and Senate Bills 816, 930, 1530, 1618.
    • Many of the bills could be passed without the f.s.1003.42 language.
  • Amend f.s.1003.42 to remove the onerous reporting requirements and repercussions [sections (6) and (7)].
  • Repeal f.s. 1003.42 completely and roll the required instruction topics into the state education standards, where they belong.

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