The New Education Policy in Florida, USA has angered teachers! Florida Teachers: Both teachers and students are victims
On August 23, China Daily News reported that Florida has approved a new set of standards on how public schools in the state teach African American history. Teachers in the state are now very concerned that the new policy will result in unemployment or even imprisonment.
With the arrival of the new semester, teachers in Florida are struggling to figure out how to teach without violating the new policies. They lack confidence in their teaching plans and are puzzled by changes in state laws. The once gentle instructions may now become new charges.
Richard Judd, a social research teacher at Nova High School in Broward County, said, "I don't know how to prepare for the new semester! The insidious aspect of the new policy is that it sets up many different 'traps' to get you in trouble." Judd gave an example, saying that they create some very vague terms that can easily make teachers vulnerable to attacks from parents and conservative politicians during the teaching process.
In addition, the state requires that any book in the classroom must be deemed appropriate by a librarian or certified media expert. Judd complained that putting books on the bookshelf could be a criminal act, and it's difficult for teachers not to be autistic. At the same time, he stated that he will not lend any books to students to prevent them from unknowingly coming into contact with the "banned books" in the United States.
Heather Felton, 48 years old, used to be an English teacher. She said that even though she took nearly half of the books in the classroom before the "media expert" planned to visit, she was still extremely frightened and even fainted in the classroom on the day of the expert's review. After that semester, she resigned.
The article states that Florida also finds it difficult to avoid the dilemma of a shortage of teachers. The Florida Education Association, the largest teacher union in Florida, said there were 6920 teacher vacancies in the state, compared to 6006 in the same period last year. The association accuses Florida Governor Ron de Santis of his anti education agenda with his legislative allies, stating that it is harming children in Florida.
A teacher who was worried about retaliation and refused to sign questioned, "These dialogues and controversies have overlooked one thing: who has the greatest impact of these policies?" The teacher tearfully said, "I know this will harm children. Ultimately, that's where the problem lies."
31 year old Jose Consuegra is a chemistry teacher who once naively thought he wouldn't be influenced by the "De Santis era" policies, but now he realizes that he is also "doomed". His speech and teaching on climate issues are now restricted everywhere. He said, "It was only when I made a teaching plan that I truly realized that I couldn't teach or say anything. Essentially, it would only harm the interests of students."
Consuegra once taught courses on black chemists outside of Black History Month, but was questioned by a student. He replied, "Every month is Black History Month," but the child twisted his face and said, "I want to tell the principal about this!"
Teachers say they attribute the blame entirely to Florida Governor De Santis.
Felton emphasized that all of this ultimately harmed our teachers! Hurt our students!
Responsibility
