Here we are, folks, living in GOP fantasy land where only approved thoughts are allowed.
The image at the head of this diary is making the rounds, and a fellow teacher librarian looked into this and found it to be true insofar as she was able to investigate. Perhaps if any teachers from that vicinity (Sarasota County) are Kossacks they can further confirm.
If true, this means:
No classroom libraries.
No book fairs.
No Scholastic Book orders.
No read alouds unless prior approval is given.
Oh, and parents can request alternative materials for ANYTHING they don’t like.
Here is some confirmation of some of the details:
Yes, Sarasota teachers were told they cannot buy or accept donated books because of new state law
Meanwhile, teachers in the area in a recent survey revealed morale is in the toilet.
‘We are in this alone:’ Sarasota teachers say classrooms are political battlegrounds
According to a survey brief provided by political action committee “We The Parents,” questions for the county’s teachers were focused on how they feel about new state legislation, the Parents’ Rights movement, qualification and trust of School Board members, and when to leave their jobs or stay.
Of the 2,200 teachers living in Sarasota County, 351 responded to the survey.
An overwhelming 92% of teachers who took the survey said it was important for school board candidates to “have actual education experience to guide them” when making decisions for the school district. 79% said that current school board members in the county do not respect or understand the job the teachers are doing.
The biggest gauge of teacher morale was the open-ended question: “What do you most want the public to know about the impact of the culture wars on your ability to do your job?”
About a third of respondents skipped answering the comment question. The answers that were submitted were detailed, and at times pessimistic.
“It seems like I am not trusted as a professional,” one said in response. “Rather than dealing with issues in a cooperative manner, it seems combative and aggressive. Educators are not enemies.”
More directly, the current climate was described in one line by another teacher.
“Teachers are NOT the enemy!” said a survey respondent.
The answers were anonymously submitted, focused on how changes to state education policy and curriculum under the current legislature. Some teachers said Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers had made their jobs harder.
“I think that the governor and some members of our school board are attempting to force their conservative beliefs into public education. They are so worried about indoctrinating of children by teachers, but what they are pushing is in my opinion their own indoctrination of their beliefs,” one teacher said. “I am a parent of a child in school, and I do believe parents need to be heard and that some issues need to be resolved when teachers are acting inappropriately, however, the parents’ rights movement has made so many false accusations and everything we do is now scrutinized to the point that many children are coming to school with an anti-teacher attitude instilled in them by their parents.”
I highly recommend following the link and reading other responses to the survey. It reveals that many teachers are feeling under attack, unappreciated, not viewed as professionals, underpaid, overworked, etc.