Gov. Ron DeSantis signs education bill limiting book challenges

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that limits the number of books and classroom materials that can be challenged in school districts.

Less than a year after signing a law that led to the removal of hundreds of books from public school shelves, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that amends the state’s law to limit the number of books and classroom materials that can be challenged in school districts. The bill, which goes into effect on July 1, states that Florida residents without children in a school district “may not object to more than one material per month” and instructs the state’s Board of Education to adopt changes to implement the decision. The provision does not limit the number of challenges a parent with a child enrolled in a Florida school district can file or include a penalty if the law is violated. DeSantis on Tuesday acknowledged that some school districts in the state may have gone too far in removing titles from classrooms. “You have some people who are taking the curriculum transparency, and they are trying to weaponize that for political purposes,” he said at an event in Jacksonville, Florida. “That involves objecting to normal books, like some of the books that I saw in the teacher’s lounge, these classic books.” In the first half of the 2023-2024 school year, Florida had the highest number of bans compared to other states, a report released Tuesday by the literary and free expression advocacy group PEN America found.