Florida Department of Education

So school choice is good.

You know, the Florida Department of Education.

Yes, I'll be a school board member, but I'm going to look at that organization hard because look at this.

They're over all of us and just basically look around.

I mean, I don't like it.

To me, it's deception.

It comes from the Florida Department of Education.

In order to get an A rating for a school district, a district needs to have 64% or higher.

You just say, "All right.

Look, I can't, I can't decipher what we're being told at these meetings." So go to Florida Department of Education and look at the audited financial statements, okay, that are independently done.

We ran an operational deficit last year, not '25, '26, '24, '25, of $23 million.

Okay? That means we d- we, we provided services, expenses, $23 m- 23 million more than we had money.

Starting in Florida, where the State Department of Education is pushing for school districts to review their collections for objectionable materials.

A memo from the Florida Department of Education has been sent out to district superintendents and charter school leaders reminding them that school boards are responsible for materials that are available to students.

The memo lays out a ninety-day plan for districts to review their collections and procedures.

Florida's Department of Education says the goal is to make sure students do not have access to material that violates Florida law or is inappropriate for their age.

The release of the memo aligns with an annual report that found six hundred titles removed from schools across the state of Florida.

The Department of Education clarifies that the inclusion of this list is not to suggest a statewide ban.

However, the timing of both these releases for the Florida Department of Education strongly suggests coercion on the part of the state, as if to say that these titles are the ones deemed inappropriate.

Now, you as a school district have to review entire library collections.

Um, and that's exactly the right energy to kind of keep up.

Um, even after, you know, as we were putting forth our report on the state of book bans across the country, um, the Florida Department of Education lost their own, you know, uh, released their own list of titles-

Mm

... that had been banned across districts in the state.

From fossil fuels to climate change, a term missing from Florida's newly proposed K through 12 science standards.

After nearly 20 years, the Florida Department of Education is making changes to its standards, but first, the state is asking for public input.

As Central Florida Public Media's education reporter, Kayla Kissel, tells us, at a statewide virtual listening session, one word came up again and again.

Evolution.

We will continue to follow this case as it proceeds through federal court.

Next, the Florida State Department of Education has released its annual report detailing book removals across public schools.

According to a report from the State Department of Education, roughly 600 books were removed, restricted, or discontinued across Florida public schools over the last academic year, with removals officially reported in just 10 of the state's 67 districts.

On paper, state officials present this as a sign that challenge volume has leveled off following legislative changes that limited non-parents to one challenge per month.