“It’s not just a fear I have. It’s a fear that thousands of teachers across the district have. Am I going to get in trouble for this? Am I going to get written up for this?,” DCPS teacher Chris Guerrieri said.‘Somebody pushing an agenda:’ Florida Gov. defends decision to reject AP African American Studies
A statement on the district’s website reads, “The Florida Department of Education has trained all Florida schools districts to ‘err on the side of caution’ in determining if a book is developmentally appropriate for student use. Under new Florida law, all books in elementary school libraries must be reviewed by a certified media specialist.”
The state had training at the start of the year for media specialists, librarians, and other staffers. In the training, staff are reminded that violation of the law is a third-degree felony. Action News Jax’s Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson, a criminal defense attorney, said felonies like that can be punishable by up to five years in prison. He compared it to other third-degree felonies like manslaughter.“That will deny you the ability to have many employments just because of the arrest. Not necessarily the conviction, but just the arrest. So, it has a tremendous impact,” he said.