Women's March Florida 3/26/17 Daily Action

Urgent action Sunday 3/26!!#womensmarchfl MARCH 26: URGENT CALL TO ACTION!!!


BOOK BANNING IN OUR SCHOOLS?? NOT ON OUR WATCH!!


(Short on time? Scroll to the end for the action!)


Florida House Bill 989 and Senate Bill 1210 will enable community members to ban books from school libraries and censor classroom materials.

If this bill passes:

1. ANY county resident can challenge a textbook that contains information he doesn’t believe is “factual and accurate” or any library book that she considers pornographic.

• A parents group (Parents ROCK Brevard) objects to elementary school materials because they contain information on climate change. A co-founder of this group is on the Brevard County School Board.
• In Collier County, a parents group (Parents ROCK) wants books removed from library shelvesbecause they’re pornographic. They chose novels by Toni Morrison, the first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. Parents ROCK was co-founded by Collier County School Board member Erika Donalds. She is married to HB 989's sponsor, Rep. Byron Donalds.
• The Florida Citizens’ Alliance (FLCA) authored the original 2016 bill so its members and allies - like Parents ROCK - can challenge materials and get them removed from school libraries and classrooms. FLCA has Citizen Watchdog Committees in COLLIER, LEE, CHARLOTTE, VOLUSIA, BREVARD, MARION, LAKE, AND OKALOOSA COUNTIES.
• Parents should make these decisions for their own children, not act as self-appointed censors for other learners.

2. The school board will appoint an “objective and unbiased” hearing officer to hear challenges. School district employees cannot serve as hearing officers.

• The hearing officer has to evaluate the objection "in the context of the district's comprehensive plan for student progression." Excluding educators from educational decisions disrespects their profession. In the education business, this is also bad governance.
• Who will pay for the hearing officer?
• Opening the door to challengers who have no legal standing on this issue wastes funds and school board time.

3. The District will have to maintain a website and give the public access to all instructional materials.

• Textbooks, workbooks and worksheets, handouts, computer software, online or Internet courses, CDs or DVDs, and multiple forms of communication and electronic media can be challenged.
• These administrative tasks - setting up a website, providing the public with textbooks and worksheets, listening to complaints – divert school resources away from instruction.
• This law wastes funds and staff time that could be focused on instruction.

4. Parents already have input in adoption decisions and can challenge materials they don’t like.

• A parent can sit down with a teacher now and ask how a reading is being used in a lesson. Other county residents do not know whether a reading with one perspective is balanced by a reading with another perspective in a lesson plan. Without this information, it is impossible to conclude whether a challengers' objections to information is presented in a balanced, objective way.
• If dissatisfied with the response, districts have procedures in place to have their objections heard by administrators and the school board.
• This law is a “solution” to a problem that doesn’t exist.

TAKE ACTION TODAY! Florida Senate and House K-12 Education Committees will vote midday on MONDAY, March 27.


STEP 1- CALL/EMAIL/TWEET THE SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE and urge them to vote NO on Senate Bill 1210 (first phone number is in Tallahassee; second is home district) **You do NOT have to live in their district! Committee members are accountable to ALL Floridians!! **


Florida Senate Education Committee Members:


Gary Farmer (District 34, Broward) – (850) 487-5034, Fort Lauderdale (954) 467-4227. Email: farmer.gary@flsenate.gov. Twitter: @GaryMFarmer ​


Anitere Flores (District 39, Monroe, Miami-Dade) - (850) 487-5039, Miami (305) 222-4117. Email: flores.anitere@flhouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @anitere. Twitter: @AnitereFlores ​


Bill Galvano (District 21, Manatee, Hillsborough) - (850) 487-5021, Bradenton (941) 741-3401. Email: galvano.bill@flhouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @BillGalvano. Twitter: @BillGalvano


Dorothy Hukill (District 14, Brevard, Volusia) - (850) 487-5014, Port Orange (386) 304-7630. Email: hukill.dorothy@flsenate.gov. Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/dorothylhukill. Twitter: @DorothyHukill ‏


Tom Lee (District 20, Pasco, Hillsborough, Polk) - (850) 487-5020, Brandon (813) 653-7061, Email: lee.tom@flsenate.gov. Facebook, search for: @TomLeeFlorida. Twitter: @TomLeeFL


Debbie Mayfield (District 17, Indian River, Brevard) – (850) 487-5017, Melbourne (321) 409-2025. Email: mayfield.debbie@flsenate.gov. Facebook, search for: @senatordebbiemayfield. Twitter: @debbie_mayfield


David Simmons (District 9, Seminole, Volusia) - (850) 487-5009, Longwood (407) 262-7578. Email: simmons.david@flsenate.gov. Facebook, search for: @DSimmonsFL, Twitter: @DSimmonsFL


Wilton Simpson (District 10, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco) - (850) 487-5010, Spring Hill (352) 540-6074. Email: simpson.wilton@flsenate.gov. Facebook, search for: @SimpsonWilton. Twitter: @WiltonSimpson


Linda Stewart (District 13, Orange) - (850) 487-5013, Orlando (407) 893-2422. Email: stewart.linda@flsenate.gov. Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/linda.stewart. Twitter: @LindaStewartFL


Perry Thurston, Jr. (District 33, Broward) - (850) 487-5033, Fort Lauderdale (954) 321-2705. Email: thurston.perry@flsenate.gov. Facebook, search for: @SenatorPerryThurston. Twitter: @SenatorThurston




STEP 2- CALL/EMAIL/TWEET THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE and demand they vote NO on House Bill 989 (first phone number is in Tallahassee; second is home district) ** You do NOT have to live in their district! Committee members are accountable to ALL Floridians!! **


Florida House of Representatives Education Committee Members:


Larry Ahern (District 66, Pinellas) - 850-717-5066; Seminole 727-395-2512. Email: larry.ahern@myfloridahouse.gov. Facebook, search for @electlarryahern. Twitter: @Larry_Ahern


Bruce Antone (District 46, Orange) – (850) 717-5046, Orlando (407) 445-5313. Email: bruce.antone@myfloridahouse.gov.


Robert Asencio (District 118, Miami-Dade) – (850) 717-5118, Miami (305) 222-4122. Email: robert.asencio@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @RepAsencio. Twitter: @ascencio2016


Michael Bileca (District 115, Miami-Dade) – (850) 717-5115, Miami (305) 273-3235. Email: michael.bileca@myfloridahouse.gov. Facebook, search for @mbileca. Twitter: @mbileca


Kamia Brown (District 45, Orange) – (850) 717-5045, Ocoee (407) 905-3806 or (407) 905-3807. Email: kamia.brown@myfloridahouse.gov. Twitter: @kamiabrownfl45


Bob Cortes (District 30, Orange, Seminole) - (850) 717-5030, Altamonte Springs (407) 262-7420. Email: bob.cortes@myfloridahouse.gov.


Manny Diaz, Jr. (District 103, Broward, Miami-Dade) – (850) 717-5103, Hialeah Gardens (305) 364-3072. Email: manny.diaz@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @MannyDiazJr. Twitter: @RepMannyDiazJr


Byron Donalds (District 80, Hendry, Collier) – (850) 717-5080, Naples (239) 417-6270, LaBelle (863) 675-5267 Email: byron.donalds@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @ByronDonalds. Twitter: @ByronDonalds


Shev Jones (District 101, Broward) - (850) 717-5101, West Park (954) 893-5010. Email: shevrin.jones@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @RepShevrinJones. Twitter: @ShevrinJones.


Chris Latvala (District 67, Pinellas) – (850) 717-5067, Clearwater (727) 724-3000. Email: chris.latvala@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/chris.latvala. Twitter: @ChrisLatvala.


Larry Lee, Jr. (District 84, St. Lucie) - (850) 717-5084, Fort Pierce (772) 595-1391. Email: larry.lee@myfloridahouse.gov.


Rene Plasencia (District 50, Brevard, Orange) – (850) 717-5050, Titusville (321) 383-5151. Email: rene.plasencia@myfloridahouse.gov.


Mel Ponder (District 4, Okaloosa) – (850) 717-5004, Fort Walton Beach (850) 833-3713. Email: mel.ponder@myfloridahouse.gov.


Elizabeth Porter (District 10, Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Suwannee, Alachua) – (850) 717-5010, Lake City (386) 719-4600. Email: elizabeth.porter@myfloridahouse.gov.


Jake Raburn (District 57, Hillsborough) – (850) 717-5057, Valrico (813) 653-7097. Email: jake.raburn@myfloridahouse.gov. Twitter: @JakeRaburn


Barry Russell (District 95, Broward) – (850) 717-5095, Lauderhill (954) 497-3367. Email: barry.russell@myfloridahouse.gov.


Charlie Stone (District 22, Marion) – (850) 717-5022, Ocala (352) 291-4436. Email: charlie.stone@myfloridahouse.gov.


Jennifer Sullivan (District 21, Lake, Orange) – (850) 717-5031, Eustis (352) 742-6275. Email: jennifer.sullivan@myfloridahouse.gov. On Facebook, search for @voteforjennifer. Twitter: @voteforjennifer



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