Florida House votes to extend controversial education law

The Florida House has passed a controversial education bill by a vote of 77-35. The bill proposes stricter limitations on school lessons about gender and sexual identity. It aims to regulate the use of preferred pronouns on campuses and broaden the restrictions on teachings about these topics through eighth grade. Currently, the law only limits lesson plans on sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to third grade.

Conservative lawmakers pushed for the bill, which could limit the discussion of sexual and gender identity to parental guidance. Speaking to Politico, Randy Fine, a state GOP Representative, retorted: “I don’t agree with any of it, but when 100% of our children are proficient in reading and 100% of our children are proficient in math, then there is time for all of this silliness”. He added that discussions about gender and sexuality should never take place at school but rather between parents and their children.

The bill also aims to give parents more power to challenge classroom materials they consider inappropriate for their children. Schools would have five days to remove any book that gets challenged and hold a meeting to determine whether it’s inappropriate or not.

The bill is now awaiting a vote in the state Senate after it received a favorable recommendation from a committee earlier this month.