TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Two years ago, Democrats repeatedly and forcefully warned Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis that a new law making it easier to challenge school books was so broadly worded that it would create havoc across the state. Now they can say, “I told you so.” DeSantis backtracked on the 2022 law on Tuesday when he signed a bill narrowing its focus. He blamed liberal activists for abusing the law, not the citizens whose objections to certain books account for the majority of book removals from school libraries and classrooms. “The idea that someone can use the parents rights and the curriculum transparency to start objecting to every single book to try to make a mockery of this is just wrong,” DeSantis said the day before the bill signing. “That’s performative. That’s political.” Coincidentally, PEN America, a group that fights book bans, issued a report Tuesday saying Florida is responsible for 72% of the books that have been pulled from the nation’s schools in the first half of the current school year. |
Rybakina, Vondroušová into Stuttgart quarters while Jabeur outDevon Windsor, 30, flaunts her slender postUN OKs shipment of vaccine storage equipment to North Korea — Radio Free AsiaSluggish start for spring homebuying season as home sales fall in March with mortgage rates risingDropping the ball: Jags hope to end decades of ineptitude when it comes to drafting receivers earlyMother charged in death of 14Browns' draft still affected by Deshaun Watson trade. Team without firstJ.K. Dobbins signs with Chargers, continuing the trend of former Ravens heading to LAHoroscope today: Daily guide to what the stars have in store for YOUEU proposes youth mobility agreement with UK to help youngsters travel, work and live in both areas