Q&A – Did Anything Change with Florida’s Parental Right’s in Education Law?
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Today’s Entry: Hi Brian. Question on the parental right’s law. What was agreed to is being called a settlement but did anything with the law actually change? That’s unclear from the reporting.
Bottom Line: The answer is that effectively no, nothing with Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law from two years ago has changed. That includes the incessant false reporting of the law as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. What did change as a result of the settlement between the state and the interest groups challenging the law is the addition of “clarifying” language to statutes within the law. As I noted in my extensive coverage of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education policy during the debate over this legislation, not only could faculty and students “say gay” in school, the term “gay” was never even used in the legislation. On that note, in my Q&A on March 30th, of 2022 I presented the entire law and included this summary in my coverage: Clearly there’s nothing prohibiting anyone – students or teachers from “saying gay”. What is in it, is a mandate for schools to inform parents about potential changes in their child’s wellbeing and access for parents to those types of records. There’s also a mandate that children in grades k-3 not be taught sexual orientation and that it’s age appropriate thereafter.
Once the law took effect July 1st of 2022, it was incumbent on the Florida Board of Education to set new rules that took the law into account. There were two new rules established based on Florida’s parental rights law that dealt with gender identity and related matters. They were these:
Rule: Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida
Summary: The amendment prohibits classroom instruction to students in kindergarten through grade 3 on sexual orientation or gender identity and protects all students by expanding the definition of discrimination to include subjecting students to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels any of the concepts listed in Section 1000.05(4)(a), F.S.
What changed: This rule formalized a process for revoking a teachers’ license should they violate Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law by teaching inappropriate material to children in grades K-3. The law states educators: Shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction to students in kindergarten through grade 3 on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Rule: School Board and Charter School Governing Board Policies or Procedures for Parental Notification Regarding Designation of Bathrooms, Locker Rooms, and Dressing Rooms
Summary: This rule will allow both students and parents to have full knowledge if bathrooms and locker rooms will not be separated by biological sex at birth; therefore, allowing them to make informed decisions and requests for accommodations or modification. The rule includes requirements for school district procedures and for parental notification when a policy provides for separation based on something other than sex at birth.
What changed: This rule mandates school districts notify parents of any bathrooms and locker rooms which aren’t separated based on biological sex. Also, school districts with mixed bathrooms and locker rooms must disclose the methods used to ensure the safety and privacy of students.
Now, let’s look at what was in the just announced settlement between the state of Florida and interest groups that had been legally challenging it. The eight-page agreement included a series of agreed to clarifying language. These are the effective clarifications:
- “Classroom instruction” is “the formal work of teaching that occurs in a classroom setting”. The Statute restricts “classroom instruction” only if it is “on sexual orientation or identity.”
- “Typical class participation and schoolwork are not ‘instruction,’ even if a student chooses to address sexual orientation or gender identity.”
- The Statute would also leave teachers free to “respond if students discuss their identities or family life, provide grades and feedback if a student chooses LGBTQ identity as an essay topic, and answer “questions about their families”. For kindergarten through grade three “they simply must not handle these situations by teaching the subjects of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
- The Statute “would not prohibit incidental references in literature to a gay or transgender person or to a same-sex couple”.
- The Statute restricts the use of books “to instruct” ‘students on the concepts of sexual orientation or gender identity”. But the Statue does not restrict mere “literary references to a gay or transgender person or to a same-sex couple.”
- The Statute does not target “sexual orientations and gender identities that differ from heterosexual and cisgender identities”.
- The Statute “does not restrict debate (student-to-student speech), only classroom instruction”.
The remaining clarifications are redundant. So be to clear, all of this was already allowed under the existing law, however now the clarifying language will also accompany the law so that where there may have been grey territory previously, it’s now explicitly spelled out. Under the settlement, the third-party interest groups, led by Equality Florida, are libel for their legal expenses incurred during this two-year process and the lawsuit is dismissed. For its part the state will direct the Florida Board of Education to issue updated rules to include the “clarifying language” in the settlement. In the end, Florida’s Parental Right’s in Education law, which never prevented someone from saying “gay” in school, was upheld and unchanged.