Manny Diaz, the governor’s choice to become Florida’s next education commissioner, says he wants to find ways to “make teaching cool again,” WFSU reports. Teacher concerns: Florida remains near the bottom nationally in teacher salaries despite efforts to increase wages, WFLA reports.
Math textbooks: The Sun-Sentinel looked into why the state approved only one K-5 math series for use. The Florida Citizens’ Alliance effort to have “Everywhere Babies” banned from Walton County schools has resulted in the children’s book landing at the top of Amazon’s sales chart, USA Today reports.
The Ledger provides a list of books that have been challenged in districts throughout Florida.Hot topicsīook challenges: The Leon County school district began checking to see if it has Bibles on school shelves after receiving a complaint that the book contains content that’s inappropriate for children, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. One upshot of the state fight over the law has been a growing use of the word “grooming” to attack those critics who have called the bill “don’t say gay.” Some experts say misuse of the word has hurt efforts to prevent child abuse, Yahoo News reports. The Hillsborough County School Board plans a workshop next week to discuss the effect of this law and others approved during the recently ended legislative session, WFTS reports. Lee County teachers and parents said they want to see policies explaining how it will be implemented in classrooms, WFTX reports.