Florida Citizens Alliance has been working diligently on both a comprehensive bill to restore local K-12 education control and a focused curriculum bill to fix the loopholes in SB 864, passed in 2014 as FS 1006.283.
We are very pleased to report that Senator Alan Hays and Representative Ray Pilon are championing companion bills to fix FS 1006.283 and its loopholes.
The purpose/intent of the original SB 864 was to assign constitutional responsibility for all instructional materials to school boards, and require a transparent policy/process for school boards and parents to remove objectionable materials. Due to several loopholes in FS 1006.283, the spirit and intent of the original bill are currently being ignored by many school districts in Florida.
Here is a brief summary of the loopholes that the two companion bills (SB 1018 and HB 899) that are intended to “fix” FS 1006.283.
Please use the petition HERE to send a “shout out” to Senator Hays and Representative Pilon, thanking them for their leadership, and to urge your Florida House Representative and Florida Senator to co-sponsor their respective versions of these bills. The petition is also copying your local school board, asking them to aggressively support these companion bills.
In addition to sending the email petition, we are urging you to call your house representative and senator to ask that they co-sponsor these bills. Here are talking points you can use in your call. Use these links to get appropriate phone numbers for the Florida House and Florida Senate. We strongly suggest that you call now (before Christmas) and again in January as the legislative cycle begins.
Finally, passage of these companion bills will require an aggressive and sustained set of actions to garner support. Here is an expanded set of 5 actions that we urge you and all fellow activists in each county to put into practice in support of these companion bills!
Thank you for your continued support!
Bear Witness Central is a supporting organization of Florida Citizens Alliance.
