In A U-Turn, Governor DeSantis Signs Bill Limiting Book Challenges In Florida Schools

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill on Tuesday that revises the state's law, restricting hundreds of books and classroom materials that can face challenges within school districts.

This comes less than a year after he enacted a legislation resulting in the removal of a number of books from public school libraries.

It is a U-turn for DeSantis who, while aiming for Republican presidential primary, campaigned extensively on his education platform, which included advocating for the law that grants individuals greater power to challenge books.

The bill, which comes into effect on July 1, stipulates that Florida residents without children enrolled in a school district "may not object to more than one material per month" and directs the state's Board of Education to enact modifications to enforce this directive.

PEN America, an organization dedicated to combating book bans, also released a report on Tuesday stating that Florida is accountable for 72% of the books removed from schools nationwide during the first half of the current school year.

According to Kasey Meehan, Pen America's Freedom to Read program director, the responsibility for the abuse of the law lies not with liberal activists, but with conservative individuals and groups like Moms For Liberty, who are making these challenges.

The PEN America report said Florida accounts for 3,135 of the 4,349 school book bans in the United States during the current school year.

In conservative Clay County alone, one individual challenged 40 books just this week, according to Meehan.

A lawsuit has been filed against Escambia County Public Schools, which accounted for over 1,600 cases of book removals.

However, DeSantis dismissed the notion of extensive book banning in Florida as a "false narrative."

But, school board meetings across Florida has seen parents clash over whether specific books should be removed or retained for student access.

DeSantis' bill does not impose a cap on the number of challenges that a parent with a child attending a Florida school district can submit.

There is also no penalty for violation of the legislation.

Under the original law, individuals, anyone could challenge books without limitation. Once a book was challenged, it was removed from libraries and circulation until the school district addressed the complaint.

DeSantis admitted on Tuesday that certain school districts in the state might have overreached in their removal of titles from classrooms.