Offering the perspective of a parent, Palm Coast resident Courtney Hildreth calls on the Flagler School Board to re-focus on academic and intellectual freedom, ensuring access to age-appropriate literature, filling classroom vacancies, and preserving principles of equity and acceptance.
Rights & Liberties
Potential Book Ban in Schools Galvanizes 2 Sides in Day of Highs and Lows as Sheriff Recoils at Criminal Complaint
the Flagler County School Board today contended with the fallout of a criminal complaint and call for a book ban filed by Board member Jill Woolbright, and did so for 10 hours, from a lengthy and at times ugly workshop to a student-led demonstration marred by harassment and insults by detractors to an evening meeting that stretched past 11 p.m.
Transgender and Gender Diverse Teens: How to Talk To and Support Them
Transgender youth have been around long before the word transgender has. Yet today, transgender teens are increasingly visible in society. For parents and caregivers, knowing how to talk to their children about gender can present a steep learning curve.
The Flagler School Board’s Shameless War on Equity
The Flagler school board doesn’t believe in equality anymore. The administration, out of fear and misplaced pragmatism, is abandoning the word “equity” and replacing it with a bromide of a euphemism–“student success”–in appeasement of a faction led by School Board members Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald, the same board members targeting books and instructional materials with anti-racism and other minority-oriented themes.
11 White Jurors and One Black Juror: Ahmaud Arbery and the Limits of Justice
Jogging while Black. Driving while Black. Walking while Black. Sitting in a public space while Black. Asking for help while Black. Eating while Black. Merely existing while Black. The cold, agonizing, disturbing truth is that to be Black in America is to regularly endure an ongoing onslaught of assaults and insults. These incidents are a stark reminder that to be Black in America means to live in a constant state of uncertainty.
Vague and Controversial Parents’ Bill of Rights Will Get Renewed Focus in Special Session of Legislature Next Week
The Parents’ Bill of Rights, sponsored by State Rep. Erin Grall in the 2021 legislative session, was criticized for its vague language and unclear boundaries. But it became a clarion call for parent power as local school boards developed Covid policies impacting students, and a mask mandate debacle that pitted the executive branch against local school boards.
Jill Woolbright Wants 4 Books Banned Over Anti-Racism, LGBTQ, Police Violence and Rape Themes; District Removes Them Pending Review
Copycatting a tactic developing across the country and targeting the same books, Flagler County School Board member Jill Woolbright wants four books removed. The books, award winners and critically acclaimed, deal with LGBTQ themes, anti-racism, police shootings, and the trauma of rape. Three are by Black authors.
School Surveillance of Students Through Laptops May Be Doing More Harm Than Good
Student surveillance is taking place – at taxpayer expense – in cities and school communities throughout the United States. In one large district, three-quarters of incidents reported – that is, cases where the system flagged students’ online activity – took place outside school hours.
UF Backs Off Gag Order on 3 Professors Testifying in Challenge to Restrictive Voting Law
But the university drew national attention and widespread criticism after a court document revealed last week that the school was blocking the professors from testifying.
New Laws’ Fiscal-Impact Statements Are Routine. Now, Some States Push for Racial-Impact Statements.
In many states, lawmakers long have used so-called fiscal impact statements to predict how much money proposed laws will cost or save. Now more legislators want to use racial impact statements to predict how a particular measure might harm—or help—racial and ethnic groups or widen racial disparities, though you won;t see this in Florida any time soon.