Palm Beach County has become the ninth county in Florida that has removed books containing sexually explicit, LGBTQ and transgender themes from K-12 curricula. Florida leads the nation in protecting the rights of underage students, pulling hundreds of titles from shelves and classroom use.
A district spokesman for the county stated, “Any of the specified materials found to be present in our school libraries have been removed.”
Dina Ciotola is the Florida state director for Moms for America. (courtesy, Dina Ciotola)
The state Board of Education threatened legal action to Hillsborough County last May for failure to remove books deemed age inappropriate, prompting other districts statewide to follow through on the removal. The Florida Department of Education released a list of around 700 books that were “removed or discontinued” following the passing of HB 1069, giving parents more say in their children’s education. State Attorney General James Uthmeier called many of them “patently pornographic” and stated they should be removed.
Parents, as the ultimate decisionmakers in their children’s education, should monitor texts and curriculum used in their child’s classroom and check with Florida’s Office of Parental Rights and the state education website for approved materials.
Critics such as PEN America Florida Director William Johnson called these book bans and a censorship campaign. Johnson stated, “School officials pulled these books because the state’s campaign of intimidation had been effective. School districts are scared to be next.”
The Florida Citizens’ Alliance, a conservative advocacy group, has filed formal complaints in at least a dozen districts throughout the state, including all 16 challenges submitted to the Polk County School District.
“We’re accused of wanting to ban books,” co-founder Keith Flaugh said. “My typical response to that is we’re not about banning anything, we’re about providing a safe environment for our kids.”
A clear victory for conservative parents and advocates, this marks a shift from a woke-dominated population of students who are declining in academic achievement with radical rhetoric, materials and discussions consuming school hours. Left-leaning teachers leverage their authority and positions to sway young students into alternative lifestyles that center on postmodern theories and Marxist ideas destructive to their futures and America’s founding family values.
The Florida Legislature has made great strides against this movement in recent years, but there is more work to do. This year, the Legislature introduced two major bills, HB 1119 and HB 1071, that would give the Education Commissioner the power to remove a publisher from the state-adopted list of instructional materials for up to five years if the publisher violated Florida law.
The bills also prohibit schools from using state or federal funding on programs or activities that “advocate for” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or “promote” political or social activism.
Another provision would require health education in grades 6-12 to address human embryologic and fetal development, including a high-definition ultrasound video showing the development of the heart and other organs and movement of the limbs and head.
State authority over education in the U.S. is a founding principle protected by the 10th Amendment. The development of state boards of education began in Massachusetts in 1837 setting a precedent for state-level educational governance. And yet, we have seen federal overreach in this area, including requiring states to adopt failing standards such as NCLB (No Child Left Behind).
Stripping the rights of states as the primary authority to regulate their education would also limit their oversight of teacher certification, curricula standards and compulsory education. As the 2027 legislative session offers another chance to implement these bills, Florida is poised for continued progress in its national leadership in education and getting back its constitutional rights.
Dina Ciotola is an education consultant, professor and reform advocate. She is the founding director of the office of professional and corporate education at the University of South Florida. She lives in Jupiter and serves as the Florida state director for Moms for America, where she mentors moms in conservative rights.