Florida is No. 1 in book censorship, No. 47 in SAT scores

[Zorro]

Perhaps you caught the recent story about how Florida is now the national leader in school book censorship.

Yes, we’re No. 1 in censorship and 47th in SAT scores. What a completely unsurprising combination.

The most recent story cited a report from the state’s own education department that listed 700 censored books and a report from PEN America that found another 4,000 or so books had been pulled from school shelves, at least temporarily.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education officials responded with predictable gaslighting, asking you to ignore the facts. “Once again, far left activists are pushing the book ban hoax on Floridians,” a spokeswoman said. “The better question is why do these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually-explicit materials.”

First of all, there is no “hoax.” The state’s own list cites hundreds of books by authors like Judy Blume, Dean Koontz and Flannery O’Connor that have been pulled from school shelves. Those are facts. You can call dog poop caviar if you want. It’s still poop.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2024/12/12/florida-is-no-1-book-censorship-no-47-sat-scores-column/