What do the words of one Florida public school teacher mean up against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis? Well, many will have a similar opinion to my husband, even if our brutally honest and open 2nd grade teacher went head-to-head with him, she likely wouldn’t get far. She doesn’t have the money to buy votes, the time to go to dinner for fundraising, or the backing of Florida’s elite. She does however have one thing he does not- five days a week and 8 hours a day in the classroom with these children.
I had the pleasure of interviewing one of Florida’s best and brightest K-3rd grade teachers this week about her feelings regarding HB 1557, as well as CRT and the curtailing of not only art but facts to fit the narrative of what the aforementioned elite care about.
We at “’Dimple’s Days” have been very preoccupied by the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” as it would effectively keep our books and art out of public Florida Schools and Public Libraries. Sadly, that has been the goal all along, for kids to be able to sit down during story time and see themselves in one of the books- finally…to pick up a book and know that there is another little one who always gets picked last for sports because of how they look or one who cares so deeply about our environment and the rising sea levels at their doorstep, that they feel quite anxious. Children need to identify with what they are reading in order for their skills to grow.
You most certainly know our opinion by now and what should be done with these bill that sit on the governor’s desk, so I’ll leave you with an exchange from my interview with a teacher with 20 years’ experience working with kindergarten-3rd grade students:
<Interview Excerpt>
(Kayte): What will you do differently if this bill is signed into law, limiting what books, art, anecdotes, and stories that students can share with one another? How will this change your approach to teaching all kinds of diverse and beautifully unique children?
Teacher: It won’t.
We can only hope that all teachers are as brave and open minded as our fabulous friend who gave up her Saturday to talk CRT and Homophobia in schools with me. We should only be so lucky.
