Anti-DeSantis advocates have been falsely asserting that Florida teachers face potential felonies for displaying non-approved books, and, lo and behold, the Washington Post has picked up the same line in this report:
House Bill 1467, which took effect as law in July, mandates that schools’ books be age-appropriate, free from pornography and “suited to student needs.” Books must be approved by a qualified school media specialist, who must undergo a state retraining on book collection. The Education Department did not publish that training until January, leaving school librarians across Florida unable to order books for more than a year.
Breaking the law is a third-degree felony, meaning that a teacher could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for displaying or giving students a disallowed book.
The reporter is confusing the new statute about school materials, which does not carry criminal penalties, with an older anti-porn statute that does. This mistake could have been prevented by reading 1467, which is relatively short.
For an accurate and careful account of the Florida controversy, read this dispatch by our own Ryan Mills.