As publishers explore the move to e-books and online content, lawmakers are looking to speed up the textbook adoption process by removing parents from the process.
Should we have an opportunity to review the content in the textbooks our children are reading?
Average citizens may lose what limited role they have now in the state’s adoption of public school textbooks—a proposal from the GOP-controlled Legislature that has infuriated conservative activists already accusing the state of selecting biased instructional materials.
The law change appears in the middle of a 77-page bill which contains myriad proposals affecting Florida’s public schools, from increasing virtual education to loosening the rules for class-size compliance. Scott received the bill from lawmakers on Tuesday and has until June 1 to act on it.
The section affecting textbook adoption would replace the state’s formal review committees—which include lay citizens, teachers, teacher supervisors and a school board member—with a trio of subject-matter experts appointed by the state education commissioner.
School districts would appoint teachers and content supervisors to rate the practical usability of the texts recommended by the state’s experts.
Atala Education 