Florida policies: Culture of fear, censorship, and loss of learning opportunities

 

A new study finds that “education restriction” policies reduce opportunities and support offered in public schools, even without parents’ knowledge

How can a teacher discuss Jim Crow laws without breaking state law? Should a librarian stop ordering books with LGBTQ+ characters? A new white paper by UC San Diego and NYU researchers reveals the experiences of K-12 educators and parents in Florida grappling with state policies and policy effects restricting access to instruction, books, courses, clubs, professional development, and basic student supports.

Since 2021, Florida has enacted a series of state laws and policies restricting instruction related to race, sexual orientation, and gender identity; targeting student supports, such as pronoun use; expanding review of materials for prohibited content; and actively inviting public challenges to limit educational material on broad bases, including for “age appropriateness” and inclusion of any “sexual conduct.” Thousands of books have been taken from students for vetting and in some cases, permanent removal, including classic works of literature.

“Our data show state policies driving what we call a limitation effect—a cascade of pressures reaching down from the state, to the districts, to educators’ daily interactions with students that limit basic functions of education,” says Mica Pollock, professor of education studies at UC San Diego. “Data showed time use, energy, and money in K-12 systems becoming organized around restricting access to ideas, information, and supports for students in public schools, versus expanding education opportunity for all – often to placate the most restriction-oriented members of government or communities.”

Pollock and her co-author, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, professor of applied psychology at NYU Steinhardt, analyzed the UC San Diego team’s qualitative surveys and interviews of a total of 86 respondents, most of whom were educators and parents, in fall and winter 2023-2024. Both teams also conducted a supplemental review of public and media documents.

Their findings are published in The Limitation Effect: Experiences of State Policy-Driven Education Restriction in Florida’s Public Schools.

Almost every respondent had witnessed an effort at education restriction in their school or district, in one of the following topics: sexual orientation; gender identity; race; critical race theory; diversity, equity, and inclusion; culturally responsive education; African American history; and ethnic studies. More than half reported all eight types of restriction efforts occurring locally, and three-quarters reported at least five types occurring locally.

“To avoid punishment, including the threat of losing their jobs, K-12 system actors were withdrawing core elements that could benefit students across the education system,” says Yoshikawa. “These included books, discussions of race in curriculum and instruction, school messaging of support for LGBTQ students, Gender-Sexuality Alliance clubs, teacher-student support relationships, and also professional development designed to support students more effectively.”

Respondents described K-12 system actors reacting to single state policies and state policies combined, including broad vetting for “inappropriate” materials. Data showed myriad examples of reduced learning and professional opportunities, like the following:

• As required and pressured vetting expanded, teachers boxed up or stopped using entire classroom libraries to avoid punishment.
• Teachers avoided books with any content on “LGBTQ+” and “racism” with concerns that they might be unauthorized.

• Some students lost online access to public libraries and online book collections via their schools.

• Teachers decided not to discuss aspects of US racial history in class.
• Signs or markers denoting safe spaces for LGBTQ+ populations were removed.

• LGBTQ+ supportive clubs were cancelled, or attendance was chilled.

• All students in systems were denied access to a pilot of AP African American Studies; some were also denied AP Psychology.
• Professional development on supporting students with disabilities was limited given restrictions on discussing “bias.”
• Many parents were unaware of the restrictive efforts happening in their children’s schools and classrooms.

“As seen in these data, K-12 system actors pressured by specific and multiple state policies were reducing education opportunity both to sub-groups of students and to all students, an outcome we call collective harm,” says Pollock. “Some educators were spending paid employee time seeking different lessons that did not mention ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Already-purchased books went unused or were discarded; some districts spent hundreds of thousands of public dollars re-reviewing and removing books.”

​​“The likely effects on students include the loss of learning and well-being that accompanies rich and diverse materials and comprehensive dialogue about our society and its diversity. Additionally, shared civic life can suffer when students fail to build skills for analyzing our nation, or lack opportunities to understand and value their peers’ identity,” says Yoshikawa. “With the cumulative impact of these policies on top of existing stressors, many educators and even parents reported wanting to leave Florida or public education entirely.”

"Our study offers troubling examples to spark further inquiry, and it sounds the alarm about how K-12 system actors pressured by state restriction policy can reduce education opportunity, both to sub-groups of students and in education systems writ large,” says Pollock. “We believe that the opportunities shown restricted in this study should worry any American across political lines.”