Brian Covey, a full-time substitute teacher in Duval County, Florida, was FIRED for posting a video of empty bookshelves. This is the REAL STORY about why those shelves were empty and why Covey was let go

All of those books were REMOVED following the passage of laws championed by DeSantis and gleefully voted for by most Florida voters, Democrats and Republicans  alike, who feverishly voted for DeSantis precisely because of his promise to ban any mention of lgbtq and race in the classroom.

https://popular.info/p/florida-teacher-fired-for-video-of

Duval School says the books will be restored following a review by a certified media specialist, as now required by law The only problem: Mandarin Middle School like most schools in the county, doesn't have a media specialist. 

 

Across Duval County, Florida, there are 54 media specialists who are now responsible for reviewing 1.6 MILLION books If they approve the wrong book it could cost them their job -- or even result in a third-degree felony charge.

 

Thus far, Duval County's 54 certified media specialists have reviewed and approved 6,000 books. That means 99.725% OF THE BOOKS IN THE DUVAL COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM REMAIN INACCESSIBLE TO STUDENTS.

 

Brian Covey posted the video of the empty shelves at Mandarin Middle School on January 27. The admins at the school knew about it and said nothing to him. Until three weeks later, when DESANTIS ACCUSED COVEY OF PROMOTING A "FAKE NARRATIVE" Covey was fired the next day.

 

It should be noted that Covey was not fired for promoting a FAKE NARRATIVE.

 

He was fired for telling the truth about the availability of books in Duval County Public Schools.

 

The "fake narrative" was being pushed by DeSantis, who claimed the vetting process for books is easy and the only books that need to be removed are ones that "99% of people realize [are] wrong".

 

 That is false. In Duval County the supervisor of media specialists personally reviewed The Best Man -- an innocuous book with no sexual content but two LGBTQ characters -- and deemed it "pornography" You can read the review yourself.

 

https://popular.info/p/this-book-is-considered-pornography

 

(Problem is Floridians do not care if the book has zero sexual content, Florida voters, Democrats and Reublicans alike, do not want kids reading books with lgbt people, or read books where race is mentioned. Voters feverishly voted for DeSantis because he promised to get rid of books that mentioned anything about lgbt and race because kids should not be exposed to that, and most Florida voters agreed.)

 

Further, media specialists in Duval are also reviewing every title for compliance with the "Don't Say Gay" law and the Stop WOKE law, two ambiguous statutes limiting discussion of around race and sexual identity.

 

Now remembet, the text of these laws apply to classroom instruction, not library books. But the Florida Department of Education refuses to say whether the laws apply to library books or not Counties, especially those aligned with DeSantis, are reading the laws expansively.