ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida's governor on Thursday fired back at what he calls a "book ban hoax" regarding what children are exposed to in classrooms.
Speaking in Orlando, DeSantis emphasized that Florida does not ban books in schools, but instead empowers parents to object to learning materials if they feel it's inappropriate for a certain age group.
Local school districts then have the power to remove those materials or allow them to only be viewed by students of a certain age.
"Over the past year, parents have used their rights to object to pornographic and sexually explicit material they found in school libraries," DeSantis said. "We also know that some people have abused this process in an effort to score cheap political points."
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DeSantis admitted, however, that some parents have abused their objection power by raising concerns about books like the Bible, Johnny Appleseed and "The Giver" just to send a political message.
"I am calling on the Legislature to make necessary adjustments so that we can prevent abuses in the objection process and ensure that districts aren't overwhelmed by frivolous challenges," DeSantis said.
The governor said he's directed the Florida Department of Education to take action to "prohibit bad actors in school leadership positions from intentionally depriving students of an education by politicizing the book review process."
DeSantis is also calling on the state legislature to "enact policy that prioritizes parents' voices by limiting bad-faith objections made by those who don’t have children learning in Florida."
Free speech organization PEN America said 556 books were banned in Florida schools last year.