U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is in Orlando to talk with students, families and teachers about concerns over Florida鈥檚 Parental Rights in Education law 鈥� also known by opponents as Don鈥檛 Say Gay.
The law allows parents to sue schools if they feel their child learned about gender identity or sexuality in an 鈥渁ge-inappropriate鈥� way. It also prohibits discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity for the youngest kids.
Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar says the problem with this language is that it is vague.
Spar says he鈥檚 been fielding calls from LGBTQ teachers who are worried their district could be sued simply for displaying their partner鈥檚 picture on their desk.
鈥淎bsolutely, it鈥檚 not uncommon for kids to question that there鈥檚 a picture of you and another man and who is that guy? And if you say that鈥檚 my husband, now, have you opened the door to violating this rule?鈥�
Spar says if lawsuits are successful they鈥檒l take away from crucial funds needed to support public schools.
鈥淭he so-called, 鈥楧on鈥檛 Say Gay鈥� bill is a bill that opens the door for a lot more litigation, which means taxpayer dollars are going to be reallocated away from student instruction to legal defense funds. And I think that鈥檚 unfortunate when we have one of the worst funded school districts, or one of the worst funded school systems in the nation, ranking 43 out of the 50 states.鈥�
U.S. Secretary of Education Cardona, who opposes the new law, along with the rest of the Biden administration, says he鈥檚 closely monitoring the situation for any violations of federal civil rights laws.
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