UPDATE: On April 14, Governor DeSantis signed into law HB 575 and HB 549, the former of which renames the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America” within the state, and the latter which mandates that all instructional and library materials in public K-12 schools adopted after its passage reference only the “Gulf of America.” As a result, Florida schools will likely be forced to go through long and expensive replacement processes when it is time to update materials or when new materials are proposed—diminishing students’ access to countless resources.
(NEW YORK)–In response to the Florida state government’s plans to require new textbooks and instructional materials in schools to refer to the “Gulf of Mexico” as the the “Gulf of America,” Sabrina Baêta, senior program manager for Freedom to Read at PEN America, said:
Florida legislators are once again putting political theatre ahead of the needs of students and public schools. There is nothing “patriotic” about mandating costly processes to the curation of instructional and library materials just to boost the current administration’s ego, or about a law that will likely lead to more book banning in schools. Requiring schools to avoid ‘Gulf of Mexico’ will inevitably mean books with valuable information for students will be sidelined. “American greatness” comes from upholding the patriotic values of free expression and access to all kinds of information, not by dictating what we can read and learn.
Stephana Ferrell, Orange County public school parent and director, Research & Insight, Florida Freedom to Read Project said, “As public school parents in Florida, we worry that this bill, if signed into law, will further restrict access to valuable literature and historical information. Our kids are navigating a global marketplace that will still refer to this body of water as the Gulf of Mexico. Educators should explain why and how our country came to call it the Gulf of America, but we’re concerned that this historical context might be excluded from Social Studies textbooks under the proposed language.”
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Malka Margolies, mmargolies@pen.org, 718-530-3582