A bill passed May 1 by the Florida Legislature would allow parents to object to textbooks used in public school classrooms.
The bill’s sponsors had also sought to eliminate state review of textbooks, but Florida Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart and local school boards opposed that proposed legislation, and it failed to garner enough support in the Florida House, according to the Associated Press.
The Senate voted 31-4 for the bill, which develops a public hearing process to allow parents to complain about textbooks used to teach their children, according to the Associated Press. That means school boards still will be able to review textbooks locally or consult the state-approved textbook list. The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
Reuters reports that parent and political protests against a world history textbook being used in Volusia County, which included an entire chapter about Islam, but not other religions, prompted the legislation. Critics of the Common Core State Standards also backed the original bill.