美国国家公共电台 NPR--Florida teachers union sues over state law that may have led to book banning

Florida teachers union sues over state law that may have led to book banning

Transcript¹

A teachers' union in Florida has challenged the state's Department of Education over a law that teachers say led to book bans in schools.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

A teachers union is suing Florida's Department of Education. The lawsuit² is the first to be filed over a new law that critics say is leading to book bans in schools. Kerry Sheridan of member station WUSF reports.

KERRY SHERIDAN, BYLINE³: The Florida Education Association filed what's known as an administrative⁴ legal challenge. It's not challenging the law itself, which requires schools to be transparent⁵ about curriculum and library materials that was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis last year. Instead, the suit says the Department of Education expanded the scope of the law, known as HB 1467, and went too far when it issued training for school librarians this year. Skye Perryman is with Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy group which has lawyers on the case.

SKYE PERRYMAN: What has happened here is Florida officials under the DeSantis administration have flagrantly and unlawfully exceeded the quite narrow authority that HB 1467 provided the Department of Education.

SHERIDAN: For one, she says the state redefined the term school library to include any collection of books in a school, even those in classrooms. Here's an excerpt⁶ of a training video all school media specialists in Florida have to watch.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Elementary classroom libraries are a type of school library. Materials in all school libraries...

SHERIDAN: Words like these have led some teachers to empty their classroom shelves, says Andrew Spar. He's president of the Florida Education Association.

ANDREW SPAR: We've all seen teachers being told to box up their classroom libraries, to take the books off the shelves and put them aside if they are not books provided by the school or district.

SHERIDAN: He says that's not what state lawmakers intended with HB 1467.

SPAR: When they were debating it, they took out specifically classroom libraries so that they would not be covered by this law. And the Department of Education, by rule, put it back in.

SHERIDAN: The suit alleges⁷ that the state harmed hundreds of thousands of teachers and students. Jay Wolfson, a professor at the University of South Florida, says no matter how the administrative hearing goes, appeals are likely.

JAY WOLFSON: The courts will ultimately determine if the governor's interpretation⁸ and application of the law is within his constitutional authority.

SHERIDAN: The Florida Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

For NPR News, I'm Kerry Sheridan in Tampa.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

6 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

7 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

8 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。