TEACHER UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR PLAYING DISNEY MOVIE

Christiana Lilly

AHernando County teacher is under investigation by the state — for showing a Disney movie to her students.

Jenna Barbee, who teaches fifth grade, went on TikTok to share how she is being accused of “indoctrination” after playing “Strange World,” which has a gay character.

“I chose this movie because it relates to our curriculum. Our unit at the time was earth science and ecosystems and how they interact … so this movie was perfect,” she explained.

“political agenda.” Specifically, the inclusion of queer theory in the course.

In a press conference, DeSantis addressed the controversy by pointing out that one of the course subjects covers queer theory.

“Now, who would say that an important part of black history is queer theory? That is somebody pushing an agenda on our kids,” he said. “We believe in teaching kids facts and how to think, but we don’t think they should have an agenda forced on them.”

NO TO ‘WOKE’ HOLOCAUST BOOKS

Another decision made impacting education was rejecting two high school textbooks that cover the Holocaust.

“Modern Genocides” was denied because it covered social justice and critical race theory, according to the Jewish Telegraph Agency. The second was “The History of the Holocaust;” the publisher told JTA that it would be appealing the state’s decision.

In a press release from the Department of Education, it shared that it approved 66 of the 101 books submitted for review. However, that was after the department worked with publishers to update their materials to align with Florida law — before the edits, only 19 of 101 were approved.

A middle school textbook was used as an example by the department, showing that the question “What social justice issues are included in the Hebrew Bible?” was edited. In another example, an entire section discussing Black Lives Matter and the death of George Floyd was removed. The department categorized it under “unsolicited topics.”.

After a morning of standardized testing, Barbee treated her students to “a brain break” by watching the Disney movie “Strange World.” The 2022 animated movie tells the story of a family who goes on an expedition underground. At the beginning of the school year, she and other fifth grade teachers collected signed permission slips from parents to allow their children to watch PG movies in class. “Strange World” is rated PG due to “action, peril, and some thematic elements.”

However, Hernando County School Board member and parent Shannon Rodriguez reported Barbee to the Department of Education, saying the movie was inappropriate. In a statement to NPR, school district spokesperson Karen Jordan said the movie violated the Parental Rights in Education Bill, also known as “Don’t Say Gay,” and that parents were sent a note that the movie had been shown.

“While not the main plot of the movie, parts of the story involves a male character having and expressing feelings for another male character,” the note reads. “In the future, this movie will not be shown.”