Florida’s education chief has books to recommend. ‘Heather Has Two Mommies’ didn’t make the cut | Opinion

Florida’s now known as the book-banning state. But that does not mean state leaders don’t want students to read.

Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. has announced he is launching a Commissioner’s Book of the Month Club with recommendations for all students in Florida, K-12 schools.

The message: Read this, not that, especially if it’s about unvarnished U.S. history.

Florida passed a law last year to review reading materials made available in classrooms, turning school librarians into censors. Martin County leads the book-banning frenzy, having recently removed 92 books from its school libraries.

And more restrictions are on the way. This year’s version of the “Don’t Say Gay” law implements a new statewide policy that any book can be banned from a given district if one — one! — resident objects.

Then the book is yanked immediately pending a review. It’s an overreaching provision that allows, say, an aggrieved parent or activist to slam a book shut for all students, at least temporarily.

But Education Commissioner Diaz has made a public pronouncement on what he thinks children in Florida schools should be reading. We know that he is aligned with the governor’s education agenda. He advocates for the GOP mantra about school choice, greater parental control and the fight against what Republicans call the “woke” indoctrination of children in the classroom. (We call it learning.)

The Florida Department of Education has regularly published summer reading lists, back-to-school reading lists, Black History Month reading lists, but nothing has ever come directly from the commissioner’s desk.

“Commissioner Diaz wanted to recommend books on a more frequent basis to underscore the importance of reading and the development of literacy skills. That is why he launched the Commissioner’s Book of the Month,” said his spokesperson, Cassie Palelis.

Given this state’s recent fraught history with what kids read in school, it was refreshing to see that Diaz’s picks for the month of March were diverse, inclusive and also inspirational.

Here’s his list:

For Grades K-2, he recommended an Aesop’s fable called “The Lion and the Mouse,” in which a lion in the forest who was about to fall asleep sought to kill the mouse that woke him up.

Long story short, the mouse is spared and, down the road, saves the lion’s life. Ultimately, it’s meant to teach children kindness is never wasted.

There are a lot of elected officials in this state that ought to read that one.

For Grades 3-6, Diaz recommended: “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” by Jonah Winter.

The picture book biography celebrates the life and accomplishments of the Puerto Rican-born Hall of Famer, along with his character and courage. Clemente, who died in a plane crash carrying relief goods to earthquake-damaged Nicaragua, was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, the first Caribbean and the first Latin American player so honored.

By the way, this one highlights diversity, a value, unfortunately, that has been derided in this state.

For Grades 6-8 grades, the commissioner recommended “Lifeboat 12,” by Susan Hood.

This book is about a true story of a World War II group of refugee children who end up on a lifeboat after surviving a Nazi torpedo attack aboard the SS City of Benares, taking them to safety in Canada. The five boys in Lifeboat 12 must learn to depend on each other.

The lesson? We all have to get along to survive. Indeed.

And for Grades 9-12, Diaz liked “The Raft,” by S.A. Bodeen. The book is the story of a 15-year-old who is the only one left alive after a cargo plane crashes in the Pacific. All she has is a raft.

The March selections are all mom and apple pie, imparting lessons that the adults who run this state have either forgotten or never learned.