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2013 Florida Statutes

SECTION 31
Duties of the Department of Education and school district instructional materials reviewer.
F.S. 1006.31
1006.31 Duties of the Department of Education and school district instructional materials reviewer.The duties of the instructional materials reviewer are:
(1) PROCEDURES.To adhere to procedures prescribed by the department or the district for evaluating instructional materials submitted by publishers and manufacturers in each adoption. This section applies to both the state and district approval processes.
(2) EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS.To evaluate carefully all instructional materials submitted, in order to ascertain which instructional materials, if any, submitted for consideration implement the selection criteria developed by the department and those curricular objectives included within applicable performance standards provided for in s. 1001.03(1).
(a) When recommending instructional materials for use in the schools, each reviewer shall include only instructional materials that accurately portray the ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and racial diversity of our society, including men and women in professional, career, and executive roles, and the role and contributions of the entrepreneur and labor in the total development of this state and the United States.
(b) When recommending instructional materials for use in the schools, each reviewer shall include only materials that accurately portray, whenever appropriate, humankind’s place in ecological systems, including the necessity for the protection of our environment and conservation of our natural resources and the effects on the human system of the use of tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and other dangerous substances.
(c) When recommending instructional materials for use in the schools, each reviewer shall require such materials as he or she deems necessary and proper to encourage thrift, fire prevention, and humane treatment of people and animals.
(d) When recommending instructional materials for use in the schools, each reviewer shall require, when appropriate to the comprehension of students, that materials for social science, history, or civics classes contain the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. A reviewer may not recommend any instructional materials for use in the schools which contain any matter reflecting unfairly upon persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, gender, or occupation.
(e) Any instructional material recommended by each reviewer for use in the schools shall be, to the satisfaction of each reviewer, accurate, objective, and current and suited to the needs and comprehension of students at their respective grade levels. Reviewers shall consider for adoption materials developed for academically talented students such as those enrolled in advanced placement courses.
(3) REPORT OF REVIEWERS.After a thorough study of all data submitted on each instructional material, to submit an electronic report to the department. The report shall be made public and must include responses to each section of the report format prescribed by the department.
History.s. 306, ch. 2002-387; s. 103, ch. 2004-357; s. 23, ch. 2011-55; s. 3, ch. 2013-237.