Have we learned nothing from history?

When I look back on my long career as a public school teacher, I smile and reflect on my primary goal for my curious students, which was to teach them HOW to think, not WHAT to think. In order to do that, I employed a variety of resources that would provide multiple points of view so that my students could think critically about ideas and concepts. I was thanked by administrators and parents alike and never gave a thought to whether I would be charged with a felony and/or lose my beloved teacher’s license. Not so today in the state of Florida where teachers are covering their books with construction paper in fear

of being “caught” with a book that was not on the approved list. It sounds like Nazi Germany in the 1930’s to me, not like the United States of America in the 2020’s. Have we learned nothing from history?

Sally Steele

Former Educator and Devoted Democrat

Submitted as Letter to the Editor of the Sarasota-Herald Tribune