Banning of Hanukkah Discussion in Florida School Sparks Outrage

Social media users responded with outrage following a report that a Florida school denied a mother permission to give a presentation about Hannukah to her son's fifth-grade class.

Pasco County Schools reversed that decision as of Wednesday evening and said they would allow Rachel Long to do her presentation about the Jewish Festival of Lights once she's met with teachers and relevant faculty.

Nonetheless, there has been anger about the initial refusal online and some Twitter users took aim specifically at Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.

A Longleaf Elementary School teacher cited Florida's Parents' Bill of Rights, which was signed into law by DeSantis on June 30, 2021, when speaking to Long.

Text messages obtained by news outlet Florida Politics show the fifth-grade teacher making reference to the legislation.

"As per discussions with the team and Admin, the new Parent Bill of Rights (sic) obligates us to follow the 5th Grade Standards as written," the teacher messaged Long. "At this time, a Chanukah presentation is not in our standards."

Long replied, asking: "Then, I assume, no Christmas activities will be done?" but did not receive an immediate reply. Speaking to Florida Politics, Long noted that Christmas-related activities were taking place at the school and it had been decorated for the Christian holiday.

Long had given the presentation annually since her eldest son, who is now in 10th grade, was a preschooler and told Florida Politics that it did not include any religious content. Instead, she would read from a book explaining Hanukkah, give the kids dreidels to play with, and share traditional food eaten during the holiday.

Daniel Uhlfelder, the founder of the anti-DeSantis group Remove Ron, tweeted: "Don't say Hanukkah in DeSantis's free Florida" and shared a video from local news reporting on the topic.

The Parents' Bill of Rights says that parents have the right to "direct the education and care" of their minor children as well as the right "to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training" of those children.

In March this year, DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, widely known as "Don't Say Gay," which his office said at the time "builds on the Parents' Bill of Rights."

The video shared by Uhlfelder included a report by Erik Waxler of ABC Action News, who said he had reached out to DeSantis' office.

A DeSantis spokesperson told Waxler: "The Parental Rights in Education law absolutely does not restrict the ability of teachers, school staff or volunteers to discuss Hanukkah. This law prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in Grades K-3."

Twitter user @pennypopken responded to the Florida Politics report, tweeting: "Good Lord! My kids learned the dreidel song & other Hanukkah traditions in a California public school 30 years ago. It was actually part of the regular curriculum teaching about different holidays celebrated during the holiday season. Kids were of diverse religions. Florida man!"

"Perhaps a good compromise would be for Florida fifth graders to only learn about four nights of Hanukkah," joked Twitter user Darren Kaplan, referring to the fact that Hanukkah is celebrated across eight nights.

"In Florida...you can't talk about Hanukkah....IN FLORIDA!!!! This sounds like a pretty easy lawsuit," @jroczx3 tweeted.

"Florida loses first battle in War on Hanukkah," wrote Twitter user Artem Mikhlin.

Newsweek reached out to DeSantis' office for comment.

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