For many Americans, watching Amanda Gorman reciting her poem, "The Hill We Climb," at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, was a stirring moment.
But for one parent at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, a K-8 public school, Gorman’s work does not belong in the school’s library. Daily Salinas filed formal complaints about four books and Gorman’s poem.
“I don’t see anything in that book that support curriculum. That’s my point, support curriculum,” Salinas said, regarding Gorman’s work. “I found a few books with inappropriate content inside, talking about gender ideology, CRT, and communism.”
No books or learning materials were outright banned at the school. When Salinas filed her complaints, the school’s review committee decided to move the books and materials to the middle school section of the library. Under Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law, all it takes is one person to file an objection to a book, for example, and the book must be removed until it can be reviewed, allowing that person to make an impact on everyone else’s child.
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According to Miami-Dade Schools Police, Salinas was one of two women escorted out of a school board meeting for unruly behavior. In her complaint about Gorman’s poem, she misidentified the author as Oprah Winfrey, says it’s not educational, and “cause confusion and indoctrinate students.”
Gorman responded with a statement on Twitter, saying in part, “I’m gutted… I wrote 'The Hill We Climb' so that all young people could see themselves in a historical moment.”
Miami-Dade School Board member Luisa Santos said on Twitter Wednesday, “I encourage everyone to read it, get inspired by it.”
According to school board member Dr. Steve Gallon, Gorman’s poem doesn’t meet any of the state law’s criteria for removal.
“That was an embarrassment to our district at the state, local and national level,” Gallon said.
'The Hill We Climb' is not pornographic or profane, and he says as a former English teacher, he thinks it’s age appropriate for elementary school kids.
“Her work speaks to inclusivity, her work speaks to historical context, and her work speaks to what has transpired in the past, what we are in the present and what we need to do as a nation to move forward in the future,” Gallon said.
“And it’s a poem about unity,” added Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine-Cava. “It’s a poem about youth engagement and I stand for youth engagement as well, that’s what our democracy is all about.”
Levine-Cava said she has invited Gorman to come to Miami and recite her poetry in person.
Meanwhile, Salinas said she was unhappy with the resolution. She wanted the books and poem she complained about to be removed entirely from the school.
"Recently, there has been media coverage regarding one of the books in our collection entitled 'The Hill We Climb.' This text was reviewed and placed in the middle grades area of our school media center," Bob Graham Education Center said in part in a message to parents. "As an additional point of information, 'The Hill We Climb' is classified as Young Adult in Titlewave by Follet and categorized as Middle Grades in Accelerated Reader. However, to be clear, even though 'The Hill We Climb' is located in the middle grades area of our media center, it remains accessible to all students."
