'Just absurd': Shakespeare is latest casualty of Florida's book ban law

The Bard has become the latest casualty of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's push to remove books involving sexuality from schools.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that schools in the state’s Hillsborough County will allow only excerpts of William Shakespeare’s works to be studied.

School district officials said teaching now covered a wider array of books and writing styles – meaning more writers would be studied, and shorter sections of their work assigned rather than complete books.

But spokeswoman Tanya Arja said, “It was also in consideration of the law,” referencing the newly expanded Parental Rights in Education Act.

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Teacher Joseph Cool told the Times, “There’s some raunchiness in Shakespeare. Because that’s what sold tickets during his time.”

The district said that, because students need to read more writers, they are no longer required to read the complete books.

“We need to make sure our students are prepared with enough material during the year so they will be prepared for their assessments,” Arja said.

School board member Jessica Vaughn said on Facebook that teachers had only just found out about the changes, days before schools returned from summer recess.

“Honestly, it feels that much of this is intentional, in order to cause as much chaos in public education as possible, so that the collapse of public education is swift and the agenda of education privatization can move forward with less obstacles,” she wrote.

And Cool said, “I think the rest of the nation — no, the world, is laughing at us.

“Taking Shakespeare in its entirety out because the relationship between Romeo and Juliet is somehow exploiting minors is just absurd.”