FACTCHECK: Was Florida able to ban the killing of mockingbirds from its schools?

A post shared via Facebook claims Florida outlawed “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

Verdict: False

There is no evidence to suggest that Florida has banned “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The Florida Department of Education currently recommends the book for eighth graders.

Fact Check:

Harper Lee’s 1960 novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” is widely considered an American classic and has been translated into approximately 40 different languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, according to Britannica. A 2013 study conducted by The Fordham Institute found it was the most common book taught by ninth and tenth-grade teachers in the U.S.

A post shared on Facebook claims the state of Florida banned it in schools. The post states that Florida banned the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird’ from schools. It was a book that Florida children used to read a century ago. Check Your Fact found no credible news reporting about such a development. Pen America, a non-profit that works to “protect free expression in the United States and worldwide,” maintains a database of banned books from school districts across the U.S While Florida school districts have banned several books, “To Kill A Mockingbird” is not listed among those books.

Pen America’s database does show that “To Kick A Mockingbird” has been banned in school districts in North Carolina and Oklahoma. A Seattle school also dropped the book from its reading list in January, according to Desert News.

Bryan Griffin (Republican Flordia Governor). DeSantis’s press secretary, pointed Check Your Fact to a tweet of his where he referred to the viral claim as “false.” (RELATED: Is Monkeypox Only Spreading In Countries Where The Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Has Been Distributed? )

False. Florida does not ban To Kill a Mockingbird. Florida actually recommends the book for 8th grade. (FL Standards linked, page 160). However, the book was banned by a progressive district in California, along with other classics, in 2020). https://t.co/5JQelH8XZK https://t.co/E5qPBQPhsn pic.twitter.com/OAVderItxD

— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 21, 2022

“False. Florida does not ban To Kill a Mockingbird. Florida actually recommends the book for 8th grade. (FL Standards linked, page 160). However, the book was banned by a progressive district in California, along with other classics, in 2020),” Griffin tweeted.

Florida’s Department of Education does indeed recommend the book to eighth graders as part of its B.E.S.T Standards, according to cpalms.org.

Check Your Fact reached out Florida’s Department of Education to get feedback. We will then update this article with any response.