Some of the nation’s largest book publishers joined authors and parents of high school students in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday challenging a 2023 law that increased scrutiny of school library books, arguing that the law unconstitutionally violates speech rights. Penguin Random House LLC; Hachette Book Group, Inc.; HarperCollins Publishers LLC; Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC; Simon & Schuster, LLC; and Sourcebooks LLC alleged in the lawsuit that their books “have been targeted for removal or removed from school libraries” throughout the state following last year’s passage of the law (HB 1069).

Saying it opposes “any form of academic censorship,” the United Faculty of Florida on Monday objected to a directive issued this month by university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues about reviewing textbooks and other materials for “antisemitic material” or “anti-Israeli” bias.

the Law at the Library program, courtesy of Lee County Legal Aid, aims to remove that barrier free of charge. The scope of issues that attorneys in the Lee County Legal Aid's Law at the Library program handle ranges from housing to immigration. Disaster relief and contractor fraud are focused on during the sessions, but attorneys are equipped to help with anything.

The Big Backpack Event began with the idea that not all Southwest Florida children had the supplies they needed to get a good education.Twenty-five years later, that's still the idea.That need could be seen Sunday in Fort Myers. Again, as has been the case at every Big Backpack Event, a line of those needing school supplies snaked around the distribution area.

A Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday in Florida began Monday and run for two weeks, ending on Sunday, August 11.The third such tax holiday this year will help families to save money on items students need for the new school year.

Recently, school officials, teachers and volunteers gathered at Franklin Park Elementary School to help put together that new furniture, stock library shelves and prepare for the children who will flock here in less than three weeks.

The Lee County Tax Collector is hosting a back-to-school supply drive for teachers benefitting the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.

Three area residents -- Kae Moore, Sean Kempton and Jamie Merchant -- have been named to the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida by Gov. DeSantis.

For nearly two months this summer children in Lee and Charlotte counties will be provided free breakfast and lunch at more than 100 school-based and community sites.The free meals are being provided by the School District of Lee County, the School District of Charlotte County and Florida’s Summer BreakSpot program.

The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved changes in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s bylaws that include replacing mentions of the word “gender” with the word “sex,” amid a larger dispute between federal and state officials.The changes came as Florida and other Republican-led states are challenging a Biden administration rule that would help carry out Title IX, a decades-old law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex.