Photo: Getty Images
DeSantis & School Boards - Top 3 Takeaways – June 17th, 2022
- It starts in the classroom. When discussing our societies' issues, I often start with what happens in the classroom or doesn’t (as the case may be). The big picture issues stem from the incarnation of the Department of Education in 1980 – effectively federalizing education - while ensuring all references of God were removed from the classroom. From educational declines to a rise in mental health issues and subsequent increases in violence – most of our issues in society today can be traced to the impact of what’s changed in the classroom. I’ve evidenced this many times over. But the Department of Ed isn’t going away, nor will it be reformed under the current administration. Thus, it’s critical to control what we can control here at home. May 24th of last year I said this: There is no more fundamentally important issue in our society today than education. It’s about time we treated it that way. Imagine, for example, Trump rally level enthusiasm for our local school districts. What could be accomplished if that type of energy were applied at the local level to the most fundamentally important issue? We have school boards that are far more inclined to advance the agenda of teachers' unions than that of parents. Until they start losing elections that won’t change.
- We need good candidates that are focused solely on the needs of parents and there’s a path forward. Consider that there’s nothing more politically unifying than school choice. This is from my 2019 story, Floridians want more school choice: 68% support school choice. Only 22% oppose it. The number jumps to greater than 75% for parents who have kids in school right now. We have so much going for us in South Florida, but we have real issues within our public education establishments. It’s time to take back our schools by having accountable and responsible school board members. All of our big picture issues locally and nationally will be addressed if we’re successful in doing this. But the challenge for voters has been two-fold. Recruiting good candidates for school board races and knowing what they really stand for. Well, that might be about to change. I’ve been encouraged by energy behind school board engagement. And now, those who’ve wanted to better understand what school board candidates really stand for will have an opportunity because of the...
- DeSantis Education Agenda. Yesterday, Governor DeSantis released a mission statement and questionnaire for prospective school board candidates which may be filled out in an effort to seek the endorsement of the Governor. As DeSantis said: The DeSantis Education Agenda is a student-first, parent-centered initiative focused on setting Florida’s children up for success, ensuring parental rights in education, and combatting the woke agenda from infiltrating public schools. This statewide agenda is for school board candidates and school board members who are committed to advancing these priorities at the local school board level. Because of the Governor’s leadership, Florida’s students have thrived. Florida’s public schools now lead the nation and parents are confident they can send their children to school without the threat of woke indoctrination. On that note ten priorities outlined by DeSantis prior to the questionnaire are these: 1. Keep schools open, rejecting lockdowns 2. Educate, don’t indoctrinate 3. Ensure Parental Rights in Education and Keep Woke Gender Ideology Out of Schools 4. Support Robust Civics Education 5. Expand Workforce Development and Technical Education 6. Reject the use of Critical Race Theory in the Curriculum 7. Increase Teacher Pay 8. Continue support for school security and mental health initiatives 9. Protect the right of parents to petition school boards and districts for redress of grievances 10. Guarantee the right of parents to curriculum transparency. And with that the DeSantis Education Survey is presented as a questionnaire. DeSantis intends to actively begin endorsing local school board candidates. School board races have traditionally not received the level of attention they deserve given the significance they have in our society. It appears that’s about to change in Florida.