Florida: the land of liberty and the land of sanity
“In the past, nobody cared about these races, nobody was paying much attention to these races except the teachers unions" - Ron DeSantis
Florida’s Governor reshaped education in the state during his first term, leading the way nationally through pandemic insanity in schools while also securing the rights of parents in their children’s education. Recently, an event dubbed the “Freedom Blueprint” hosted almost 200 people for a training featuring DeSantis along with current and former education officials, including former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. Indian River County school board member Jacqueline Rosario who won her re-election bid and was endorsed by 1776 Project PAC told Fox News "topics such as parents' rights, school choice, roles and responsibilities of school board members versus superintendents were discussed among many others. I fully support his agenda and blueprint for education: it’s work I had been advocating for years.” Our continued work and attention in the state is reaping major benefits; in 2022 1776 Project PAC won 35 school board races in Florida.
‘Equity’ v. Education
Attorney General Jason Miyares is launching an investigation to protect the civil rights of students and parents at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology after a strong request by Governor Glenn Youngkin. The news comes a week after a group of Fairfax County parents announced they are demanding action after they said Thomas Jefferson administrators delayed informing students that they had qualified for a national award ahead of looming college application deadlines. Fairfax County Public Schools has denied deliberately withholding the information from 261 students who were named “commended students” by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. However there is a significant possibility students lost out on prospective scholarships and other accolades due to the omittance. Lt. Governor Winsome Sears shared her discontent with the situation; “New year, same Hell. What in the world is going on? And that’s what this investigation that the Governor has called for is going to determine,” Fairfax County Schools is out-of-hand; and unfortunately it is nothing new.
New Groomer Index
The CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health is pushing teachers to conduct self-assessments to measure how committed they are to “LGBTQ inclusivity” in their instruction. The so-called “self-assessment tool” urges teachers, administrators, school health staff, and others to become an “awesome ally” by advocating for LGBT curriculum and transgender identity in school. Shocking that the same agency that worked hand-in-glove with the unions to keep schools closed is now peddling such controversial and harmful guidance.
Going into 2023, 1776 Project PAC is energized and fully committed to supporting our candidates and advocating for common sense protections in education. Not only will we continue our record of success, we'll build on it. Now, it’s more important than ever that we all rally behind candidates who will champion policies that benefit our students, teachers, and schools. Our fight is far from over.