At Sine Die, Ron DeSantis touts culture war victories on educationWith the Legislature now adjourned, Gov. Ron DeSantis says lawmakers have delivered on education priorities, including with laws widely condemned by Democrats as targeting students based on race and sexual orientation.
The Legislature returned Monday to pass their proposed $112.1 billion budget, touted by members of both parties for setting aside more money for students and teachers. Lawmakers also voted to eliminate the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), a DeSantis priority that unified teachers, parents and Republicans.
However, Democrats and critics have lambasted the GOP-led Legislature for legislating instruction on “critical race theory” and LGBTQ identities. The Republican Governor leaned into those condemnations in his closing remarks after lawmakers adjourned Sine Die, referring to the measures as “curriculum transparency” so parents know what their children are learning about in classrooms.
“As the parent of three kids that are age five and under, thank you for letting me and my wife be able to send our kids to kindergarten without them being sexualized,” DeSantis said.
The parental rights in education legislation (HB 1557), dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, would prevent discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity between kindergarten and third grade. Additionally, it would limit instruction about those topics in later grade levels to age-appropriate discussions.
Proponents say everyone should be able to get behind those measures. However, critics say it’s not the plain language of the bills that upsets them.
“I can’t not make it personal,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an openly gay Orlando Democrat, as he debated the bill. “This bill goes way beyond the text on the page. It sends a terrible message to our youth, that there is something so wrong, so inappropriate, so dangerous about this topic that we have to censor it from classroom instruction.”
A second measure (HB 7) would prohibit lessons and training which tell students and employees that they are inherently racist, sexist or oppressive because of their race, color, sex or national origin. It would also ban instruction that they are personally responsible and should feel guilty for the past actions of members of their race, color, sex or national origin.
DeSantis said lawmakers ensured people would not be treated differently based on their race.
“We in Florida showed a commitment to education, not to indoctrination,” DeSantis said............
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/508332-at-sine-die-ron-desantis-touts-culture-war-victories-on-education/
