[csusbpeace] DeSantis' School Board Candidates Prevail In Florida Primary

From: "raccoon" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("bigraccoon1")
To: "CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <CSUSBPEACE@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2022 12:30:50 -0700

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-desantis-school-board-candidates_n_6306378ae4b052615d77166c

DeSantis' School Board Candidates Prevail In Florida PrimaryMost of them won or will advance to runoffs, part of the Florida governor's aggressive crackdown on public education.

Aug 24, 2022

All but five of the school board candidates endorsed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won or advanced to runoffs in their primaries Tuesday, furthering the Republican’s crusade against “wokeness” in schools as he looks to build a base of local allies.
In all, 25 of the 30 candidates backed by DeSantis and his 1776 Project PAC in the traditionally nonpartisan primaries were victorious, according to media reports.
“We will never, ever surrender to the woke agenda. Florida is the state where woke goes to die,” DeSantis said at an election-night party, using a term the right has adopted to deride efforts toward inclusivity.
With Florida Republicans behind him, DeSantis — who didn’t have a primary this week but will face Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist in November — poured thousands of dollars into normally sleepy and apolitical races for positions that determine how schools are governed in some of Florida’s largest counties.
DeSantis even managed to flip some counties’ school boards from left-leaning to conservative, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The DeSantis-aligned candidates focused on parental rights and transparency, while Democrats cited the challenges of recruiting and retaining educators in an increasingly hostile teaching environment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wasn't on the ballot Tuesday, but his school board candidates were.Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

“Sarasota County — WE did it!!!” tweeted Bridget Ziegler, a school board member from Sarasota endorsed by DeSantis. Her campaign materials say Ziegler is for eliminating “indoctrination” and banning “critical race theory.” “The Community has spoken & it is crystal clear,” she wrote. “They are demanding a reset of the School Board. And that’s what they are going to get.”
The chair of the Florida Democratic Party, Manny Diaz Sr., blasted DeSantis Tuesday for making school board races “new political battlegrounds.”
The governor’s aggressive crackdown on public schools has focused heavily on restricting how gender, race and history are taught to kids. He faced an onslaught of criticism for his Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by his detractors, which prohibits classroom discussions on gender identity and sexuality.
A companion piece of legislation, the Stop WOKE Act, was halted by a judge last week amid challenges to the constitutionality of barring discussion of race in business and educational settings. The law, which takes aim at diversity and inclusion trainings, seeks to prohibit thorny discussions about race and privilege. A judge characterized it as impermissibly vague and accused the state of “muzzling its opponents.” The state is appealing.
It’s no secret that DeSantis, sitting on a war chest of $132 million, is eyeing a run for president in 2024. As one of the GOP’s foremost culture warriors, DeSantis has made “parental rights” a primary focus, a tactic that worked for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year. Florida, meanwhile, faces a critical teacher shortage. To compensate, the Florida Department of Education launched a program last month allowing military veterans to teach without a degree.
Andrea Mercado, the executive director of Florida Rising, a progressive nonprofit, blasted DeSantis as having “learned from Trump how to exploit extremism into headlines and fundraisers for his own career.” She encouraged progressives to vote to keep DeSantis “out of the Oval Office in 2024, and to build justice on every block with local elections.”

[csusbpeace] DeSantis' School Board Candidates Prevail In Florida Primary

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