Florida Voters Just Tanked GOP Efforts To Further Politicize Public Schools
HuffPost
Amendment 1 is part of the Republican strategy to take over public schools.
Florida voters are projected to reject an effort to politicize the state’s public schools even further. They voted down Amendment 1, which asked Floridians if they wanted the state’s school board candidates to be identified by political party on ballots.
School board candidates in the state are nonpartisan, though these races have become increasingly politicized over the last several years. Florida’s schools have been at the center of the conservative culture wars since parents began protesting coronavirus school-related closures and masking policies.
Florida is one of the nation’s leaders in book banning and censoring teachers. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, for his part, supported legislation that would restrict what teachers can say in the classroom about gender identity, sexual orientation and racism — including the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which prohibits teachers from talking about gender identity or sexual orientation. The measure, which DeSantis signed in March 2022, sparked massive protests and a condemnation from Disney. DeSantis retaliated against the company by revoking its special tax status, and Disney subsequently sued the Florida government for violating its First Amendment rights. Both sides reached a settlement in March 2024.
When Moms for Liberty, a far-right parental rights organization, was born in 2021, the governor quickly latched onto their so-called parental rights agenda. The group and other conservative activists quickly mobilized to install similar-minded candidates in school boards, leading to a right-wing takeover of schools.
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