In an effort to tighten his grip on K12 education, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a target list of Democratic school board members he hopes to see ousted in the next round of local elections. Some 14 school board members from across the state are now in the sights of DeSantis and members of the far-right group Moms for Liberty, who intended to replace these officials with “Freedom First” candidates.
The governor and his supporters are taking credit for flipping 29 school board seats in 2022, according to the Florida Standard, a right-leaning media organization. Some of the newly elected board members have spearheaded the removal of a handful of superintendents in recent months.
The target list was developed at a meeting attended by DeSantis, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, state Republican leaders and members of Moms for Liberty, and it was released by the Florida Standard. Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler tweeted a photo of the meeting:
Best thing to happen in Politics this week.
Governor @RonDeSantisFL & Speaker @Paul_Renner have identified 14 School Board Members for removal.
I am excited to lead the @FloridaGOP efforts alongside the Governor, Speaker & Pro-Parent Groups like @Moms4Liberty to remove them. pic.twitter.com/o3jiRw0EDn
— Christian Ziegler ???????? (@ChrisMZiegler) February 22, 2023
Along with the target list, comments were published about why each member has been singled out:
- Jennifer Jenkins, Brevard County: Supported mask mandates
- Kelly Coker and Cindy Pearson, Duval County: Supported mask mandates and opposed “parents’ rights” proposals
- Nadia Combs and Jessica Vaughn, Hillsborough County: Supported mask mandates
- Peggy Jones and Brian Barefoot, Indian River County: Supported mask mandates and opposed removing books from district libraries
- Luisa Santos, Miami-Dade County: Worked for the Department of Education during the Obama administration and opposed religious exemptions for mask mandates
- Anita Burnette and Carl Persis, Volusia County: “Lifelong Democrats, the whole package—masking, transgenderism, wokeism”
- Tom Edwards, Sarasota County: “Edwards likes to brag about how he’s ‘working from the inside’ to indoctrinate children with harmful, leftist ideology”
Santos told NBC 6 South Florida that she has prioritized teacher pay and school safety while representing District 9 on the Miami-Dade County school board. “I’m not sure that’s woke, but that is what every family I’ve heard from in District 9 wants and deserves,” she told the station. “Our community supports making sure every single child, regardless of their background, has what they need to thrive. I’ll continue to protect that at all costs.”
Edwards, who is gay and describes himself as “woke,” is often a dissenting vote on a school board where conservatives hold the majority, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. He has been a vocal opponent of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law because of the harm he says it will have on LGBTQ+ students and staff. “I appreciate the spotlight that the governor is giving me for my good governance, and for my quality school board work for the students and my community,” Edwards told the Herald-Tribune.
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