Have we learned any lessons from our past? Our country remains divided, and our leaders have not adequately funded our schools to support the success of many children…
Our Precious Children’s Hope…
I hope this New Year brings more opportunities for learning…Let’s all work together supporting their efforts..Keeping our schools happy and safe…
Ever so Hoping for that better day…
We are so much better when we are united in Humanity…
Tis the Season of Giving… PeaceAnd….Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β AlTogetherLove…
Be kind and compassionate to one another..." Ephesians 4:32
Gun legislation is a partisan issue across the U.S., with Democratic-led states enacting more limits on access to guns and efforts to tighten gun laws often failing in Republican-controlled legislatures…
We are currently experiencing a period of significant division and urgency. Our children are facing significant challenges;
Educators are actively addressing safety concerns…
Education, social skill development, and creative expression were integral components of our children’s daily experiences…
This is now their new reality, as we are not addressing the prospect of gun reform…
Along with stop, drop and roll, some states are teaching students to ‘Stop and don’t touch that gun
ByKRISTIN M. HALL Associated Press and ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This school year, students in elementary, middle and high schools in some states will get a new lesson on safety: what to do if they find a firearm.
Arkansas, Tennessee and Utah are the first states to enact laws that require public schools to teach children as young as 5 the basics of gun safety and how to properly store guns in the home. Only Utah’s law allows students to opt out of the lesson if requested by parents or guardians.
A similar law in Arizona was vetoed by the Democratic governor, and lawmakers in at least five other states have introduced such proposals, putting schools at the forefront of yet another debate about gun violence.
In Tennessee, lesson plans could include stickers, games, quizzes, or videos with music and colorful firearm illustrations, including a gun made out of Lego-style bricks and an explanation of what a muzzleloader is.
The reality is that many children in the U.S. grow up around firearms.
At Berclair Elementary School in Memphis, a class of 16 fifth graders were asked how many had seen a real gun. Nearly all raised their hands.
βIt just shows you how much a class like this is needed,β said Tammie Chapman, a health and physical education instructor, who has been leading the lessons at this school.
βWhile there is some controversy around guns, there doesnβt always have to be,β said Emily Buck, director of public relations for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, which created a curriculum with the state Department of Education. βI think that having some education and foundational knowledge really can be beneficial in the long run.β
The lessons are often adapted from hunting safety courses already administered by state hunting and wildlife agencies, but with key differences.
Hunter safety courses typically involve hands-on instruction and explanations of how to safely handle and fire a gun. These classroom lessons, on the other hand, emphasize that children should not touch a firearm…
In Tennessee, the legislation prohibits any use of actual firearms, but in Arkansas, the law allows parents to opt into alternative curriculums, such as an off-campus firearm safety course that could include live guns.
The main takeaway is a series of steps for when a child finds a gun: Stop, don’t touch, leave quickly, tell an adult. This is consistent with instructions created by other organizations, including one from the National Rifle Association that features animated characters, videos and coloring pages.
At Berclair Elementary School, the faculty designed a relay-race game to keep students engaged. In the gym, students took turns running to buckets that had different photos. Students who found a picture of a gun then reported it to one of the adults. They also listened to a catchy jingle emphasizing the steps.
Buck acknowledged that adults might be the ones responsible for creating unsafe situations at home and said children should be prepared if they find guns in unusual spots, like on shelves or under a mattress.
βWe hope that maybe students will take some of what they learned back to their house, back to the parents and maybe theyβll encourage their parents to adjust their storage method,β said Buck.
Gun legislation is a partisan issue across the U.S., with Democratic-led states enacting more limits on access to guns and efforts to tighten gun laws often failing in Republican-controlled legislatures…
This was my last very special Thanksgiving post from November 1st…2014…
Our precious children, even more so today, need to feel loved and safe; provided with the tools that foster their Educational Path to a Successful Life Full of Heart...
Being at a school with a diverse population, I have found this time of year is quite a stressful time for the children…In addition,with more expectations from such a demanding curriculum than ever before…So many of my children came to me struggling because their lives are so difficult…
As their teacher, I must keep the rigors of the classroom curriculum moving along with understanding and inspiration…I reach out to my young parents providing them with knowledge about providing their child a daily reading and homework time…Encouraging parents to put their child to bed at an early bedtime…I use myself as a role model for my parents and children…Because, I myself have to be ready for school by 6:30AM..I must be in bed by 7:30-8:00PM…I share so much of personal habits of organization with my children and their parents…
It is my hope that I will empower my children and parents to appreciate these values that will foster their child success in school…
Some of my parents will…However many do not… Their child may struggle…
It will always be my responsibility to provide the safety and structure…Through this beautiful season of “Fall Holidays”…Providing Love and Giving Thanks…
From my extensive experience teaching in public schools, I know how essential funding is for the many programs and resources that support our teachers and staff in ensuring our children’s educational success…
We count on local, state, and federal funding…School Choice is a parent’s option…Parents definitely have that right…
Federal funds meant for public schools have historically been allocated to private schools, which undermines their ability to provide those essential resources and staff..
Historically, this movement began here in Florida when “No Child Left Behind” was implemented, under the leadership of Jeb Bush as Governor of Florida…
Thereβs nothing βconservativeβ about giving away billions in tax dollars without accountability
By Laura Hine | Contributor Oct. 8, 2025β¦
When my older son was four years old, I drove him every day to the most prestigious private preschool in town. Along the way, we passed our neighborhoodβs public elementary school, which had been rated a βDβ under Floridaβs grading system. No one in my circle of friends considered sending their kids there.
But I had graduated from Florida public schools, and a thought gnawed at my conscience: βIf this school is not good enough for my kids, it’s not good enough for anyone’s kids.β One day the schoolβs billboard advertised an open house and I decided to go. The principal was bright-eyed, full of ideas and clearly quite capable. So were the teachers. I talked with families who were similar to mine and ones who were different as our children ran around the playground together. It felt like America. And I loved it…
We hear a lot of talk about the importance of βparental choiceβ in education. That evening, my husband and I made a choice of our own: to improve our public schools instead of abandoning them. We enrolled our two sons and got to work β volunteering, promoting family engagement, organizing fundraisers and serving as president of the PTA β all to make the school the best place it could be not just for our children, but for the community.
After five years of learning from teachers, parents and administrators at our elementary school, I was elected to the Pinellas County School Board in Tampa Bay, one of the 30 largest school districts in the country with more than 90,000 students. I now serve as board chair. After years in our public schools and a lifetime of other experiences β from serving as a U.S. Naval officer deployed to the Middle East to overseeing construction of a new terminal at Tampa International Airport β I know in my bones and from the people Iβve worked with in the military and the private sector that public schools are the common fabric that binds us together as Americans..
Unfortunately, that fabric is fraying in many states today β and especially in my home state of Florida, where a βuniversal voucherβ program was adopted two years ago. Universal vouchers allow any parents β regardless of income and regardless of their studentsβ needs β to receive taxpayer money for private school tuition or homeschooling. The price is staggering β it will cost our state $4.9 billion in taxpayer money this year from the Florida Tax Credit and the Florida Empowerment Scholarship. That money is being funneled to private schools and homeschoolers instead of public schools, and itβs causing a statewide budget crisis that threatens all of our public services…
Currently, more than a dozen states from Alabama to Texas have universal voucher programs. (The first-ever federal voucher program was signed into law in July by President Donald Trump.)
The ill-conceived universal βschool choiceβ policy may be coming for your public schools soon. So itβs important to learn from Floridaβs mistakes. Sunshine state taxpayers spent $1.2 billion on vouchers in 2023; that will more than quadruple to $4.9 billion in 2026, and itβs a primary reason that state planners forecast a $6.9 billion budget deficit in 2028.
Whether you support or oppose vouchers, this is the reality: The cost of vouchers to your state will require tax increases, budget cuts or both. And itβs all for a scheme that doesnβt require any proof that voucher students are doing as well as or better than their public school peers. Billions in tax dollars are being given away without performance standards and without financial accountability. In other words, universal school vouchers are giving taxpayer money to private schools that are not held to the same standards as our public schools…
First, letβs talk about academic standards. Every public school student in Florida takes the same standardized tests and every public school is awarded a grade. If your public school is struggling, parents know it. Private schools that receive vouchers do not receive statewide grades. They can administer any of 28 assessment tests instead of the statewide assessment required of public schools. That means thereβs no statistically accurate way to compare performance at public schools and private voucher schools. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander β does Florida believe in their education standards or not? Schools that receive vouchers should not be exempt from the high standards we demand of public schools that receive taxpayer money.
Florida law says our public schools must have certified teachers, be academically accredited and have transparent accounting. Tax-funded vouchers carry no such requirements. Of 146 private schools in my home county as of September, 71% are unaccredited by any academic agency. That percentage is even higher for the 3,515 private schools across Florida. Parents might think their kids will get a better education outside of public school systems, but the reality is, we just donβt know.
Second, letβs talk about fiscal responsibility. Public school budgets and contracts are subject to school board approval and are available for anyone to review; we know how every tax dollar is spent in public education. In contrast, private schools that get vouchers do not face the same rules. They should be required to open their financial books and be accountable for how every taxpayer dollar is spent…
The origin of taxpayer-funded vouchers in Florida dates back to 1999, when they were directed to low-income families and students with disabilities who were attending public schools that didnβt meet their needs. A program that began with noble intentions for a select few with the greatest needs has morphed into vouchers for anyone, regardless of family income or special needs. There is no cap on how many vouchers the state hands out, no meaningful safeguards that the money is well spent and no assurance that the recipient is being well educated.
Right now, each voucher recipient in Florida receives roughly $9,000 annually toward tuition. Itβs a blank check from taxpayers with no limits and no oversight. Why are we giving away our tax dollars without asking questions? Why is it permissible to spend taxpayer money on alleged βeducational benefitsβ for homeschoolers, such as trips to Disney World, backyard renovations, video game systems or big-screen TVs?
So-called βschool choiceβ advocates portray vouchers as a βconservativeβ education policy, but there is nothing conservative about giving away billions in tax dollars without accountability.
Look at my school district. Five years ago, Pinellas County paid for fewer than 5,000 vouchers when the program was limited to low-income students or students with special needs or disabilities. Under the expanded voucher law this year, our county is now paying for more than 21,000 vouchers at an estimated price tag of $182 million β more than five times the cost five years ago…
The truth is that the vast majority of todayβs universal voucher recipients β thousands in my county and more than a quarter million in Florida β were already in private schools or homeschooled before they started getting vouchers. The 2023 universal vouchers program didnβt encourage βschool choice;β it merely awarded taxpayer money to subsidize families for a choice they had already made β and which they were already paying for themselves.
Taking advantage of vouchers for private schools is harder for disadvantaged families due to language, financial and transportation barriers. That disparity allows well-off families to get subsidies for sending their kids to private schools or homeschooling, while disadvantaged children are left in poorly funded public schools.
Families who could afford private school before should not be receiving taxpayer dollars to defray their tuition bills now. Florida canβt afford it. To get the state financial deficit under control, Florida β and the nation β must reduce free-for-all spending and implement a responsible income cap on vouchers.
Since 1647, the schooling of children has been funded by taxpayers in what is now the United States. Public education, accessible to all, is a bedrock principle of this country and one of the greatest privileges we have as citizens. Providing a high-quality education to all is in our state constitution.
State leaders should embrace, invest in and lead our public schools with vigor β not disparage and divest resources from them. But the more families that use vouchers, the less funding that public schools receive from the state, crippling their ability to provide quality education, facilities and resources to their students…
Another critical point: While public schools cannot turn away students, private schools can. Some have extremely selective admissions processes, which have the potential to mimic racial and economic segregation. I came of age in recently integrated public schools in Tampa, and looking back, I know that studying alongside and being friends with people from different communities made me a better leader in the military and in my work, a better neighbor and a better citizen. When we know one another, we care about each other and will fight for one another, too. This is not βwoke-mind DEI;β this is national security.
These are our schools and our tax dollars. Contact your legislators. Tell them education money should come with academic and fiscal accountability. Then go visit your local public school and ask what you can do to ensure all children have opportunities for excellence. That, my friends, will make for a brighter future.
Remember that βDβ grade given to the school I drove by every morning a decade ago? Just a few weeks ago, that neighborhood school β the one that our family chose to attend and worked to support β earned an βAβ from the state of Florida. Thatβs what happens when we invest in and weave the rich fabric of our nation, rather than let it fray. America was built on our belief in universal education, not universal vouchers…
Laura Hine, who is not affiliated with any political party, is chair of the Pinellas County, Florida, School Board. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and earned an MBA in finance from the University of South Florida. Her two children attend Pinellas public schools..
Floridaβs Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas says heβs outraged with the Alachua County School Board, and says theyβre not putting students first.
In my former school district in Alachua County, Gainesville, Florida, this situation is beyond words. Some of my former friends and colleagues are still teaching our precious children and facing the authoritarian control of our public schools…
Board meeting Published: Oct. 7, 2025
The school board had a special guest at its Tuesday meeting β Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas.
Kamoutsasβ visit followed the Florida State Board of Educationβs decision to summon Tina Certain, vice chair of the school board, during its Sept. 24 meeting due to a social media post she made about Charlie Kirkβs memorial…
I trust our school board to prioritize the needs of our children. Political divisiveness should not exist.
First posted on October 6, 2023…Here we are Today….
In the many years of my teachingβ¦ I realized October was one of those favorite months for childrenβ¦We had our daily routine down; teaching those essential, required learning activitiesβ¦And now by October, I could add those creatively fun activities through art, writing, and play, centered around this glorious seasonβ¦
Iβm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobersβ ...
~ L. M. Montgomery, βAnne of Green Gablesβ
Art by S. Hee…
In the challenges of Today, our precious children are dealing with such a very divisive political climate …
I must acknowledge and admire the teachers and essential staff that are still providing them with those creative activities that are characteristic of October’s Magic…π
Florida plans to end vaccine mandates statewide, including for schoolchildrenThe American Teacher…
During my 38 years of teaching, I retired 10 years ago. Even with vaccine mandates in place, we would still get sick occasionally. One particular year stands out: I had the flu while teaching my little first graders, and I was also dealing with pneumonia. Our custodial staff, who were understaffed, struggled to keep up with all the necessary protocols. I truly admired how vigilant they were…
And then after retiring…Covid came along…Schools understaffed, divisive political climate…ππππΌπ·
Present Day…Divisive Authoritarian Mandates….
Florida plans to end vaccine mandates statewide, including for schoolchildren By Deidre McPhillips Shawn Nottingham
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said Wednesday that the state will work toward ending all vaccine mandates, which would include those for school enrollment. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph …
Florida will move to end all vaccine mandates in the state, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced Wednesday.
The move would make Florida the first state to end a longstanding β and constitutionally upheld β practice of requiring certain vaccines for school students.
The state health department will immediately move to end all non-statutory mandates in the state, Ladapo said at a news conference. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was also at the event, said state lawmakers would then look into developing a legislative package to end any remaining mandates.
Ladapo said that every vaccine mandate βis wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.β
All 50 states have had school immunization requirements since the beginning of the 1980s, with incoming kindergartners needing shots to protect against diseases including measles, polio and tetanus. No states require a Covid-19 vaccine for schoolchildren…
All states allow medical exemptions from these school vaccine mandates, and most also allow for exemptions due to personal or religious beliefs. Exemption rates have been on the rise for years in the US, with a record share of incoming kindergartners skipping the required shots in the 2024-25 school year.
Floridaβs school vaccine exemption rate last school yearβ about 5% β was higher than the national average, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows, and nearly all were for nonmedical reasons.
βWe are concerned that todayβs announcement will put children in Florida public schools at higher risk for getting sick, which will have a ripple effect across our communities,β Dr. Rana Alissa, president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement.
βFor many kids, the best part of school is being with friends – sharing space, playing on the playground, and learning together. Close contact makes it easy for contagious diseases to spread quickly,β she said. βWhen everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is harder for diseases to spread and easier for everyone to continue learning and having fun. When children are sick and miss school caregivers also miss work, which not only impacts those families but also the local economy.β
A study published last year by the CDC estimated that routine childhood vaccinations β such as those included in school mandates β will have prevented about 508 million illnesses, 32 million hospitalizations and 1,129,000 deaths among children born between 1994 and 2003. They also were estimated to avert $540 billion in direct costs.
Ladapo said that vaccination should be an individual choice.
βPeople have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,β he said. βWhat you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your god. I donβt have that right. Government does not have that right.β
But experts say that freedom comes with responsibilities
βWeβre all routinely subject to rules that enable us to live together safely, and I personally want those rules in place to protect me and the people I care about. We abide by speed limits, traffic lights, infant car seat and seatbelt laws – all requirements that have expanded over the years as safety technology and engineering has improved,β said Dr. Kelly Moore, president and CEO of immunize.org, a nonprofit organization focused on vaccine access.
βI share with many other people the belief that all children who are required to attend school should also have a right to the best possible defense from vaccine-preventable diseases while they are there,β she said.
Some vaccine mandates in Florida can be rolled back unilaterally by the state health department, Ladapo said, but others will require coordination with lawmakers.
Experts who oppose the move to end vaccine mandates emphasize that the change is not final and that timing is critical.
With the announcement coming after the start of the school year, Floridians will have a chance to experience and reflect on what a year of low vaccination coverage looks like, Moore said..
βThis timing gives leaders several months to reconsider whether this is whatβs best for Florida families. Itβs quite likely that Floridians will have reasons to regret that decision as time goes by and outbreaks disrupt learning,β she said.
The American Medical Association βstrongly opposesβ the plan to end vaccine mandates, Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an internal medicine physician and member of the professional organizationβs board of trustees, said in a statement.
βThis unprecedented rollback would undermine decades of public health progress and place children and communities at increased risk for diseases such as measles, mumps, polio, and chickenpox resulting in serious illness, disability, and even death,β she said. βWhile there is still time, we urge Florida to reconsider this change to help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk.β
Another front in Tallahasseeβs us-versus-them culture wars…
Welcome to the beginning of the school year 2025…Our precious children here in Florida are now once again dealing with an extremely divisive political climate…
Anastasios Kamoutsas.,Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t look far for his pick to be the new Florida commissioner of education.
Anastasios Kamoutsas reacts to being selected as the next commissioner of education during a Florida State Board of Education meeting on June 4 in Miami. [ D.A.
John Hill – Columnist John Hill is a columnist for the Tampa Bay Times…
When did anger become a mode of governing? Threats a legitimate policy tool? Posting online a serious substitute for dialogue and engagement?
I ask because just a couple of months into his job, the stateβs new education commissioner, Anastasios Kamoutsas, has managed to cheapen the quality of Floridaβs political environment even further by picking fights over side issues that have more to do with dividing Floridians than with teaching our kids how to read and write…
The governor recommended Kamoutsas, his former aide, for the education commissionerβs post this year in the latest round of patronage hiring within Floridaβs educational system. As the Tampa Bay Timesβ Jeffrey S. Solochek reported recently, Kamoutsas has gained attention since taking office through his use of threats, warnings and public shaming aimed at local school board members, district officials and union leaders who he sees as insufficiently on board with the governorβs education agenda…
Kamoutsas telegraphed his style on day one, sending letters to school administrators warning them against violating the rights of parents or teachers. Do so, he advised, and: βI will be knocking on your door.β
He warned teacher unions not to use βdelay tacticsβ in getting state-funded raises into teachersβ hands, even though no union had taken those steps. He accused the Alachua County school board of violating parentsβ First Amendment rights at a board meeting, even though a review of the meeting shows that all residents were permitted to speak. Kamoutsas also targeted the Hillsborough County School District for a book the commissioner claimed was inappropriate; get rid of it immediately, he warned Superintendent Van Ayres in a social media post, βor you can expect another inviteβ before the state Board of Education.
The approach, as the Times aptly noted, mimics the behavior of the governor himself. But this wider circle of political appointees is increasingly following a similar playbook, making a splash with broad allegations of wrongdoing, inflammatory language about their supposed enemies and direct threats of punishment against those who donβt get in line.
When did this become an acceptable leadership style?
Iβve never seen a broader cast of unelected state leaders foster so much division among Floridians and distrust in our schools, courts, public health systems and other bedrock institutions. In Kamoutsasβ case, his nominal bosses at the state Board of Education make matters worse by flying high cover for such belligerence.
What are school districts, teachers, and parents to do?
First, appeasement doesnβt work. Hillsborough tried that and fell into a trap. School districts and the public need to push back, insisting that the state act within its authority and not broach upon the powers of individual school districts. Elections still matter; DeSantis can appoint failed school board candidates to the Board of Education if he wants, but that doesnβt mean the state assumes control of local educational systems.
Second, recognize that these cultural warriors are, for the most part, fighting yesterdayβs battles and with limited success. Thereβs simply less appetite today, in the post-COVID area, for fanning public angst over supposed government overreach. Whatβs more, the ground is shifting on Floridaβs efforts to restrict school materials and diversity policies; this month, a federal judge found the stateβs crackdown on school books was overly broad, while another ruled that Floridaβs law prohibiting teachers from using their preferred pronouns is discriminatory.
School districts caught in the stateβs wrath need to ignore the drama, press for legal clarity if standoffs arise and refocus public attention on student needs and achievement. With the latest figures showing that more than 40% of Florida students cannot perform grade-level reading and math, Kamoutsas and the state Board of Education have more serious issues deserving of their time. Just ask the Florida Chamber of Commerce, which in December warned that the disconnect between Floridaβs education system and its workforce βcould impact the stateβs long-term growth and economic stability.β
Itβs a given that Florida voters will have varying priorities, and controlling the levers of government comes with winning elections. But I canβt think of any public good that comes with tolerating such a toxic atmosphere…
Thoughts About Children Dear Americaβ¦We Can Do Thisβ¦For Our Precious Children First Posted on September 18, 2024…
This post, from last year before the election, gave us hope as a possibility… Despite this opportunity, and perhaps because of the divisive political climate, we did not heed the message…
Now, we must take charge to open the hearts and minds of those who may not heed the consequences we are facing and their impact on our children’s future…
#FloridaTeacherβ₯οΈπ We can do this… September Awakening Hope Autumn Magic β¨ Our precious children…
Barack Obama… Faith… That is the true genius of America…
A Faith in simple Dreams… An insistence of small Miracles… #WeThePeople #FaithOverFear #BidenHarrisAdministration #HarrisWalzForThePeople β₯οΈπ€ππΊπ²ποΈ
Dear America ππΌπΊπ² If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, speech, March 6, 1956
I am quite proud to have been a teacher for thirty-eight years…
I came to teaching quite by accident… I always had an interest in the arts; perhaps becoming a fashiondesigner…
Happy Life Moment…Dream Maker…My family together at Aunt’s wedding… I was the flower girl…
However, overcoming my own challenging childhood… Parents divorcing early in my life…I was called upon to take care of myself…Due to my mother’s work… I had to get myself to school each morning…I was a latchkey child…In addition to that responsibility, I had a sister whowas six years older, with mental health issues… Ifelt my mother was relying on meto look after her…
My early life, definitely lead me to the realization….I had a tremendous need to helping others….
So, in my senior year of high school, I made the decision to become a social worker, and attend Florida State University, in Tallahassee…In sharing my decision with an uncle…It was he who suggested, becoming a teacher, because it would better suit me…Hebelieved it was….
A more stable career for a young woman...
Following this insight; One particular day that I will never forget, in my senior English class at Miami High School…My favorite, pretty, young teacher, Ms. Kempler, commented that she likedmydress!… She said that it reminded her of the University of Florida… It was the University’s colors of “orange and blue“…
Wow, I so appreciated her comment!.. Back then because of my personal life, I never felt noticed … Ms. Kempler did notice me!
Ms. Kempler had gone to the University of Florida; in a town called Gainesville… I had never even heard of, until this very moment…Well… my decision becoming a teacher, was made that day in 1966 my senior year, and go to the University of Florida, just like Ms. Kemper!
Thank you,
Dear Ms Kempler
Soon after, that February in 1967…my mother died unexpectedly, but before she passed…
I shared with her the news, in the hospital, that I was just accepted to the University of Florida, and made her a promise that day, I would go to college!
The road was definitely not easy…Living with friends until this challenging high school year ended… Graduation, and then working that summer in New York where my father was living…Monies earned would help with college expenses… College funds were minimal…
I would be beginning my college career alone … My best friend’s mother saw me off at the Miami Seaboard Train Station August,1967…I Arrived on campus in a taxi… alone … Watching everyone with their families , and I by myself and determination…
My early college school years were quite difficult… I was even told by a college advisor…I did not belong because of my test scores…Yet, I was determined to prove them wrong …And I feel so blessed…I was determined…I succeeded… Even getting married young, while attending college; and having my daughter,…
March of 1972 I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education…
Doing it with self- determination and blessed with college grants and loans, and food stamps…
Then immediately, getting my first teaching job…April 1, 1972…Traveling 90 miles a day just to teach…
Now as I reflect on my thirty-eight years; I am quite proud of all accomplished…
I have taught so many children from grades ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade; dating back from “1972”, up to my last year, retiring in “2015” …And spending more than twenty-five years in first grade…
I also went on to get a Masters of Science in Administration from an accelerated program from Nova University…an opportunity I felt would enrich my teaching journey …
And then later, I even had a wonderful opportunity teaching a college seminar for beginning teachers back at the University of Florida, while on a paid sabbatical working on an advanced course work in counseling education…I felt like I was living dream my mother had for me…
And I have never looked back… Becoming a teacher was the most important decision I made to channel my passion for helping…
Thanks to my mother, and those that believed in my determination...I was teaching our young precious children!!…
“How I hope my students can still remember back to the time they spent in my class so many years ago, and remember that love I have for them, smile warmly at some of the memories, and definitely have the confidence in themselves that they can amount to everything they put their minds”…
And…now more than ever…I will always advocate for our children…
Retired now 10 years…2014 was my last year…Had concerns, never believing we would be here…
Chaotic start for 2025…
Trump administration shouldnβt get credit for giving back money they illegally withheld from our public school kids and teachers…Senator Elizabeth Warren
Mark Lieberman Reporter, Education Week..
Trump Abruptly Unfreezes All of the Education Funds He Had Withheld
The Trump administration next week will unfreeze billions of K-12 education dollars it has withheld from states since July 1, the Education Department told states Friday afternoon.
Roughly $5 billion for K-12 schools will flow beginning the week of July 28 to states through four K-12 education grant programs, according to a July 25 Department of Education letter obtained by Education Week….
Another $715 million for two adult education grant programs will also flow to states next week, according to a separate Department of Education letter obtained by Education Week…
Funding will start flowing to states next week The announcement to state education agencies marks an abrupt and dramatic reversal from the Trump administrationβs unprecedented decision to withhold, with less than one dayβs notice, all funds from seven longstanding grant programs Congress voted in March to fund for the upcoming school year.
That move late last month sparked a firestorm of controversy and chaos nationwide, including lawsuits from two dozen Democratic state officials and, earlier this week, a coalition of school districts, state-level teachersβ unions, and education advocates.
Democrats in Congress condemned the freeze as illegal and unconstitutional.
Roughly a dozen Republicans on Capitol Hill, including 10 senators who represent rural states, called last week for the administration to immediately release the moneyβthe most direct rebuke from federal Republicans to President Donald Trumpβs education policies so far during his second term.
The vast majority of Republican lawmakers stayed silent on the funding freeze, even though almost all of them voted to approve the affected funds.
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.8 million American Federation of Teachers, on Friday afternoon announced the release of the funds to a standing ovation of hundreds of teachers at the unionβs professional development conference in Washington.
In an interview with Education Week, Weingarten said sheβs optimistic many schools will be able to get planned programming for students back on track.
βSchool districts plan weeks and months in advance; they donβt plan two minutes in advance,β Weingarten said.
Funding freeze twists have upended school districtsβ budget planning The administration began unthawing its funding freeze last week when it sent states $1.4 billion in Title IV-B funds for before- and after-school programs. Some of those programs had already begun dismissing employees and suspending services.
The seven affected grant programs were under review in an effort to root out a βradical leftwing agenda,β the federal Office of Management and Budget said in early July, without detailing the timeline or criteria for the review.
Since then, states and districts have been racing to understand the implications of this decision for the upcoming school year.
Many have already rejiggered budgets, laid off workers, or tapped alternative sources of funds for programs they intend to maintain with or without federal support.
Some of those decisions may be difficult for schools to immediately reverseβespecially because Congress hasnβt yet weighed in on Trumpβs proposal to eliminate the affected grant programs after the current school year.
Some school districts reported earlier in July that the delay in the funding already affected their ability to purchase materials and hire supplemental staff.
βCelebrate today, but keep organizing and keep advocating and using your voice so we can make sure that our students get the services that they need,β said Montserrat Garibay, who oversaw Title III funding as director of the Education Departmentβs English-language acquisition office under President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration has thrown federal education funding into chaos since Jan. 20βyanking already-awarded grant funds; changing spending rules and guidelines without warning; asking Congress to consider massive cuts. Its next moves remain unclear.
Politico reported earlier this week that the White House was preparing to send Congress a proposal to rescind education funds lawmakers allocated earlier this year.
Itβs not clear whether these now-unfrozen grant funds were among the ones the Trump administration wanted permission to formally claw back-βor whether the administration still plans to attempt to rescind those funds with lawmakersβ approval…
As a retired educator with 38 years of teaching experience in Florida, I believe it is essential to have an inclusive historical curriculum that benefits all of our children… This issue has become highly politically divisive, and I am extremely concerned about its implications…
Currently, I am proud to be a member of the retired educator community… ππΎβ€οΈππ
I am incredibly proud and relieved that we reached a fair and just decision, allowing us to provide all our Precious Children with a curriculum that respects diversity…ππΎπππ
The National Education Association committee has rejected the proposal to ban materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)…
Young children are so accepting of our differencesβ¦. Our children can be taught that value of inclusion at such a young ageβ¦ ππͺβ¨ππππ
DeSantis has spoken out in approval of the Trump administration’s decision to get rid of the Department of Education…
Public education in Florida faces significant challenges, grappling with a conservative agenda that often sparks both national and state-level divisions. It’s a complex situation that affects students, teachers, and communities across the state. How can we come together to navigate these turbulent waters and ensure a brighter future for all?
Floridians will vote on a ballot measure this November that would add party labels to local school board races for the first time in decades, potentially supercharging what have already become contentious contests across the state.
These offices have been under increasing scrutiny since the pandemic, when the lessons and content taught to students became a front-and-center issue that grabbed the attention of parents and policymakers. Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies view winning control of school boards as key to reshaping the stateβs education system, something GOP leaders have been chipping away over the last few years. And it isnβt just in Florida β there have been increasingly fierce fights over school board seats across the country, from swing counties in Pennsylvania to Republicans trying to gain a toehold in blue California.
Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas reacts to being named Florida commissioner of education during a State Board of Education in June. Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies are working to remake Florida’s education system. [ D.A. VARELA | TNS ]
By Jeffrey S. SolochekTimes staff
The big story: Gov. Ron DeSantis continues his effort to mold Floridaβs education system to fit his agenda.
For the second time in a year, DeSantis on Friday appointed to the State Board of Education a supporter who lost a bid for local school board. The same day, the state advanced its plan to create an alternate higher education accrediting agency that DeSantis has touted as a way to eliminate left-wing ideology from university campuses.
On the K-12 front, Layla Collins β whom DeSantis endorsed for her failed run for the Hillsborough board in 2024 β is poised to replace term-limited Ben Gibson on the panel that oversees statewide education policy for schools and community colleges.
Collins, a retired Army veteran and social conservative, has strongly backed DeSantis on a variety of issues. So, too, has her husband, state Sen. Jay Collins, who is considered a contender to fill Floridaβs lieutenant governor vacancy created by Jeanette NuΓ±ezβs move to Florida International University as president.
Collins took to social media to thank DeSantis for the appointment: βAfter a career dedicated to serving our nation and as the mom of two wonderful children that attend public school, I can assure you that I donβt take this responsibility lightly,β she wrote on X. She is scheduled to take her post on Aug. 1, about two weeks after DeSantis aide Anastasios Koumatsas takes the helm as Floridaβs new education commissioner. Read more here.
On the higher ed side, the DeSantis overhaul includes an initiative to change the way the stateβs universities are accredited β a system that can affect what schools teach and whether their students can gain access to financial aid, among other things…
To that end, the Florida Board of Governors approved $4 million for the creation of the Commission for Public Higher Education. Florida and five other university systems intend to join when itβs up and running. The focus on accreditation to remake higher ed is part of the Trump playbook, the Washington Post reports…
DeSantis also appointed former Osceola County school board member Tim Weisheyer to the Florida State University board of trustees, Florida Politics reports…
July’sWish… This 4th of July… Time for our reflection…
Our Independence Day Commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776…
AMERICA WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED FROM THE OUTSIDE IF WE FALTER AND LOSE OUR FREEDOMS IT WILL BE BECAUSE WE DESTROYED OURSELVES
Abraham Lincoln
Former President Barack Obama warned about a “weak commitment” to democracy by President Donald Trump’s administration and the U.S. “drifting” into autocracy during a speech in Connecticut, according to media reports.bit.ly
A 2-year-old American girl has been left stateless after the Trump administration deported her alongside her family.
Emanuelly Borges Santos, known to her family as Manu, was born in a Florida hospital in 2022. She has an American passport and a Social Security card. Nevertheless, Manu and her parents, who are both undocumented, were packed onto a plane with 94 others and shipped to Brazil in February, according to a report from The Washington Post.
When they arrived, Brazilian officials were shocked to find the American toddler among the deportees.
Our funding for a strong public education here in Florida is being attacked consistently…It truly is critical that we not accept this fate…
Many of Florida’s precious children suffer through this extremely divisive political climate…
Investigation…
Why Florida school vouchers can pay for Disney tickets, TVs while draining billions from public schools…
WESH 2 Investigates uncovers how many families paid for theme park tickets with state-funded vouchers…
Justin Schecker Investigative Reporter News Team
With billions of Florida taxpayer dollars flowing into the stateβs pricy private schools and the pockets of families opting to homeschool their children, WESH 2 Investigates is taking a closer look at the guidelines for how that scholarship money can be spent.
Families of students receiving school choice scholarships β regardless of their income β can purchase TVs up to 55 inches, the Nintendo Wii and in-home internet.
Tickets to Central Floridaβs theme parks β Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World β can also be reimbursed, according to purchasing guides from Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that administers nearly all the scholarships.
For families who already sent their children to private school or theyβre making the switch from public school, the roughly $8,000 scholarship will only cover a fraction of the tuition for the more expensive private schools in Central Florida.
Homeschooling families have more flexibility in how to spend the state voucher.
Step Up is sharing new data with WESH 2 Investigates on how many students had theme park tickets reimbursed this school year.
βYou don’t get that in traditional public schoolsβ βIf we do decide to do a theme park or anything, we use our own personal money,β Alli Gladden, a Seminole County mother, said.
Gladden decided to homeschool her 7-year-old daughter, Harper, for first grade.
βWith the way kids are, like, aging so quickly, now it’s a good opportunity to spend a lot more time with them and have a lot more control over what they’re learning,β she said.
She showed WESH 2 Investigates how sheβs transformed a room in her familyβs Longwood home into Harperβs classroom for math, reading and language arts lessons.
βDescribe Christ,β Gladden told her daughter during a vocabulary activity. βSo, you don’t get that in traditional public schools.β
Gladden said sheβs spent about $6,000 of her daughterβs $8,200 state scholarship on a Christian-based curriculum, books, art supplies and a once-a-week outdoor activity co-op program with other children.
βWe’re utilizing those funds ourselves, instead of the public school deciding what to do with that money,β Gladden said. βAnd to us, it’s just been a better opportunity for her.β
A closer look at the purchasing guides’ rules for Florida theme parks Step Up administered half a million scholarships this school year.
According to Step Upβs purchasing guides, “funds must be used to meet the educational needs of an eligible student. Using a student’s scholarship funds for other purposes may violate Florida Statutes and may be a crime.”
One theme park ticket or pass per student can be reimbursed up to $299, plus tax. However, families must fill out a form with a simple question: What is the Educational Benefit of this item?
βOnly the actual cost of the basic admission for the student will be covered,β the Step Up purchasing guides for the 24-25 school year said. βAdditional services (such as parking, food and beverage packages, photographs or souvenirs, or premium access) are not eligible expenses.β
WESH 2 Investigates has learned from Step Up more than 8,400 students had theme park ticket reimbursements paid or approved for this school year.
The majority β nearly 6,000 β have Personalized Education Plan (PEP) scholarships for homeschooling.
More than 5,400 reimbursements for Florida theme parks are in another status, Step Upβs Strategic Communications Director Scott Kent said. Theyβre either submitted, denied or on hold.
βThe family did not submit an education benefit form or some other necessary documentation, or they tried to submit a reimbursement for an unapproved theme park, such as a water park,β Kent said in an email.
βWe would not allow that to occurβ in public school The Florida Policy Institute is tracking the financial impact on Floridaβs 67 public school districts since the passage of HB1 in 2023.
βI really feel as if schools were spending their money on some of the things that are allowable under these guidelines, furniture, TVs, Park passes, we would not allow that to occur,β Dr. NorΓn Dollard told WESH 2 Investigates.
Dollard said Floridaβs universal school choice scholarships are draining billions of dollars away from traditional public schools.
βParents have been homeschooling their children in Florida for a very long time, and managed it without public funding,β she said.
βIf theyβre doing marine biology, they go to Sea Worldβ Last year, Florida lawmakers considered more restrictions on scholarship money spending, but those changes were not approved.
Kent told WESH 2 Investigates many families contacted lawmakers to argue that restrictions on education savings accounts βwould limit their ability to provide arts and other enrichment opportunities to their children.β
βIn addition, families provided Step Up with numerous examples of how theme parks contribute to their studentsβ customized learning plans, such as a homeschool family who incorporates all the different history and culture lessons available at Disney World, including art and music festivals,β Kent said in an email to WESH 2 Investigates. βParents point to how the parks tie directly into curriculum: If theyβre doing zoology, they go to Animal Kingdom; if theyβre doing marine biology, they go to Sea World, etc.β
Step Upβs 2025-26 purchasing guides will be released on July 1.
While theme park tickets arenβt part of her homeschooling spending plan, Gladden said she will be applying for additional state scholarships in the coming years.
She said she hopes to homeschool all five of her children.
βI’m going to have to upgrade a little bit,β Gladden said. βI mean, I’ve got enough chairs.β
Rivers do not drink their own water; trees do not eat their own fruit; the sun does not shine on itself and flowers do not spread their fragrance for themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature. We are all born to help each other. No matter how difficult it is…Life is good when you are happy; but much better when others are happy because of you…
President Donald Trump holds an executive order relating to education in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2025, in Washington, as Education Secretary Linda McMahon watches. Alex Brandon/AP
The Trump administration has made dozens of cuts that some teachers say could impact their profession in a βhuge way,β according to educators in terminated programs who spoke with ABC News.
Before Teacher Appreciation Day, which is celebrated on Tuesday as part of Teacher Appreciation Week, the administration has slashed professional development initiatives, preparation programs, and other federally funded education projects that the administration has deemed as divisive and run afoul of its priorities.
Cuts are affecting the experiences that ’empower teachers’…
Melissa Collins, who was Tennesseeβs Teacher of the Year in 2023, said professional learning grants through the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) made her a better teacher. Collins told ABC News the opportunity to attend programs at museums or colleges allowed her to enhance her skills. At the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) last summer, Collins participated in the Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop entitled βLittle Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations.β
βI have received the best professional learning experience that I could ever receive that is going to impact my classroom and so many others,β Collins said in a video by JANM.
However — like many federal education awards — the NEH grant was terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the programming is no longer offered due to the administrationβs βshifting priorities,β according to a termination notice reviewed by ABC News.
βAs teachers, we strive to improve for our students, but currently, budget cuts are affecting the experiences that empower teachers to serve their schools and communities effectively,β Collins wrote in a statement to ABC.
Former teacher Dani Pierce was educator liaison at the department of education before losing her job this spring under the agencyβs reduction in force efforts as Trump hopes to abolish the department completely. Pierce stressed the work teachers do in the classroom each day is βimmeasurableβ and often goes unseen. But during Teacher Appreciation Week this year many in the education community, including Pierce, grapple with the prospect of a shuttered department.
βIt pains me deeply not to be at the Department right now, leading our teacher appreciation efforts or ensuring teachers have a voice in the policies that affect your schools and students,β Pierce wrote in an open letter to the teachers of America.
βI may be RIFed from my role as your liaison to the Department, but I will never stop working to ensure your voices are heard and your contributions receive the recognition and support they deserve,β Pierce added.
Teachers across the country tell ABC News they continue to face major hurdles in the classroom — including staffing shortages, the pinch of low pay and addressing students’ mental health — many of which stem from closures during the COVID-19 pandemic…
The Trump administration has made dozens of cuts that some teachers say could impact their profession in a βhuge way,β according to educators in terminated programs who spoke with ABC News.
MORE: Collections on defaulted student loans may affect millions of people’s credit scores βI have received the best professional learning experience that I could ever receive that is going to impact my classroom and so many others,β Collins said in a video …
However — like many federal education awards — the NEH grant was terminated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the programming is no longer offered due to the administrationβs βshifting priorities,β according to a termination notice reviewed by ABC News.
MORE: 2 federal judges block Trump’s effort to ban DEI from K-12 education βIt pains me deeply not to be at the Department right now, leading our teacher appreciation efforts or ensuring teachers have a voice in the policies that affect your schools and students,β Pierce wrote in an open letter to the teachers of America..
DEI initiatives “inconsistent” with fairness and excellence in education…
On the other hand, the next generation of teachers are also affected by the administration’s cuts.
One of Trump’s top pledges is to root out diversity, equity and inclusion programs and any practices that discriminate on the basis of race. Some of the most recent actions taken by the education department include cutting grants that contribute directly to educator diversity.
The agency terminated the CREATE project, formerly at Georgia State University, because the program conflicted with the department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness and excellence in education, according to a termination letter obtained by ABC News.
The federal funding was deemed βinconsistentβ with the departmentβs objectives because the program promoted DEI initiatives or unlawful discrimination practices. But former employees said the organization contributed hundreds of millions of dollars toward promoting novice teachers. They told ABC News the teacher residency program helped place the majority of its student teachers into underserved schools in the Atlanta Public School system and called the administrationβs termination notice βdismissive.β
βIt was very disrespectful to the work that we have put our blood, sweat and tears into — ensuring that this community that we are serving in has quality educators,β an educator said….
by Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen May 2, 2025,
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyβre published.
Vartika Sharma for ProPublica
Reporting Highlights Hollowed Out: The administration has closed Education Department civil rights offices and fired workers. Now, investigating discrimination in schools is practically βimpossible.β
New Priorities: The civil rights office has abandoned its traditional priorities. Instead, it is trying to limit the rights of transgender students and rid schools of diversity efforts.
Pushing Back: Advocates, school districts and others are filing lawsuits and trying other methods to halt the administrationβs efforts…
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It’s a framework that promotes fair treatment and full participation for all people, particularly those who have been historically underrepresented or discriminated against.
DEI initiatives aim to create workplaces and communities that are more inclusive, equitable, and representative of the diverse world around us. They often involve policies, training, and programs designed to address biases, promote understanding, and ensure that everyone has a voice and a chance to succeed…
President Donald Trumpβs efforts to crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs suffered a major legal blow Thursday as three separate judges β two of them appointed by the president β ruled against a Department of Education policy that threatened to withhold federal funding for schools engaging in DEI or incorporating race in certain ways in many other aspects of student life.
The policy was first laid out in a so-called Dear Colleague letter sent to schools in February. Starting this month, schools receiving federal funding would be subject to certain certification mandates requiring that they turn over information regarding their compliance with the Trump administrationβs prohibitions.
US District Judge Landya McCafferty said in a scathing opinion that the administrationβs policy, was βtextbook viewpoint discrimination,β likely violating the First Amendmentβs free speech protections. She and another judge, US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, also concluded that the policy was likely unconstitutionally vague.
She also concluded that the National Education Association, the administrationβs opponent in the case, was likely to succeed in its arguments that the policy was unconstitutionally vague and that the agency ran afoul of procedural steps required by law in how it implemented the policy.
βThe ban on DEI embodied in the 2025 Letter leaves teachers with a Hobsonβs Choice,β McCafferty, a Barack Obama appointee who sits in New Hampshire, wrote, noting that the educators must choose between teaching curricula that invites penalty from the federal government or risking their professional credentials by aiding the Trump policy.
βThe Constitution requires more,β she wrote.
Friedrich, a Trump appointee who announced her ruling after a hearing Thursday in Washington DC, said that the letter failed to βdelineate between a lawful DEI practice and an unlawful one,β making the task of reviewing compliance too difficult.
The third ruling against the policy came from Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee who sits in Baltimore. She found that the Dear Colleague letter ran afoul of procedural requirements required by law for implementing new agency policy.
βThis Court takes no view as to whether the policies at issue here are good or bad, prudent or foolish, fair or unfair,β Gallagher said in her ruling. βBut this Court is constitutionally required to closely scrutinize whether the government went about creating and implementing them in the manner the law requires. The government did not.β
The rulings come after the Trump administration reached a short-term agreement with the challengers in the New Hampshire case to pause enforcement of the policy while the judge considered whether to issue a preliminary injunction. That agreement was set to expire on Thursday.
Trump has waged war on DEI efforts since the start of his second term and has taken action against several elite universities, demanding changes to their DEI programs. The administration has already rolled back DEI programs, arrested international students and revoked their visas, and frozen federal funding for schools that have refused to submit to its demands.
The administration froze over $2 billion in multi-year grants and contracts at Harvard University after its leaders refused to make key policy changes, including eliminating DEI programs, resulting in a clash over academic freedom, federal funding and campus oversight as Harvard sued the federal government.
Policy changes were also demanded of Columbia University, though the school later announced several changes to address the Trump administrationβs demands, an apparent concession to the federal government.
The NAACP, which filed the case in DCβs federal court, said Friedrichβs ruling βis a victory for Black and Brown students across the country, whose right to an equal education has been directly threatened by this Administrationβs corrosive actions and misinterpretations of civil rights law.β
The group representing the teachersβ associations and public school district that sued over the policy in Baltimore also celebrated the ruling there.
βThis ruling is a win for educators, students and communities across the nation,β Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman said. βThe nationwide injunction will pause at least part of the chaos the Trump administration is unleashing in classrooms and learning communities throughout the country.β
This story has been updated with additional developments.
CNNβs Sunlen Serfaty and Emily R. Condon contributed to this report.
Trump’s pick for our precious Children’s Secretary of Education is an absolute disgrace… He is making a mockery of quality of their future’s success …
Linda McMahon as the Secretary of Education makes Betsy DeVos almost capable…
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon may have had a juicy steak in mind while speaking at a panel earlier this week because she confused artificial intelligence, also known as AI, with A1, the same name as the popular sauce brand.
McMahon, 76, made the mix-up on April 8 while speaking at the ASU+GSV Summit, an event focusing on educational innovation. The former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) initially referred to the acronym for artificial intelligence correctly, saying, “You know, AI development β I mean, how can we educate at the speed of light if we don’t have the best technology around to do that?”
Things got sticky as McMahon’s speech continued: “A school system that’s going to start making sure that first graders, or even pre-Ks, have A1 teaching in every year. That’s a wonderful thing!”
“Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything,” she added. “It wasn’t all that long ago that it was, ‘We’re going to have internet in our schools!’ Now let’s see A1 and how can that be helpful.”
‘Every school should have access to A.1.’ A.1. Sauce capitalized on McMahon’s blunder by posting an Instagram post on their verified account saying, “You heard her. Every school should have access to A.1.”
Agree, best to start them early,” the picture attached to the post reads.
Other Instagram users loved the response from the Kraft Heinz-owned brand. One user even commented, “I will be buying a bottle or two because of this post.”
People online have even joined in on poking fun at McMahon, with one X user saying, “Education Secretary Linda McMahon keeps referring to AI as A1 and talking about how it will help ‘students at all levels.’ But how can we get those kids to drink it? Linda added, ‘The smarter kids can move up to Thousand Island Dressing'”
USA TODAY contacted Kraft Heinz and the U.S. Department of Education on Saturday but has not received a response…
NikkiFried @FlaDems #FloridaTeacher β₯οΈπ #ProtectOurKids ππΌβ₯οΈππ Maga Worldβ¦ Nearly β2,000 βresidents of the retirement community known as The Villages, 20 miles south of Ocala, Florida, joined thousands across the United States in a βHands Off!β protest against President Donald Trump and one of his top advisers,billionaire Elon Musk, a spokesperson for the mobilizing coalition told Newsweek on Saturdayβ¦
Donald Trump just issued an executive order calling for the U.S. Department of Education to be dismantled and ceasing many of its activities.
Please email your elected officials in Congress right now and urge them to stop the destruction of the Education Department.
The consequences are real, and it’s students who will be harmed most.
Students in every community of our countryβin rural, suburban, and urban areasβbenefit from programs run by the Department of Education.
Dismantling the department will:
increase class sizes, steal resources from our most vulnerable students, take away services for students with ADHD, dyslexia, and other disabilities, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach, and gut student civil rights protections. We need your help to stop this power sieze so we can protect the incredible programs run by the Department of Education.
We can’t let billionaires take a wrecking ball to public education. Please write your lawmakers right now.
It is very clear these measures do nothing to support our students or equip them for their futures. This is an orchestrated plan to strip vital resources and federal funding from public schools and give them to private schools.
We wonβt be silent as anti-public education politicians hurt our students, our families, and our communities across America.
Together, we will continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize so that all students have well-resourced schools that provide an honest, accurate, and inclusive curriculum that prepares them for the future.
In solidarity,
Becky Pringle President National Education Association
Take Action β€
“Stop the Destruction of the Department of Education…
Coming out of a Pandemicβ¦Children are still being singled outβ¦ banning of books, inclusivity and the need for gun reformβ¦
Our children must be a priorityβ¦They may be relying on social media too muchβ¦ rather than healthy social interactionβ¦
Parents, teachers, schools must be united and involvedβ¦ working togetherβ¦It takes a villageβ¦
And here we are today… Trump being reelected… All of us, together…United, We must move forward for our precious children’s future…
Children are careful watchers, observers of what is happening all aroundβ¦ They see the Truth immediatelyβ¦ (β ββ β’β α΄β β’β ββ )β β€-Osho- Our precious children are watching and dealing with all the political divisiveness that is contributing to their physical and emotional well-beingβ¦ Coming out of a Pandemicβ¦Children are still being singled outβ¦ banning of books, inclusivity and the need [β¦]
When will our precious children be a priority??!! Dept of Education is so needed…as a monitoring agency… It is now on the chopping block…!!!???
PUBLIC SCHOOL IS THE BEST DEFENSE OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION …
Not sure where this “parents-should- control-what-is-taught-in-schools- because-they-are-our-kids” is originating, but parents do have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire. The purpose of a public education in a public school is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client of the public school is not the parent, but the entire community, the public …
Senate confirms McMahon to lead Education Department as Trump pushes to shut it down
Since the day she was nominated, we have exposed Linda McMahon for who she is and what she will do.
We will uniteβeducators, parents, and anyone else who cares about public schools.
We will not be silent as billionaires gut the Department of Educationβwhich will lead to larger class sizes and the loss of programs that help students with ADHD, autism, and other disabilitiesβall to pay for tax cuts that benefit them.
We will lift our voices. We will remind our elected officials that they work for us. We will fight to protect our students and our public schools.
In solidarity,
Becky Pringle President National Education Association
FloridaTeacherβ₯οΈπ Linda McMahon’s background in education is limitedβ¦ Her vision will be to unwind the Department of Educationβ¦
Maga Republicans fail to advocate for every one of our precious children. All our Precious Children must receive a strong public education that empowers and uplifts them.
And then we wonder why our precious children have issuesβ¦
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her confirmation hearing on Thursday in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Linda McMahon
Nominated for: secretary of education
You might know her from: Linda McMahon is most well-known for leading World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and helping to build it into a multibillion-dollar business. She also led the U.S. Small Business Administration for about two years under President Trump’s first term.
More about McMahon:
McMahon's background in education is limited...
She served for about one year on Connecticut’s State Board of Education. Up until recently, not much was known about McMahon’s policy positions on education. In January, she shared more about where she stands, including that she supports expanding school choice and career and technical education opportunities for students. She held leadership positions at WWE for nearly three decades, including CEO. If confirmed, McMahon would oversee an agency the president has already moved to diminish.
Executive actions
Nearly two weeks before McMahon appeared to lay out her vision for the Education Department, the White House made clear:
Her vision will be to unwind the department…
The White House confirmed that it is preparing to take executive action to shutter department programs that are not protected by law, and will call on McMahon, once confirmed, to draw up a blueprint for Congress to close the department entirely.
During Thursday’s hearing, the committee’s Republican chairman, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, asked McMahon to elaborate on these plans.
“We’d like to do this right,” McMahon said, saying she would present Congress with a plan to dismantle the department “that I think our senators could get on board with.”
The department cannot be officially closed through executive action alone. It was created by an act of Congress in 1979 and can only be closed by an act of Congress.
Multiple senators asked whether the department’s dismantling would include cuts not just to the department but to the federal funding for K-12 schools it administers, including Title I (for students in lower-income communities) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, for students with disabilities).
McMahon said repeatedly that she considers the department separate from the funding. The former, she said, can be dismantled without affecting the latter. “It is not the president’s goal to defund the programs. It was only to have it operate more efficiently.”
Later, McMahon elaborated that IDEA funding, for example, is protected by statute and would not be targeted for cuts. But, she offered, it might be more effectively administered by a different agency, perhaps the Department of Health and Human Services.
To that, New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan scoffed: “I just want to be clear, you’re going to put special education into the hands of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
Maga Republicans fail to advocate for every one of our precious children. All our Precious Children must receive a strong public education that empowers and uplifts them.
βAnd one other thing Iβll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department of Education.β
President Donald Trump made a promise in a Sept. 13, 2023, campaign statement. Since then, he has frequently repeated his pledge to close the U.S. Department of Education...
Project 2025, the conservative think tank Heritage Foundationβs blueprint for the Trump administration, also provides detailed recommendations for closing the Education Department, which was created by an act of Congress in 1979.
On Feb. 4, 2025, Trump described his plans for Linda McMahon, his nominee for education secretary. βI want Linda to put herself out of a job,β Trump said, according to The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 3: A pedestrian walks by The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building on February 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Pete Kiehart for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Education policies in the U.S. are largely carried out at the state and local levels. The Education Department is a relatively small government agency, with just over 4,000 employees and a US$268 billion annual budget. A large part of its work is overseeing $1.6 trillion in federal student loans as well as grants for K-12 schools.
Donβt let yourself be misled. Understand issues with help from experts
And it ensures that public schools comply with federal laws that protect vulnerable students, like those with disabilities.
Why, then, does Trump want to eliminate the department?
A will to fight against so-called βwokenessβ and a desire to shrink the government are among the four reasons I have found.
First and foremost, Trump and his supporters believe that liberals are ruining public education by instituting what they call a βradical woke agendaβ that they say prioritizes identity politics and politically correct groupthink at the expense of the free speech of those, like many conservatives, who have different views.
Diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives promoting social justice β and critical race theory, or the idea that racism is entrenched in social and legal institutions β are a particular focus of MAGA ire.
So, too, is what Trump supporters call βradical gender ideology,β which they contend promotes policies like letting transgender students play on school sports teams or use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity, not biological sex.
Trump supporters say that such policies β which the Education Department indirectly supported by expanding Title IX gender protections in 2024 to include discrimination based on gender identity β are at odds with parental school choice rights or, for some religious conservatives, the Bible.
For MAGA supporters, βradical leftβ wokeness is part of liberalsβ long-standing attempt to βbrainwashβ others with their allegedly Marxist views that embrace communism.
One version of this βAmerican Marxismβ conspiracy theory argues that the indoctrination dates to the origins of U.S. public education. MAGA stalwarts say this alleged leftist agenda is anti-democratic and anti-Christian.
Saying he wants to combat the educational influence of such radicals, zealots and Marxists, Trump issued executive orders on Jan. 29 that pledge to fight βcampus anti-Semitismβ and to end βRadical Indoctrination in K-12 Schools.β
3. School choice and parental rights
Trump supporters also argue that “wokeβ federal public education policy infringes on peopleβs basic freedoms and rights.
This idea extends to what Trump supporters call βrestoring parental rights,β including the right to decide whether a child undergoes a gender transition or learns about nonbinary gender identity at public schools.
The first paragraph of Project 2025βs chapter on education argues, βFamilies and students should be free to choose from a diverse set of school options and learning environments.β
Diversity, according to this argument, should include faith-based institutions and homeschooling. Project 2025 proposes that the government could support parents who choose to homeschool or put their kids in a religious primary school by providing Educational Savings Accounts and school vouchers. Vouchers give public funding for students to attend private schools and have been expanding in use in recent years.
For the MAGA faithful, the Education Department exemplifies government inefficiency and red tape.
Project 2025, for example, contends that from the time it was established by the Carter administration in 1979, the Education Department has ballooned in size, come under the sway of special interest groups and now serves as an inefficient βone-stop shop for the woke education cartel.β
To deal with the Education Departmentβs βbloatβ and βsuffocating bureaucratic red tape,β Project 2025 recommends shifting all of the departmentβs federal programs and money to other agencies and the states.
Never did I believe…In my thirty-eight teaching career; which began April 1, 1972, retiring ten years ago June 5, 2015…
This latest Presidental Election 2025, Donald Trump would be reelected!!
Had we not been warned!!?? Definitely manifesting a critically detrimental impact on our Precious Children’s future for a Strong Public School Education…
Many of my worst fears are being realized…And this is just the beginning…
We now have a federal government that is promoting; enacting divisive, authoritarian programs…
School choice being one; promoting the privatization of public schools…Taking monies away from public schools, thus giving it to private and charter schools…
We, here in Florida, already have realized book bans and restrictive curriculum. that provide such authoritarian control over our public schools…
We no longer have that Constitutional protection of the separation between Church and State…ππ€ππΊπ²
#FloridaTeacher β₯οΈπ May G-d Bless our Precious children’s right to a Strong Public Schools Education…
It takes that caring team Parents and Educators with the aid of a Strong Federal Government to provide that fundamental right
All of our precious children protected and included… #childrensfuture #SeparationChurchState ππ»β₯οΈπ€ππΊπ²
My Beautiful First Graders… now Seniors in High School…Our Future…
CHARACTER MATTERS… INTEGRITY MATTERS… HUMILITY MATTERS… DECENCY MATTERS… KINDNESS MATTERS…
MORALITY MATTERS…
HUMANITY MATTERS…
Our precious childen are watching…
Donald Trump’s inauguration will be on Monday, January 20, 2025…
Β Β
Hope for a better future for our precious children’s future…
We must be United..
Β Β Β Β Β ππ»β₯οΈπ€π
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.” Samuel Adams
#FloridaTeacherβ₯οΈπ We can do this… September Awakening Hope Autumn Magic β¨ Our precious children…
Barack Obama… Faith… That is the true genius of America…
A Faith in simple Dreams… An insistence of small Miracles… #WeThePeople #FaithOverFear #BidenHarrisAdministration #HarrisWalzForThePeople β₯οΈπ€ππΊπ²ποΈ
Dear America ππΌπΊπ²
If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, speech, March 6, 1956 #PoliticalRhetoric #PoliticalViolence β₯οΈπ€ππΊπ²
Jennifer Carter, a teacher at Apalachee High School, said she “felt helpless” when she tried to protect her students during a shooting at the school this week. Barrow County School…
Georgia is required by law to hold active shooter drills. When an active shooter arrived at Apalachee High School this week, that training kicked in for many teachers and students there.
In a gut-wrenching account shared widely on social media, Jennifer Carter, who for more than 20 years has taught Spanish at the school in Winder, Ga., described her horrific experience of putting into motion her preparation for a moment she hoped would never come.
βIt was the worst 20 minutes of my career,β she wrote in a post on Facebook late Wednesday night, hours after the attack
#FloridaTeacherβ₯οΈππ
This must stop Now!!! New school year… Our precious children must not be part of this evil drama..
While speaking in Wisconsin, U.S. President Joe Biden called gun safety measures in response to a deadly school shooting at Apalachee high school…
President Biden…..
Teaching should not be a life-threatening profession.
Educators should not need to be armed to feel safe in the classroom.
We must do more.
I continue to call on Congress to pass common-sense gun safety laws to protect…
Until you walk in a public school teacher’s shoes…
Timothy James Walz is an American politician, former schoolteacher, and retired U.S. Army non-commissioned officer who has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. He is the Democratic Party’s nominee for vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election…
What representation will our precious children have….A teacher’s voice will be heard…
I am truly holding onto Hope for our precious children’s right to a strong public school education..
We were blessed having our First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden … being that of a college professor… advocating for our precious children….
But, now a vice president being a former highschool public school teacher/ coach…
We must regard our teachers and all school personnel with dignity and respect they so deserve…
#FloridaTeacherβ€οΈπ Our precious children are ready!! May G-d Bless …ππ½π
August Beginnings of Hopeβ¦ Our Precious Children.. Β Β Β Today’s Teachers who are beginning …. Thank you for all you do…β₯οΈπ
Our precious childrenβ¦ Stay wellβ¦Stay safe β¦ Come to school with a full tummy from home or schoolβ¦Learn lots and have funβ¦ ππΌπ«ΆπΌππΊπ²
#FloridaTeacherπ Nine Years Retired… 38 years teaching our precious childrenβ¦
I am still holding onto hope for their futureβ¦ πππΌπππΊπ²
#Kamala4President2024ππΊπ²
#WearOrange #GunReformNow
Vice President Kamala Harris cares…π«ΆπΌπΊπ²
Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel staff portrait in Orlando, Fla… PUBLISHED: July 5, 2024 at 5:22 p.m. | UPDATED: July 6, 2024 at 11:31 a.m.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks in Umatilla, Fla.,Tuesday, June 25, 2024, during a visit to tout the stateβs infrastructure grants program. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
Our schools are in crisis 2024β¦All the divisiveness created by this DeSantis government, affecting our children and schools causing many of the critical issues; teacher shortages β¦Book bans that restrict learning and curriculum issues where our children can not learn our history β¦.Gun and safety issuesβ¦etc..
The directive appears similar to requirements the state imposed on math and social studies textbooks said to include βcritical race theoryβ and βsocial justiceβ material…
Textbook authors were told last month that some references to βclimate changeβ must be removed from science books before they could be accepted for use in Floridaβs public schools, according to two of those authors.
A high school biology book also had to add citations to back up statements that βhuman activityβ caused climate change and cut a βpolitical statementβ urging governments to take action to stop climate change, said Ken Miller, the co-author of that textbook and a professor emeritus of biology at Brown University.
Both Miller and a second author who asked not to be identified told the Orlando Sentinel they learned of the state-directed changes from their publishers, who received phone calls in June from state officials.
Miller, also president of the board of the National Center for Science Education, said the phrase βclimate changeβ was not removed from his high school biology text, which he assumed happened because climate change is mentioned in Floridaβs academic standards for biology courses.
But according to his publisher, a 90-page section on climate change was removed from its high school chemistry textbook and the phrase was removed from middle school science books, he said.
The other author said he was told Florida wanted publishers to remove βextraneous informationβ not listed in state standards. βThey asked to take out phrases such as climate change,β he added.
The actions seemed to echo Floridaβs previous rejection of math and social studies textbooks that state officials claimed include passages of βindoctrinationβ and βideological rhetoric.β And they fall in line with the views of many GOP leaders, who question both the existence of climate change and the contributions of human activities to the problem, despite a broad scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is transforming the earthβs environment.
In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that stripped the phrase βclimate changeβ from much of Florida law, reversing 16 years of state policy and, critics said, undermining Floridaβs support of renewable and clean energy…
The bill did not address public education nor the stateβs science standards, which were adopted in 2008 and spell out what students should learn in science instruction from kindergarten through 12th grade. But SB 1645 altered Floridaβs energy policy, removing the goal of recognizing and addressing βthe potential of global climate change,β Senate staff wrote in an analysis of the bill.
DeSantis has said the new legislation, passed by Floridaβs Republican-dominated Legislature, was βrestoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.β
The Florida Department of Education did not initially respond this week to a request for comment about the science books, nor did it respond to earlier questions in May and June about when the approved list of science textbooks for elementary, middle and high school science classes would be released. Floridaβs school districts use the list to purchase books for their schools and had been told the state would release the science list in April.
Late Tuesday, the department posted the list on its website.
And after this story posted online Friday evening, an education department spokeswoman emailed a statement to the Sentinel. It did not directly address questions about science textbooks and climate change, instead saying Florida has βsome of the most rigorous educational standards in the nationβ and textbooks and other instructional materials to be used in classrooms must meet them. βFlorida works with publishers to ensure that their product aligns with our standards and does not include any form of ideology or indoctrination,β it said.
Millerβs and the other authorβs books were among those on the approved list released Tuesday. The texts have not yet been printed so the Sentinel was unable to review them.
But there are no textbooks for high school environmental science classes on the approved list, though three companies submitted bids to supply books for that class, according to documents on the departmentβs website. Course material for that subject typically includes significant discussion of climate change.
βHow do you write an environmental science book to appease people who are opposed to climate change?β asked a school district science supervisor, who is involved in science textbook adoption for her district. She asked not to be identified for fear of job repercussions.
She and other educators, the textbook authors and science advocates said the stateβs actions will rob students of a deeper understanding of global warming even as it impacts their state and communities through longer and hotter heat waves, more ferocious storms and sea level rise.
Florida had already earned a D β and was among the five lowest-ranked states in the country β in a 2020 study that graded the states on how their public school science standards addressed climate change, said Glenn Branch, deputy director of the center for science education, which was a partner in the study.
Excising the phrase from science textbooks will βmake Florida climate education even worse than it is,β Branch said. βThese ill-considered actions are going to cheat Florida students.β
Branch said it was especially troubling the decision seemed based on βideological groundsβ and ignored the βrock solidβ science that has documented climate change and its impacts.
Brandon Haught teaches environmental science at a Volusia County high school and was active in efforts to include evolution β another controversial science topic β in the standards adopted 16 years ago.
His ninth graders know almost nothing about climate change because it is not taught in the lower grades, he said. He spends at least a week on the topic but is covering only βthe basics,β he said.
Florida students need more information on the subject not less, he added. βFlorida is one of the most impacted by the impacts of climate change, and oh my goodness Gov DeSantis, why?β
The stateβs push to get publishers to remove βclimate changeβ from some science books seems similar to its actions in 2022 and 2023 when it rejected some math and social studies textbooks publishers wanted to sell in Florida.
In those cases, the department announced it had rejected textbooks in press releases that claimed the books contained βcritical race theoryβ and βsocial justiceβ topics, which were prohibited by state laws and rules. Some of those textbooks were later approved after the publishers made changes.
In contrast, the list of approved science books was posted to the departmentβs website without an accompanying press release. Judging from past practice, science textbooks that were rejected, such as those for environmental science, could later be approved if they were altered to meet Floridaβs requirements.
Some school districts, including those in Orange and Seminole counties, were poised to buy new science books as soon as the state list was released. But districts can continue to use older books for a while, and some districts now may not purchase new science books immediately because the list was released months later than expected.
There were 146 textbooks submitted for consideration. About 75 books from a total of about 10 publishers were approved for middle and high school classes, with four publishers also approved to provide science books for kindergarten-to-fifth-grade classes, according to documents on the departmentβs website.
Textbooks can be rejected for failing to match Floridaβs standards or failing to provide content that is accurate, among many other issues.
Science textbook publishers were told in advance to keep βcritical race theory,β βsocial emotional learningβ and other βunsolicited strategiesβ out of their textbooks. However, the βrubricβ used to evaluate the books made no mention of βclimate change.β
The Sentinel could not reach for comment the three publishers β Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill and Savvas Learning Company β that submitted environmental science books that did not make the approved list posted Tuesday.
In the many years of my teachingβ¦ I realized October was one of those favorite months for childrenβ¦We had our daily routine down; teaching those essential, required learning activitiesβ¦And now by October, I could add those creatively fun activities through art, writing and play, centered around this glorious sceasonβ¦
Iβm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobersβ ...
~ L. M. Montgomery, βAnne of Green Gablesβ
Art by S. Hee…
In the challenges of Today, our precious children are dealing with so very much…I must acknowledge and admire the teachers and essential staff that are still providing them those creative activities that are characteristic of October’s Magic…π
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 