For Those Who Care About Educating "Our Children" for their future's success…
Author: Janis Sexton
Retired elementary public school teacher; all thirty-eight years in Florida... Now spending my time advocating for our children and their right to a strong public school education...With an appreciation for the arts, and the magic in each day✨...
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… 🙏🏾❤️🍎📚
NEAToday @BeckyPringle @FloridaEA @ADL
#FloridaTeacher❤️🍎 #TeacherLove #ProtectOurKids
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…🙏🏾💔🍎📚
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 differences…. Our children can be taught that value of inclusion at such a young age… 💜🪄✨🌟🌈🍎📚
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 state’s education system, something GOP leaders have been chipping away over the last few years. And it isn’t just in Florida — 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 Florida’s 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 — whom DeSantis endorsed for her failed run for the Hillsborough board in 2024 — 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 Florida’s lieutenant governor vacancy created by Jeanette Nuñez’s move to Florida International University as president.
Collins took to social media to thank DeSantis for the appointment: “After 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 don’t take this responsibility lightly,” 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 Florida’s new education commissioner. Read more here.
On the higher ed side, the DeSantis overhaul includes an initiative to change the way the state’s universities are accredited — 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 it’s 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…
Our precious children… Christmas in July ✨ 🌲 ✨ SummerPeaceandLove…
4th of July… Congress sending Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ to his desk after dramatic all-night House vote…🙏🏽💔🇺🇲
There is nothing as rewarding as making someone realise that they are worthwhile in this World, That their presence makes a difference…
#AmericaDream #4thOfJuly ✨️🙏🏾❤️🇺🇲
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 state’s 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 – regardless of their income – can purchase TVs up to 55 inches, the Nintendo Wii and in-home internet.
Tickets to Central Florida’s theme parks – Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World – 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 they’re 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.
‘You don’t get that in traditional public schools’ “If we do decide to do a theme park or anything, we use our own personal money,” Alli Gladden, a Seminole County mother, said.
Gladden decided to homeschool her 7-year-old daughter, Harper, for first grade.
“With 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,” she said.
She showed WESH 2 Investigates how she’s transformed a room in her family’s Longwood home into Harper’s classroom for math, reading and language arts lessons.
“Describe Christ,” Gladden told her daughter during a vocabulary activity. “So, you don’t get that in traditional public schools.”
Gladden said she’s spent about $6,000 of her daughter’s $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.
“We’re utilizing those funds ourselves, instead of the public school deciding what to do with that money,” Gladden said. “And to us, it’s just been a better opportunity for her.”
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 Up’s 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?
“Only the actual cost of the basic admission for the student will be covered,” the Step Up purchasing guides for the 24-25 school year said. “Additional services (such as parking, food and beverage packages, photographs or souvenirs, or premium access) are not eligible expenses.”
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 – nearly 6,000 – have Personalized Education Plan (PEP) scholarships for homeschooling.
More than 5,400 reimbursements for Florida theme parks are in another status, Step Up’s Strategic Communications Director Scott Kent said. They’re either submitted, denied or on hold.
“The 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,” Kent said in an email.
‘We would not allow that to occur’ in public school The Florida Policy Institute is tracking the financial impact on Florida’s 67 public school districts since the passage of HB1 in 2023.
“I 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,” Dr. Norín Dollard told WESH 2 Investigates.
Dollard said Florida’s universal school choice scholarships are draining billions of dollars away from traditional public schools.
“Parents have been homeschooling their children in Florida for a very long time, and managed it without public funding,” she said.
‘If they’re doing marine biology, they go to Sea World’ 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 “would limit their ability to provide arts and other enrichment opportunities to their children.”
“In addition, families provided Step Up with numerous examples of how theme parks contribute to their students’ 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,” Kent said in an email to WESH 2 Investigates. “Parents point to how the parks tie directly into curriculum: If they’re doing zoology, they go to Animal Kingdom; if they’re doing marine biology, they go to Sea World, etc.”
Step Up’s 2025-26 purchasing guides will be released on July 1.
While theme park tickets aren’t 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.
“I’m going to have to upgrade a little bit,” Gladden said. “I mean, I’ve got enough chairs.”
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 “huge way,” 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 Tennessee’s 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 “Little Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations.”
“I have received the best professional learning experience that I could ever receive that is going to impact my classroom and so many others,” 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 administration’s “shifting priorities,” according to a termination notice reviewed by ABC News.
“As 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,” 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 agency’s reduction in force efforts as Trump hopes to abolish the department completely. Pierce stressed the work teachers do in the classroom each day is “immeasurable” 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.
“It 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,” Pierce wrote in an open letter to the teachers of America.
“I 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,” 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 “huge way,” 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 “I have received the best professional learning experience that I could ever receive that is going to impact my classroom and so many others,” 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 administration’s “shifting priorities,” according to a termination notice reviewed by ABC News.
MORE: 2 federal judges block Trump’s effort to ban DEI from K-12 education “It 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,” 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 “inconsistent” with the department’s 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 administration’s termination notice “dismissive.”
“It 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,” an educator said….
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 