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.
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…
Janis Sexton...Teacher...Advocate 