DeSantis Takes Aim at School District Leader Who Defied Mask Rules, Publicly Opposed GOP Legislation
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration is considering penalizing a school district superintendent who publicly opposed Republican legislation involving restrictions on teaching about gender identity in public schools, banning mask mandates, and school choice.
The Florida Department of Education may revoke the teaching license of Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna, a Democrat, paving the way for DeSantis to potentially oust him from office, according to the Tallahassee Democrat, which first reported the story.
Florida officials have accused Hanna of letting his “personal political views” guide his leadership of the school district in Tallahassee. In a letter to Hanna earlier this month, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wrote that there is probable cause to “justify sanctions against your Florida educator certificate.”
Hanna has criticized a number of laws passed by the GOP-dominated state legislature, including last year’s Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits sexual instruction to kindergartners through third graders in public schools. Lawmakers expanded the law this year to include all grades.
He also attacked a recently passed DeSantis-backed bill that will expand the state’s school voucher program, liberating kids from zip code constraints to attend charter and private schools that better serve them. During the pandemic, Hanna openly disobeyed the governor’s order that banned public schools from imposing mask mandates on students and staff.
“It’s a sad day for democracy in Florida, and the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, when a state agency with unlimited power and resources, can target a local elected official in such a biased fashion,” Hanna told the Associated Press. “This investigation has nothing to do with these spurious allegations, but rather everything to do with attempting to silence myself and anyone else who speaks up for teachers and our public schools in a way that does not fit the political narrative of those in power.”
Hanna said that a petition from a leader of local chapter of parents’ rights advocacy group Moms for Liberty prompted the probe into his conduct.
Education department spokesman Alex Lanfranconi said in a statement that Hanna has in the past unapologetically defied Florida law, making him subject to potential repercussions.
“Any teacher with an extensive history of repeated violations of Florida law would be subject to consequences up to and including losing their educator certificate,” he told the AP.
Last year, DeSantis removed an elected Democratic prosecutor in the Tampa Bay area who signed statements promising not to pursue criminal charges against those who performed abortion or gender transition treatments in violation of state law. Andrew Warren also pledged not to enforce policies dealing with charging suspects with certain crimes.
Warren sued DeSantis in federal court to reclaim his position.
