Lessons from Florida: DeSantis will decry classroom ‘indoctrination’ — unless it’s his own | Opinion

If there’s one place where Gov. Ron DeSantis firmly planted his flag in Florida, it’s in education. It has been his bread and butter and has given wings to his presidential aspirations.

DeSantis’ milked his controversial and high-profile fight in the latter days of the pandemic to keep Florida public schools open and end virtual learning and mask mandates. His stance gave him his current national political persona as the head of the renegade “Free State of Florida.”

DeSantis went against the national thinking and reopened schools for in-person learning. DeSantis argued masks were not needed for kids and said parents should have a choice without a mandate from state government and school districts.

“COVID is not really impacting kids in a meaningful way. We need our kids to get back in school,” DeSantis said in 2020 about the state’s 15 million students. “We are not going to close schools here in Florida. I think it’s very important that our kids stay in school in person.” With that sentiment, DeSantis became the darling of those who fought the pandemic closings.

DeSantis has restructured and redesigned education from K-12 and cast his conservative net over Florida’s state universities by appointing hand-picked presidents to carry out his vision.

At the first GOP debate last month, DeSantis signaled he would pursue significant reforms to the U.S. education system. And, through the education leaders he installs in his administration, he will bring his damaging culture wars over what should be taught in classrooms. DeSantis believes education is in decline and students are being brainwashed by the left.

“We need education in this country, not indoctrination,” he said at the debate. “In Florida . . . we are focusing on solid academics. We have eliminated critical race theory. We eliminated gender ideology.

“As president, I will lead an effort to increase civic understanding and knowledge of our Constitution. We cannot be graduating students with no foundation on what it means to be an American.”

DeSantis was both cheered and booed.

Doing ‘damage’

Former Democratic State Sen. Annette Taddeo is a DeSantis critic and bristles at his suggestions that Florida students are being “indoctrinated.”

“DeSantis’ damage to Florida’s education cannot be understated,” she told the Editorial Board. “The man who claims to oppose indoctrination and wants a ‘free’ Florida has banned books, eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs, enacted a law that made the college presidents’ search process more secretive, rejected an AP African-American Studies course for lacking ‘educational value,’” she said. “This is indoctrination in every sense of the word.”

If elected, it’s wise to assume DeSantis will likely name an out-of-the-box Secretary of Education to help carry out the Florida model nationwide. That’s the culmination of his education dream.

But let’s start at the beginning. One of DeSantis’ first acts emerging from the pandemic was banning critical race theory instruction, ignoring that fact that the concept is not taught in K-12. DeSantis signed legislation prohibiting teaching or training that could make students, particularly white ones, feel “discomfort” about issues of race, sex or religion. Teachers and critics say it limits honest history lessons and their ability to make professional decisions.

Muzzles and bans

The governor followed up by restricting the discussion of LGBTQ+ issues in schools — “Don’t Say Gay,” as critics dubbed it — by banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grades or in a manner not deemed age-appropriate. Of course, any comments should be age-appropriate. Still, children especially have questions about the world around them, and they shouldn’t be dismissed. This is school, after all. To make a point, in 2021, DeSantis signed legislation barring transgender girls from playing on female sports teams.

Then, his all-encompassing “Stop WOKE Act” restricts schools and workplaces from offering anti-discrimination training and limits how race is addressed in corporate initiatives. For example, it prohibits teachers and employers from rejecting concepts like racial stereotyping and collective guilt, limiting honest discussion of history and current events in the classroom.

In higher education, colleges are barred from requiring training that espouses critical race theory tenets. And teachers could face lawsuits if they defy these anti-CRT provisions. That’s chilling.

The governor gave himself power to reject textbooks that allegedly make people feel “guilty” about their race, sex or national origin. One objection to a book can get it removed from school library shelves for review. This year, most dramatically, he endorsed the part of the school curriculum that puts a positive spin on how enslaved Blacks were treated, saying that there were benefits for them.

Add all that up — censorship, muzzled teachers, banned textbooks and the fear of losing one’s job — and you have captured the state of education in Florida today. These policies have been widely criticized by teachers, unions, mental health experts, civil-rights groups and Democrats as ideologically driven mandates that infringe on education and local control. Lawsuits challenged several of the mandates, but no matter.

Eye on the locals

Leaning into his authoritarian bent, DeSantis’ main goal has been to send a message through the state’s school districts and academia that he is watching what is taught in classrooms, and you either follow his agenda or he will find a way to replace you by running candidates against you or making you feel uncomfortable enough to leave.

In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, DeSantis sent appointees to disrupt what he considers a “woke” mentality in school boards, in other words, perceived liberalism.

Miami-Dade’s veteran superstar Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who battled with the state over school reopenings against medical experts’ advice, left in 2022 to head the Los Angeles Unified School District. Two long-time School Board members were heavy-handedly discouraged from seeking reelection and were replaced by DeSantis loyalists. DeSantis also named Broward School Board members who eventually helped remove Superintendent Vickie Cartwright. Both superintendents had defied DeSantis’ order to return to class.

As president, Florida’s governor would likely work to limit the teaching of concepts like white privilege and systemic racism in K-12 and higher education. DeSantis, who has specialized in disruption, argues these ideas promote divisive ideologies, while his critics say they provide crucial historical context.

DeSantis plans to drain schools of their breadth and depth, of students’ ability to learn hard truths on all sides of an issue, of teachers’ ability to speak them. His constricted view of the world will have broad implications on the society we become, which is his goal.

Americans should ask: Is that the kind of society we want?