Curt Flewelling, FISM News

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law several bills designed to revamp the educational system in The Sunshine State. These sweeping educational reforms will now become law on July 1.

The governor was grateful to lawmakers for helping him transform how education is practiced in the state of Florida. DeSantis said this at the bill signing,

Today, I want to thank our legislative leaders and the many bill sponsors for working with us to empower our teachers and ushering in a new era of accountability to the people. No longer will politically motivated school boards and special interests wield their power over Florida’s teachers.

The various bills will mean the following:

  • Senate Bill 256 – Prohibits teachers’ unions from using government resources to have dues deducted directly from employee paychecks.
  • House Bill 477 – Reduces term limits for school board members from 12 to 8 years.
  • House Bill 1537 – Extends temporary teaching certificates from 3 years to 5 years.
  • House Bill 1035 – Creates Chapter 1015 in Florida Statutes to codify the “Teachers Bill of Rights.”
  • House Bill 379 – Takes social media out of the classroom and TikTok out of Florida schools.

The bills include many more line items designed to stop what the governor perceives as an assault by the left to weaken Florida schools in the areas of safety and accountability to parents. The governor also pledges to increase educational funding by earmarking an additional $252 million to increase teacher salaries.

Not everyone is impressed with the governor’s commitment to helping teachers. The Florida Education Association (FEA) has long contended that DeSantis has been obsessed with micromanaging public schools.

“This is not someone looking out for the best interest of teachers. The freedom to decide how they come together, the freedom to decide what to do with their own paycheck, and the freedom to actually teach in our schools has been under attack for some time,” FEA President Andrew Spar said about the governor.

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