The Ron DeSantis I Know
The launch of attacks by out-of-staters against Florida Gov. DeSantis would be amusing if they weren't so dishonest and ignorant.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t even declared that he will run for president, yet liberal/progressive/Democrats from hundreds and thousands miles away a nasty campaign against here. As if distance makes them smarter than Floridians who elected him in a landslide. How can we Floridians be so blind? the Blue People wonder?
The criticisms arise mostly from Northern, coastal and Democratic know-it-alls. Obviously it’s better to judge from from the distant precincts of Gotham, the Windy City and Haight-Ashbur
In fact they don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Their DeSantis characterizations are so much rubbish that how could not know they are wrong?
Some examples: In the Washington Post, Karen Attiah claimed DeSantis was normalizing “anti-blackness” and “making institutional anti-blackness lawful again.”Rep. Richie Torres (D-N.Y.) tweeted, “Florida has gone from Don’t Say Gay to Don’t Say Black.”
Then there’s this: “He’s boring. He has a distaste for glad-handing. He’s charmless.” Lord save us from a charmless, boring president.
Hateful. Extremist. Wingnut. Trump-like. He couldn’t pass Bill Clinton’s “beer test.” Autocrat.
The ridiculous attacks are too many to list each ice here, but suffice to say that a vast majority of Floridians, like myself, don’t recognize the person that liberals/wokesters/progressives and the corporate media describe. As if the huge majority of voters who re-elected by a him by a crushing 19 points have been deceived about his actual policies.
For example: DeSantis is accused of racism because he signed a law passed by the state legislature that is widely described but inaccurately described as “anti-black.” In fact, it lays out a broad array of protections against discrimination on the basis of race and a long list of other factors. If you are convinced that the law is anti-black, you are required to read the law itself, the relevant portion of which is provided at the bottom of this post. Because it reflects Martin Luther King’s belief that you should not be judged by the color of your skin, it violates the woke’s dictates that an entire race is guilty. Florida law has required the teaching of black history since 1994, but without mandating the woe’s theoretical, far-left interpretations of history.
Another example: The woke has labeled as “Don’t Say Gay” a law that is allegedly anti-LGBTQ because it supposedly censors discussion of sex in schools. Wrong again. It’s called the Parental Rights in Education” bill , but it offends wokesters-in-education wokesters’ insistence that parents have few or no rights to decide how and what their children should be taught. The entire “Don’t Say Gay” against the bill apparently is based on just one sentence in the bill that says:
Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
That’s it. Again, ideologues who blindly follow the far-left gospel need to read the bill below. I’m aghast that major publications blindly follow the script that it is anti-gay. Real Journalism is dead.
Certainly, DeSantis isn’t perfect. But his accomplishments are many: He didn’t shut down the economy because of the pandemic. Uncounted small businesses survived, jobs were saved. He opened the schools thereby avoiding the incredible damage to children caused by shuttered classrooms. He challenged the popular, but unscientific, insistence that wearing masks and standing six (or was it three?) feet is required. He opened the beaches, where many northerners flocked to escape the autocratic blue state rules. He quickly realized that government orders for everyone—sick or well—to stay at home were destructive in so many ways. What other democracy, if not country, has ordered every single person to cower at home? Such an order is so mind-blowing that looking back now, it’s hard to believe that it happened. Even in our worst wars no one had the guts to confine Americans to their homes for weeks, if not months.
DeSantis might not turn out to be the best Republican candidate (Trump clearly is not), but Americans have a right to know the honest truth about the guy instead of the inaccurate picture being painted by the partisans of the left. We can legitimately disagree about the wisdom of his platform, but that’s only possible if a well-informed electorate has a chance to know them.
From the so-called anti-black law as relates to schools:
It shall constitute discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex under this section to subject any student or employee to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels such student or employee to believe any of the following concepts:
Members of one race, color, national origin, or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin, or sex.
A person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.
A person's moral character or status as either privileged or oppressed is necessarily determined by his or her race, color, national origin, or sex.
Members of one race, color, national origin, or sex cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race, color, national origin, or sex.
A person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex bears responsibility for, or should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment because of, actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin, or sex.
A person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion.
A person, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, bears personal responsibility for and must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress because of actions, in which the person played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, national origin,
Such virtues as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity, and racial colorblindness are racist or sexist, or were created by members of a particular race, color, national origin, or sex to oppress members of another race, color, national origin, or sex.
The Parental Rights Bill (“Don’t say gay”)
In accordance with the rights of parents enumerate in ss. 1002.20 and 1014.04, adopt procedures for notifying a student's parent if there is a change in the student's servicesor monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the student. The procedures must reinforce the fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children by requiring school district personnel to encourage a student to discuss issues relating to his or her well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion of the issue with the parent. The procedures may not prohibit parents from accessing any of their student's education and health records created, maintained, or used by the school district, as required by s. 1002.22(2).
A school district may not adopt procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from notifying a parent about his or her student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being, or a change in related services or monitoring, or that encourage or have the effect of encouraging a student to withhold from a parent such information. School district personnel may not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. This subparagraph does not prohibit a school district from adopting procedures that permit school personnel to withhold such information from a parent if a reasonably prudent person would believe that disclosure would result in abuse, abandonment, or neglect, as those terms are defined in s. 39.01.
Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age- appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.
Student support services training developed or provided by a school district to school district personnel must adhere to student services guidelines, standards, and frameworks established by the Department of Education.
At the beginning of the school year, each school district shall notify parents of each healthcare service offered at their student's school and the option to withhold consent or decline any specific service. Parental consent to a health care service does not waive the parent's right to access his or her student's educational or health records or to be notified about a change in his or her student's services or monitoring as provided by this paragraph.
Before administering a student well-being questionnaire or health screening form to a student in kindergarten through grade 3, the school district must provide the questionnaire or health screening form to the parent and obtain the permission of the parent.
Each school district shall adopt procedures for a parent to notify the principal, or his or her designee, regarding concerns under this paragraph at his or her student's school and the process for resolving those concerns within 7 calendar days after notification by the parent.
At a minimum, the procedures must require that within 30 days after notification by the parent that the concern remains unresolved, the school district must either resolve the concern or provide a statement of the reasons for not resolving the concern.
If a concern is not resolved by the school district, a parent may: (I) Request the Commissioner of Education to appoint a special magistrate who is a member of The Florida Bar in good standing and who has at least 5 years' experience in administrative law. The special magistrate shall determine facts relating to the dispute over the school district procedure or practice, consider information provided by the school district, and render a recommended decision for resolution to the State Board of Education within 30 days after receipt of the request by the parent. The State Board of Education must approve or reject the recommended decision at its next regularly scheduled meeting that is more than 7 calendar days and no more than 30 days after the date the recommended decision is transmitted. The costs of the special magistrate shall be borne by the school district. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules, including forms, necessary to implement this subparagraph.
(II) Bring an action against the school district to obtain a declaratory judgment that the school district procedure or practice violates this paragraph and seek injunctive relief. A court may award damages and shall award reasonable attorney fees and court costs to a parent who receives declaratory or injunctive relief.
c. Each school district shall adopt policies to notify parents of the procedures required under this subparagraph. d. Nothing contained in this subparagraph shall be construed to abridge or alter rights of action or remedies in equity already existing under the common law or general law.
Section 2. By June 30, 2023, the Department of Education shall review and update, as necessary, school counseling frameworks and standards; educator practices and professional conduct principles; and any other student services personnel guidelines, standards, or frameworks in accordance with the requirements of this act.