DeSantis Releases Civics Education Plan

Relying on federal coronavirus relief funds for schools, Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing to spend $106 million to bolster civics education, including offering bonuses to teachers who complete training.

During a news conference Wednesday in Naples, DeSantis announced what he’s calling the “Civic Literacy Excellence Initiative.” Part of the plan would direct the Florida Department of Education to create the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence, a licensure endorsement for educators.

“Under this initiative, the department will partner with national leaders in civics professional development to provide a series of modules and micro-credentials that any Florida teacher will be eligible to attain,” DeSantis said.

Teachers who complete the civics training would receive a $3,000 bonus under the governor’s plan. The initiative would also include $16.5 million to create training programs for principals and educators “seeking to elevate civics education in Florida schools” and $17 million to strengthen the state’s civics curriculum. DeSantis wants lawmakers to take up the proposal during the ongoing legislative session.

“Understanding what our country was founded on, understanding the civic tradition, the Constitution, all these things, has become very much a lost art,” DeSantis said.

Several proposals aimed at beefing up civics education are advancing in the Legislature. A House measure (HB 5) that would direct the Department of Education to create a video library of first-hand accounts of “victims of other nations’ governing philosophies” is ready for consideration by the full House.

8 Comments

  1. sarah
    sarah

    This is clearly the best governor in the USA. No doubt about it!

  2. Snidely Whiplash
    Snidely Whiplash

    WCTV local leftist news just aired a Nikki Weed love fest interview...probley up on their website by the time you read this!!!!

  3. Hope
    Hope

    Best Governor Ron DeSantis in America!

  4. Edward Lyle
    Edward Lyle

    LOVE IT!... and so desperately needed in this era of NaziCrat control and power... and to he// with what Nikki Weed has to say about it. :-)~. I say we recall the corrupt stoner anyway.

  5. Dennis Barton
    Dennis Barton

    Hillsdale College offers online courses on: "Congress : How it Worked and Why It Doesn't", : Introduction to the Constitution" as well as "Constitution 101 ..The Meaning and History of the Constitution". I was a history and political science major and have been impressed how well these courses are presented. Best of all they are free....yes FREE. Go to https://online.hillsdale.edu/#course-offerings to check them out.

  6. fed up
    fed up

    This story omits that the Governor said that under no circumstances would critical race theory be taught in Florida . Bravo!!

  7. Pat
    Pat

    It is passed time for DeSantis to ban all mask mandates. Leon Co and Gadsden Co will keep them forever. Come on Ron....grow a pair and end all mask mandates. You can do it!!!

  8. snidely whiplash
    snidely whiplash

    Wait for it:
    Nikki Weed our Honorable Commissioner of Agriculture will weigh in very soon on how "un-woke" Civics and teaching truth and understanding of what our country was founded on is.
    Hey if we are lucky our old local nanny Andrew Gillum may also craw out from under a slimey rock and spout off some simmilar "woke speak" against Civics, the Constitution, and general hatred of all things DeSantis.
    Wait for it...

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