Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke for about an hour Friday during the opening day of the first-ever Moms for Liberty National Summit held in Tampa, which was scheduled to continue on Saturday and Sunday.
The summit welcomed “all moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, and friends concerned about the attack on parental rights in education and are ready to defend those rights at all levels of government.”
Moms For Liberty was founded by two former Florida school board members and gained national notoriety by challenging school-board policies such as mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Event organizers say the group now has chapters in 38 states and more than 100,000 members nationwide.
DeSantis told the attendees about the importance of school boards.
“I think what’s happened over the last couple years is parents now realize that these are really significant elections. Certain elections, the midterm, who’s running for governor or senator, those are important, don’t get me wrong. But (school boards) probably have a significant impact on families’ lives in a way that some of these other offices may not be able to do,” DeSantis said during his speech Friday.
In June, DeSantis launched an education agenda focused on influencing local school board races in the 2022 election cycle.
Titled “The DeSantis Education Agenda: Putting Students First, Protecting Parents’ Rights,” the policies focus on issues related to student success, parental rights, and curriculum transparency.
According to the website, “The DeSantis Education Agenda is a student-first, parent-centered initiative focused on setting Florida’s children up for success, ensuring parental rights in education, and combating the woke agenda from infiltrating public schools … .This statewide agenda is for school board candidates and school board members who are committed to advancing these priorities at the local school board level.”
“Now is not the time to be a shrinking violet. Now is not the time to let them grind you down,” DeSantis told the audience. “You’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight.”
“I have a five-, a four- and a two-year-old, so maybe I’m a little bit more sensitive about this,” DeSantis said. “But I think parents in this country should be able to have their kids go to school, watch cartoons — just be kids — without an agenda shoved down their throat.”
The summit topics included school board activism, candidate and media training, and strategy sessions focused on parental rights and public education. The breakout sessions included a legal forum about the rights of parents and students, one on First Amendment rights and a “look behind the education curtain.”
Others scheduled to speak at the summit include Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Betsy DeVos, the education secretary under former President Donald Trump.
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Steve Stewart is a senior contributor at The Florida Capital Star.
“But I think parents in this country should be able to have their kids go to school, watch cartoons — just be kids — without an agenda shoved down their throat.”
AMEN TO THAT. Thank you Governor DeSantis.
@Resident:
Great insight from someone who's been there and seen it first hand. Knowing our local voterbase as you do I can not disagree with your information. I bet you have seen some things working at the polls!!!
Thank you.
Please don’t keep talking about how Republicans are going to sweep the mid terms.
Democrats will ALWAYS vote the “D” ticket no matter how badly their party performs. They don’t care about issues, they will always vote Democratic even if they are starving because of Biden’s policies. I know this because I was a poll worker for 16 years. Every year I saw local church buses drop off folks with no ID’s asking to vote via a “provisional” ballot. As poll workers showed them the ballots, the comment always was “which one is the Democrat”? Do not get comfortable with your predictions. Let your vote speak for you.
I can not recall a time in history this far out from the mid terms and subsequant Presidental elections when the Democrats so proudly and clearly - to voters - represent evil and Republicans so proudly and clearly -to the voters - represent good.
I would not be supprised to see the State and National Republican candidates take Leon County for the first time ever in the mid terms and Presidental elections.
Whats going to happen is our local leftist voters will stay registared Democrat and as usual locally will vote in their beloved leftist candidates - BUT - in the final votes for State and National elections a huge percentage, when provided the option on the ballot, will secertly flip over to vote for the Republicans.
Now dont get all hopefull that our local leftist voters have "seen the light", "turned over a new leaf", or "suddenly got their minds right and full of common sense" or anything like that.
No No No our local leftist voters are still and will continue to be the same annoying, excriment for brains, raving lunatics they have always been. This will just be a "one off" set of mid terms and the Presidental elections due to the "good and evil thing" I explained in my opening comment. Along with the fact the leftists in power have totally effed up everything Nationally and Internationally to a dangerous point never before seen.
As a side comment I heard Preston on his radio show having sport with local leftists and encouraging them for their own good to buy the product "Goof-Off" to remove those Biden bumper stickers from their cars. I started to open my eyes and take notice as driving around and Biden bumper stickers are totally disapearing from those liberal Subarus, Volvos, and whatever the #ell else our annoying liberal virtue signaling local leftists drive.
Betsy DeVos said the U.S. Dept. of Education should not exist; she said education decisions should be made at the state and local level. I could not agree more. The federal government has become too controlling.
As I recall, President George H. Bush, wanted to eliminate the U.S. Dept. of Education, as well. Maybe there is more support for that now.
Florida is in good hands because we have the Best Governor in America!