Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had one main focus when delivering his State of the State address to Florida residents: education.
Starting off his speech he talked about his admirations effort to combat COVID-19. DeSantis discussed his reasoning for opening the schools back up and putting children first. Governor DeSantis said “We were right, and they (opponents to open schools) were wrong,” DeSantis said. “And millions of families in Florida are better for it.”
Moving forward DeSantis wants to replace the FSA test with a more parodic testing solution that would give more feedback to the students’ parents and teachers. Governor DeSantis believes with doing this it would allow less time for test prep and more time on continuing the education.
Another measure the Governor wants to take is increasing teacher salaries and giving them a one time 1,000 dollar bonus like he did last year. When looking at higher education DeSantis does not want to raise the state’s tuition rate and continue the “Bright Futures scholarships.”
Some of the other areas Governor DeSantis talked about but did not go into great detail was:
- Banning critical race theory in schools
- Safeguarding Florida’s natural resources, improving water quality and restoring the Everglades
- Full funding of law enforcement, increasing pay for state law enforcement by up to 25% and providing $5,000 signing bonuses to law enforcement personnel who either transfer to or begin their careers in Florida
- Restitution to Florida for all the costs imposed on the state’s communities by companies and the federal government for facilitating the movement of illegal aliens from the southern border to the state
- An “election integrity unit” aimed at enforcement of Florida’s election laws
- $1,000 bonuses for first responders
Governor DeSantis, who is up for re-election in November and is eyeing a possible 2024 presidential run, is laying out an ambitious conservative agenda. Florida residents will go to the polls on August 23rd for the primaries.
Governor DeSantis, who is up for re-election in November and is eyeing a possible 2024 presidential run is laying out an ambitious conservative agenda. Florida residents will go to the polls on August 23rd for the primaries.
