Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced a new bill on Wednesday to oppose the teaching of critical race theory in Florida’s K-12 classrooms.
DeSantis announced plans regarding the Stop W.O.K.E. Act (Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees Act) with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez and Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran during a live-streamed event in Wildwood, Florida.
“Our legislation will defund any money for K-12 going to CRT consultants,” DeSantis said. “No taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or hate each other.”
The governor’s comments also addressed barring teachers and staff from receiving CRT training.
“We’re also not going to allow the staff or employees or teachers in our education system to be subjected to that type of training where they’re forced to sit there and listen,” DeSantis said. “This is wrong when it’s done to our kids, but it’s also wrong to force employees to have to go through that.”
DeSantis blasted “woke ideology” that he claims is seeking to change the understanding of the nation and the Constitution.
“They want to tear at the fabric of our society and our culture,” the governor said. “They want to delegitimize the founding of the country and the Constitution.”
The governor also pushed back against the term “equity.”
“Just to understand, when you hear equity used, that is just an ability for people to smuggle in their ideology because we don’t need to have these terms. We have a society based on equality, where you’re treated equally. Regardless of your upbringing, regardless of your race, you have the same rights and privileges as anybody else. Equity is used to put the thumb on the scale in favor of their ideology,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis is one of a growing number of conservative governors supporting legislation against CRT. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a similar bill in June.
“I signed legislation that outlaws the teaching of CRT and ‘protest civics’ – mandatory student protests and lobbying activities that often overlap with progressive causes,” Abbott tweeted in July.
“Texas is the first state to prohibit both practices in public K-12 education,” he added.
I signed legislation that outlaws the teaching of CRT and “protest civics” – mandatory student protests and lobbying activities that often overlap with progressive causes.
Texas is the first state to prohibit both practices in public K-12 education.https://t.co/sgeuHgLf8o
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) July 12, 2021
In July, South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory in state classrooms.
“Critical race theory has no place in South Dakota schools. These ideas are un-American. We are ‘one nation, under God, indivisible,’ yet critical race theory seeks to divide us based on inaccurate revisions to our nation’s history,” Noem said in a statement.
“Our students should learn America’s true history by studying both our triumphs and our mistakes. Only then will students learn that America remains the shining example of exceptionalism throughout the history of the world,” she added.