Florida proposal would prohibit school districts from using taxpayer dollars to fund CRT curriculum, training, or consultants.
QUICK FACTS:
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) introduced a new bill to oppose critical race theory in the state’s K-12 classrooms.
- DeSantis announced the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” (Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees) with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran during an event in Wildwood, Florida.
How the “Stop WOKE Act” Works:
- During the event, DeSantis announced how the new act would work, saying “[n]o taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or hate each other.”
- The act goes further than classroom curriculum and bars teachers and school staff from receiving critical race theory training. “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 continued.
- He also criticized the far-left “woke” ideology: “They want to tear at the fabric of our society and our culture. They want to de-legitimize the founding of the country and the Constitution.”
- Finally, DeSantis took issue with the concept of equity. “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 [far-left] ideology.”
BACKGROUND:
- DeSantis joins a growing number of Republican officials, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott and North Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who are implementing measures to stop critical race theory from spreading through classrooms.
- Some CRT advocates claim that they seek only to teach children the truth about the history of race relations in this country, while others deny that the theory is being taught to K-12 students. CRT opponents reject both arguments and insist that the curriculum goes far beyond innocuous history.
