Florida is leading the charge to make bold conservative changes to K-12 education.
The end is coming for the Left’s indoctrination.
And Florida made one change to schools that had teachers unions fearing the worst.
The classical education movement grows under Ron DeSantis
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has transformed government education in his state from colleges down to kindergarten.
The Sunshine State has outlawed Marxist indoctrination masquerading as education, like critical race theory and radical gender ideologies.
DeSantis signed legislation banishing woke diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from schools.
Florida passed universal school choice to give parents the choice to pick the right educational environment for their child.
That has led to a growth in classical education in Florida.
Classical education used to be the foundation of liberal arts colleges in the country before the Left hijacked them.
Students would study the foundational texts of Western Civilization from ancient Greece and Rome along with classic books.
They study math, science, philosophy, and civics which are the foundation of Western thought.
Florida’s classical education model helps students develop the “principles of moral character and civic virtue” through studying the liberal arts, math, and science.
American Center for Transforming Education head Keri Ingraham told Politico that Florida was at the forefront of the classical education movement.
“Florida is such a frontrunner on these education reforms, like they’ve been on so many other ones,” Ingraham explained. “It’s going to be not that far off for other states that are conservative-minded to adopt policies like this.”
Teachers unions and the Left have criticized the classical education movement for not exposing students to left-wing indoctrination on diversity.
Ron DeSantis opens another front on wokeness in schools
DeSantis praised classical education for helping government schools filter out the woke indoctrination that has seeped into learning.
“Classical really recaptures what’s been lost in some of the political mumbo jumbo that we’ve seen over many decades infiltrate our universities and our K-12 school system,” DeSantis said. “Classical education is really booming and it’s something that is, to me, as a policymaker, … very beneficial.”
Florida created a teacher certification for classical education much to the dismay of Democrats and teachers unions.
The Florida Education Association, the biggest teachers union in the state, fiercely opposed the certification.
Prospective teachers can now bypass the exams and red tape needed to enter the profession at classical schools with the certification.
The state’s school option has led to a growth in classical schools and Florida now has the most in the country.
Heritage Foundation education researcher Rachel Alexander Cambre predicted a boom in classical education.
“More states are moving to adopt and expand their educational choice programs, and I think that is the primary vehicle by which these classical schools will continue to grow,” Cambre said.
Nearly 20 charter or private schools in Florida are providing a classical education with the number expected to grow.
Florida is providing the blueprint for the rest of the country on how to wrestle control of government schools back from the Left and make education their central mission.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
