Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix

Multiple disruptions, demonstrations and protests erupted Thursday morning as abortion rights protesters threw handfuls of stickers and small pieces of paper on lawmakers as House members tried to discuss the 6-week abortion ban.

By noon, no one was able to be in the House gallery except lawmakers and press because of the disruption.

Stickers and small papers thrown at lawmakers by abortion-rights protesters on April 13, 2023. Credit: Danielle J. Brown

“Abortion is healthcare!” shouted a protester who had been sitting in the House gallery at the time. The stickers provided information on how to receive abortion pills through mail, which would be banned under the 6-week abortion ban being considered by the House.

There were a couple other outbursts, meaning yelling, during the House hearing, but the demonstration and stickers were the final straw. The public had to be cleared from the House chamber for the rest of the day, according to security from the Florida Capitol building in Tallahassee.

As people left the House gallery, a couple dozen protesters convened on the 4th floor rotunda in the Capitol. Almost a dozen Democratic House members joined the protesters briefly to sing ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers, which has become a rallying cry for the abortion rights activists in the 2023 legislative session.

House lawmakers returned to business after a 10-minute recess to continue proposing, and ultimately rejecting, more than 50 amendments offered to make the 6-week abortion ban less restrictive and burdensome on those who are seeking an abortion in Florida.

The bill, SB 300, has already been approved by the full Senate, and House Speaker Paul Renner indicated that the Democrats would not be able to change the bill any further.

Such proposed changes, which were not adopted, included renaming the bill to “The Forced Pregnancy” Act. Another would have issued an annual audit of pregnancy support centers that would be funded by the bill.

One Democrat offered an amendment that would require so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide medically and legally accurate information and ensure that the information is not religious or coercive in nature.

The full House will likely debate and give final approval on SB 300 after debate on the 6-week abortion bill, potentially as soon as Thursday afternoon.

The bill also includes prohibitions on using Telehealth services to obtain an abortion.

About two weeks ago, the Senate also saw tension and disruptions when senators were discussing the 6-week abortion ban.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Lawmakers in the Florida Senate were set to discuss attacks on drag shows and other performances on Tuesday, but several senators decided to talk about what happened Monday, when a House member went on a tirade against transgender Floridians.

“I want to acknowledge that that type of vitriol, it’s coming because that is the type of climate that has been created in this country. That is the type of climate that we are creating in this state, to where we are basically giving people a hall pass to say crazy things like that,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones, a Democrat who represents part of Miami-Dade County.

“That what happened yesterday is dangerous,” Jones added. “That what happened yesterday should not happen in a body of leaders who sit and walk inside this chamber, who represent 22 million people.”

Democrats called out Rep. Webster Barnaby, a Republican who represents part of Volusia County, during a full Senate meeting Tuesday about his comments from the day before.

Barnaby referred to the LGBTQ+ community, as “demons,” “imps” and “mutants,” the Phoenix previously reported, in reference to legislation that would bar transgender adults who intentionally enter a restroom or changing facility differs from their sex assigned at birth.

Barnaby also said:

“So much evil in our world today. And so many people who are afraid to address the evil, the dysphoria, the disfunction. I’m not afraid to address the dysphoria or the disfunction,” Barnaby said Monday. “The Lord rebuke you Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps who come parade before us.

“That’s right, I called you demons and imps who come and parade before us and pretend that you are part of this world.”

Barnaby has offered a simple apology, according to NBC News:

“I would like to apologize to the trans community for referring to you as demons,” he said.

Sen. Tina Polsky said the legislation about drag shows, as well as Barnaby’s comments from Monday, feed into “dangerous rhetoric” that “leads to violence” against the LGBTQ+ community.

“The bill is, as usual, so purposefully vague as to create an administrative nightmare and seeks to chill all of those shows,” Polsky argued.

“But I guess that is the cruel point, and this rhetoric can directly lead to violence as we have seen, and lead to a state representative, across the forum here, calling transgender people ‘demons’ and ‘mutants,’ and invoking the Bible as he does it,” she continued.

“This bill feeds into that kind of dangerous rhetoric and it will lead to violence,” Polsky said.

Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Democrat from Broward County, who said she initially planned to vote in favor of the legislation on drag shows, told senators that Barnaby’s comments about transgender people changed her mind and she voted against the legislation.

The bill sponsor, Sen. Clay Yarborough, did not explicitly condemn Barnaby’s comments, but he did say that “name-calling” is not Christ-like.

“The violence and the name calling is not acceptable and I condemn that. And that is not a Christ-like response and I’m totally proud and fine with saying that on the record,” Yarborough said. He is a Republican who represents areas in Northeast Florida.

Some Democratic members of the House are calling for Barnaby to be “censured and held accountable,” according to a written statement from the Florida Legislative Black Caucus.

“What we witnessed Monday is textbook transphobia and hate. It is unfortunate that members of the Legislature have thought it wise to resort to such unnecessary and harmful words when debating bills,” said Rep. Dianne Hart, chair of the Black Caucus, in a written statement. “To make matters worse, they use God’s name, a God who said that ‘the greatest commandment is love,’ to spread such hate.”

Potential limits on drag shows

SB 1432, which was being debated when Senate Democrats criticized Rep. Barnaby, is already contentious legislation in the eyes of the LGBTQ+ community in Florida.

The bill prohibits businesses from knowingly admitting a minor into what the bill calls an “adult live performance.” Businesses could lose their liquor or operating licenses or be fined if they are caught in violation of the proposed legislation.

According to the critics of the bill, the term “adult live performance” is too vague and could be used to target drag shows and the LGBTQ+ community.

In addition, the Senate added language in the legislation last week to prohibit government entities from issuing permits that would allow a person to conduct a performance in violation of the bill’s definition of an “adult live performance,” which LGBTQ+ advocates believe is intended to limit Pride parades and other public celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community.

Sen. Lori Berman said that the legislation “targets queer artistry” and “follows a pattern of discriminatory laws passed that put targets on the backs of queer Floridians.”

“We all know the group this bill is targeting,” said Berman, a Democrat who represents part of Palm Beach County. “We’ve heard amorphous arguments that the bill only applies to quote ‘adult live performances,’ but we know we really mean drag shows, drag queens and the LGBT community. Let’s be open and honest about it. This body gets really uncomfortable about the LGBTQ community.”

Sen. Yarborough, the bill sponsor, argued that so long as minors are not deliberately admitted to shows that involve “nudity, sexual activities and lewd conduct,” then businesses shouldn’t fret.

“As lawmakers, we have a responsibility to protect children from conduct that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in our communities the legitimate concern for parents and our constituents is about children being exposed to nudity, sexual activities and lewd conduct,” Yarborough argued. “So, unless an entity is planning to admit children to an adult live performance, or event that would include those activities, there should be no cause for distress about the provisions of this bill.”

The legislation still needs House approval before it goes to Gov. Ron DeSantis for consideration.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Younger winners received a $100 art supplies gift card as well as a year pass to Florida state parks, while older students got a “2-year Florida College Plan scholarship provided by the Florida Prepaid College Foundation and a $100 gift card for school supplies,” according to a press release Friday.

Four educators also were recognized as Black History Month Excellence in Education award winners. Each educator will receive $2,500 in prize money from Volunteer Florida, the release stated.

The reception celebrating Black History Month came at a time when the month of February is almost over and when the state’s education system is still fraught with criticisms on how African American history should be taught in Florida schools.

The topic of African American history education has been a contentious one for the entire month of February, invigorated by a battle between the DeSantis administration and the century-old nonprofit College Board that created a new Advanced Placement (AP) African American studies course.

The Florida Department of Education rejected the pilot course at the time, according to a letter sent to the College Board in mid-January. Since then, there’s been backlash and a national outcry over concerns that the rejection of the course could be seen as diminishing the importance of Black history and Black culture.

Now, DeSantis is considering a potential change in providers for college-level courses, possibly removing College Board AP courses from high school students in Florida.

Thursday, college students and faculty gathered at Florida State University in Tallahassee, just down the street from the Florida Capitol building, to protest the state’s rejection of Advanced Placement African American studies, among other frustrations with the DeSantis administration’s education policies.

Just over a week before, civil rights activists including the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with a crowd of Floridians, took to the streets in Tallahassee to protest the DeSantis administration’s AP African American studies course in a march to the Capitol building.

Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump also has threatened to file a lawsuit over the situation. Crump, who is known for representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, said three young students in high school in Florida will be named as lead plaintiffs, should a lawsuit be filed by his law firm. Those three students joined Crump at a recent press conference in late January.

The DeSantis administration has a history of limiting how race and gender can be discussed in Florida schools. In 2022, the Legislature passed the so-called “Stop WOKE Act,” setting restrictions on how race and gender can be discussed in K-12 classrooms.

Earlier, in 2021, the state Board of Education prohibited materials from the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which reframes the founding of the United States to focus on the experience Black Americans, as well as what’s called Critical Race Theory.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

As Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to chastise the century-old College Board and its related programs — from honors-level Advanced Placement courses to college entrance exams — eliminating those activities could create a dramatically different school experience for Florida high schoolers.

In just 2022, nearly 200,000 students in Florida took the college entrance exam called the SAT, and tens of thousands of high school students have participated in Advanced Placement courses that could lead to earning college credits ahead of schedule.

If those programs are eliminated in Florida public high schools, it’s not clear how families would react if DeSantis makes changes. The debacle arose last month over an AP African American studies course that has become a national controversy.

DeSantis reiterated his skepticism of the College Board at a press conference Tuesday while responding to media questions. He said that high school students should still be able to earn college credits, but the Florida Legislature may look into other vendors.

“Are there other people that provide services? Turns out there are. IB courses, they’re actually more rigorous than AP, and the colleges accept it. You have the Cambridge, which is also more rigorous,” DeSantis claimed at the press conference in Jacksonville. He did not provide any data or metric for comparisons.

DeSantis is referring to International Baccalaureate (also known as the IB program) and Cambridge International. He did not provide information about those other two programs.

In addition, Florida also offers what’s called dual-enrollment courses, which allow high school students to take a college-level course at their own schools or at a community college.

It’s not clear how well any of these programs would serve as a replacement for AP courses.

DeSantis continued: “So, Florida students are going to have that ability (to earn college credit). That is not going to be diminished. In fact, we’re going to continue to expand it. But it’s not clear to me that this particular operator is the one that’s going to need to be used in the future.

“So college credit: yes. Having that available to everyone: absolutely. Does it have to be done by the College Board? Or, can we utilize some of these other providers — who I think have a really, really strong track record. So I don’t think anyone should be concerned about, somehow, our high schoolers not having opportunities for that. They absolutely will. I just think it’s a matter of what’s the best way to do it,” DeSantis said.

Currently, not every student takes AP classes in public high schools. And not every school provides an IB or Cambridge program.

The rift between the DeSantis administration and the College Board started over a new AP African American studies course. The Florida Department of Education rejected the course, according to a letter sent to the College Board in mid-January, causing a nationwide outcry and concerns that the move diminishes the importance of Black history and Black culture.

“As presented, the content of this course is inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value,” the Jan. 12 letter said.

The College Board has since pushed back against the department’s comments on the African American studies course, calling it “slander” in a lengthy statement on Feb. 11.

Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones will host a rally and a press conference about the governor’s comments regarding AP African American studies, starting Wednesday morning, according to a press release. Jones represents part of Miami-Dade County.

He will be joined by civil rights activist Al Sharpton, a handful of religious leaders, students and parents to discuss the DeSantis’ administration rejection of the AP course.

The event will start at 11:30 in the morning at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee and attendees will march towards the Florida Capitol building for a 1:30 press conference.

Here is some data for readers, which was not included during DeSantis’ press conference.

As to Advanced Placement courses:

According to a College Board report from April 2022 on data from the year prior, there were 2,548,228 students who took at least one AP exam in 2021 across the United States. Because many students take multiple AP courses at a time, the College Board reports that there were 4.5 million AP exams taken in 2021 in a variety of course options.

In terms of the SAT college entrance exam:

In 2022, there were 190,427 Florida students who took the SAT, according to data from the College Board.

The data refers to what the College Board calls “readiness benchmarks” which means a “section score associated with a 75% chance of earning at least a C in first-semester, credit-bearing, college-level courses” in either math or English and writing courses.

In Florida, only 31 percent of students who took the SAT in 2022 met the benchmark score for the math portion of the exam and 59 percent met the benchmark for the Reading and Writing portion.

But compare that to the 1.7 million students who took the SAT nationally in 2022. Of the 1.7 million, 45 percent of students met the math benchmark score, and 65 percent met the benchmark score for the Reading and Writing portion.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

In June, abortion rights protesters carried signs which read “abort SCOTUS” and demonstrated on the lawn of the Capitol in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade and federal abortion protections.

And just last week, well over a hundred anti-abortion protesters gathered in the Capitol rotunda shouting out “make Florida totally abortion free,” as the Legislature convened in an organizational session. Some protesters carried posters with medical images of fetuses outside the Capitol building.

The Florida Capitol and its grounds have long been an avenue for exercising free speech — whether abrasive or not — but a new rule proposed by the Department of Management Services could lead to a chilling effect on protests and free speech for Floridians, according to various activists and organizers.

The rule, 60H-6.008, proposes limitations in how spaces are used in the “Capitol Complex.” It states, in part:

“Because the Capitol Complex is often a destination for children learning about their State government, visual displays, sounds, and other actions that are indecent, including gratuitous (sic) violence, gore, and material that arouses prurient interests, are not permitted in any portion of the Capitol Complex that is not a traditional public forum.”

The Capitol Police, which is responsible for the security of the complex, may establish additional requirements for access and use.

But activists and protest organizers from varying political positions find the wording in the rule to be vague and problematic, which could potentially chill free speech and ban demonstrations.

The rule is up for consideration and public comments Thursday, where changes to the language of the rule could be proposed.

Attempts to censor speech and silence viewpoints

Kara Gross, legislative director with the ACLU of Florida, said the proposed rule relies on “protecting children” to justify its existence.

“This is just the latest attempt, on behalf of Florida’s elected officials, to censor speech and silence viewpoints that they disagree with under the false pretense of protecting children,” Gross told the Florida Phoenix.

“We all want to protect children and these rules do nothing to further that interest. In fact, they may result in greater harm to Florida’s youth by enabling Capitol Police to censor viewpoints that support LGBTQ youths and families.”

She also is concerned about the vagueness of the proposed rule.

“What about a sign or poster that’s advocating for criminal justice reform that depicts individuals in cages? What about that?” she said. “What about a poster…that is supporting LGBTQ rights and it’s about two men getting married? What about people advocating for more resources for victims of sexual violence with a poster that says ‘one-in-four women will be raped in their lifetime?'”

“Yeah, there are all types of things that someone else might think are inappropriate,” Gross said.

Rep. Angie Nixon, a Democrat who represents part of Duval County, told the Phoenix that the proposed rule is reminiscent of fascism.

“The only way for folks, the community to often push back against bad bills or to help or ensure that their voices are heard are through protests and demonstrations. And now, they are trying to limit that. It is so reminiscent of fascism. Like dictatorships. And we can’t go down that slippery slope,” she told the Phoenix.

Nixon was a part of a protest on the floor of the House Chamber that shut down debates against new redistricting maps. She and former Rep. Travaris McCurdy (of Central Florida) performed a sit-in on the floor in April, arguing that the new maps would limit Black voices.

Just recently, the House adopted new rules to limit such demonstrations, the Phoenix reported.

“I think it’s all related,” Nixon said.

She added: “It is the People’s House, they own that house, and I am a part of the people as well.”

Lack of clarity

There are several areas in the Florida Capitol which typically get used by constituents and organizations for political demonstrations and protests: on the steps of the Historic Capitol building, in the open space between the Historic Capitol building and the new Capitol building, and inside the Capitol in the 4th floor rotunda.

But protests can occur elsewhere in the Capitol — inside committee meetings and even on the floor of the Senate or House Chambers by lawmakers.

But it is not clear if these areas are exempt from the rule or not.

Debbie Hall, communications director with the Department of Management Services, pointed to a different area of the proposed rule that says: “Buildings in the Florida Facilities Pool are nonpublic forums except those portions of public sidewalks, streets, parks, outdoor memorials, or similar public spaces that qualify as traditional public forums.”

But it’s not clear what qualifies a space as a “traditional public forum.”

“It seems like there’s a lot of lack of clarity of this,” Lauren Brenzel, organizing director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, told the Phoenix.

“But when we talk about the concept of ‘keeping Florida free’ and freedom — we pay for that building. That’s a taxpayer building,” she said. “So, I understand maybe some different rules might take place inside of a legislator’s office. But if we’re talking about the rotunda, if we’re talking about a committee room, if we’re talking about the courtyard, if we’re talking about the old Capitol complex — those are all public spaces.”

The anti-abortion crowd is also concerned about how the rule may impact its political messaging.

Andrew Shirvell, founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, finds the rule as it is currently written “problematic.”

“The terms ‘gratuitous violence’ and ‘gore’ are often in the eye of the beholder,” he said in an email to the Phoenix.

“Currently, I believe a pro-life citizen has a First Amendment right to hold a sign depicting the victims of abortion, whether on the fourth-floor of the Capitol rotunda or outside in the Capitol Courtyard — if he or she so chooses to do so,” Shirvell continued in the email. “Such a demonstration is not in any way ‘indecent,’ in my opinion. The proposed rule should be modified so that only authentically obscene displays and actions, such as pornography, are restricted at the Capitol.”

Shirvell said that Florida Voice for the Unborn welcomes “genuine governmental efforts to protect children from being exposed to obscene materials and actions.”

It’s not clear who would make the determinations as to what’s indecent.

“I would really question what we’re talking about young people not seeing,” Brenzel with Planned Parenthood asked. “One of the things that it says is ‘arousing prurient interest’ – like, what does that mean?”

Brenzel also remarked on the student-centered protest against HB 1557 and how it could impact young folks just starting to get involved in politics.

During the 2022 legislative session, high school students, many of whom were minors, loudly chanted “F*** DeSantis” on the 4th floor rotunda in protest of HB 1557, which prohibits certain discussions of LGBTQ+ topics from Florida classrooms.

“We’re seeing a potential chilling effect on that, and a chilling effect that’s actually targeted towards young people, that we are really worried about. We want our young people to be able to engage in some of the most fundamental American ideals, which is protest and which is making their voices known,” Brenzel said.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Anti-Trump political group Lincoln Project has set its sights on Gov. Ron DeSantis as he continues publicizing state recovery efforts following damage brought on by Hurricane Ian.

In a new ad from the PAC, video footage shows houses getting destroyed and cars partially submerged in floodwaters as a female voice-over says “Here we go again, hurricane season in Florida.”

“Florida homeowners are paying more for storm insurance every year. What has Ron DeSantis done to help us?” the voice over asks.

The answer, according to the ad, is “nothing,” because DeSantis has been too busy “running for president to do his job.”

The ad does not mention Hurricane Ian directly but invokes the destruction it brought to Southwest Florida in late September.

Storm images are intercut with videos of DeSantis at various press conferences involving some of his more controversial actions as governor, including sending migrants to Martha’s Vineyard and penalizing the Walt Disney Co. for pushing back against the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“Cruel campaign stunts. Trolling. Bragging. Raising money for his election and attacking Florida companies. He did everything but help us protect our homes, protect our dreams we worked so hard for,” according to the ad.

The Lincoln Project was formed in 2019 by Republicans to push back against former President Donald Trump and his political allies.

DeSantis’ Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial election, Charlie Crist, retweeted the ad posted on Friday. Crist is a former Republican governor of Florida.

DeSantis has been visible

That said, the DeSantis administration been heavily involved in hurricane recovery since the storm made landfall in September, including visiting flooded areas, hosting press conferences to provide updates, issuing executive orders to expedite the recovery process, and holding a round-table discussion with private businesses relaying their needs.

The governor’s office has issued near-daily press releases on Hurricane Ian recovery updates.

According to a Thursday update, hundreds of kits are available for the parents of infants and toddlers containing 10 days’ worth of “critical supplies.” Officials have distributed 51 million bottles of water and 14.1 million emergency meals.

According to the Thursday update, “power has been restored to all accounts on the mainland which can receive it.” According to Friday data from the Florida Public Service Commission, there remain 12,619 structures without power, all in Lee County.

The state Medical Examiners has reported 108 deaths connected to Hurricane Ian as of Thursday.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Watch:

Stormwww.youtube.com

The National Hurricane Center reports that Ian is strengthening in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, raising concerns for residents that it could become a Category 4 storm, potentially overnight or early morning Wednesday.

Tuesday, Ian has been considered a Category 3 storm.

And with Ian headed toward south of Tampa Bay, in Sarasota County, officials are urging certain residents to evacuate and take their pets with them. In addition, county emergency management officials will be turning off water in some areas of the county, such as Siesta Key, and encouraging families to develop communication plans.

“I think if you go back 48 hours, and you look at where that track was going, even though we said, ‘don’t get wedded to where that eye is,’ they had the eye of the storm arriving some place’ in Northern Florida,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “When we went to bed last night, the anticipation was landfall in the Tampa Bay area. And now models this morning… all have it coming into the Sarasota region.”

DeSantis held his second press conference Tuesday at the Sarasota County Emergency Operation Center to go over what he called the “final stages of preparations for what will be a really, really significant hurricane.”

He noted that the trajectory of the storm has changed drastically over the last few days due to the unpredictability of hurricanes such as Ian.

The storm is expected to linger over the initial landfall area, according to DeSantis.

“Another factor that they’re forecasting now is that, when it makes landfall, let’s say somewhere in Sarasota County, most of the forecasts have it slowing down to almost a crawl. And what that means is it’s going to dump an inordinate amount of rain,” DeSantis said. “So that could be Sarasota, it could be a little bit inland…there’s still time for it to wobble.”

He also urged Floridians to listen to local officials and heed evacuation orders, saying that evacuation orders have been issued “up and down the Gulf Coast of Florida, including here in Sarasota County.”

“The issue with this, if you’re in one of these low-lying areas, and you have the potential for 10, 15 feet of storm surge, that can absolutely be life threatening. Those orders, I think, are not taken lightly.”

He clarified that evacuating may not mean doing hours of travel up north.

“You don’t need to evacuate to another state. You don’t need to evacuate hundreds of miles away. The key is to get to high ground and be in a safe structure. I know here in Sarasota, they have shelters that are open that can do friends and family in the area,” DeSantis said.

“In Florida have structures that can deal with hurricanes, it’s hard to deal with 10 feet of water,” he added. “And that is really what is underlying these evacuation notices.

Kevin Guthrie, director of the Division of Emergency Management, gave some advice to the residents of Sarasota and other impacted areas, such as ensuring that residents take their pets if they evacuate.

Ed McCrane with the Sarasota County Emergency Operations gave some specific advice for Sarasota residents:

“Utilities will be shut up will be shutting off water service to all residents and businesses located on Siesta Key after 5:00 o’clock this evening. The City of Sarasota maybe doing the same on Lido in that area, so keep that in mind. Solid waste collection services have been cancelled. The landfill is closed. We asked our community to continue to be smart, make their preparations now and follow evacuation notices when issued,” he said.

As for those seeking evacuation, he added:

“If you go into an evacuation center, eat before you go. Bring your emergency kit, including bedding and bring a flashlight, toiletries — you’re gonna get 20 square feet of space there…You can bring a pet. Every single evacuation center in Sarasota county is pet friendly.”

He also encouraged Floridians to keep their gas tank “half-full” to keep lines at the pump down.

“That shortens the amount of time at the lines at the gas stations…same thing goes to electrical cars, keep those batteries at 50 percent or more.”

Guthrie also urged people to have cash on hand in case ATMs lose power and electricity goes down.

Plants and yard furniture should be secured or brought inside, he noted.

According to a 2 p.m. public advisory update from the National Hurricane Center, “Ian is moving toward the north near 10 mph (17 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue today. A turn toward the north-northeast with a reduction in forward speed is forecast tonight and Wednesday,” the early afternoon advisory said.

“On the forecast track, the center of Ian is expected to move over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico today, pass west of the Florida Keys later tonight, and approach the west coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area on Wednesday and Wednesday night,” the advisory continued.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Update: Gov. DeSantis has issued an emergency order for 24 counties in response to the tropical system threatening Florida next week. “This declaration will make available important resources and support, as well as free up funding sources for emergency protective measures. Under this emergency order, members of the Florida National Guard will be activated and on standby awaiting orders,” the governor’s office said.

The counties are Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Momoe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and St. Lucie.

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A newly formed tropical depression that formed late last night could spell trouble for Floridians early next week with a possibility of forming into a “major hurricane,” according to new forecasts from the National Hurricane Center.

Jamie Rhome, acting NHC director, provided a livestreamed social media update Friday on the looming storm, known as “Tropical Depression 9.” He urged Floridians to remain alert and calm.

“I’m a Floridian, too. So I am going to speak to you candidly,” Rhome said. “Don’t panic. We are still in the early stages of this event.”

He did stress that residents should check their hurricane preparedness over the weekend and not lose sight of the developing storm.

“Pull out all your emergency supplies. Make sure you have everything that you need on hand. Top things off if you need to. Make sure you’re ready to go. Fill up your car with fuel, get all situated for a possible, a possible event,” he stressed.

As of Friday, the forecast suggests that the center of the storm will head towards Central to South Florida, and as it makes it’s way through the Gulf could strengthen into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center predicts the storm will approach Jamaica Sunday as a tropical storm, and then the Cayman islands as a hurricane Monday. Then it is predicted to move on to Florida.

Category 3?

“Unfortunately, it could impact Florida as a major hurricane — Category 3 is the current forecast. But, again, we have a lot of time. This forecast can and will evolve.”

Rhome recommended that South Florida folks finish their hurricane or severe storm preparation by early next week.

“Florida Keys, South Florida, you really need to be done by sunset Monday. … For North Florida, if impacts were to spread that far north, it would be more likely to come late in the day Tuesday,” he said.

“It is important that you take this threat seriously and begin to execute your hurricane plan in a calm and orderly fashion while there is still time to get ready. Don’t panic,” Rhome said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis shared a similar tone in a tweet Friday morning .

“This morning, Invest 98L strengthened into Tropical Depression Nine. While the eventual track of #TD9 is uncertain, Floridians should remain vigilant and ensure their households are prepared for a potential impact,” DeSantis said in the tweet. He recommended Floridians follow the social media accounts of the Florida Division of Emergency Management for continued updates.

The developing storm formed shortly after the residents of U.S. territory Puerto Rico were hit by Hurricane Fiona, leaving many still without electricity, Reuters reported Friday.

“An estimated 928,000 homes and businesses were still without power in Puerto Rico on Friday morning after Hurricane Fiona hit on Sunday, causing an island-wide power outage for its roughly 3.3 million people,” according to Reuters.

“Hurricane Fiona was now passing Bermuda as it headed for Nova Scotia in Canada, classed as a major hurricane with winds of up to 125 miles per hour. The storm has killed at least eight people.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Gov. Ron DeSantis took his bows Thursday for airlifting some 50 asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts the day before.

The move triggered a furious response from Florida Democrats, immigrant advocacy groups, and members of Florida’s Hispanic community, some of whom saw the move as authoritarian and even equated it with human trafficking.

But that reaction was the intention, the governor signaled during a news conference addressing an related topic in Niceville, in which he pretended the airlift was for the asylum seekers’ own good.

“It’s better to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction — and yes, we will help facilitate that transport for you to be able to go to greener pastures,” he said to applause from a friendly crowd.

“All of those people in D.C. and New York were beating their chests when Trump was president, saying they were so proud to be sanctuary jurisdictions, saying how bad it was to have a secure border. The minute even a small fraction of what those border towns deal with every day is brought to their front door they all of a sudden go berserk and they’re so upset that this is happening,” DeSantis continued.

“And it just shows you, you know, their virtue signaling is a fraud.”

Critics, however, pointed to the human damage.

Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith. Credit: Florida House of Representatives

“Today we woke up on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month to news that Venezuelan children fleeing Maduro’s socialist dictatorship were secretly human trafficked by the DeSantis regime and dumped outside Florida in order to score cheap political points,” state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith wrote on Twitter.

The Maduro comparison is in reference of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“No compassion whatsoever. Just depravity from an authoritarian governor seeking to score cheap political points with ultra MAGAs who think traumatizing vulnerable people and children is some kind of game,” Smith continued. Smith is a Democrat who represents part of Orange County.

The flights

Late Wednesday evening, the migrants, most of whom appear to be Venezuelan, were carted from San Antonio, Texas, and delivered to Martha’s Vineyard, as reported by news organizations including The New York Times.

But even though the flights originated in Texas, reportedly with stopovers in Florida, DeSantis’ aides claimed them as his work.

Taryn Fenske, communications director for DeSantis’ office, said in a written statement issued on Wednesday evening:

“Florida can confirm the two planes with illegal immigrants that arrived in Martha’s Vineyard today were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.

“States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies.”

Fenske noted that the 2022-23 state budget appropriated $12 million to cart undocumented migrants to other states. She says the transportation was “consistent with federal law.”

She added: “Florida’s immigration relocation program both targets human smugglers found in Florida and preempts others from entering.”

Foreshadowing

DeSantis foreshadowed the move in December during a news conference in which he denounced what Republicans call President Joe Biden’s “open borders” position, which he posited was burdening states like Florida with caring for the asylum seekers more than it did liberal bastions up North.

“It’s somewhat tongue-in-cheek but it is true: If you sent [them] to Delaware or Martha’s Vineyard or some of these places, that border would be secured the next day,” the governor said at the time.

“But, instead, they’re imposing the results of their policies on states like Florida, who they love to hate, or whatever,” DeSantis said.

Delaware is Biden’s home state.

DeSantis is seeking reelection in the general election on Nov. 8 and has constructed a national fundraising base from which he could mount a presidential run in 2024.

‘Wrong side of history’

Charlie Crist, the former Pinellas County congressman opposing DeSantis’ reelection as a Democrat, accused the governor of attempting to divert attention from the abortion issue, which has energized abortion-rights advocates since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

“He doesn’t want to talk about it because he knows he’s in the wrong, and he’s on the wrong side of history,” Crist said of the abortion issue during a Zoom conference.

Charlie Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, denounced Gov. Ron DeSantis during a Zoom call on Sept. 15, 2022. Source: Screenshot

Continuing comparisons to dictatorships, Crist called the migrant transportation as “the kind of stuff Castro would do.”

“I wouldn’t ship them around like they’re animals, like they’re cattle. I would not do that. Ron DeSantis is willing to do that,” Crist said.

Karla Hernandez-Mats, a Miami-Dade teacher union leader of Honduran descent who is running alongside Crist to be his lieutenant governor, tweeted Wednesday evening: “Venezuelan migrants who’re trying to escape a socialist dictator thought Maduro would be their biggest challenge, then came Ron DeSantis.”

She continued Thursday in another tweet: When Ron [DeSantis] & Jeannette [Lt. Gov. Janette Nuñez] said they wanted to send Hispanics fleeing tyrants to another state, they meant it. It’s cruel, and these political games must stop.”

Republican Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, like the governor, claimed that the state’s action was a result of Biden’s “lack of any U.S. border protection,” according to a written statement Thursday.

“Shame on the empty-headed pundits who now want to score cheap points by saying this relocation program, done by the state and in accordance with federal law, is ‘human trafficking.’” Patronis said. “They simply don’t want to look at the truth — the lack of any real federal immigration policy leaves us at the state level to do what we can with what we have. Biden has done nothing.”

James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff, tweeted in response to a CNN clip on the ordeal:

“Joe Biden flies planes of immigrants into Florida and it’s perfectly fine. @GovRonDeSantis helps them get to wealthy communities that support open border policies and now it’s a hate crime? The federal government leaves these people homeless, starving, and abandoned.”

Others in DeSantis’ orbit took open delight in what they saw as the governor’s skewering of liberals.

“Martha’s Vineyard residents should be thrilled about this. They vote for sanctuary cities — they get a sanctuary city of their own. And illegal aliens will increase the town’s diversity, which is strength. Right?” DeSantis former press secretary Christina Pushaw, now in charge of “rapid response” for his reelection campaign, tweeted.

Pushaw retweeted a meme containing a parody headline: “Martha’s Vineyard resident calls police to report a Hispanic resident not operating a leaf blower.”

In fact, according to national news outlets, the community in Martha’s Vineyard leapt to provide emergency shelter for the sudden migrants, and things were running relatively smoothly, all things considered.

‘New low’

“Even for Ron DeSantis, this is a new low,’ Florida Democratic Manny Diaz said in a written statement posted to Twitter.

“There is nothing that DeSantis won’t do, and nobody that he won’t hurt, in order to score political points. He took dozens of families and children, reportedly from Venezuela and Colombia, away from everyone that they know, flew them across the country, and left them by the side of the road without shelter or direction — all in order to score political points,” he continued.

Several immigrant advocacy groups denounced DeSantis. Maria Corina Vegas, Florida deputy state director for the American Business Immigration Coalition, said in a written statement Thursday:

“As a bi-partisan business coalition, we find it morally repulsive that on this, the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are talking about how Gov. DeSantis sent two planes full of Venezuelan immigrants, to Martha’s Vineyard, effectively trafficking migrant children.”

Vegas continued: “As a Venezuelan-American myself, I was heartbroken. These are Venezuelan asylum seekers who are escaping the Maduro regime. This is a new low, even for this governor. Job creators across the state are facing a labor-shortage crisis. Business at the key industries at the core of the Florida economy such as hospitality and agriculture are in dire need of new workers. Look around you here in Doral, where would this city be without the blood and toil of Venezuelans just like me?”

Adelys Ferro, drector of Venezuelan-American Caucus, added in a written statement:

“Immigrants are at the heart of Florida. One in five Floridians is an immigrant. Stop using Venezuelans as props for your political games! You cannot rail against Nicolás Maduro and then despise Venezuelan immigrants when they seek refuge in your state.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

In the early stage of the then-novel COVID-pandemic, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration made an urgent decision at a fearful time: He ordered public schools across the state to shut down — first for an extended spring break in March 2020 and then for the rest of the school year.

But viewers watching DeSantis’ new statewide TV-and-digital campaign ad may not know that schools were initially locked down. The political ad simply showed a young school-aged kid looking into the camera to thank DeSantis.

“You let me go to school,” the child said, with no other context. The ad also shows other student-aged characters and someone who appears to be a teacher, along with some other DeSantis supporters.

The current political dialogue for the governor is to highlight how much he has pushed to open schools, but that didn’t happen until at least the summer of 2020, and some districts were still allowing remote learning even after schools were required to open.

So while the ad is not necessarily a lie, it does not tell the whole story of DeSantis’ education policy over the course of the pandemic — leading to questions as to when campaign ads cross over from highlighting attributes of a political candidate into potentially misleading constituents.

“Ads are designed by political candidates to serve their political agenda; they are not always based on facts or complete pictures,” Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, told the Phoenix.

For Robin Taub Williams, a former educator and president of the Democratic Public Education Caucus of Manasota, the ad is “misleading,” and that DeSantis did initially close schools.

“But then I guess he decided, politically, it was best for him to open everything up and throw science out the window — throw caution out the window,” she told the Phoenix.

COVID Timeline

On March 1, 2020, DeSantis announced that two COVID cases had been identified in Florida, and moved to call a state of emergency for Florida.

On March 23, 2020, then-Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran issued an emergency order under the Department of Education that recommended school districts should “keep their facilities closed except to staff and teachers” through April 14, 2020, and instructed schools to continue educating students while at home “through non-classroom-based methods.” Many Florida public schools shifted to virtual instruction during this time.

On April 18, 2020, DeSantis announced in a press conference that schools would “continue with distance learning for the duration of the school year,” with public school students out for the tail end of the 2019-20 school year.

But the recent ad does not reflect that reality.

Suzanne Robbins, an assistant instructional professor at University of Florida’s Department of Political Science, told the Phoenix that leaving out certain details in a campaign ad will occur.

“While the ads will be fact checked by various organizations… leaving information out is not uncommon; it’s an old tactic,” she said in an email to the Phoenix.

“It doesn’t matter if it is a half-truth, because the audience for the ad will likely empathize with the message,” she added.

On July 6, 2020, then-Commissioner Corcoran issued a new executive order that called for the reopening of brick-and-mortar schools. The order required all school districts to reopen, but permitted flexibility so that school districts could continue to offer remote learning options as the early days of the COVID pandemic raged on, the Phoenix previously reported.

The new order, supported by DeSantis, led to the FEA suing the governor and state education officials, alleging that the move overstepped the authority of local school boards granted by the Florida Constitution to operate schools.

And at the time, some districts like Miami-Dade County were interested in keeping schools closed for longer to protect their students, the Phoenix reported at the time.

Ultimately, all school districts did open by October, 2020, and the lawsuit fizzled out. A November 2020 order from Commissioner Corcoran ensured that schools would stay open through the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, though parents could still choose remote learning at the time.

Since then, DeSantis has done little to remind the public that he had shut down schools during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the governor has expressed regret at some press conferences and media appearances over the shutdown of schools early on. And he’s vowed to keep schools open now and in the future.

The ad also raises questions about who gets featured in political campaigns and how are they chosen.

For example, the young boy says that DeSantis let him go to school, and the boy stands with a women who says “You (DeSantis) gave me a voice.”

The assumption is that the woman represents the mother of that child, but it is not clear if they are actually related or have connection to Florida schools at all.

Later in the ad, someone representing a Florida teacher saying, “you raised our pay.”

“Is the person a teacher? I don’t know,” Spar said, noting that there are teachers in Florida who do support DeSantis.

“I would imagine he’s not going to put someone out there who’s not a teacher — I’d be surprised. But the question I would also put out is ‘are they a public school teacher?’” he asked.

That’s not clear in the ad either. The Florida Phoenix reached out to the DeSantis campaign and the Republican Party of Florida for clarity on who is featured in the ad and has not yet received a response.

“They’re definitely made to depict certain kinds of people, but we have no way of knowing,” said Kobie Christian, spokesman with the Florida Democratic Party.

“I don’t think that DeSantis or the Republican Party of Florida have very high standards when it comes to honesty in their ads,” he said.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Instead, the military veteran would be allowed five years to teach in a classroom while finishing a four-year degree.

While supporters of the move suggest it will help with new teacher hires, others worry that military experience may not be adequate training for public school classrooms.

A Thursday press release from the governor’s office states that the Florida Board of Education must consider a new rule that would get the new program in place.

“Our veterans have a wealth of knowledge and experience they can bring to bear in the classroom, and with this innovative approach, they will be able to do so for five years with a temporary certification as they work towards their degree,” DeSantis said in a Rumble video Thursday. Rumble is a fringe video-sharing website, similar to YouTube.

Right now, a typical teaching degree requires a bachelor’s degree or higher, along with other qualifications to be able to obtain a professional teaching certificate.

A temporary teaching certificate also requires a bachelor’s degree. The educator, who can teach in a classroom, is allowed for three years to finish additional requirements to procure the professional teaching certificate.

But in the case of the new law, the “Educator Certification Pathways for Veterans,” certain veterans will be able to bypass the baccalaureate requirement in the temporary teaching certificate, so long as they have served four years of active-duty military service and they were honorably discharged. In addition, those veterans would need 60 college credits and earn a grade point average of at least 2.5. (A four-year degree typically requires 120 college credits.)

Darzell Warren, the president of the Escambia Education Association, previously told the Phoenix that before she was a teacher, she served in the U.S. Air Force for several years.

“There are some military vets who are going to be awesome coming into the profession, but then there are going to be vets who are going to struggle, because the military is different than coming into a classroom,” she told the Phoenix last week. “I’ve been on both sides of that.”

She added: “Yes, they have leadership skills, but you can’t treat students like you might want to treat a military subordinate.”

Teacher mentors

In addition, a veteran seeking this temporary teaching certificate pathway must be assigned a “teacher mentor” for at least two school years. The mentor is required to hold a professional teaching certificate, has at least three years of classroom experience teaching in K-12, and must be deemed “effective” or “highly effective” on a performance evaluation in the year before.

“We do have mentor programs right now,” Andrew Spar, president of the statewide teacher union called the Florida Education Association, told the Phoenix. “But I can tell you that very often the mentor teacher is overwhelmed. And so, as a mentor teacher, they may not get to spend as much time as they would like, or as the new teacher would like, in really supporting that new teacher.”

During the Thursday Rumble video about the teaching opportunity for veterans, DeSantis blamed unions for “rigid” teaching requirements.

“For too long, the requirements to be a teacher have been too rigid, with union bosses insisting that all educators get certain credentials that often have little impact on teaching performance,” DeSantis claimed.

Spar pushed back on that notion, saying that the union has advocated for relaxing certain requirements set by the state, while still maintaining a standard of teaching quality.

“I think this is just another one of those issues for the governor to try and undermine the profession,” Spar said.

“We have a code of ethics for every teacher right now that we should maintain those ethical standards, and we should be doing everything we can to accommodate teachers once they become teachers, or when they're meeting their requirements for testing and the like, in a way that makes sense. We should have that flexibility.”

“But doing away with standards does not make sense. And saying that we do not need highly trained, highly-skilled individuals in the classroom does not make sense,” Spar said.

Does not extend to military spouses

In June, DeSantis held a press conference that went over several new laws from the 2022 legislative session that involved employment opportunities for military members and their spouses, one of which included the temporary teaching pathway for veterans.

At the time, unclear messaging from the governor’s office and the Florida Department of Education led some to believe that the veteran temporary teaching certificate pathway would extend to the spouses of veterans as well.

However, the legislation that creates the temporary certificate for veterans does not include spouses in that manner, only making slight changes to fee waivers that military spouses were already eligible for.

The Florida Department of Education has since updated its webpage on the military temporary teaching certificate pathway to clarify:

“Military spouses and families are not eligible for this program,” according to the DOE, with the emphasis added.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

About two weeks ago, Brevard County school board member Jennifer Jenkins got a call from U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist’s gubernatorial campaign. It was about a potential running mate for Crist.

“They gave me a call and asked me if I would be willing to be placed on that list and considered, and, of course, I was super humbly grateful and — you know, if I’m being honest, I legitimately responded with ‘Why?'” she told the Florida Phoenix. “You know, I am just a regular person in my mind.”

This past week, Jenkins’ name appeared in a Politico article along with 17 other potential candidates on Crist’s list for Florida’s lieutenant governor. Crist, a former Republican governor, is running as a Democrat. He also served as Commissioner of Education.

But the days of being a “regular person” on a school board are essentially gone, swept up in new political wedge issues ranging from COVID-19 masks to what children can say about certain topics at public schools.

In an unusual move, Gov. Ron DeSantis has endorsed candidates in 10 local school board races, showcasing that the dynamics between state elected officials and elected school board members are getting increasingly close and complex.

Earlier this week, DeSantis’s Twitter page posted the endorsements, attempting to wield his influence on school board races in Alachua, Brevard, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Sarasota, and Volusia counties. Those were school districts that clashed with the executive branch over decisions affecting millions of students in Florida.

Andrea Messina, chief executive officer of the Florida School Boards Association, said it was the “first time” the organization has seen a governor endorse candidates in local school board elections.

“For some time now, the governor has been very clear that he is interested in local school board elections and he was going to play a role. So it’s not unexpected,” Messina said.

She said that endorsements for school board members have come from a variety of sources.

“It [a school board endorsement] has changed over the years, certainly. Fellow locals, fellow elected officials would do it. Citizens, prominent citizens. Sometimes industry leaders. You know, it evolves over time. As more and more segments of the population become interested and involved in public school issues and governance and races, then you start to see more types of endorsements coming out,” she said.

“Gosh, over the years we’ve seen civic organizations, churches, local homeowners associations — newspapers for sure, editorial boards. Things like that.”

She told the Phoenix that political parties or other statewide organizations will sometimes endorse candidates for local school boards.

“But typically they’re more focused on local leaders and local influence,” she added.

That said, the word local may be a misnomer. There are 67 school districts in Florida and many are massive in terms of geography and school enrollment.

“Collaboration” or “nonsense?”

DeSantis’ endorsements apparently came as a surprise to some of the candidates he endorsed. That’s what Hillsborough County school board candidate Aly Legge told the Phoenix.

“I learned about it when everybody else learned about it,” said Legge, a candidate for a school board seat in Hillsborough County. “I was very honored actually, and quite shocked. I think anyone would be. But definitely very honored and humbled.”

Legge supports many of the main tenets that DeSantis has pushed for over the past couple years, such as so-called parental rights. She also mentioned pushing for “religious, medical and educational freedom,” as well as supporting students with special needs.

Notably, Legge was brought up as a guest speaker with DeSantis when he signed a controversial education bill in April — HB 7 Individual Freedom, often referred to as the “Stop WOKE Act,” which limits certain teachings regarding race and gender in school classrooms and in the workplace.

Legge called the endorsements a “collaborative effort” from the governor.

“I think what this is doing is reinforcing the need to have a collaborative effort, so our local representatives are supposed to work with our state representatives and they’re supposed to represent the people that hired them in the first place, to sit as representatives,” Legge said.

“So it is a collaborative effort to work with everybody, in order for us to truly represent the people who we’re aimed to serve. So I think that Ron — our Governor, Ron DeSantis, is making a collected effort to do just that.”

But for Jenkins, from Brevard, DeSantis’ endorsements are “nonsense.”

“Now this recent week, I feel like DeSantis has turned up the fire for that culture war conversation in public education — the nonsense of all-of-a-sudden he’s endorsing school board members, making a nonpartisan race very clearly partisan,” said Jenkins, whose school district is in Central Florida, on the Atlantic coast.

Jenkins noted that some legislators in the 2022 legislative session pushed a bill that would make school board elections partisan, but the bill never made it to the finish line.

“It didn’t happen, and I think this is kind of their way to get around that and beating around the bush. Because how much more obvious can you get? Getting an endorsement from Ron DeSantis — literally turning a nonpartisan race into a partisan race,'” Jenkins said.

School boards and the Florida Constitution

The DeSantis administration has a complicated relationship with school boards, and has bumped up against several school boards over COVID policies during the past two years.

In fall of 2021, several Florida school boards were at the center of a heated debate about who should decide whether students wore masks at schools during a spike in the COVID pandemic — locally elected education officials or the students’ parents.

The state Board of Education sided with parents, citing a Florida law called the Parents’ Bill of Rights, claiming it gives parents the right to direct the medical decisions and upbringing of their child.

But the Florida Constitution grants local school boards authority to “operate, supervise and control” schools within their district and several school districts imposed mask policies to protect students and staff from COVID-19.

Over the course of the pandemic, the DeSantis administration has been testing just how much authority school boards actually have, from reopening schools in 2020 to the mask policy debacle. Subsequent lawsuits between local school boards and state education officials on the matter have sided with DeSantis.

“I think it’s, ‘Rules for thee and not for me. If the playing field isn’t working for me, I bend it,'” Jenkins said of DeSantis’ challenge to school boards’ constitutional authority.

Brevard was one of the districts that pushed back against the DeSantis administration.

Jenkins gained national attention when she wrote an opinion piece published in October by the Washington Post, which outlined some of her experiences of protesters gathering in front of her house to call her a pedophile and burning “FU” on her yard with weed killer.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

During a virtual press conference on looming threats to abortion access, Orlando Democrat Rep. Anna Eskamani said Gov. Ron DeSantis is “scared” to indicate whether he would support an all-out abortion ban if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade case.

“I wouldn’t say we’re fearful, we don’t operate in a place of fear. We operate on a place of endurance and resilience. We absolutely expect there to be an all-out ban on abortions, whether it’s going to be during a special session, or in the general regular session. Now I will say that Governor Ron DeSantis is scared,” Eskamani said during questions Tuesday at the virtual press conference hosted by the Florida Democratic Party.

She added:

“It’s clear to me that Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, are super awkward and uncomfortable talking about an all-out ban. They want to avoid it as much as possible, because they know the second they commit to it, it will wake up voters across the state of Florida and that is not what they want to do before a November election year.”

Eskamani has previously worked at a Planned Parenthood organization, including in Central Florida.

DeSantis’ spokesperson, Christina Pushaw said, “We are not going to respond to Rep. Eskamani’s comments.”

This is not the first time that reporters have asked about DeSantis’ stance on the potential for overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade case. But DeSantis has not answered questions directly on the issue.

However, he has focused on the leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion indicating that the high court will overturn the right for pregnant people to access abortions. And DeSantis has said he is awaiting the final ruling connected to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi.

DeSantis is considered a potential presidential contender and is currently running for reelection in the gubernatorial race this year.

He recently signed legislation that implements a ban on abortions after 15-weeks of pregnancy, starting July 1.

Eskamani continued during the press conference:

“The fact that he tip-toes around it and pivots to other issues – every time he’s asked about abortion, he pivots to other issues. I mean, that’s not a coincidence, that’s a tactic, because he’s trying to avoid talking about (an) all-out ban so that he doesn’t alarm voters on where he actually stands.”

“But we need people to know that if he’s reelected, next on deck will be an abortion ban — an all-out abortion ban in Florida,” she said.

State Sen. Lauren Book, the Democratic Leader in the Senate, said that Eskamani was “100 percent spot-on” when it comes to the November election and a potential all-out abortion ban.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

NOW WATCH: Texas teacher slammed student for taking God's name in vain — then shouted out the N-word

Substitute Teacher uses Racial Slur in 6th Grade Classroomwww.youtube.com

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is tying anti-transgender rhetoric to efforts to ban abortions, according to new legislation he’s filed and a recent tweet.

This week, a leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion indicated that the high court will likely overturn the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.

Rubio has been commenting on the draft ruling and abortion rights protesters.

The senator tweeted Thursday morning:

“If we have ‘pregnant people’ then how can Roe be about ‘a woman’s right to choose’?”

Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani of Orlando was not having it, and replied to Rubio’s tweet:

“It’s about bodily autonomy, our collective freedoms, and right to privacy — stop trolling trans people though I guess that’s the only thing you know how to do these days.”

Rubio’s tweet criticizes efforts by some Roe-supporters to use gender-inclusive language when discussing abortion rights. The term “pregnant people” works to encompass all those who may seek abortions, which would include cisgender women, transgender men and non-binary people.

Abortion rights advocates have been protesting in support of upholding abortions access, with some emphasizing the need to include transgender people, who do not identify as women but still may need abortions, in those discussions.

Not every pro-abortion advocate uses gender-inclusive language, and even those who use inclusive language may slip up and just refer to “women’s” right to abortions.

Rubio’s tweet tries to paint this as an inconsistency among pro-abortion advocates and their attempts to support abortion access through Roe v. Wade.

This isn’t the only target on transgender people that Rubio has tied to abortion.

This week, he filed a bill called the “No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act,” according to a press release sent out by his office Wednesday.

The goal, according to the press release, is to “prohibit employers from deducting expenses related to their employees’ abortion travel costs or so-called ‘gender affirming care’ for young children of their employees.”

The bill simply says that such deductions cannot occur for “travel for the purpose of obtaining an abortion,” but goes on for 6.5 pages on the specifics of the transgender care.

It defines gender as the “psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of being male or female.”

The bill defines a gender transition procedure as “any medical or surgical services which seeks to alter or remove physiological or anatomical characteristics or features which are typical for the individual’s biological sex, or to instill or create physiological or anatomical characteristics which resemble a sex different from the individual’s birth sex, for the purpose of gender transition.”

This includes puberty-blocking drugs and certain hormone replacement therapies, as well as various surgeries which are rarely recommended for trans kids under 18 years old.

But it makes exceptions for intersex people who have ambiguous sex characteristics or other physicians-diagnosed disorder of sexual development.

Transgender advocates have been highlighting the connection between bodily autonomy, access to abortion and transgender health care for some time.

LGBTQ Nation, a online news site, reported in March:

“As is often the case, the forces opposed to body autonomy for cisgender women also oppose it for trans people. It is clear that this is one fight, but for decades, there has been an over-emphasis on cisgender women in the reproductive rights movement and transgender people have been left out and left behind.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.