Florida is struggling with teacher shortages like other states. Gov. Ron DeSantis proposes three programs that will help increase the number of teachers in schools.
Among the initiatives DeSantis announced during a Tuesday press conference at a high school in Pasco County was calling upon the available pool of retired Florida veterans and first responders who have Bachelor’s Degrees, as well as starting a teacher apprenticeship program where Floridians who have an Associate’s Degree can train alongside teachers for two years before going on to get their Bachelor’s Degree:
-First responders who have their bachelor degree will have fees waived for the state certification exam, receive a $4k bonus & an additional $1k for those willing to teach specific subjects (science, reading, ESE, etc.)
-Teacher apprenticeship program: Floridians with associates degree will get 2 years experience in the classroom under mentor and go on to receive their bachelor’s degree. For every apprentice, mentors receive a $4K bonus
The scholarship program is designed to help current high school teachers get their masters in education so that they can offer dual enrollment classes at their campuses.
Towards the end of the presser, DeSantis was asked by a reporter if he thought the proposals would help “jumpstart” efforts at getting high school graduates to pursue teaching careers.
DeSantis replied by saying that the desire for teaching was not as common as it used to be. He also said that the main reason was the belief that teachers would indoctrinate students to get them to agree to teach students in public schools.
“They don’t want to be kind of a cog in some indoctrination machine,” DeSantis noted after suggesting that most people who want to get into the teaching profession actually just want to help students, not teach them to think one way or another.
He went on to explain that Florida’s education “mantra” under his administration has been to educate students and not indocrinate them, which he why he signed the Stop WOKE Act into law earlier this year.
DeSantis concluded his remarks by stating that he wanted to make sure people knew that “Florida is the place where woke goes to die. We’re not going to let this state descend into some type of woke dumpster fire. We’re gonna be following common sense, we’re going to be following facts, and that’s really, really important.”
Watch:
“The State of Florida is the place where woke goes to die. We won’t allow this state to become a wakeful dumpster fire.” – @GovRonDeSantis pic.twitter.com/h2ERPZxOeO
— Robbie Myers (@robbievmyers) August 16, 2022
DeSantis uttered similar remarks during the bill signing ceremony for the Stop WOKE Act back in March, saying that “I also want Florida to be known as a brick wall against all things ‘woke.’ This is where ‘woke’ goes to die.”
“Where woke goes to die” is the definitive quote of the DeSantis administration. If he uses a variation of that nationally, I think it’ll go far. Because woke is not just being rejected by conservatives, it’s also being rejected by parents of all political stripes, as we learned from Glenn Youngkin’s 2021 victory in Virginia.
For those interested, you can watch DeSantis’ full speech/presser below:
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