The 46th governor of the state of Florida on Tuesday closed the 2022 Legislative Session highlighting achievements for peace and order, education, and parents.
Florida Governor Ron De Santis began his speech thanking legislators for passing bills that augmented the salaries not only of law enforcement officials but also of teachers. The salary increase for teachers, he said, is part of the many efforts the state has done in full support of education.
In terms of efforts for the academe, DeSantis cited bills that ensured the state maintains its commitment to accountability and high standards. He said the bills achieved the goals for education in a way that was more friendly to parents, students, and teachers. One of these was removing the Florida Standards Assessment Testing this week. Another allowed curriculum transparency to parents to let them know what is happening to their kids in school.
"If you look at what has been done in terms of funding and in terms of policy, this really was the year of the parent in the state of Florida," DeSantis declared.
"As a parent of three kids that are age five and under, thank you for letting me and my wife send our kids to kindergarten without them being sexualized. If you look at the transparency provisions, we in Florida showed our commitment to education not to indoctrination. And I thank the legislators for doing that," he added.
As per the Faithwire, this alluded to the state's controversial Parental Rights in Education bill that the media has mislabeled as a "Don't Say Gay" bill. The Parental Rights In Education bill is a law that banned the teaching of any sexual orientation and gender to young children from kindergarten to third grade.
This made the bill controversial since it was framed by the media as against transgenderism. When the bill only protects children to be children and empowers parents to be informed of what is being taught to their children in school.
In his speech, DeSantis pointed out how odd it has become that when sexual matters are not made a part of classroom instruction businesses become affected. He raised that people need to "get out of their bubble and actually talk to parents."
DeSantis' statement pertained to several businesses such as Disney, Comcast, Duke Energy, Publix, Florida Realtors, and Anheuser-Busch that expressed opposition of the bill. The businesses said the bill is contrary to their "values" that support the LGBTQ community. Disney CEO Bob Chapek particularly released an internal memo stating he has failed his LGBTQ employees and their families because of the bill.
The governor then went on to criticize Disney for its response to the bill and prior actions. He raised that a family-friendly establishment should be able to really understand parents who want their rights respected because they raise families. Yet Disney, he said, was more concerned of "lining their pockets" by relating to the Chinese Communist Party and by pursuing transgenderism. He said Disney was being quiet about all the "brutal practices" the CCP is doing.
According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans or 67% believe Disney is "wrong" in speaking out against the Parental Rights in Education bill.
