Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed five bills into law Tuesday that limit the power of teachers unions and overhaul the state's rules for school board elections, among several other reforms.
The series of bills includes a number of changes to the state's K-12 education system, including $1.05 billion to raise teacher pay. SB 256 overhauled state rules governing teachers unions by prohibiting unions from automatically deducting dues from members' paychecks, requiring members to be notified of the cost of union membership, and prohibiting unions from offering "anything of value" to public officials.
DEFLORIDA BLUEPRINT: HOW RON DESANTIS'S EDUCATION POLICIES COULD SHAPE THE 2024 RACE
“We have delivered another record boost to teacher pay and we have coupled salary increases with positive reforms," DeSantis said. "For far too long, unions and rogue school boards have pushed around our teachers, misused government funds for political purposes, taken money from teachers’ pockets to steer it for purposes other than representation of teachers, and sheltered their true political goals from the educators they purport to represent."
The bill overhauling union regulations was opposed by the Florida Education Association, which said the legislation "attempts to take away the right and even the ability of hundreds of thousands of Floridians to have a voice on the job through the unions they have opted to join."
“If Gov. DeSantis thinks he will silence us, he’s dead wrong," Andrew Spar, the president of the Florida Education Association, said earlier this month. "We will do everything in our power to guarantee that Florida’s teachers, staff, professors, and all public employees have a voice in their workplaces. No matter the pushback, educators will continue to stand up for our students, our professions, and public education.”
The series of bills contain a number of other changes to how school districts operate. Under HB 379, teachers are now empowered to establish their own classroom rules for cell phone use. The social media app TikTok, which has ties to the Chinese government through its parent company ByteDance, is also banned from being used on school district devices and to promote school activities.
In what could be seen as a dig at the College Board, which administers the SAT test and has publicly feuded with DeSantis over the development of its AP African American Studies course, HB 1537 expanded eligibility for Florida's Bright Future's scholarship to students who take the Classical Learning Test, an upstart rival to the College Board's entrance exam.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Another bill in the package, HB 477, overhauled school board terms, so that school board members are only allowed to serve a maximum of eight years. DeSantis also signed a bill that makes school board elections partisan races.
"Providing a pathway for new voices to enter the education arena by enacting term limits to local school boards will usher in a new wave of student-focused leadership," Republican Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said. "And, by empowering teachers with quality preparation programs, providing them the support they need in the classroom, and by eliminating access to harmful social media, we will fulfill Florida’s constitutional responsibility to educate our children."