TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis’s “parental rights” campaign may not have won him the Republican presidential nomination, but he is continuing that fight on another front: Florida’s schools, where the movement could continue to influence public education long after he leaves office.
Although seats are officially awarded on a nonpartisan basis, DeSantis has endorsed 23 school board candidates in 14 counties this election cycle — and targeted 14 incumbent members. It’s part of his agenda to counter what he calls “woke” ideology in public schools.
Much of the political debate during the campaign has centered on “parental rights,” as both parties struggle to win over the competitive voting bloc of suburban women. The newfangled parental rights movement grew out of opposition to pandemic precautions in schools and is now animated by complaints about teaching about identity, race and history.
The view from Pinellas County
Katie Blaxberg wants to make school board meetings tedious again. But her campaign for an open seat on the Pinellas County School Board on Florida’s Gulf Coast was anything but that.
Since her candidacy, the mother of three has been trolled online and labelled a child abuser by her opponents. Previously, security measures at home were increased.
Blaxberg, a registered Republican and former parliamentary aide, supports school choice and parental involvement in education, but he says parental rights activists have gone too far.
Blaxberg has found herself on the receiving end of the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative group. Activists associated with the group have vilified her online and posted information about her children and her home. The chapter president did not respond to phone and email messages from The Associated Press.
“I don’t want to feel unsafe in my home. And I don’t want my children to feel unsafe in my home just because I decided to run for public office,” Blaxberg said.
Blaxberg is seeking one of three open seats on the Pinellas Board of Supervisors, which could determine political control of the district depending on the outcome of the Aug. 20 election.
Historically considered one of the state’s biggest swing counties, Pinellas has moved to the right in recent years. As at school board meetings across Florida, conservative activists there have read explicit passages from books, equated certain teaching materials with pornography and referred to educators as “groomers.”
“It’s disgusting,” Blaxberg said. “And it’s meant to shock.”
It’s part of a political storm sweeping Florida school boards that critics say distracts from the mission of promoting student success — or not. Only 53% of Florida students are reading at grade level or above, according to state data.
“People are fed up with the misinformation this group of people is spreading and their intention to sow distrust in our teachers,” Blaxberg said.
Republican politicians support school board candidates
Conservative activists and elected officials are working to win majorities in local school districts, which are often among their county’s largest employers and landowners.
DeSantis built his national profile by exploiting culture wars, banning classes on sexual orientation and gender identity, and limiting teaching about racism in Florida schools.
He supports Moms for Liberty in their efforts to overhaul school boards across the country.
“I think mothers are the most important political force for this 2024 cycle,” DeSantis said at the group’s 2023 national conference in Philadelphia.
“He knows who the real conservative is in my race,” said Pinellas County school board candidate Danielle Marolf after winning DeSantis’ endorsement.
“My values are actually about protecting children,” she said. “Making sure our parents are engaged.”
The race for the Pinellas school board seat has attracted the attention of other candidates.
Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna – whose seat Democrats are eyeing nationally as a potential newcomer – has been campaigning alongside Marolf and fellow Moms for Liberty-backed school board candidates in Pinellas, Stacy Geier and Erika Picard.
“We started going door to door with them this morning,” Luna said in a video posted on August 3. “We want them to take over the school board.”
Other supporters include the Florida Faith Foundations, a group of pastors committed to electing the “most biblically aligned candidates” to counter what they see as the “spirit of antichrist” in American life.
“The liberals, the anti-god people, they are too strong in this country,” FFF President Anthony McDaniel said in a YouTube video. He did not respond to several emails from The Associated Press.
“So what are we going to do?” asked McDaniel. “Elect conservative, competent Christians to the Pinellas County School Board.”
Liberal groups fight back
Critics say that when conservative-leaning school boards seize power, they often follow a certain pattern: They take action against the school principal.
“I saw it on my own board,” said Jennifer Jenkins, a Brevard County school board member who ousted then-incumbent member Tina Descovich, who later founded Moms for Liberty.
After the newly elected members took office in November 2022, superintendents in Brevard and three other districts were forced out of office – actions that critics say plunged the districts into chaos and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Erika Picard, a DeSantis-backed candidate in Pinellas, said she supports her district’s superintendent, who is supported by the current board.
“They think Moms for Liberty is targeting everyone. But that’s just not the case,” Picard said. “I just want to be very clear: I’m running my own campaign.”
Other board members allied with DeSantis pushed for more prayer in schools, opposed celebrations of LGBTQ History Month and rejected sex education textbooks.
Liberal advocacy groups have emerged to counter conservative candidates with their own money and messages. The Florida Democratic Party has put together its own slate of 11 candidates for school board.
Back in Brevard County, Jenkins has decided not to run for re-election. Instead, she is forming a up-to-date PAC called Educated We Stand to support candidates who oppose the shift to the right in education.
“Extremism in public education is unacceptable to the average family,” Jenkins said.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.
