A spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) said now that Florida Education Commissioner Corcoran’s statement about Donofrio is out in the open, they need answers. The SPLC statement continued, “According to Corcoran, a classroom that teaches Black Lives Matter or what Corcoran has labeled ‘crazy liberal stuff’ justifies censorship and the firing of teachers.”
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/education/2021/05/17/florida-education-commissioner-richard-corcoran-says-fired-duval-county-teacher-supporting-blm/5134544001/
Three points to be discussed:
1. A civics education bill (SB 146) that just passed the Florida legislature with unanimous support but didn’t become law because Governor DeSantis vetoed it.
2. A federal bill (S. 879) that would create grants to enhance the programs enumerated in that state bill
3. Some troubling comments made by Florida Education Commissioner Corcoran
Questions for the reader to ponder:
Who should decide what is in the civics education curriculum?
Should that curriculum be required of all publicly funded schools?
Would any of Corcoran’s words (see quotes from the YouTube Video) inspire you to want him removed as Florida’s powerful education commissioner?
Patricia Brigham was quoted in this old article when Corcoran was first appointed as Florida Education Commissioner. Excerpts from League of Women Voters-Florida president’s press release:
“Even if the Board ultimately agreed with Governor-elect Ron DeSantis’s recommendation for the post of Commissioner of Education … the Board still had a duty to the children and parents of Florida to conduct a thorough search for qualified candidates from around the state and country, as they have done in the past. Few things are as important as the education of our children.
https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2018/12/17/an-attorney-politician-will-lead-floridas-massive-education-system-and-it-wont-be-easy/
Florida SB 146, which the Florida legislature passed in early 2021, gives a great deal of power to the Florida Education Commissioner. Excerpts from the bill:
26 (5)(a) The commissioner shall develop minimum criteria for 27 a civic literacy practicum that helps students evaluate the 28 roles, rights, and responsibilities of United States citizens 29 and identify effective methods of active participation in 30 society, government, and the political system. The practicum may 31 be incorporated into a school’s curriculum for the high school 32 United States Government course under s. 1003.4282(3)(d) 33 beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/146/BillText/er/HTML
S. 879 -authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Education to make grants to support educational programs in civics and history
The following are excerpts from Florida Education Commissioner Corcoran’s speech. Link to the YouTube video is below the quotes.
[Who are the Nazis in the analogy? Is it the people that describe themselves as anti-fascists or Corcoran?]
This quote begins around minute 28 in the video:
I don’t think Antifa wants to sit down with me and have a conversation about how can we make the society better. And again, Dr. Arnn gave a great analogy about the warring in the street in Germany pre-World War 2, was between the Nazis and the Communists and the Nazis ultimately won and Hitler became the leader of the Nazi street fighters. That’s what I think you’re seeing with Antifa and what have you, what they want is complete upheaval. And so those people… where necessary I’ll sit with them but I think we need to be efficient and very strategic in how we go about what we’re doing and the war will be won in Education.
[How does Corcoran and Hillsdale College define “self-governing”? Do they mean self-discipline, small government, no laws, or a democracy? How does this align with his desire to fire someone that hangs a black lives matter banner in their classroom?]
This quote begins around minute 29 in the video:
If we can get Education right, we can have kids be literate and then understand what it means to be a self-governing citizen in a self-governing country, we’ll win it back. … Education is our sword, you know … Kids don’t transmit [the coronavirus] …” [see CDC quote below that disputes what Corcoran says here]
This quote begins around minute 37 in the video:
So we rewrote all of our standards, … so now the books have come back … but I didn’t think to say “okay and keep all of the crazy liberal stuff out” and … they hide it in “social emotional learning” so it doesn’t SAY “Critical Race Theory” … now we have to go back and say, if it’s electronic, we want it out and, on top of that, we’re passing a rule this coming month that says, for the 185,000 teachers, you can’t indoctrinate students with stuff that’s not based on our standards, the new B.E.S.T. standards. But you have to police it on a daily basis … I’ve censored or fired or terminated numerous teachers for doing that. I’m getting sued right now in Duval County … because it was an entire classroom memorialized to Black Lives Matter… we made sure she was terminated
Quote from the CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/children/symptoms.html
While fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 compared to adults, children can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, can get sick from COVID-19, and can spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others. Children, like adults, who have COVID-19 but have no symptoms (“asymptomatic”) can still spread the virus to others
This blog post has been updated to indicate that Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 146.
Link to Governor DeSantis letter explaining his reason for vetoing the bill:
https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SB-146-Transmittal-Letter.pdf
Right leaning National Review posted this op-ed before Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 146:
Well-intentioned state legislators in Florida have unanimously passed a civics bill, SB 146, that authorizes the creation of a civics “practicum” for high school. … the bill is likely to bring leftist “action civics” to Florida.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/floridas-sb-146-a-wedge-for-action-civics/
