Florida Dems Urge DeSantis, GOP to Energize Base Without School Bills 'No One Asked For'
Republicans and Governor Ron DeSantis to "find another way" to energize their voter base aside from the string of bills targeting school curriculum that have recently been introduced in the state legislature.Legislators in the sunshine state are reviewing several bills aimed at limiting the discussion of gender, race and sexuality in Florida's public school classrooms as top Republicans campaign on a promise of championing parents' rights."There's been this false narrative, especially by the Republicans, that people are trying to take parents' choice away," state Representative Michele Rayner told Newsweek. "Most certainly not.
Parents are the first teachers. I get that, I know that, I understand that, but we also can't have these kinds of bills that blatantly attack a child, their dignity and their full being."Two bills—one, pushed by DeSantis, that is aimed at shielding white people from the "discomfort" of the nation's history and another that seeks to prohibit teachers from encouraging discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity—received their first approval this week.Democratic lawmakers, who oppose both bills, say that such legislation is not only unsolicited but distracts from bigger issues many Floridians voted for their elected officials to address."I would rather be working on the real issues of the day.
We have an affordable housing crisis. We are also in a pandemic right now," Rayner said. "We have an environmental crisis that's happening directly in my district and that has not been addressed.
We have corporations who are getting these corporate loopholes and benefits and we're not addressing this.""I can't deal with the issues that the people sent me up here to Tallahassee to deal with," she added..
