Miami teachers’ union boss Karla Hernandez keeps trying to paint Gov. Ron DeSantis as a book banner.
It’s not going well, much like the rest of the Democrats’ campaign. The latest example came Wednesday.
Hernandez, the running mate of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, tweeted, “As a lifelong teacher, I have seen the impacts of banning books in our schools. By regulating education, the Florida GOP is hurting our children and their learning. Instead of banning books, Charlie and I will ban the sale of assault weapons.”
Setting aside the non sequitur of bringing guns into the education debate, Hernandez’s tweet made her look ridiculous, especially for an educator.
That’s because, on Monday, DeSantis’ office released Florida’s results for the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the report that judges how well all states are doing on education.
With this year’s test, Florida’s 4th- and 8th-grade students scored the state’s highest-ever rankings in each assessment for reading and math. Florida’s 4th-graders finished third in the nation in reading, moving up three slots since DeSantis took office, and finished fourth nationally in math.
Within that, the state’s Hispanic, black, and disabled students all finished in the top 10 nationally in every category.
Clearly, DeSantis’ policies are not “hurting our children and their learning,” as Hernandez asserted.
But aside from that Hernandez’s book-banning schtick actually forces her to defend the indefensible.
Last week she made a similar claim about the DeSantis administration rejecting woke math textbooks. She highlighted a book that featured a problem with a girl making more money than a boy, and a kid whose dad owns a flower shop. Hernandez said DeSantis could not allow either of those things.
At issue, though, is what she will allow.
On Wednesday in response to her tweet, the Twitter account DeSantis War Room, which supports the incumbent Republican, noted “#KarlaMarx doesn’t think education should be regulated at all. She sees no problem with graphic pornography in schools.”
The account linked to a post by the conservative account Libs of Tik Tok, which showed that two books, “This Book is Gay” and “Gender Queer,” are available in public schools.
“These books,” Libs of Tik Tok noted, “include teaching kids about gay sex, encourage the use of sex apps, and contain depictions of oral sex.”
Hernandez and Crist both oppose Florida’s new Parental Rights in Education law, which prohibits school districts and classroom teachers from implementing lesson plans based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Perhaps in time for the election, some reporter will ask Hernandez, who is a self-proclaimed “lifelong teacher,” if it’s appropriate for Florida schoolchildren to have how-to books on performing oral sex and accessing sex apps.
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