All politics is local, the late Democratic House Speaker Tip O’Neill was fond of saying. It doesn’t get much more local than selecting those who hold the levers over public schools.
And liberals are admitting that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has crafted a winning message that is resonating beyond his own state.
To recap, DeSantis’ main message for nearly two years now has been that schools should remain open during the pandemic for in-person instruction and that when they’re open, educators need to steer clear of sexualized teaching on gender identity, keep trans children out of places like sports teams and restrooms under their adopted gender, and avoid the anti-white racism of Critical Race Theory indoctrination.
But most of all, DeSantis has argued parents need a bigger role in setting those policies.
And a new poll by the American Federation of Teachers, one of America’s two biggest education unions, indicates DeSantis is in step with most parents.
The poll was conducted in seven key battleground states, including Florida. It shows that respondents are printed to vote for Republican candidates for U.S. senator and governor, and want a Republican-controlled House.
In the news: For Florida Gov. DeSantis, Money Flows From Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, To California
By the narrowest of margins – 39-38 – voters have more confidence in Republicans to manage public schools than Democrats.
By a 50-38 spread, the respondents say they are dissatisfied with the say parents have in the school system.
But by margins of 33 points and 35 points, respectively, they say they are dissatisfied with the way gender ideology and racial issues are taught in schools.
As NBC News reported, “One poll question found that voters, by a 32 percentage-point margin, said they were more likely to vote for candidates who believe public schools should focus less on teaching race and more on core subjects. By 27 points, they said schools should be banned from teaching sexual orientation and gender identity to kids in kindergarten through third grade. By 28 points, they said transgender athletes should be banned from competing in girls’ sports.”
In addition, that portion of the poll found that candidates who would prohibit trans girls from being in girls’ sports were plus-28, while those who would say schools must stop “grooming” with gender ideology were plus-22.
In another problem for Democrats, when asked to identify the biggest problems facing schools, the fact that education has become “too politicized” – not school violence, not book banning and not standardized testing – was the number one concern. A whopping 81 percent asserted it was a “very” or “fairly” big problem.
When asked who was to blame for that, respondents attributed that to Democrats rather than Republicans by a 33-28 margin.
In the news: Rep. Gaetz Among 18 House Republicans Who Reject Democrats’ Efforts To Expand NATO
Such issues have been at the core of DeSantis’s message, in addition to the fact that it was wrong to shut down schools during the pandemic.
Studies have shown that children in states that went back to school sooner – like Florida, Texas and other red states – showed fewer education setbacks than blue states that remain closed.
At a conference of the conservative group Moms for Liberty in Tampa last week, DeSantis exhorted attendees to keep advocating the message he promotes.
“Now is not the time to be a shrinking violet. Now is not the time to let them grind you down,” DeSantis told the crowd, according to Politico. “You’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to fight.”
“I have a five-, a four- and a two-year-old, so maybe I’m a little bit more sensitive about this,” DeSantis added. “But I think parents in this country should be able to have their kids go to school, watch cartoons — just be kids — without an agenda shoved down their throat.”
“Parents now realize that these are really significant elections,” the governor noted.
Visit Tampafp.com for Politics, Tampa Area Local News, Sports, and National Headlines. Support journalism by clicking here to our GiveSendGo or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook Here Or Twitter Here.
Copyright 2022 The Free Press, LLC, tampafp.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.