RPOF CHAIRMAN JOE GRUTERS' MESSAGE
State Board of Education Bans Critical Race Theory
At the urging of Governor DeSantis, the State Board of Education last week voted to maintain the integrity of Florida’s academic standards by keeping Critical Race Theory out of the classroom.
“The woke class wants to teach kids to hate each other, rather than teaching them how to read, but we will not let them bring nonsense ideology into Florida’s schools,” Governor DeSantis said.
Florida’s public education system exists to create opportunity for our children by teaching them how to think, not what to think. Critical Race Theory teaches kids what to think, and that is to hate our country and to hate each other. It is state-sanctioned racism and has no place in Florida schools.
“I love this state, and I love my country. I find it unthinkable that there are other people in positions of leadership in the federal government who believe that we should teach kids to hate our country,” Governor DeSantis said. “We will not stand for it here in Florida. I’m proud that we are taking action today to ensure our state continues to have the greatest educational system in the nation.”
During his remarks, Governor DeSantis cited several recent examples of Critical Race Theory nationally, and in Florida.
The Race for 2022 Has Shaken Out and We’re Ready!
With the announcements of the final major Democrats to challenge for Florida Governor and Florida’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022, the biggest statewide races are crystalizing. And the Republican Party of Florida is ready for the fight.
Val Demings announced that she will be challenging U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for his Senate seat. Senator Rubio has a solid conservative record, including being one of the toughest opponents of China in all of Congress. He gets America and freedom. Demings? Well, she’s a radical aligned with the Squad and Nancy Pelosi, pursuing the most destructive agenda out there.
And we know all too well what Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried bring to the table for governor. A hard left turn in leadership that would remake Florida in Nancy Pelosi’s image. Crystal clear choice.
So, your RPOF will be concentrating over the next year and a half on building on our highly successful voter registration efforts from 2020 and turning out a wave of Republicans in November 2022.
The next RPOF quarterly meeting in September will have School Board training sessions, aimed at how to win School Board seats, geared toward non-partisan races, such as endorsing early on the right candidates.
This is important in light of the rise of Critical Race Theory in public schools. The media says it is not being taught, but efforts have been underway in Palm Beach County, Jacksonville and even Sarasota County. While the Board of Education voted to ban it, we cannot have any Republican School Board members who will not openly oppose the Marxist, race-based teaching of our children. Proponents will keep trying to slip it in.
Legislation
Governor DeSantis this week signed groundbreaking legislation to combat the theft of Florida’s intellectual property by foreign players.
The Governor signed HB 7017 and HB 1523 — two bills that will protect Florida’s higher education institutions and government from foreign influence and combat corporate espionage, keeping Florida’s intellectual property safe within the state’s boundaries.
“Make no mistake — China is a hostile foreign power, and every Governor has the responsibility to protect their education system, and every other entity within their purview, from the espionage and commercial theft undertaken by the Chinese Communist Party,” Governor DeSantis said.
The Governor said that while China remains the biggest threat, numerous other countries are attempting to infiltrate our state and nation. “By signing these bills today, we are taking action to ensure foreign adversaries will not have unfettered access to our schools, government, and companies,” he said.
Florida continues to be the most military and veteran friendly state as Governor DeSantis signed three bills to establish a “Purple Star Campus Program,” help transitioning service members gain workforce training, and enhance veterans’ preference in hiring.
“In my time as Governor, we have worked hard to serve those who have served our country by making investments in military bases, schools around those bases, and programs that serve veterans and their families,” Governor DeSantis said. “Today, I’m proud to build on that legacy by signing three bills that continue to provide resources for military service members, veterans, and their families.”
ATTORNEY GENERAL ASHLEY MOODY
Attorney General Ashley Moody warns that as more and more Floridians receive their COVID-19 vaccination, it is important to be on the lookout for an emerging scam in our state: vaccine survey scams.
The Better Business Bureau has received reports of scammers contacting Floridians by email, text message and phone call offering compensation in exchange for completing a fake COVID-19 vaccine survey. Their goal—to access personal information.
Scammers can use this information to steal money, set up new credit cards in the victim’s name or commit identity theft.
To avoid this devious scheme:
- Know that scammers may impersonate the CDC, vaccine providers or other medical organizations;
- Do not automatically trust the number listed on your caller ID;
- Ignore solicitations requesting personal information or payment; and
- Avoid clicking on links in emails or text messages offering compensation in exchange for filling out COVID-19 vaccination surveys.
You can report vaccine survey scams, or other suspicious activity, to my office by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or online at MyFloridaLegal.com.
SENATOR DEBBIE MAYFIELD
Indian River County approves settlement with Brightline, ends lawsuit over safety improvements.
After many years of negotiation Indian River County has reached an agreement with Brightline to improve safety measures.
County commissioners agreed unanimously Tuesday to drop the county's lawsuit against Brightline in exchange for $31.6 million in safety improvements at the 32 rail crossings across the county.
Several steps will be taken depending on the needs of each crossing. The funds will go towards extra train whistles to alert pedestrians and drivers, widening at grade crossings, upgraded crossing gates, and “positive train control” which impacts things such as the timing of traffic lights to ensure that people are not caught on the tracks in traffic.
See the full settlement agreement here
HAPPENINGS
