Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is preparing a new weapon for his intensifying assault on teachers unions in the Sunshine State.
Monday at an Orlando gathering of school board members, DeSantis unveiled plans for new legislation that would permit teachers to opt out of paying union dues.
DeSantis said that dues should no longer be automatically withdrawn from teachers’ paychecks since many rank-and-file educators disapprove of their union representatives’ political views.
The law would instead permit teachers to make a separate dues check to their unions if they so want.
“If a majority of instructors do not sign up to pay dues, the organization should be decertified,” he stated. “You should not be allowed to continue as a zombie organization that lacks the backing of the individuals for whom you are ostensibly negotiating.”
Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke in Tampa upon his re-election, as reported by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune-USA TODA.
Throughout his speech, DeSantis accused the organizations of placing “political, partisan, and commercial interests” above parental concerns and academic accomplishment.
The rising star of the Republican Party suggested that the proposal could render some unions insolvent by limiting the monies they could “fritter” away.
“They get their money by participating in these schemes,” he explained to the board members. You’re doing it because you believe it will benefit your town, your children, your grandchildren, or whatever. They are acting because their own interests are at risk.”
DeSantis stated the unions have become accustomed to exerting uncontested financial and other influence over school board elections.
The Republican firebrand asserted that they often employ political bait-and-switch strategies to install board members with a left-leaning bias in areas with a right-leaning bias.
“They will go to a conservative county such as Sarasota or Lee and support a liberal candidate,” he said. “However, they will dress them as if they reflect the community’s ideals… Once on the school board, they tend to vote to the left, which is inconsistent with the communities’ ideals.
During the previous election cycle, the DeSantis administration pumped $2.1 million into crucial school board races around the state and endorsed preferred candidates.
As a result of this technique, he claimed, unions were taken by surprise and a number of significant school boards were flipped from blue to red.
“It’s basically about ensuring that these school boards reflect the community’s values and are not used to forward a partisan ideological agenda,” he explained. This has been occurring throughout the nation.
DeSantis, who is widely regarded as a leading Republican presidential candidate in 2024, stated that he was preparing for additional conflicts with labor organizations.
“I believe many of these teachers unions were astonished by the amount of effort we all put into these elections,” he told the gathering. “Well, you can guess what they’ll do. They are doubling down on their bets. They are going to attack with even more force.”
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