Florida superintendent who criticized Gov. DeSantis could lose teaching license

(AP) – Florida officials threatened to revoke the teaching license of a superintendent who criticized Gov. accused of allowing “political views” to guide his leadership.

Such a withdrawal by the State Department of Education allows DeSantis to remove Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hannah from his elected office. Republican Governor last year Democratic Prosecutor Elected in the Tampa Bay Area He opposed his position restricting abortion and medical care for transgender teens and suggested he might not implement new laws in those areas.

Disney also sued DeSantis this week, he said he targeted an Orlando theme park for retaliation. After criticizing the governor’s so-called “don’t say gay” law, the law banned discussion of sexuality and gender in lower grades, but has since been expanded.

Hannah has publicly opposed the law, once opposing a governor’s order banning students from wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and criticizing the recently passed DeSantis-backed bill. bottom. We cover the costs for students to attend private schools. The Leon County area has approximately 30,000 students and covers the state capital Tallahassee and its suburbs.

“It’s a sad day for Florida’s democracy and the First Amendment right to free speech. The Associated Press and Other Media Thursday Hannah, then a Democrat and independent, was elected to a second four-year term in 2020 with 60% of the vote. I plan to run for re-election at , and I don’t need a teaching license to hold the position.

“This investigation has nothing to do with these false allegations, but it will silence me and others who speak up for teachers and our public schools in ways that do not fit the political narrative of those in power. Hana said.

He said the investigation was prompted by a complaint from a local chapter leader of the conservative educational organization Mother of Liberty, calling for his removal.

“We are fighting our local school boards vigorously, but to no avail,” Brandi Andrews wrote to DeSantis, citing Hannah’s mask mandate, her opposition to the state’s new education laws and directives, and her public outcry against the governor. She noted that she appeared in a television commercial for DeSantis’ re-election.

Her letter was stamped “Let’s go to Brandon”. Vulgar chants against President Joe BidenDeSantis will soon announce that he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in next year’s election. Andrews released a statement saying her complaint against Hannah was one of many.

Alex Lanfranconi, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said in a statement that authorities would not discuss Hannah’s investigation in detail, but that “there is nothing extraordinary about this case.”

“Teachers with an extensive history of repeated violations of Florida law could be exposed to consequences, including losing their educator’s certificate,” he said. was first reported Tallahassee Democratic Party newspaper.

Before punishment is handed down, Hannah can hold a hearing before an administrative judge and try to negotiate a settlement or waive her license. In his statement, he said he had not decided what he would do.

Hannah received a letter earlier this month from school board member Manny Diaz Jr., who said an investigation found that school districts may have violated the 2021 DeSantis directive, which prohibits requiring students to wear COVID-19 masks. I said I found a high cause. Hannah required students to wear masks after her junior in Leon died of an illness earlier that year. The battle continued for months until Leon and several other districts dismissed legal challenges in court.

Diaz also quoted a note Hannah published before this grade, telling teachers, “You are you!” and allegedly allowed instructors to ignore new laws enacted by DeSantis and Congress. This includes the so-called “don’t say gay” law, which its proponents call the “Parental Rights in Education Act.”

His letter also noted that the school district failed to deploy armed guards or police officers to all schools for one month in 2020. As needed after the 2018 Parkland High School massacreHannah later said the education department admitted to his wrongdoing because there weren’t enough police officers to meet that requirement.

Diaz also complains that parents were told their children could get a waiver if they chose to attend February’s student protests at the state capitol against DeSantis’ education policies. .

Providing students with a “free day off school” to participate in rallies “further demonstrates[Hannah]’s failure to distinguish between the standards taught in Florida schools and his political views.” Here’s one example,” Diaz wrote.