For education in Florida, it’s the worst of times

Thank a teacher. Hug a kid.

They both could surely use it, for these are truly terrible times for public education in Florida — and in Broward County.

The inevitable happened as Broward finally fired Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, bringing months of amateurish, only-in-Broward theatrics to an end.

She lasted for 11 turbulent months, and her fate probably was sealed last August when Gov. Ron DeSantis cleaned house and removed four Broward board members who were excoriated by a grand jury. Cartwright was fired, then re-hired, then given a 90-day reprieve to make improvements, and then let go for good Tuesday by mutual agreement. One critic called her a “covert narcissist” who “gaslights people.”

Cartwright surely was in over her head and faced angry criticism for ignoring parents, failing to deliver textbooks, poorly serving exceptional students and other problems. She also seemed poorly prepared for the pettiness and meanness of Broward politics, but who wouldn’t be?

Parental frustration runs high, but Cartwright deserved to be treated with more respect than she got. The public flogging she endured was described as “a carousel of crazy,” which prompts this obvious question: Despite the Broward job’s huge salary, why would anybody want it?

Schools are our most important public institution, and Broward schools need a miracle worker. The finalists to replace Cartwright are going to dig up that video of Tuesday’s meeting, which just might change their minds.

The unelected board member Torey Alston, who stirred up some of the animosity toward Cartwright, summed it up: “There goes Broward again.”

‘Stop the Black attack’

With DeSantis’ support, the state Board of Education rejected a pilot advanced placement high school course on Black history, claiming it illegally included critical race theory, banned by a DeSantis-inspired 2022 law. Course topics include reparations, Black feminist literary theory, and Black Queer studies.

The course was vetted and approved by the College Board and approved in other states, but only Florida said it “significantly lacks educational value.” That specific choice of words had devastating emotional impact in the Black community that DeSantis will not be able to overcome.

“We do not accept woke indoctrination masquerading as education,” Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said.

Outraged Black legislators and their allies rallied against the decision in the Capitol last week, accusing DeSantis of “the erasure of history” and waving signs that said “Stop the Black Attack.” Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump is threatening to sue the state. The governor’s action is precisely the kind of whitewashing of the Black historical experience that some lawmakers warned would be the result of the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act.”

Teachers union-busting

DeSantis, who last year gave us classroom censorship masquerading as a “Parental Bill of Rights,” is now pushing a “Teacher’s Bill of Rights.”

It is a mislabeled union-busting scheme to make it harder for teachers to bargain collectively in a right-to-work state that grossly underpays teachers and other public employees.

In Florida, where teacher salaries rank 48th among 50 states, according to the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, DeSantis’ carrot-and-stick strategy would work like this: He would give them another pay raise but would prevent their unions from withholding dues from workers’ paychecks.

Under the DeSantis plan, the state would decertify a teachers union if its membership fell below 60%, and unions would be required to produce annual expense reports — including union bosses’ salaries.

In another case of top-down, one-sizefits-all government from Tallahassee, DeSantis wants to mandate eight-year term limits on School Board members (down from the current 12-year limit and subject to statewide voter approval). His fellow Republicans in the Legislature will also try again to make School Board elections partisan in all 67 counties, which would turn school elections into all-out culture war brawls.

Is it any wonder Florida has a severe teacher shortage?

Universal vouchers

Last but definitely not least, Republican lawmakers rolled out their obvious top priority in the upcoming session. House Bill 1 would allow all students to qualify for private school vouchers regardless of family income. A few days after its introduction, the bill rocketed through its first House committee stop.

Florida education policy has been trending in this direction for a long time, but critics worry that a universal voucher program could be financially devastating to school districts because it could lead to a steep drop-off in student enrollment, which determines how much money each county gets from the state each year.

A liberal-leaning research group, the Florida Policy Institute, estimates that HB 1 would result in a $2.4 billion annual drain from public school coffers, the equivalent of about 10% of the state’s current yearly commitment to K-12 public schools.

Tally it up. A superintendent in a no-win situation, humiliated by politicians and the public on her way out the door. An assault against teacher unions. An “anti-woke” governor banning a Black history course. And vouchers for all — even kids from wealthy families whose parents can easily afford the cost of private education — and you start to get the picture.

Welcome to public education in Florida in 2023.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.