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One of the most compelling questions I’ve been asked recently was if Florida’s teachers are even equipped to teach Florida’s new mandated civics education. While we know the 69 Florida educators who pledged to teach Critical Race Theory in violation of Florida’s law surely aren’t, I addressed the question in a June 24th story entitled The Need For Enhanced Civics Education In Florida. As I cited in that story, "This is an indictment of the education system pure and simple. How effective is our education system if only 36% of adults could pass a citizenship test, which only requires answering 60% of the questions correctly?" And in mentioning those deplorable results it subsequently helps explain why 78% of Florida’s teachers are a member of a teacher’s union fighting to implement CRT in Florida’s schools and 86% of Florida’s teachers are Democrats. Anyway, clearly many if not most, of Florida’s teachers need a good civics education as well. And that’s exactly what Governor DeSantis rolled out Tuesday with $3,000 bonuses attached.
DeSantis announced an additional $106 million would be spent on civics education initiatives throughout the state. Included is the creation of the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence. The Florida Civics Seal of Excellence program is a training initiative for Florida’s educators which results in successful participates being certified by the state for civics education complete with a $3,000 bonus. The governor said this program will be rolled out in the upcoming school year and will be open to educators beyond just those who currently teach civics. Amen, it’s desperately needed. The key to the future of the country lies with what happens in the classroom. The first way to begin to Make America Great Again is to have teachers realize why this country was great to begin with. #MakeAmericaFlorida.