Governor Ron DeSantis supports the decision by the Trump Administration to freeze some funding for education throughout the country.
The Trump administration announced it would pause the distribution of $6 billion in funds for education as its Office of Management and Budget reviews the education budget line by line.
The OMB has said it is looking to root out programming that is "woke."
With this in mind, Governor Ron DeSantis said he doesn't think Florida schools have anything to worry about, despite the government freezing $396 million for schools here.
"I think what the administration is doing is they are not going to give funding to school districts that are going to pursue harmful policies and objectives," said DeSantis. "In Florida, you're required to honor parents' rights. You're required to have the core subjects and live up to our standards. So I don't think there's going to be any issues in Florida for not following the rules of the road."
DeSantis pointed out that Florida has strict laws banning instruction around gender identity and sexuality along with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which is what the administration is gutting.
Watch the governor's full press conference:
That's why the governor said he expects most of the permanent cuts to education funding to impact more liberal-leaning states, which might have worked some of these concepts into curriculum or programming.
"I think it's holding school districts in California accountable because they're trying to do indoctrination, they're trying to do gender ideology, they're trying to do DEI, and that's the policy of the federal government not to do those things," said DeSantis.
The administration has restored $1.4 billion for some after-school programs throughout the country. In Florida, that included releasing $2.4 million for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. But funding for public schools in the state is still frozen.
Schools and educational groups, like the Florida Education Association, are suing the Trump administration to get the money back. On Tuesday, the Florida PTA joined the suit against the Trump administration.
The Florida PTA and FEA, say these funds are necessary to continue to support students in the new school year.
These changes in funding are happening weeks before the start of the new school year in Florida which begins the week of August 11 for most K-12 schools. Colleges and universities start the week after.
Read the full suit here:
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