{"id":50008,"date":"2021-08-10T21:11:07","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T01:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=50008"},"modified":"2021-08-10T21:11:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T01:11:18","slug":"here-is-hard-proof-governor-desantis-department-of-education-is-actually-threatening-superintendents-and-school-board-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2021\/08\/here-is-hard-proof-governor-desantis-department-of-education-is-actually-threatening-superintendents-and-school-board-members\/","title":{"rendered":"Here is hard proof Governor DeSantis&#8217; Department of Education is actually threatening Superintendents and School Board Members"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1-780x1024.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"50009\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?attachment_id=50009\" class=\"wp-image-50009\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1-780x1024.png 780w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1-228x300.png 228w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1-768x1008.png 768w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1-1170x1536.png 1170w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-1.png 1508w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"787\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2-787x1024.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"50010\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?attachment_id=50010\" class=\"wp-image-50010\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2-787x1024.png 787w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2-231x300.png 231w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2-768x999.png 768w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2-1181x1536.png 1181w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/leon-sd-2.png 1470w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 787px) 100vw, 787px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;No leniency&#8230;maximum accountability measures provided for under the law.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-red-color has-text-color\">White House plans to fund Florida schools who defy DeSantis\u2019 order against mask mandates<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The White House announced Tuesday that it is planning to support schools who defy Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 executive order and enact mask mandates for student<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/community\/health\/coronavirus\/live-gov-desantis-holds-press-conference-in-cape-coral\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">s.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under current rules from the Florida Department of Education, Florida school districts can only enact mask mandates if they give parents an option for their children to opt-out, which keeps mask-wearing optional.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/community\/health\/coronavirus\/live-gov-desantis-holds-press-conference-in-cape-coral\/\">DeSantis\u2019 order states<\/a>&nbsp;that if a district disobeys and forces mask-wearing at its schools, the FDOE could pull state funding to make them comply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki praised school leaders, particularly those in Miami-Dade County, for their \u201ccourage and boldness\u201d to keep measures in place protect their students and keep their schools open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50011\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/jen-psaki-gty-jt-210427_1619568567834_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption> White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u201cWe are continuing to look for ways \u2026 for the U.S. government to support districts and schools as they try to follow they try to follow the signs to do the right thing and save lives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The announcement comes after Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced last week that she was working with the White House to find a way to support schools who challenged DeSantis\u2019 order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the Psaki announcement, Fried voiced her support for the idea of using unspent COVID-19 relief money to fund schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m so grateful to President Biden for responding to our appeal for supplemental funding for Florida schools and protecting the rights of our local school districts,\u201d Fried said \u201cMy office and I have been working with the White House to find ways to support school districts that have had their funding threatened by our Governor\u2019s unconstitutional effort to prohibit them from following public health guidelines. There is a large pot of money that was allocated to our state through the American Rescue Plan that has not yet been distributed, and we are working with the Biden Administration to see if this funding could be used to help schools and teachers who are standing up to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psaki also said the unspent American Rescue Plan funds meant to support schools through COVID-19 could be used to cover expenses. In total, Florida received $7,043,370,152 in American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While she said Florida has not distributed the funds at all, the state<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\/news\/florida\/god-bless-you-desantis-tells-florida-teachers-as-1000-bonuses-arrive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;has used $183.6 million to pay $1,000 bonuses for Florida teachers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey are under federal discretion so they just need to be distributed to the schools,\u201d she said \u201cWe\u2019re looking into what\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psaki finished by calling out DeSantis directly and saying he needs to let the decision made by local school officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGet out of the way, and \u2026 let local officials do their job to keep students safe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;No leniency&#8230;maximum accountability measures provided for under the law.&#8221; This is harassment. White House plans to fund Florida schools who defy DeSantis\u2019 order against mask mandates The White House announced&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":50011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[573],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50008"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50012,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50008\/revisions\/50012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}