Less Chaos, More Local Funding, A Little Hope

[This post, first published 11/09/24, was updated on 11//10/24]

While this election showed Florida getting redder (even diverse Miami-Dade went solid Red), support for local public schools appears to be strong, so much so that the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board declared public schools “a big winner” in Tuesday’s election.

Florida went solidly Trump. Rick Scott was re-elected in a landslide. Democrats failed to break up the GOP’s supermajority trifiecta, though they did flip one race. Caroline Amnesty, a first term GOP representative who was recently indicted on multiple felonies related to her family’s private Christian school, was narrowly defeated by her democratic challenger. Tallahassee will remain solidly in Republican hands.

[By the way, nothing is more “Florida” than a GOP lawmaker recently indicted on multiple felonies related to her family’s private Christian school.]

For public education, the news was mixed but I agree with the Tampa Bay Times there were significantly more wins than losses.

Voters Choose Competence Over Chaos

• DeSantis was not nearly as successful endorsing school board candidates as he was in 2022, winning only 10 contests after endorsing 23 candidates. Only four of the seven INCUMBENTS he endorsed won their races and he was only able to defeat one incumbent candidate (Carl Persis from Volusia). DeSantis-endorsed candidates lost races for open seats in very red counties, like Flagler and Hernando (where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-1).
• A Red county (with nearly twice as many registered Republican as Democrats) elected a former-middle school English teacher who had recently left the classroom, in part, because of state book banning/restrictions/censorship. She won by more than 15 points.
• Newly elected Broward County School Board members Maura Bulman and Rebecca Thompson will replace two DeSantis appointees. When they are sworn in on November 19th, it will be the first time in 2 1/2 years that their board will include NO ONE chosen by the governor.

Superintendent Elections

• Leon County overwhelmingly (72%) re-elected their outspoken, staunchly pro-public school superintendent, despite apparent election interference by the State Board of Education.
• Pasco, on the other hand, elected former state senator, John Legg, a charter school operator who serves on the board of Step Up for Students (the multibillion dollar non-profit that administers Florida’s massive voucher programs) as their new superintendent.

Voters Defeat Partisan School Board Amendment

• Voters rejected the GOP legislature’s attempt to amend the Constitution and make school board races partisan (Amendment 1), requiring a closed partisan primary process. Florida’s school board races, like those of the vast majority of the country will remain (appropriately) non-partisan.

Local School Tax Referendums Receive Massive Support

• Despite Governor DeSantis’ disapproval, Florida voters approved local tax referendums to augment school funding in 21/22 counties with multiple counties (Hernando, Hillsborough, Monroe and St Johns) passing both ad valorem and sales tax increases for their schools.
• Over the summer, DeSantis admonished districts’ plans for tax referendums, saying “taxpayers are sick of it” and suggesting schools should learn to better manage rather than put the burden on taxpayers. 
• Taxpayers across the state (in both Red and Blue counties), rejected his advice, voting overwhelmingly to support their public schools. Counties where Trump support was nearly 60% or higher (Collier, Gulf, Manatee, Monroe and Sarasota) saw their school referendums approved by greater than 80% of their voters.
• These results are even more impressive given this is the first presidential-year General Election following Florida’s passage of HB 777 in 2022 which required all school district millage referendums (along with some other local tax referendums) approving each of the above described local taxes to be held at general elections only. Most of this year’s referendums passed overwhelmingly, despite the larger voter turnout.

Hillsborough County school board member Nadia Combs, who was re-elected in August after defeating a DeSantis-endorsed challenger, said “It tells you no matter what you are, Republican, Democrat or no-party, people care about education.” Hillsborough voters, who are in the midst of recovery from two devastating hurricanes, approved a new property tax referendum to increase teacher pay by over 66%.

Combs said “It brings me hope that our community is prioritizing education.”

I couldn’t agree more. My community, which elected Republicans up and down the ballot, approved our TWO funding referendums by over 70% and 80%. I believe, at the local level, support of our public schools remain strong and our communities see their value. There will be continued challenges (this is Florida, of course) but this election, public education advocates have some reason to hope.

Also, if you are genuinely concerned about the future of Democracy following Tuesday’s election, there is no better way to support democracy than fully supporting your public schools. Get involved. Join us as we continue to advocate for well funded, high quality, safe, public schools for all children – they are the cornerstone of democracy and our finest public good.