Over the weekend, Randi Weingarten, the head of America’s Federation of Teachers, attempted to criticize Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a tweet that was riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors.
Weingarten claimed that DeSantis should focus on the cost of living issues in Florida, such as unaffordable housing and home insurance, instead of expanding gun access, defunding public schools, and banning everything he dislikes, such as teachers, journalists, and the vulnerable.
Weingarten’s criticism comes as the Florida legislature, which has a Republican super majority, returns to session for two months, during which time GOP lawmakers plan to pass numerous education bills.
Critics of Weingarten argue that she should not comment on everything, and one person even compared her to a Mafia boss.
Another individual pointed out that the increase in the cost of living in Florida is due to an influx of people moving from other states, and DeSantis’ Deputy Press Secretary suggested that Weingarten should focus on why so many parents left New York for Florida.
Weingarten doubled down on her criticism of DeSantis, stating that he is using culture wars to target what he doesn’t like and further divide us, rather than focusing on policies that could help families and communities thrive.
DeSantis is expected to sign into law several new education bills during this two-month legislative session.
Some of the bills would ban preferred pronouns in schools, eliminate gender studies at universities, and outlaw spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at public universities.
Another proposal would expand the ban on teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity to 7th and 8th graders. Critics have dubbed this law the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
DeSantis is also expected to sign bills during this legislative session that would end requirements for needing a permit to carry a firearm, make it easier to impose the death penalty on criminals, and mandate companies to use E-Verify to confirm a worker’s legal status before hiring.
All of these bills are expected to pass easily, as the Florida state legislature is controlled by a Republican supermajority in both the House and Senate.
Weingarten has been critical of DeSantis in the past, sharing a video just last week of DeSantis’ speech defending the Florida Department of Education’s decision to pull explicit LGBTQ material from school libraries.
In that speech, DeSantis cited Florida’s standards that grant the Department of Education the authority to remove books and suggested that “99 percent of parents” would agree with removing the books if the media weren’t misleading them.
Weingarten accused DeSantis of “race-baiting” in early February over his decision to ban College Board’s proposed AP African American Studies course from schools in the state.