Florida group formed to change conservative school boards

News Nation | By Ty Russell | August 1, 2024

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — There is a new push to change the recent conservative wave of elected school board members in Florida.

Democrat and education leader Jennifer Jenkins is the founder of the political action committee called “Educated. We Stand.”

“Our goal is to elect and protect pro-public education candidates for school board,” Jenkins said.

She also wants those candidates to push back on conservative-led education policies nationwide.

“We hear a lot about parental choice and school choice,” Jenkins said. “I couldn’t agree with that more. The majority of families choose public schools, and they deserve that choice to be respected and supported just as much.”

Jenkins is a school board member in Brevard County. She won her seat in 2020 after defeating Moms for Liberty co-founder and Gov. Ron DeSantis ally Tina Descovich.

The new PAC based out Florida is helping candidates nationwide. The founder is also pushing back on policies in Florida, like when the governor’s administration revised Black history standards.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Jenkins said. “I think the most notable of course is the egregious attack on truth-based history.”

Last week, DeSantis defended his education policies and defended his backing of conservative school board candidates, some of whom are in Tampa Bay.

“We’ve also made sure the focus of our schools is education, not indoctrination,” the governor said. “You can get good policies generated on the state level, but if you have a school that’s trying to frustrate that, then it makes it really, really difficult.”

School board races are nonpartisan, but Florida voters will have a say on whether to change that in the future. Political expert Tara Newsom said voters are likely to give the push a thumbs-down.

“Voters are going to be coming out and saying listen, we don’t want more of those culture wars,” Newsom said. “We want our kids to have access to fact-based curriculum, inclusivity, and real history.”

Florida Amendment 1 will be voted on this upcoming general election.

At the time of publishing, Moms for Liberty had not responded to a request for comment.

FEC records show the “Educated. We Stand” PAC has raised about $113,000 and spent about $40,000.