SB 444 passed the rules committee on 4/19/2023. It is now heading to the floor of the senate.
Please consider sending an email to your state senator and asking them to vote NO.
There was a great op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel about SB 444 / HB 411. House Bill 411, passed by the Florida House of Representatives, would allow anyone to run for any school board in Florida; living in the district they are running to represent would no longer be a requirement. During the 2022 election cycle Ron DeSantis spent $10 million on school board races. This is a push to politicize school boards rather than elect people who care about their communitites and the schools run by the locally elected school boards.
Here's an excerpt from this article:
Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville questioned whether this will open up School Board seats to political opportunists, rather than people who would have the awareness to know whether a food desert or neighborhood trauma is affecting students’ academic performance. “All too often we pass bills here in the Legislature that’s more about power and control as opposed to actually representing the people,” she said. “It’s time we stopped playing politics and really started looking out for the overall well-being and quality of life for our students and our community here in the state of Florida.”
Please consider sending a similar email to your state senator.
---------- Forwarded message --------- Subject: please vote no on SB 444
To: <mayfield.debbie.web@flsenate.gov>, <perry.keith.web@flsenate.gov>, <baxley.dennis.web@flsenate.gov>, <book.lauren@flsenate.gov>, <boyd.jim.web@flsenate.gov>, <brodeur.jason.web@flsenate.gov>, <broxson.doug.web@flsenate.gov>, <burton.colleen@flsenate.gov>, <diceglie.nick@flsenate.gov>, <garcia.ileana.web@flsenate.gov>, <hooper.ed.web@flsenate.gov>, <Hutson.Travis@flsenate.gov>, <jones.shevrin.web@flsenate.gov>, <osgood.rosalind@flsenate.gov>, <rodriguez.anamaria.web@flsenate.gov>, <rouson.darryl.web@flsenate.gov>, <simon.corey@flsenate.gov>, <torres.victor.web@flsenate.gov>, <yarborough.clay@flsenate.gov> Honorable Senators, SB 444 allows anyone to run for any school board in Florida; living in the district they are running to represent would no longer be a requirement if the bill should pass. Please vote no on SB 444. We need school board members who know their district. This bill appears to be a push to politicize school boards, which is NOT what we need in order to make every school--which is run by the locally elected school board--EXCELLENT. This bill will open up School Board seats to political opportunists, rather than people who know their districts. Please look out for the overall well-being and quality of life for our students and our community here in the state of Florida. Thanks,
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