DeSantis rails against politicizing Florida schools with 'woke indoctrination' in a survey that allows his campaign to use respondents' replies in his political ads

Florida governor Ron DeSantis released a survey asking school board members and candidates to share their view on controversial education policies.
Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign released a survey for school board members and candidates
The survey would let respondents' stance on topics like critical race theory be used in his campaign ads.
It's the latest move by DeSantis to inject politics into the non-partisan education system.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis decried "woke indoctrination" as he announced a survey for school board members and candidates to share their takes on controversial education policies — and let him turn their grievances into ads for his political campaigns.

It's the latest attempt by the Republican governor to inject politics into the state's non-partisan school boards.

The DeSantis Education Agenda — laid out in a survey on DeSantis' campaign website — says it aims to stop the "woke agenda from infiltrating public schools."

The blueprint features 10 short phrases that his campaign says could be a "model for other states." The agenda includes policy positions like increasing teacher pay and supporting mental health initiatives.

But the vast majority of the blueprint references culture war flashpoints that have fueled strife at school board meetings across the country. The agenda decries critical race theory — a university-level concept rarely taught in schools — as well as "woke gender ideology."

DeSantis asks respondents whether they agree students should be "educated not indoctrinated," and if they support the governor's efforts to teach kids the "horror of communism." Some questions in the survey are a simple "yes" or "no" while others include the option to submit a video or longer text answer.

But to take the survey, candidates have to sign away the right for the governor's campaign to use their opinions and concerns in political ads, on social media, and in other mediums.

The campaign website also notes that taking the survey doesn't count as an endorsement from DeSantis in their school board races.

A spokesperson from DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to an Insider request for comment.

Florida's school board elections are supposed to be non-partisan but are becoming the latest political battleground in the state. DeSantis, for his part, has waded into the fight over the state's education system, encouraging outraged parents to make their voices heard.

Earlier this year, he signed the Parental Rights Education Act into law, dubbed by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" bill for its restrictions on what teachers can say about sexual orientation and gender identity. Last year, he also signed an executive order banning school boards from enacting mask mandates and threatened to strip state funding from ones who did.

DeSantis is up for reelection in the state this year, with voting taking place in November. The rising Republican star could also flirt with a 2024 presidential run, with straw polls showing he garners more support from conservatives than Donald Trump, and one expert telling Insider's Azmi Haroun and Charles Davis that DeSantis has "absorbed the lessons" of the former President's playbook without the baggage.

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