DeSantis-backed school boards waste no time removing woke educators – 3 Florida superintendents ousted in a month

Florida school board members backed by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in the 2022 midterm elections have already started pushing out woke educators in counties where the boards' majorities flipped Republican, Politico reported.

Following the victory of his endorsees, DeSantis stated, "We will fight the woke in the businesses, we will fight the woke in government agencies, we will fight the woke in our schools. We will never, ever surrender to the woke agenda. Florida is the state where woke goes to die."

Alongside DeSantis, Moms for Liberty, a grassroots parental rights nonprofit, also drove successful midterm election campaigns that secured nationwide victories for pro-parent school board candidates.

According to Politico, over the span of one week, new school board members in two Florida counties successfully removed the district's superintendents. A total of three superintendents were booted from their positions in November.

"We had a wave in school districts that spit in parents' faces," Republican Representative Randy Fine of Florida told the news outlet. "And now the people who did that are gone."

The new majority conservative school boards across the state are focused on creating transparency in the school system for parents and booting critical race theory and gender ideology from the classroom.

In Broward County, five school board members endorsed by DeSantis voted to remove superintendent Vickie Cartwright during a November 14 meeting. Cartwright told WPLG she was "shocked and surprised" about her firing.

One week later, Brevard County superintendent Mark Mullins agreed to resign in the wake of mounting pressure to quit from the conservative majority school board.

Mullins said in a statement to WKMG-TV following his resignation announcement, "I am proud of the contribution I have made to our kids and families over nearly 30 years of service, and I admire and respect the thousands of Brevard Public Schools employees who go to work each day with the mission of serving our students with excellence as the standard."

The Brevard Federation of Teachers, a local union, also supported Mullins' decision to step down and claimed his weak leadership had failed to prevent a trend of student violence against teachers.

"Students verbally and physically abuse teachers and staff, and there will be no end in sight unless meaningful systemic changes are made," the teachers union told Politico.

Last week, the Sarasota County School Board voted four to one to begin severance negotiations for superintendent Brennan Asplen.

Asplen addressed calls for his termination on Monday and stated in part, "I have accepted the fact that I will soon be separated by the School Board, as a collaborative relationship does not appear to be attainable."