ICYMI

Pushaw ‘takes the gloves off,’ backers try again for a recreational marijuana use bill, Florida schools are radically understaffed, and other news you may have missed

» DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw resigns to work on re-election campaign: ‘The gloves are off’

Conspiracy theorist and one-time unregistered foreign agent Christina Pushaw has had quite the career as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary. As the state has taken away rights for women, policed language in schools and abetted the rapid spread of COVID-19, Pushaw has been there to bark at anyone who dared mention that the state was going to hell. That ended last week when Pushaw announced that she has resigned from her position as press secretary to become a member of Gov. DeSantis’ re-election campaign. In her letter announcing the change, Pushaw celebrated the state’s attacks on LGBT rights, small government sovereignty and citizens’ abilities to go about their lives without being harassed by police. In sharing the letter on Twitter, Pushaw said the “gloves were off.” We’d say it’s better to put gloves on before handling a giant pile of shit, but we’re not privy to the norms in Tallahassee.

» State targets professor’s arguments on race instruction law

Attorneys for the state are trying to convince a federal judge to reject a University of Central Florida professor’s arguments in a battle about a new state law that restricts the way race-related concepts can be taught in classrooms. In court documents filed last Friday, the state contended that Robert Cassanello, an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida, does not have legal standing to challenge the law and that his request for a preliminary injunction should be rejected. Among other things, the documents contend Cassanello has not shown that he would be harmed by the controversial law — which Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed the “Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act,” or Stop WOKE Act. The law lists a series of race-related concepts and says it would constitute discrimination if students are subjected to instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates or compels” them to believe the concepts.

“Dr. Cassanello has made clear that the foundation of his teaching methodology is not to endorse or advocate the arguments and theories in material he assigns, but rather to foster in his students the ‘critical thinking’ skills that will enable them to think for themselves,” the state’s attorneys wrote Friday. “Because the act prohibits only the endorsement of the prohibited concepts — and expressly permits discussion of them — even if some reading material that Dr. Cassanello assigns expressly endorses one of the eight concepts, his act of assigning the material would clearly not violate the act.”

» Proposed amendment would allow recreational use of marijuana

This time it’s going to work: That’s what backers of a recreational-marijuana initiative that launched last week say, despite a history of previous proposed constitutional amendments failing. Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, and Floridabased country music artists the Bellamy Brothers are backing a proposed amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana by people 21 or older. Supporters of the new proposal, which launched on Monday, told the News Service of Florida they’re confident it will satisfy Florida Supreme Court requirements to make it onto the 2024 ballot and will gain support from voters.

The “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” proposal would allow adults “to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.” It also would allow “medical marijuana treatment centers, and other state licensed entities, to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute such products and accessories.” The initiative would not authorize people to grow marijuana plants for personal use. Justices last year rejected two recreational cannabis initiatives, citing ballot summary language that they argued could mislead voters. The latest adult-use effort comes after voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment to broadly legalize medical marijuana in Florida. More than 740,000 patients currently are authorized to purchase cannabis.

» As the school year starts, more than 9,500 teaching and staff positions are still open

Florida students began returning to classrooms last week, but an ongoing teacher and support-staff shortage has some counties still advertising positions and exploring creative options to fill vacancies. A February report by the state Department of Education said that just shy of 4,500 teacher vacancies existed in schools around the state as the previous academic year wound down. A lack of support staff such as bus drivers and food service workers also has presented a challenge. The Florida Education Association in January counted more than 9,500 teaching and staff positions advertised on school websites. While most districts started the school year Wednesday, the challenge of scrambling to hire educators and personnel such as bus drivers continues to linger.

Orange County Public Schools — which, with more than 205,000 students, is among the nation’s 10 largest districts — was scrounging to fill vacancies the day before students returned. “Of our 14,382 instructional staff, we currently have about 100 classroom vacancies. The district is planning to deploy district personnel to fill these vacancies, if needed. These numbers are fluid due to the fact that some candidates may still be going through the hiring process,” Michael Ollendorff, media relations manager for OCPS, told the News Service. The scarcity of educators has led districts to explore options such as offering teachers supplemental pay to teach during planning periods and district-level personnel taking up classroom duties.

While school staffing has been challenging for some time, Florida Association of District School Superintendents CEO Bill Montford said the issue has become “much more difficult this year and the problem much more serious” this year. “And there are a multitude of reasons why. You have COVID, and quite frankly the whole atmosphere of being a classroom teacher today is just more challenging than it was even a few years ago,” Montford said.

» Appeals court puts Jones ballot ruling on hold

An appeals court last week put on hold a circuit judge’s ruling that would block Democrat Rebekah Jones from running for a Northwest Florida congressional seat. The 1st District Court of Appeal issued a two-sentence order granting Jones’ request for a stay of a ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper that said she was ineligible to run in Congressional District 1. The stay effectively means that Jones can remain a candidate while the Tallahassee-based appeals court considers whether she is eligible. The order did not give a detailed explanation but said Cooper’s decision disqualifying Jones “for nomination for election to the United States House of Representatives from Florida’s 1st Congressional District in the 2022 election cycle is stayed pending further order of this [appeals] court.” Jones, a former state Department of Health employee who drew widespread attention when she alleged Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration manipulated COVID-19 data, has battled Peggy Schiller in the Democratic primary in the district in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. Democrats are trying to unseat U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, in the heavily Republican district. Schiller and a voter filed a lawsuit in July contending that Jones was ineligible to run because she had not met a legal requirement of being a registered Democrat for 365 days before qualifying.