JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The State Board of Education is set to vote on whether to adopt the Heritage Foundation’s education pledge, ‘The Phoenix Declaration,’ into the Florida education system.
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank with the following mission:
“Heritage’s mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.”
The Phoenix Declaration lists several key principles the Heritage Foundation believes should guide American families, schools, and policymakers in creating an American vision of Education.
Those values include Parental Choice and Responsibility, Transparency & Accountability, Truth & Goodness, Cultural Transmission, Character Formation, Academic Excellence, and Citizenship
“The Phoenix Declaration codifies a lot of the policies that Governor DeSantis has championed here in Florida,” said Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas.
Action News Jax’s Madison Foglio asked Commissioner Kamoutsas if this pledge would influence school curriculum.
“I’ll give you an example. As we do our instructional material review, when we talk about objective factual truth, you can rest assured that as we review these textbooks, we’re going to make sure that that principle is seen throughout that process, as well as academic and curriculum transparency,” said Commissioner Kamoutsas. “We’re going to make sure we give the public the opportunity to weigh in and provide public comment when we review those textbooks to hear from all relevant education stakeholders what are some of the pros and what are the cons within these books.”
Andrew Spar is the President of the Florida Education Association. He says he does not support the declaration for several reasons.
“The reality of it is this is a document about indoctrinating people with their beliefs, and it’s trying to couch it in a way with very coded wording,” said Spar.
Spar says the Phoenix Declaration is pushing an agenda.
“If you look at the Phoenix Declaration, it says things like we shouldn’t force ideology in schools, yet this is forcing ideology in school,” said Spar. “This overregulation, this forcing of a specific ideology into our schools is counter to what we need to do in our schools.”
State Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas is co-introducing this pledge to the State Board of Education tomorrow. Action News Jax asked him if this declaration is pushing a conservative ideology into Florida schools.
“I think that people are simply trying to paint the picture that what is being presented through this Phoenix Declaration is ideological, simply because its affiliation with the Heritage Foundation,” said Commissioner Kamoutsas. “But the reality is it’s objective and it’s factual and it principles that we all should agree with an education policy.”
Action News Jax reached out to Duval, Nassau, Clay, and St. Johns County public school districts and asked them what each district’s position is on the declaration and how they plan on implementing it if passed.
Only DCPS got back to us, saying:
“Duval County Public Schools will implement and support policies as directed by Florida law and the State Board of Education.”
If passed, this would make Florida the first state to adopt the Heritage Foundation’s education pledge.
The vote is set to take place on Thursday at 9 a.m.
You can view the Phoenix Declaration and agenda item here:
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