RPOF Newsletter

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Chairman’s Message

Florida leads the nation by eliminating high-stakes testing

 

Florida has become the first state in the nation to replace high-stakes, delayed testing with real-time student progress monitoring, a far more effective form of gauging student achievement and school accountability.

“While much of the country has struggled to even open schools, Florida’s education leaders are continuing to push ahead and better help students, parents and teachers to close achievement gaps,” Governor DeSantis said. “In three years, we have eliminated Common Core, invested approximately $2 billion to increase teacher pay, focused on literacy and created civic standards that empower our students to become great citizens. By signing this bill, we are setting an example for the nation.”

Regular, child-specific progress monitoring allows for educators to track and receive real-time data reflecting the specific areas where a student may need remedial instruction. This real-time testing is much more useful than the traditional end-of-year Florida Standards Assessment tests that often don’t provide results until months later when adjustments cannot be made to a child’s instruction.

Under the legislation Governor DeSantis signed this week, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, Florida students will have three short check-ins instead of multi-day, end-of-year, high-stakes tests for English language arts and mathematics. Progress monitoring will benefit students, teachers and parents by providing informed instruction in a timely manner that facilitates instruction tailored to each student’s individual needs.

The new law builds on a list of major achievements in education that Florida has made since 2019:

Florida rose to third in the nation for K-12 education, according to Education Week.
Florida eradicated Common Core and did so by elevating the quality and alignment of learning opportunities through creating Florida’s B.E.S.T. (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking) Standards.
Marking the last few years as “The Year of the Teacher,” Governor DeSantis elevated Florida to one of the top states in the nation in terms of starting teacher pay by securing approximately $2 billion in pay increases for teachers.
Florida was the first state in the nation to reopen schools in August 2020 and guarantee families had an in-person instructional option five days a week.
“Governor DeSantis’ leadership has been instrumental in many ways. This is just one of those many ways,” said Dr. Tonjua Williams, President, St. Petersburg College. “What he has done has been extremely focused on K-12, because he knew that our K-12 students are our future.”

Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/15/governor-desantis-signs-groundbreaking-legislation-to-make-florida-a-national-leader-by-eliminating-high-stakes-testing/

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Closing education achievement gaps

 

Earlier this week, Governor DeSantis announced $289 million across Florida for programs that will ensure Florida is continuing to meet the needs of its students, teachers and families while remaining a national leader in closing education achievement gaps and advancing student growth.

The Governor’s announcement came at Hialeah Educational Academy, a school that has dedicated STEM programs and offers certificate programs in fields including law enforcement, nursing and fire rescue. The $289 million includes funding for STEM programs, civics education and after-school and summer learning programs.

“I am proud to announce an additional $289 million for programs that will improve student achievement and close learning gaps,” Governor DeSantis said. “This announcement builds on our accomplishments over the past three years to make Florida a national leader on education, with our focus on civics, early literacy and STEM programs.”

 

Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/16/governor-ron-desantis-announces-289-million-for-programs-that-close-achievement-gaps-improve-stem-education-and-boost-student-resiliency/

IMPORTANT REMINDER: You have the ability to greatly expand the beliefs and ideas of the Republican Party of Florida by sharing out Facebook and Twitter posts. Please follow and retweet us on Twitter @FloridaGOP, and like and share us on Facebook at FloridaGOP. We can win over others only if we all pitch in to reach them with our message.

FLORIDA

Florida continues robust economic growth

Governor DeSantis announced that in January, Florida continued to have steady growth and economic stability. In January 2022, Florida’s unemployment rate decreased by 2.5 percentage points over the year to 3.5 percent and continued to remain well below the national rate of 4 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor data also shows that Florida’s unemployment rate has remained below the national rate for 14 consecutive months.

In January 2022, Florida’s labor force participation total was 10.45 million workers, greater than Florida’s February 2020 pre-pandemic labor force and increasing by 318,000, or 3.1 percent, over the year. Employment opportunities have also increased as Floridians remain confident in finding meaningful employment. There were 8.07 million private sector jobs statewide in January 2022, an increase of 124,700, or 1.6 percent, from February 2020. The state’s total private sector employment increased by 23,900 jobs in January 2022, an increase of 0.3 percent from December.

“Florida’s January 2022 numbers and the U.S. Department of Labor’s updated data for 2021 demonstrate that Florida continues to have a robust economic climate where individual Floridians have opportunities to get ahead – even in the face of inflationary federal policies that are causing the price of virtually everything to spike,” Governor DeSantis said.

Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/14/governor-desantis-announces-florida-kicked-off-the-year-with-continued-economic-growth/

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Governor lambasts Biden for cuddling up to brutal Maduro regime

Governor DeSantis was joined by Venezuelan Americans in Miami-Dade County to discuss the Biden administration’s unconscionable resumption of high-level diplomatic contact with the brutal Maduro regime in Caracas, and to highlight the failures of the Biden administration’s energy policies which have led to record high gas prices and coddling the world’s worst dictators.

“Many Americans and a lot of Floridians are very angered by the Biden administration‘s recent attempts to legitimize the brutal Maduro regime in Venezuela,” Governor DeSantis said. “This is part of a familiar pattern of the Biden administration thumbing its nose at millions of people here in Florida, just like when it took FARC off the terrorism list and didn’t lift a finger to help the democracy protesters in Cuba. Now, Biden is going hat in hand to legitimize Nicolas Maduro, who is responsible for countless atrocities and has driven Venezuela into the ground.”

“The United States should be energy independent,” he said. “Now we’re in a situation where people are really hurting and rather than acknowledge that their policies have been ineffective, they’re going to Maduro and they’re going to the ayatollahs in Iran. The answer is American energy independence, not propping up Nicolas Maduro.”

Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/11/governor-desantis-lambasts-biden-administrations-engagement-with-maduro-regime-and-its-destructive-domestic-energy-policies/

Watch the entire roundtable here: https://rumble.com/vx4ad1-expand-american-energy-dont-line-maduros-pockets.html

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$2 million in state aid to tornado ravaged communities

Governor DeSantis announced more than $2 million for communities impacted by the January 16 tornadoes in Southwest Florida. The money will be used to assist Florida families in replacing their mobile homes destroyed by the tornado. Homeowners whose properties sustained damage directly related to the tornado in Southwest Florida may contact their local SHIP office for assistance.

“I am committed to making sure that Floridians have the necessary resources to rebuild following a disaster,” Governor DeSantis said. “Our state agencies continue to work with private, public, and local partners to provide meaningful assistance and ensure these communities have access to resources that aid their recovery efforts.”

Read more: https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/10/governor-desantis-announces-2-million-in-housing-assistance-and-additional-resources-available-for-communities-impacted-by-southwest-florida-tornado/

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Senate passes Senator Rubio’s Daylight Savings bill

The ever unpopular, twice annual clock changing routine is close to being a thing of the past now that the U.S. Senate has passed Senator Rubio’s Sunshine Protection Act of 2021. The bill would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent across the country starting in 2023.

In 2018, the Florida legislature passed year-round DST. However, for Florida’s change to apply, a change in the federal statute is required. Nineteen other states — Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming — have passed similar laws, resolutions or voter initiatives, and dozens more are looking to do so.

Read more: https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=EAF1F94F-F52F-4D7E-8333-B713F44BCC8D

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Rubio campaign releases “Democrats are a pain in the gas”

 

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpTv5xK6qvQ

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AG Moody warns of deadly new opioid

Attorney General Moody is warning Floridians of a new, deadly synthetic opioid found in Florida called Isotonitazene — commonly referred to as ISO.

ISO is 20 to 100 times stronger than fentanyl — an already incredibly dangerous opioid. Similar to fentanyl, this new synthetic opioid is being mixed with other drugs and appearing in the illicit drug market, possibly in powder or pill form. Often, users have no idea that a lethal synthetic opioid is mixed into a drug until it is too late.

Attorney General Moody is sounding the alarm and asking people to never take an illicit drug because just one pill can kill. In fact, ISO is so strong that it can kill just by coming in contact with someone’s skin or being accidentally inhaled. ISO has already been linked to overdose deaths in Florida.

“For years, we have been warning about the dangers of fentanyl and how just one pill laced with this synthetic opioid can kill,” Attorney General Moody said. “Now, there is a new, deadlier drug being found in Florida.”

Read more: http://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrel.nsf/newsreleases/A19BD1D4E0D39DFD852588070057E62D

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CFO Jimmy Patronis Highlights “Born Free” Legislative Victories

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said that the Legislature achieved his top priorities for the 2022 legislative session, including $10 million in funding for Florida’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces and providing tax relief so Floridians can protect their homes and lower their insurance premiums.

“This legislative session, we fought for Florida’s consumers, families, and first responders and won,” CFO Jimmy Patronis said. “While other states crushed their economies and drove out first responders and small businesses, over 800 people a day moved to the great state of Florida because we value opportunity, safety, stability and freedom. These important principles make the Sunshine State the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Read more: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/sitePages/newsroom/pressRelease.aspx?id=6139

Social Media Highlights

REMEMBER: @FloridaGOP and retweet and share. The Republican message must be spread around the state, and you are integral to making that happen.

PAID FOR BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA. NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE. WWW.FLORIDA.GOP

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