A counterattack against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ war on truth, knowledge, and freedom stands on the launch pad with a well-known Floridian lighting the fuse.Ion Sancho, Leon County’s longtime former Supervisor of Elections, has declared that it’s time to “Let Teachers Teach” and that a Florida Constitutional amendment is the vehicle to allow that basic American right. Sancho remains active in defending democracy and is nationally recognized as an elections guru and reformer. Sporting no party affiliation, he’s a go-to talking head on news shows.
The best vehicle to obtaining the million or so signatures required to get teaching freedoms on a statewide ballot in 2024, according to Sancho: college students.“Students are already energized in the fight against far-right indoctrination,” he observed. “These activists are already protesting the governor’s attempt to marginalize women, non-whites, and the LGBT community through banning books.”The math is so simple that even neanderthal right wingers would understand it, even using their fingers and toes.There are 12 public universities and 30 private institutions of higher learning in Florida. Based on recent demonstrations against DeSantis’ war on truth, Sancho reckons each campus has between 100 and 300 vocal, high-participation activists. This does not include thousands more sympathizers who prefer a less visible role. A modest 150 average per campus totals 6,300 activists. That means these activists turned petition gatherers would need to average 159 signatures each—not a big ask.That number includes signatures above what’s called for because typically around 15 percent are tossed for technical reasons.
But Sancho doesn’t stop with student participation. He’s working the phones with the Florida Education Association and some of its chapters to get educators on board with advocating a Constitutional amendment. Parents and other private citizens would join the effort organically. Florida GOP legislators, in thrall to a corporatist, bigoted base, can’t bend over far enough to accommodate DeSantis. The threshold for a Constitutional amendment to pass as a ballot measure is 60 percent. Republican legislators, determined to marginalize democracy as well as groups that don’t align with their definition of “white Christian values,” are aiming to boost that number to 66 percent.
Sancho doesn’t see that increase as an impediment to passage of Let Teachers Teach.
“What Republicans are really scared to death of is the abortion issue,” he said.
So far, the 60 percent bar has backfired on the righties. The GOP-dominant Legislature referred three constitutional amendments to the 2022 ballot during the 2021 and 2022 state legislative sessions. All three measures were defeated. One amendment would have abolished the Florida Constitution Revision Commission and the other two related to property taxes.
The Republican-instituted proposals laughably would have passed if only a simple majority was required; they received 54, 57, and 59 percent.
At the governor’s behest, Rep. Alex Andrade (R), for the 2024 session introduced HB 999, a sweeping set of restrictions on higher education. The bill requires Florida colleges and universities to remove from its programs “any major or minor" in Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Intersectionality, along with "any derivative major or minor of these belief systems."
Andrade's bill also prohibits the expenditure of funds "to promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities" that "espouse diversity, equity, or inclusion" or "Critical Race Theory rhetoric."
PEN America, a 101-year-old organization of writers is dedicated to protecting free expression in the United States and worldwide. It termed DeSantis’ proposal as "the most draconian and censorious restrictions on public colleges and universities in the country." FIRE, a group that defends free speech, academic freedom, and religious liberty, asserted the proposal is “laden with unconstitutional provisions hostile to freedom of expression and academic freedom."
Last week, DeSantis tilted his lance at the mythical “woke culture.” He unveiled a 2024 school board hit list featuring 14 school board members across the state who "do not protect parental rights and have failed to protect students from woke ideologies." Two of the targets are in Hillsborough: Jessica Vaughn and Nadia Combs,
Sancho served for 28 years, from 1989 to 2017. In five of those seven elections, he was unopposed.
During his time in office, Sancho was admired for his integrity as a voter advocate and elections expert, and became nationally known for his role in the Florida presidential election recount of 2000. He was also known for his appearance in the 2006 investigative documentary Hacking Democracy.
Jim Bleyer
