Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Gov. Ron DeSantis is seizing civics education again, this time announcing $106 million to establish the Civic Literacy Excellence Initiative.
The funding, announced Tuesday, will be used, in part, to create and award qualified teachers with the Florida Civics Seal of Excellence, which includes a $3,000 bonus for educators who complete training to earn the endorsement.
“We have a responsibility to ensure our students are prepared to be great citizens,” DeSantis said in a written statement. “That is why we created a new civics curriculum in Florida and are making this important investment of more than $106 million. By July 4, 2026, our country’s 250th anniversary, we will make sure every K-12 student in Florida is educated with our new civics curriculum.”
The bonus for educators will use $65 million of the funding. Another $16.5 million will go toward additional civics education training for teachers, including creating a role called “regional civics coach.”
Implementation costs of new civics standards will eat up $17.5 million of the budget, and $6.5 million will go toward piloting new partnership programs between secondary schools and government institutions. The point of which, a news release stated, is to “inspire the next generation of leaders in Florida.”
Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran chimed in a written statement tying this latest budget to other civics education initiatives spearheaded by DeSantis.
“The new Civics Literacy Excellence Initiative also compliments recent legislation that strengthens Florida’s commitment to every child receiving a world-class civics education that prepares them to be great citizens who will lead successful lives,” Corcoran said in a written statement.
DeSantis signed legislation in June to create new lesson plans and requirements for civics education in Florida schools.
Evening Reads
“‘Patria y Vida’: The dissident rappers helping drive Cuba’s protests” via Santiago Pérez and José de Córdoba of The Wall Street Journal
“Presidents used to be the faces of their political parties. Is that no longer the case?” via Julia Azari of FiveThirtyEight
“Masks on, masks off” via Naomi Fry of The New Yorker
“Raúl Castro reappears in emergency meeting prompted by massive protests in Cuba” via Nora Gámez Torres of the Miami Herald
“The U.S.-China tech conflict front line goes through Belgium” via Alan Crawford of Bloomberg
“In the last mile of our battle against COVID-19, the enemy is us” via Walter Shapiro of Roll Call
“Hydrogen is one answer to climate change. Getting it is the hard part.” via Stanley Reed and Jack Ewing of The New York Times
“How internet and TV providers get away with jacking up your bill” via Geoffrey A. Fowler of The Washington Post
“The Anthony Bourdain doc is no hagiography” via Dana Stevens of Slate
“I’m not a reporter. But I’m verified as one on Twitter” via Albert Fox Chan for WIRED
Quote of the Day
“If you go into it thinking that they’re upset about a vaccine shortage, or they’re upset that there’s not enough groceries in the store, but they just want the regime to change a few things around and rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, if that’s what you think then you clearly have no hope of getting a favorable outcome here.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the protests in Cuba.
Bill Day’s Latest
Breakthrough Insights
