New Board of Ed members show conservative bent; Esther Byrd says ideology in Florida school system ‘not OK’
New FL Board of Education members, Esther Byrd, on the left, and Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, on the right, speaking at state board meeting on Mar. 30, 2022. Image via Florida Channel.

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A conservative to far-right bent that could foreshadow their priorities.

Two new women members of Florida’s State Board of Education made their debuts Wednesday, revealing a conservative to far-right bent that could foreshadow their priorities for the state’s public school system and its 2.8-million students.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Esther Byrd and Grazie Pozo Christie in mid-March, just before the 2022 legislative session was ending.

Byrd, from Duval County, used her first board meeting to signal to Floridians that she will be fighting “ideology” within Florida schools.

“I’m just a mama and the parent of two children — one’s graduated and one in second grade,” Byrd said Wednesday. “And we’ve seen the ideology that’s in our education system and it’s not OK. And I look forward to working with this board to make sure that we find those things and we tackle them.”

Her comments came during the Board of Education’s meeting in Naples, in Southwest Florida.

Byrd’s appointment in March sparked controversy, as her social media posts appeared to be supportive of far-right causes, such as the White nationalist group, the Proud Boys, and the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.

The Florida Times-Union media outlet, located in Jacksonville, reported in mid-March: “Byrd most notably landed in the public eye for her tweets supporting the Capitol insurrection as well as the QAnon conspiracy theory and defending the Proud Boys. A photo of the Byrds flying a QAnon flag on their boat was widely circulated last year.”

Byrd is the wife of Republican state Rep. Cord Byrd, and she currently serves as a legal assistant and office manager for his law firm, which appears to focus on Second Amendment cases, according to the office’s website. (The language in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution includes: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”)

She also served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2002 to 2010, according to a March news release from the Governor’s Office.

Byrd continued her remarks at the board meeting Wednesday:

“If I could just speak to the Floridians for just a second … I want you to know one thing: these people (the Board of Education) are not bureaucrats. They are not just here, you know, getting paid by taxpayer dollars. They care about what they do. They care about the kids, and serving Floridians, and through my orientation and the short time that I’ve been involved, I have been so impressed with all of the staff and how much they genuinely care about what they’re doing.”

The other newcomer is Grazie Pozo Christie of Miami, who is a radiologist. She currently is heavily involved with Catholic organizations such as The Catholic Association which describes itself in part on its website as “defending religious liberty, life, and the Church in the public square.”

Her Twitter account currently is comprised mostly of anti-abortion tweets or retweets. Christie posted a reference on her Twitter page, claiming that “late-term abortion is never medically necessary.”

Outside of the abortion front, she also weighed in on divisive legislation now in law — the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay” measure — limiting the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools.

When White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield said Tuesday that the bill will have “tragic impact,” Christie, who supports the bill, tweeted: “Tragic impact on child groomers and deranged ideologue kindergarten teachers.”

On Wednesday, at the state board meeting, Christie said she was “surprised” but honored to be appointed to the state Board of Education.

“Also I very much admire in the way that the Governor and this Board and the Department of Education has put a real focus on parental rights, on transparency, on doing for children and young adults, what they need, which is to educate them,” Christie said Wednesday. “To educate them to be ready for the great challenge of living a successful life out in the workforce and building great families. And I think that’s what education ought to be about and that’s what I feel this board is doing.”

Both newcomers expressed their disappointment in not being able to work with current Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, who is expected to step down in late April.

“I’m sorry I won’t be working with you, Commissioner,” Christie said.

Corcoran spent the first part of the meeting giving his farewell comments to the board, thanking the board members and department staff.

Though maintaining composure, Corcoran seemed emotional in his remarks.

“This is, in all likelihood, the last full board meeting I would participate in as your Commissioner. It’s been a great run,” Corcoran said.

He added: “I’ve said it at the last meeting: I don’t think there’s a finer board in the state. I don’t think there’s a board that’s had more adversity thrown their way, more controversy. Our meetings are probably the most lively of any meetings in the state and you guys, you know what you believe, you know what your philosophy is and you have the courage to fight for it.”

___

Danielle J. Brown reporting via Florida Phoenix.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

Florida Phoenix

Florida Phoenix is a news and opinion outlet focused on government and political news coverage within the state of Florida.


6 comments

  • Lynda

    March 31, 2022 at 10:06 am

    Re: Far right new members of State Board of Education–Phoenix

    Why do so-called conservatives like the two recent state BOE members believe they can implement controversial viewpoints according to their religions and their radical uneducated ideas on every child in Florida?

    I don’t want Florida’s children attending schools which accept white national propaganda. I don’t consider abortion to be murder of a viable child; a fetus must take one breath before being considered a living person. Shame on deSantis for his role in choosing people with extreme ideas they wish to foist on every child in Florida.

    • Antonio

      March 31, 2022 at 3:47 pm

      “I don’t consider abortion to be murder of a viable child; a fetus must take one breath before being considered a living person.”

      Imagine complaining about ‘extreme ideas” after uttering the above statement. You are clearly not a mother, and your platitudes about children mean nothing in light of what you said. If you really believe a child is not alive until it’s out of the womb, you clearly don’t understand science and biology. Ever heard of a heartbeat? Stuff like this is why Democrats are loosing regular people, it is insanity in full display.

      • Back at ya

        March 31, 2022 at 4:13 pm

        “You are clearly not a mother”

        I bet your kids told you the same lol

      • Lynda

        April 3, 2022 at 8:35 am

        Please don’t disrespect the religious beliefs I have. If you want your child to have extreme beliefs about abortion, send them to a private religious school. Don’t try to force all of Florida’s women and children to have the same religious beliefs you seem to have.
        A so- called heartbeat does not indicate viability- meaning you apparently believe a fetus could survive outside of the womb at 6 weeks or 15 weeks which is contrary to current science.
        The national polls indicate that a strong majority of people in the USA believe that women should have the right to decide her reproductive choices according to her own beliefs and choose the people she looks to for advice.

        People who refuse vaccines and refuse to wear masks in the current pandemic because of their desire for “Freedom” should not force women to base their reproductive decisions on one religion.

  • martin

    March 31, 2022 at 10:42 am

    Conservative agenda: reading, writing, math, civics, and work towards becoming a law abiding and productive citizen. I along with the majority of voters are all for this!

    • Or teach

      March 31, 2022 at 4:16 pm

      I never saw a conservative able to do any of that. It’s why wal mart has So many of them saying hello when I go into the door

Comments are closed.


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