Florida law targets education unions that Ron DeSantis says 'defied the state'

09 May 2023

Unionized teachers and government employees in Florida are now being forced to take a more manual approach toward covering the cost of payments to their unions due to changes in Florida law.

According to The Charlotte Observer, the new piece of legislation bans automatic paycheck dues deductions from the checks of public employees.

Speaking at the ceremony for the signing of the bill, DeSantis said, “If you want to join, you can, but you write a check and you hand it over. That is gonna lead to more take-home pay for teachers."

Although the Republican governor has championed the piece of legislation, he is facing criticism for his decision. Speaking publicly about the bill, teachers union President Andrew Spar shared his reaction to the passing of the bill.

“The governor may have let his desire to crush perceived opponents get the best of him,” Spar said in a news release. "This new law grossly oversteps in trying to silence teachers, staff, professors, and most other public employees. We will not go quietly — our students and our professions are simply too important.”

The passing of the law comes as school districts attempt to push back against certain guidelines implemented by DeSantis. Per the news outlet, some of the governor's restrictions include "including restrictions on how race and sexuality can be taught in schools and more power given to parents seeking to ban books."

At one point, DeSantis appeared to take aim at unions as he recalled their previous attempts to push back.

“What did some of the school districts and school unions do?" DeSantis asked, adding, "They defied the state. We ended up having to go to court over this because you had a handful of rogue districts that thought they knew better than the elected representatives and the parents of this state.”

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