Showdown In Tampa Takes Place Between Groups For, Against DeSantis

TAMPA, FL — As the conservative Moms For Liberty group hosts its first national convention at the Tampa Marriott Water Street July 14-17, Florida Watch and Progress Florida announced the launch of DeSantis Watch "to shine a spotlight on the failures of Gov. Ron DeSantis to improve the lives of the people of our state while he remains focused on his future political ambitions."

DeSantis Watch opposes the governor's appearance Friday at the Moms For Liberty convention breakfast to talk about the legislation he passed this session to give parents more control over their children's education.

Based in Melbourne, Moms For Liberty was founded Jan. 1 by Tina Descovich, former Brevard County school board member, and Tiffany Justice, former Indian River County school board member. In just six months,the group has grown to 135 chapters in 35 states, with 56,000 members and supporters, according to its website.

“Moms for Liberty is a united group of parents across the country who are working to defend our parental rights at all levels of government,” Justice said. “We both saw a need for parents to reclaim their children’s education, and I think the timing was right for the organization to grow."

The organization has campaigned against COVID-19 restrictions in schools, including mask and vaccine mandates and teaching critical race theory, and has spoken out in favor of banning books from school libraries that address gender and sexuality issues and banning teachers from discussing these subjects in the classroom, all issues that DeSantis espoused during this year's legislative session.

In addition to DeSantis, other speakers during the Moms For Liberty four-day convention ending Sunday include Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott, and Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and the 17th secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Trump administration.

To counter the emergence of conservative groups like Moms for Liberty, Florida Watch and Progress Florida said DeSantis Watch will "shine a spotlight on the failures of Gov. Ron DeSantis to improve the lives of the people of our state while he remains focused on his future political ambitions."

Florida Watch describes itself as a "progressive, digital-first organization looking out for everyday Floridians." According to its website, its mission is to hold leaders accountable and empower voters for change.

On its website, the St. Petersburg-based Progress Florida said it advocates for progressive policies and holds elected officials accountable by empowering people in Florida communities.

"We’re fighting for social justice, economic fairness, reproductive freedom, strengthening public education, health care reform, environmental protection, and much more," said Executive Director Mark Ferrulo. "We watchdog the actions of Florida’s elected leaders and hold accountable those officials who are in the pocket of corporate special interests."

In a news release Tuesday introducing the new DeSantis Watch organization, organizers said DeSantis Watch will offer rapid response messaging, digital content creation, paid digital advertising, generate original research available to the public, and use social media and email campaigns to activate and turn out voters at the grassroots level to defeat the governor this November.

“Ron DeSantis cares about one thing and one thing only: himself,” said DeSantis Watch Communications Director Anders Croy. “DeSantis Watch is here to hold the governor accountable for his focus on policies that help him raise money from out-of-state billionaires and corporate donors at the expense of Floridians who are doing everything right but can’t afford the freedom of a roof over their heads or access to quality health care. We refuse to let Ron DeSantis continue using the people of Florida as stepping stones on his climb up the political ladder.”

Croy said DeSantis has moved from one culture war battle to the next during his time in office, "attacking marginalized communities and anyone who isn’t a far-right primary voter, housing costs in Florida have skyrocketed, with rent and property insurance rates going through the roof, and wages have remained stagnant."

The organizers of DeSantis Watch maintain he "has consistently sought to consolidate power under his sole authority in order to benefit his donors and ideological allies." As a result, they say the freedoms of everyday Floridians "have suffered in his relentless quest for political advancement."

Already, the newly formed DeSantis watch said the governor is only focused on appealing to potential presidential primary voters and has done more harm than good for public schools in Florida.

“It’s no surprise that Florida is facing a massive teacher shortage with Ron DeSantis’ education agenda driven by endless attacks on our public schools and teachers,” said Sutherland. “Educators in Florida don’t have the freedom to teach honest history, don’t have the freedom to offer support to their students and, at the end of the school day, don’t have the freedom to afford a roof over their heads without a second job. While the governor puts his political career first by waging culture war battles, it is Florida’s children and parents who rely on our public education system to help them succeed that continue to suffer.”

Right now, said DeSantis Watch, Florida is facing a shortage of more than 9,500 teachers and education support staff with school scheduled to begin next month. That’s an increase of about 5,000 positions since February of this year.

DeSantis announced in March that he's putting $800 million in this year's budget to raise minimum teacher pay and increase veteran teacher salaries in Florida, giving Florida the ninth-highest starting salary for teachers in the nation ($47,000 a year, up from $40,000 a year in 2020), that will help counteract inflation and allow teachers to purchase homes, pay student loans and provide for their families.

“Over the last three years, we have worked hard to increase teacher pay,” said DeSantis during the announcement. “We have invested more than $2 billion in teacher pay, and with rising inflation, this could not come at a better time. This will help Florida to recruit and retain great teachers.”

DeSantis Watch, however, said the state still pays around $14,000 less per year than the national average for teacher salaries. In addition, the group said teachers are unable to afford housing in the counties trying to recruit them, and are dropping out of the professions due to burnt out by constant attacks on their profession and uncertainty around new state laws "aimed at inflaming culture war tensions instead of improving education."