HIALEAH, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an additional $289 million toward educational programs statewide during a news conference Wednesday.
It's in an effort to improve student achievement and close learning gaps in the state, the governor said. He broke down how most of the funding will be used:
- $105 million will go toward after-school, weekend and summer learning camps that help "struggling" students catch up to their peers.
- $47 million to purchase curriculum in line with Florida's new standards in English, math, civics and Holocaust education.
- $50 million to support reading intervention and professional development for reading coaches at schools.
- $44 million to support STEM programs and math acceleration, including hands-on learning opportunities for students.
- $22.5 million for parent mentorship and extra educational resources to help parents continue to reinforce what's taught in classrooms at home.
- $5 million to help establish regional mental health resiliency teams to support districts with delivering services to students.
There is money in the funding that could go toward civic literacy, which DeSantis says every student should have knowledge of once they graduate. He explained data showed math proficiency suffered the most with the pandemic.
"We're excited about what this funding can do," the governor explained. "Any type of achievement gap, we want to work on addressing."
There is also $2.9 million allocated for the City of Hialeah Educational Academy (COHEA), which DeSantis said will be in the overall budget once signed into law.
"All of this is just a great celebration of putting children first in Florida from day one to day 365, we will not rest until those children get that world-class education they deserve," Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said.
This announcement of furthering education funding follows a day after DeSantis signed a bill ditching current standardized testing practices in Florida schools.
He signed SB 1048 into law, effectively replacing the current Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) with progress monitoring tests throughout the year.
The bill will replace the one lengthy test at the end of the year with three shorter tests administered in the fall, winter and spring.
"This year is the last year for FSA in the state of Florida," the governor said.
Along with the announcement of funding education, DeSantis also revealed $1,000 bonuses being awarded for the second year in a row for everyone in uniforms. This follows along with the $5,000 sign-on bonuses being offered in the state for law enforcement officers.
"That is going to be the law in the state of Florida," he said. "I tell you, you're going to have a flood of people in law enforcement that are going to do whatever they can to come down to Florida."
Watch the full news conference down below: