TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On Thursday, Florida’s Board of Education adopted a new set of principles as part of a so-called “Phoenix Declaration,” becoming the first state in the nation to do so.
In a release, FDOE officials said that the declaration — which comes courtesy of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank — will serve as a guiding set of principles for education in the state.
“Throughout Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tenure, education in Florida has been guided by many of the principles embodied in the Phoenix Declaration,” Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said. “By formally adopting this declaration, we are reaffirming our commitment to an education system that pursues truth and virtue, empowers parents, and always prioritizes our students.”
The Heritage Foundation itself says that the principles laid out in the declaration are intended to imbue students with “personal and civic virtues” to help them succeed and be better members of their communities.
The FDOE lists out the new guiding principles as follows:
Parental Choice and Responsibility — Parents are the primary educators of their children. Public education funds should always follow the child.
Transparency and Accountability — Schools must be fully transparent with parents about curricula, policies, and student well-being.
Truth and Goodness — Students deserve an education grounded in objective truth, free from ideological fads, and oriented toward the pursuit of the good.
Cultural Transmission — Students should learn about America’s founding principles and roots in the broader Western and Judeo-Christian traditions. Students should study the best-competing viewpoints that comprise our intellectual heritage.
Character Formation — Schools must prepare children for the challenges and responsibilities of adulthood by cultivating virtue, personal responsibility, and self-discipline.
Academic Excellence — Schools should prioritize proven teaching methods and a content rich curriculum rooted in foundational subjects over fads or experimental teaching methods.
Citizenship — Schools should teach students the civic virtues and knowledge necessary for self-government, including the value of civil disagreement. Students should learn the whole truth about America—its merits and failings—without obscuring that America is a great source of good in the world.
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