TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida is now the first state in the nation to adopt the “Phoenix Declaration” — a set of education philosophies put forth by the Heritage Foundation, a high-profile conservative think tank.
What You Need To Know
The Florida State Board of Education unanimously adopted the “Phoenix Declaration” on Thursday
By adopting the declaration, the Board of Education is presenting its contents as guiding philosophies for public education in Florida
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, authored the declaration
Florida is the first in the nation to adopt the “Phoenix Declaration”
The State Board of Education approved the declaration unanimously, setting it up to be the driving force for how public schools will instruct students.
“Every child should have access to a high-quality, content-rich education that fosters the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that they may achieve their full, God-given potential,” reads the declaration.
The declaration emphasizes seven principles — parental choice and responsibility; transparency and accountability; truth and goodness; cultural transmission; character formation; academic excellence; and citizenship.
“I don’t know how anyone could disagree with parental choice and responsibility, curriculum transparency, academic excellence, and instruction on objective truth,” said Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. “These principles are principles that everyone across the board on both sides of the aisles can agree with.”
The declaration says that students “should learn that there is objective truth and that it is knowable.”
“Science courses must be grounded in reality, not ideological fads,” it continues. “Students should learn that good and evil exist, and that human beings have the capacity and duty to choose good.”
The declaration goes on to decry “fads or experimental teaching methods” in favor of “core knowledge and tried-and-true pedagogy.”
As for educational policies governing how students learn about the history of the United States, the declaration insists that schools should “foster a healthy sense of patriotism and cultivate gratitude for and attachment to our country and all who serve its central institutions.”
“Students should develop a deep understanding of and respect for our nation’s founding documents and the ideas they contain about ordered liberty, justice, the rule of law, limited government, natural rights, and the equal dignity of all human beings,” the declaration says. “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 and that we have a tradition that is worth passing on.”
Critics, including the Florida Education Association, rebuked the declaration as a politicized document authored by a conservative organization, which, among other things, championed the controversial Project 2025.
“The Phoenix Declaration is the latest thinly veiled attempt by billionaire-backed special interests to dismantle and politicize Florida’s public education system,” the union said in a statement.
Supporters, however, say they believe the declaration’s philosophies will help improve teaching, learning and civic outcomes in Florida’s public schools.
“Many students are just being taught what to think,” said Orlando school board member Alicia Farrant. “And parents want their kids to learn how to think, how to think critically, and that gets us back to those foundations that made our nation great.”
Other states are considering adoption of the Phoenix Declaration — state leaders in South Carolina and Oklahoma have endorsed it.