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DeSantis talks Florida school choice at Naples event

Governor interviewed for speaker series

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a news conference in Naples on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (Copyright 2024 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

NAPLES, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke Wednesday morning at The Freedom Institute of Collier County, an education center that focuses on “supporting homeschool students’ learning.”

Introducing the institute’s inaugural event for its “Freedom Leadership Series,” DeSantis went over his administration’s actions within the last few years regarding education pathways and subject matter in Florida schools before sitting for an interview.

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“I mean, who made the better decision? Someone that went and got a certification in welding and started to make 80, 90 grand a year right out of high school, or someone that went to school for six years, went $100,000 in debt to get a degree in gender studies? Now, I don’t know, maybe you think the other one’s better, but I mean, you can’t be sitting there looking down on somebody for making a choice to pursue career education, so we’re committed to that,” DeSantis said. “...When I became governor, we were in the bottom half of states for workforce education. Our goal is to be No. 1 by the end of the decade. We’re well on our way to doing that.”

See Wednesday’s event again in the media player below:

A couple of bills are awaiting a signature from the governor, including HB 1, which would ban most social media accounts for children under 16. The bill requires social media companies to terminate any existing accounts by minors, and also bar those under 16 from creating new accounts. It allows the state to bring complaints against the social media platforms it feels are violating the law, and the companies could face fines for each violation.

DeSantis has voiced concerns that the bill might go too far in violating constitutional rights.


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About the Authors

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

Brandon, a UCF grad, joined the ClickOrlando team in November 2021. Before joining News 6, Brandon worked at WDBO.

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