Lawmakers took another step toward welcoming former Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln into Florida classrooms Tuesday when the Senate Education Pre-K-12 committee approved SB 420.
The measure passed the committee on a 6-1 vote. It would require portraits of Washington and Lincoln in all K-5 classrooms and all other classrooms primarily used for social studies.
Sen. Danny Burgess, a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve and a Republican from Zephyrhills, is the Senate sponsor and Rep. John Snyder, a Marine Corps veteran and Republican from Stuart, is sponsor in the House of HB 371.
Burgess, in announcing the bill, in particular cited a trip he took during the summer to “a historic classroom where portraits of Presidents Washington and Lincoln still hung on the wall.”
“They’re routinely ranked as the greatest presidents in our history, time and time again through those polls and the folks that do that type of data crunching. These individuals helped us become who we are as a country. It’s a return to, really, our roots,” Burgess said during the committee meeting Tuesday.
Burgess, chair of the Senate Education Appropriations committee, committed to advocating for fully funding the portraits.
Sen. Tracie Davis, a Democrat from Jacksonville, was the lone no vote. She said, “This is a precedent that can be potentially expounded upon from future Legislatures,” and voiced concern that the bill could send a signal of shifting responsibilities away from local school districts.
Burgess said the portraits could organically elicit conversations with students about who the presidents were even though the measure wouldn’t require teachers to add or alter instruction.
The portraits to be used would be determined by the state Department of Education, which would “make them available to each school district,” per the bill text. The measure would go into effect July 1 if passed.
“I feel strongly that not only do they represent obviously an immense amount to our past and how we got to where we are today, but that I felt like these individuals also rise above the politics of today. And that was important to me to make sure that they represented unity and strength and who we all are as Americans,” Burgess said.
The House bill is assigned to two committees and is not yet scheduled for its first hearing.
The Senate bill has three committee assignments, with two left now that it’s passed its first.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is in the process of installing statues of founding fathers in Florida counties named after the historical figures in advance of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Contact Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
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