In his first trip to South Florida since winning the election, Governor-elect Ron DeSantis visited a Jewish Day school Monday where he spoke about the importance of expanding educational options and enhancing security specifically at such schools.
DeSantis visited Brauser Maimonides Academy, a Jewish Day school in Fort Lauderdale, where 80 students use the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship for low-income students. Step Up For Students, which helps administer the scholarship, publishes this blog.
“For his first trip to be focused on visiting a Jewish day school, talking about security and expanding school choice says an enormous amount about what his priorities will be when he gets sworn in,” said Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, who attended the event.
Fine, who sponsored legislation in 2017 that provided security funding for Jewish day schools, said DeSantis highlighted security at the Orthodox school Monday. Gov. Rick Scott asked legislators last month to increase security funding for Jewish Day schools from $2 million to $4 million. This past spring, the Florida Legislature approved $2 million in security funding for 46 Jewish day schools.
Rabbi Yoni Fein, head of school for Brauser, said he was encouraged by the governor-elect’s visit. Fein said security is his own top priority, specifically “with the rise of anti-Semitism and the number of incidents that have happened on school properties.”
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States grew by 57 percent in 2017, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
“There is a lot more we need to do to ensure we have the highest security possible,” he said.
At a roundtable discussion, DeSantis emphasized how scholarship programs such as the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Gardiner Scholarship for students with special needs are working and how there are many families who want the same choice, according to Mimi Jankovits, executive director of Teach Florida.
“Florida has the weather, low taxes and hopefully under the DeSantis administration we will build the best school system in the country,” Jankovits said.
