(RoyalPatriot.com )- Last Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited Ridgeview High School where he awarded seven Clay County teachers with the Civics Seal of Excellence Endorsement, which includes a $3,000 check.
The seven teachers were among 4,500 Florida teachers receiving the bonus checks this week after completing the new Civics Seal of Education training course in which they go through at least 50 hours of course material designed to improve the way they teach Civics to students.
In a press conference at Ridgeview High School with Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Governor DeSantis said the state has a responsibility to ensure that high school graduates have a “foundation of understanding” about “what it means to be an American” and what has made the country “unique” and “great.”
Saying Civics has become a “lost art” over the “last generation,” DeSantis noted that the country’s current aptitude for Civics is “abysmal.”
Green Cove Springs Junior High School civics teacher Michael Taft, who received the bonus from Governor DeSantis, said he would take his Civics Seal of Excellence to the “front line,” adding that he believes every Florida teacher should take the training course.
Another recipient, fifth-grade social studies teacher Brittany Bishop said teaching Civics goes beyond what students are taught in school, explaining that it will help them in their communities and in raising children by teaching them “the proper way to be a citizen.”
The program began in January, with the Florida Department of Education offering bonuses to the first 20,000 teachers who completed the course.
Governor DeSantis hopes to push for additional funding so the training program can be done every year. Currently, there are 14,000 Florida teachers on a waiting list to enroll in the training course, the governor said.
DeSantis added that having “knowledgeable, passionate” teachers will “make all of the difference.”
