Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is currently campaigning across the nation for his 2024 presidential run, accompanied by his wife Casey DeSantis and their three young children.
Even amid the whirlwind of a campaign, the DeSantis family has to focus on their children’s education. During a tour stop in Ankeny, Iowa, on Saturday, the governor revealed that he has taken on teaching duties in addition to his existing responsibilities.
DeSantis stated, “So Monday is a school day,” as reported by Florida Politics. “When we’re on the bus going from county to county, we’ll be home-schooling them on the bus for that day. Now, they have a great school in Florida they go to, but you just have to do it.”
Casey DeSantis said in her latest interview on Fox News that prior to her television appearance, she took her 6-year-old on a field trip, “and that’s why you see them on the campaign trail with us, we don’t want to miss these opportunities.”
The governor is campaigning as a devoted family man, often photographed alongside his children. He attributes his policies on education, such as school choice and curriculum transparency, to his role as a father.
He told Time magazine in August he believes being the “parents’ candidate” will resonate with voters.
“I also just see it through the lens of a dad of a 6, 5 and 3-year-old,” he said. “We understand some of the things that parents are concerned about and that parents are going through. And that impacts how we view these policies, particularly when it goes to things like parents’ rights to be involved in the education.”
More Americans are opting for home-schooling since 2020
Home-schooling has been on the rise in Florida and nationwide since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
The latest Household Pulse Survey published by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that in May 2023, nearly 5.4% of students were home-schooled while 85% were enrolled in public school and 9.6% in private school. Urban Institute found a 30% increase between the 2020 and 2022 school year.
According to an August Washington Post poll, these groups of parents are more racially and ideologically diverse compared to previous decades.
Home-schooling is “no longer driven by shared ideology and political goals but by circumstances specific to individual families,” the Post reported. Meanwhile, other research finds that these children turn out to become “well-adjusted, responsible and socially engaged adults.”
Utah, too, is a popular spot for home-schooling. As KSL News Radio reported, there is little to no regulation on curriculum and the methods of teaching, which can exist in other states.
“Legally in Utah, the laws state that legal home-schools can utilize any percentage or portion of the public school system they see fit to utilize. And then not utilize any other,” said Erik Hanson, president of the Utah Home Education Association.
DeSantis advocates for American home-schoolers
DeSantis has taken some controversial stances on both K-12 and higher education. He has said he is waging a “war on woke,” and told Fox News earlier this year “the woke mind virus” is an “attack on truth.”
He has also shown support for parents who home-school their children. In May, two days after announcing his run for 2024, DeSantis spoke at a home-school convention in Orlando.
“What we’re doing, I think, is taking education into our own hands as Floridians,” DeSantis said. “And you’re doing it as parents in the home-school movement. We’re doing it in Tallahassee as governor and our Legislature to say, ‘Education is something we gotta get right. You cannot have a society in which the education (system) just totally collapses into a lot of these side issues.’”
Before announcing his run, he signed a bill that dispersed funds to families for private school tuition, home-schooling materials and other education expenses. It went into effect on July 1 and allotted $7,800 annually for K–12 students to pursue private school or home-schooling.
Trump promises to fight for home-schoolers
Although DeSantis wants to win over parents who opt for home-schooling, he faces competition from the leading challenger in the Republican primary for 2024, former President Donald Trump.
Last month, Trump promised to fight for American home-schoolers if he was elected.
“As president, it was my honor to support America’s homeschool families — and to protect the God-given right of every parent to be the steward of their children’s education,” Trump said in a video released on social media. “Since the China virus, America has seen an estimated 30% increase in homeschool enrollment.”
“When I am reelected, I will do everything I can to support parents who make the courageous choice of homeschool,” he emphasized. “Under the Trump tax cuts, we allowed families to use 529 education savings accounts to spend up to $10,000 a year tax-free on tuition for grades K through 12. This was a tremendous win for school choice — very important, school choice, remember that term — and yet, that benefit did not apply to homeschoolers.”
Trump said that he will push to give home-school parents the same benefits, tax-free, adding, “To every homeschool family, I will be your champion.”
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is another presidential candidate, is also trying to appeal to these voters. He unveiled the “Empower Parents Plan,” which focuses on parents’ rights in education.