WESTON, FLA. (WSVN) - - U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona made a stop in Florida to visit Cypress Bay High School in Weston, and condemned the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which was signed recently by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
On Monday morning, Cardona, along with Congresswomen Debbie Wasserman Schultz, visited the school to learn more about career development programs.
The two visited classrooms, specifically the FBI/Cyber STEM academy. The program is a small glimpse of new opportunities that are being offered to students through Broward Colleges UP program, which guides students toward non-traditional career paths.
He said the program re-imagines education.
A few months ago the program received a $30 million grant from the Department of Education to increase workforce education in communities impacted by high unemployment and low education attainment.
“When we have intentional collaboration, a shared goal of lifting up our students and lifting up our communities. Students win, your daughter wins, you know, the next generation wins,” said Cardona.
There was also a roundtable discussion focusing on the pros of the program and possibly taking it back to D.C. to establish more of these programs across the U.S.
The Education Secretary also condemned Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about the Parental Rights in Education law that was passed last week. The new law heavily restricts primary school teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students.
“It’s shocking to me with leaders that are so against masks that they expect students to mask who they are. It’s unacceptable,” said Cardona. “We’re going to continue to support our students. We’re going to continue to let them hear us that we’re behind them, we support them. That all students should be able to experience school without any discrimination and we are going to continue to make sure that they feel the support and that we are here for the parents who don’t feel that this ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill supports what they’re thinking and what they want for their children.”
“For our state to be throwing obstacles and censoring teachers and making life more complicated to them is really unacceptable,” said Schultz.
Cardona also said parents need to be involved in the everyday tasks with their children so that they can move forward in education.
“I had a great conversation with families and students who are transgender, who just want to go to school like everyone else, so my message to them is we’re here to support you. We want to make sure all students feel safe in their school environment,” said Cardona.
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