Florida adopts Heritage-backed Phoenix Declaration

Stephany Matat

USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida

Florida’s public schools will be the first to follow an education model developed by a group known for Project 2025, now that the State Board of Education approved a new framework known as the Phoenix Declaration.

Board members OK’d the move at their Nov. 13 meeting in Wakulla County. Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas backed the framework developed by the Heritage Foundation, known for the Project 2025 agenda that has driven contentious pol-icy by the Trump administration.

The Phoenix Declaration “fosters the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful,” and defines principles to guide schools and policymakers, including parental choice, transparency and accountability, cultural transmission, character formation, academic excellence and citizenship.

‘We shouldn’t allow ideologies to take over’

“I don’t know how anyone could

disagree with parental choice and responsibility, curriculum transparency, academic excellence, instruction on objective truth,” Kamoutsas said. “I think this is a great opportunity ... to be the first in the nation to adopt this declaration, affirmatively communicating what we want to see in education.”

But critics say although the document includes language that many can agree with, its adoption will politicize Florida’s public education system. The Florida Education Association called it a “political campaign disguised as a declaration” and a “political pledge.”

“Florida’s students and families deserve investment in their public schools, not a political pledge written by outside groups,” a statement from the association read.

State Board of Education chair Ryan Petty suggested that the objectives in the Phoenix Declaration are near-universal tenets. He said he hoped it would inspire people to come together in support of upholding American ideals in education.

“The purpose of education is discovery of truth. There are objective truths our students need to understand,” Petty said.

“Truth is not rooted in an ideology. It is what it is, and we shouldn’t allow ideologies to take over.”

‘Indoctrination dressed up in pretty words’

About 10 people appeared for public comment at the meeting in Crawfordville, about a 30-minute drive south of the Capitol in Tallahassee. Comments ranged from people disagreeing with the Phoenix Declaration and citing concerns with its political provenance, to people encouraging its approval to encourage civility in youth.

Crystal Marull, a parent who has criticized Alachua County’s school board and who is the coordinator of the University of Florida’s Online Spanish Program, said the declaration “is actually the antidote to totalitarian governments taking over. It supports civility, speaking truth and defending truth.”

Dahlonega Peck of Gainesville countered: “The fact that the Heritage Foundation wrote it, that it’s out of Project 2025 – this is indoctrination dressed up in pretty words.”

What does the Phoenix Declaration actually say?

The document opens with a critique of the state of education in America.

“In this time of moral and political crises, when too many schools have lost their way, it is the responsibility of America’s parents, educators, and policymakers to recommit ourselves to the central purposes of education.”

It ends with a list of tenets, which are excerpted below.

● Parental Choice and Responsibility: “Parents are the primary educators of their children. Parents should have the freedom to choose the learning environments that align with their values and best meet their children’s individual learning needs, with public education funding following the child.”

● Transparency and Accountability: “Schools have a responsibility to be transparent with parents about what their children are being taught and how their children are performing. Schools must never have misguided policies that hide information from parents about their children’s mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing.”

● Truth and Goodness: “Students should learn that there is objective truth and that it is knowable. Science courses must be grounded in reality, not ideological fads.”

● Cultural Transmission: “True progress comes only by building on what has been learned and achieved in the past. Students should therefore learn about America’s founding principles and roots in the broader Western and Judeo-Christian traditions.”

● Character Formation: “Education should cultivate the virtues and discipline necessary for self-governance. Students must be held accountable for their behavior, both to learn that their choices have consequences and to maintain the order necessary for learning to proceed.”

● Academic Excellence: “Schools should prioritize a rigorous and contentrich curriculum rooted in foundational subjects such as math, literature, science, history, civics, and the arts. Emphasis should be placed on core knowledge and tried-and-true pedagogy rather than fads or experimental teaching methods.”

● Citizenship: “Schools should also foster a healthy sense of patriotism and cultivate gratitude for and attachment to our country and all who serve its central institutions. Our shared civic rituals, such as the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, should be respected and revived.”

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. USA Today Network-Florida First Amendment reporter Stephany Matat is based in Tallahassee, Fla. She can be reached at SMatat@gannett.com. On X: @stephanymatat.