Florida Democrat Lauren Book: DeSantis Should Care More About Rape and Assault in Schools, not ‘Don’t Say Gay’
August 4, 2022 Updated 7:29 A.M. ET
TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Manny Diaz Jr., Florida’s education commissioner, condemned Democrat State Senate Leader Lauren Book for criticizing the Department of Education and Gov. Ron DeSantis for underreported sexual abuse in the schools, specifically Miami-Dade.
However, Book did not include information about the Department of Education having already followed up with schools about “inconsistencies” with their collected data.
Book deleted a Tweet criticizing the education department after Diaz called out the senator for her “inflammatory rhetoric” and statements that “disregarded the facts for political gain.”
The comments follow a Tuesday Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission meeting which noted inconsistencies with schools reporting School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting (SESIR) data.
“Maybe Gov. Ron DeSantis should be less concerned about who’s saying ‘gay’ – and more concerned about who’s NOT saying “rape”. REAL grooming and sexual abuse is happening in FL schools and not being reported/recorded by DOE, putting kids at preventable, unacceptable risk,” Book said in the deleted Tweet.
Book’s deleted thread included stories sexual assaults between teachers and students in Miami-Dade that were not part of SESIR records. However, Book did not provide context including the efforts the Department of Education had made months prior to follow up on the lack of data.
Commissioner Diaz shared a letter that the Florida Department of Education sent to Miami-Dade County Public Schools May 6th noted “inconsistencies” and asked the school district to provide clarification about the data it provided.
Another letter from the education department to Miami-Dade public schools on May 19th noted there are “significant data discrepancies between our respective agencies.”
The district’s 2021-22 SESIR and discipline data appear to be incomplete, inconsistent, and indefensible,” the Department of Education letter said.
“As Florida’s largest district and the fourth largest school district in the nation, Miami-Dade can truly be a leader in this important work. The Office of Safe Schools is committed to working with the district in addressing these concerns. Thank you for your prompt attention and timely response as we work together to maximize the quality of SESIR and discipline data,” former Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said.
“You of all people should know the facts well enough to know that FDOE does take this matter very seriously, and instead of working toward a meaningful solution, your commission testimony and public statements disregarded the facts for political gain,” Diaz said in his twitter thread responding to Book.
Florida’s Voice reached out to Senator Book for a comment.
