Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed several school board candidates — including one from Sarasota — in a Friday afternoon post on X, a social media platform formally known as Twitter.
The governor endorsed current Sarasota County School Board Chairwoman Karen Rose in her reelection bid against Liz Barker, a local mother and former school psychologist. DeSantis previously endorsed fellow school board members Bridget Ziegler, Tim Enos and Robyn Marinelli as a part of their "ZEM" ticket in 2022 that flipped the school board from a 3-2 liberal-leaning majority to a 4-1 conservative majority.
Rose has also garnered endorsements from the Sarasota County Republican Party, Florida Rep. Fiona McFarland, Florida Rep. James Buchanan, Florida Sen. Joe Gruters and Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman. She was also listed on a Moms for Liberty page that said she pledged to support the fundamental rights of parents .
Rose did not respond to a request for comment regarding the endorsement. In a Facebook post, Rose wrote that she was honored to be included in the governor's list of candidates.
"Governor DeSantis has done an excellent job protecting our children and improving education here in Florida," Rose wrote. "And I'm appreciative that he mentioned my focus on ensuring student success, protecting parental rights and curriculum transparency."
Before winning election to the School Board, she worked for more than 30 years as a teacher, principal and executive director of middle schools in Sarasota County.
During her first four-year term, Rose notably pushed for a change in leadership — making a motion to fire former superintendent Brennan Asplen despite outcry from a group of parents and teachers to keep him.
Rose then advocated for Terry Connor to be the district's current superintendent, a vote both she, Marinelli and Tom Edwards affirmed in a split 3-2 vote . In Connor's first year as the district's leader, Sarasota saw a seven percentage-point bump in reading scores.
Rose also faced criticism from a vocal group of School Board activists for pushing the district to re-draw its board member district lines despite having just done so in 2021 following the census. The chairwoman's opponents charge her with bringing politics into the board — a statement she's vehemently denied and thrown back at her critics.
"For the first time in my history in this school district you are using this chamber and public comment to run political campaigns for School Board seats and misleading the public with misinformation that holds zero evidence," Rose said at a meeting July 16.
Her goals, as laid out on her campaign website , state she wants to see Sarasota Schools ranked as the top district in the state, keep campuses safe and secure, ensure systems to grow academic excellence, embed accountability in the budgeting process, and prepare every graduate for college or a career.
Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis endorses Karen Rose in Sarasota School Board reelection bid
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