You compromised on flags, Miami-Dade School Board members. Great. But don’t pat yourselves on the back | Opinion

So you don’t call us Debbie Downers, let’s begin with the thumbs up.

The Miami-Dade County School Board on Wednesday reached a compromise on a controversial proposal regarding which flags can be displayed in classrooms and district buildings. That’s no small feat at a time when school boards have become hotbeds of division, and this particular board has been overtaken by allies of chief culture warrior Gov. Ron DeSantis.

But we are not patting School Board members on the back just yet. In fact, what they deserve is a collective eye roll.

After hours spent discussing the item in workshops and at the meeting, School Board members found a way to say they are doing something — and, in the meantime, claim credit for protecting the American flag — without doing much at all.

Member Roberto Alonso, who was elected in the fall with DeSantis’ support, has said he came up with the measure after visiting classrooms and not seeing the American flag displayed, the Herald reported. Rightly so, the district already requires the U.S. and Florida flags in all schools and buildings used by the district. And critics of his measure never argued the American flag doesn’t belong in schools. For the record, the flag does belong in schools.

Out of compliance

Could the issue have been more easily resolved by finding out why those schools weren’t complying with the requirement? To his credit, part of Alonso’s legislation did try to address that by requiring district officials to monitor compliance with the rule, including providing schools with the necessary resources.

Alonso’s original proposal also would have only allowed the American and Florida flags to be displayed throughout the district and prohibit any flags unrelated to the curriculum, the Herald reported. As critics pointed out, the proposal was too broad. For example, how would flags used in extracurricular activities be affected? That seems to be how these culture-war measures are written, broadly enough so, when in doubt, teachers and staff will self censor.

There was also the fear that the true intention of the proposal was to get rid of LGBTQ Pride and Black Lives Matter flags. One of the big proponents of the legislation, the conservative Moms for Liberty, made it clear it didn’t want to see those flags at schools anymore when an almost identical proposal was put forward by a former board member. The group also supported doing away with LGBTQ History Month at Miami-Dade County Public Schools and a comprehensive sexual-health textbook. So you get why critics weren’t just being hysterical.

Perhaps sensing that the School Board was spending too much time on a solution in search of a problem, members on Wednesday quickly jumped on a compromise offered by member Steve Gallon III. The new, amended item is also vague, but it at least offered common ground both sides could claim as a victory and move on to more relevant topics. A couple of suggestions: post-pandemic student achievement is lagging; a nationwide teacher shortage is having a local impact.

Now the measure seeks to ensure “federally protected flags and symbols of classes” also may be visible, as appropriate. Federally protected classes includes race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status and disability, the Herald reported. It’s now up to district officials to determine how that applies to school flags.

DeSantis-driven

In the end, it seems no harm will come out of this, but Wednesday’s meeting is a prelude of what’s to come as DeSantis allies take over school boards across the state. Some of those boards have quickly gotten rid of superintendents who don’t fall in line. Expect them to turn to banning books and fighting more perceived “wokeness” in classrooms next.

The irony is that many of these new members were elected largely because they said they want schools to focus only on the basics of education, like reading and math, and not spend time on divisive culture-war issues.

Never before has there been such urgency to elevate students academically thanks to severe learning losses. School Board members, new or old, should be laser-focused on that issue. Yet one of the first major items the Miami-Dade School Board took up was full of virtue-signaling and little substance.

This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 6:56 PM.