Dr. Peggy Jones Lets Politics Take Precedent Over Basic Truth In Education
Doc Jones has always been a proud hard left vote on the board. She voted against Title IX, and will advise parents to not let their kids learn African American history.
In a Facebook post on her campaign page, Dr. Peggy Jones addressed her constituents regarding her recent vote at the School Board against the Title IX resolution presented by Jackie Rosario on May 20, 2024. She wrote on June 1, “While I typically refrain from addressing accusations, it is crucial to prevent any misinformation from spreading,” adding, “I voted against the resolution proposed by Bridgette Ziegler, Sarasota County School Board member, not against Title IX.”
As just mentioned, the Title IX resolution was brought by Ms. Rosario after edits were done with the former board attorney, Sydney Ansbacher. Ms. Rosario stated that her resolution was constructed from a template from another district. While the two county resolutions are similar, Ms. Rosario’s proposed resolution removed a clause that was in the Sarasota resolution that stated, “WHEREAS, The statute requires that, if opportunities “are provided for students of one sex, opportunities for reasonably comparable activities shall be provided for students of the other sex.” §1681(a)(8); and…”
The omitted clause was addressed in the commitment and provision statements reaffirming the original Title IX directive. Other edits were made to the language with the attorney as well. However, Dr. Jones’s statement was contrary to the Indian River resolution that, “Commits that no policy or procedural changes shall be considered or implemented while legal challenges ensue, and hereby acknowledges the paramount duty of the District to make adequate provisions for the education of all children residing within its borders.”
In her Facebook post, Dr. Jones wrote that Commissioner Manny Diaz opposed the Title IX resolution. “Education Commissioner of Florida Manny Diaz, Jr. opposed it, advising schools to avoid changes that could lead to federal lawsuits,” she said.
The attribution made by Dr. Jones is not true. Commissioner Diaz did not want any school district to make transitions based on the new rules by the US Department of Education (US DOE). The US DOE had scheduled the rule to go into effect August 1, 2024. Saying Florida would fight the changes in court, Commissioner Diaz firmly, in bold type, stated, “At Governor Ron DeSantis’ direction, no educational institution should begin implementing any changes.”
The Commissioner never advised about potential lawsuits. The Title IX resolution passed by the school board without Dr. Jones blessing was a sworn oath to do exactly as Commissioner Diaz instructed. Also, the resolution’s language clearly affirmed the following statement in his letter that reads, “Instead of implementing Congress’s clear directive to prevent discrimination based on biological sex, the Biden Administration maims the statute beyond recognition in an attempt to gaslight the country into believing that biological sex no longer has any meaning.”
The Title IX rules have been blocked by injunction in 2 lawsuits representing 10 states already with another decision that came down on June 13th in Texas against the Biden Administration’s interpretation of sex-discrimination. The lawsuit that Florida joined is expected to also cause an injunction that prevents implementation of the new rules. The recent decision at the Supreme Court overturning the Chevron Doctrine may cause the dismissal of all of these cases.
Furthermore, Dr. Jones’s political sleight-of-hand in extrapolating Commissioner Diaz’s directive to mean something else is an outright falsehood. She asked her constituents to watch her comments on May 20th. When she read that directive from the commissioner to not begin implementing changes, she remarked, “We’re good there.”
Continuing, Dr. Jones’s affirmed from the resolution’s text by reading the clauses that restated his boldly typed directive. After the debate, where she shared a history of supporting the original Title IX, she voted against this resolution, and in opposition of the Florida Department of Education and the Governor. The Board Chair, Teri Barenborg, tried to get her to change her vote, however, Dr. Jones verbally doubled down.
This failure of common sense, and voting against the intellectual simplicity of an issue is not a first for Dr. Jones. She is also currently sharing how she will support parents to opt-out their kids from learning African American history next year. Her reason is based on a political narrative from the White House which The Sunshine Journal reported on earlier this year.
In a recent interview on the podcast “Uplifting the Uplifters,” Dr. Jones was asked by the host, Michael Marsh, facetiously, “Can you share with us? How did the African Americans benefit from slavery, Doc? Can you touch on that for a moment?”
As the show’s guest hosts broke out in laughter with Dr. Jones, he added, “It seems like an oxymoron to me…”
“Right,” she responded with a giggle. Then Dr. Jones got serious about her theory on the art and science of teaching. “The Science is, you better know your content.”
The lie Dr. Jones keeps propagating about the particular clarification is not “the science” even she requires for being an educator. Dr. Jones has never answered the reasoning of the 4 African American scholars who were involved with the formation of the committee, and the writing of the African American History strand enshrined in the 216 page curriculum of history standards - a first among any state in the union. One of those scholars, Dr. Richard B. Allen, is a retired Professor Emeritus of Political Philosophy and the US Constitution at Michigan State University. He is also a former chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights. In an interview with ABC, he said, “I think every intellect can understand the language written there if people will only take the time to read it. And it's only those who don't take the time to read it, who will misstate it.”
After reading the clarification from the standards, Dr. Jones went on to describe her letter she sent to Commissioner Diaz last year demanding the removal of it. Dr. Jones derived her interpretation of the clarification from remarks about the history lesson made by Kamala Harris. During a July 24, 2023 speech in Jacksonville, the Vice President said, “Middle school students in Florida to be told that enslaved people benefited from slavery.”
In a letter to school districts dated two days later, Commissioner Diaz said that the Vice President’s comments, “intentionally misrepresented our groundbreaking work.”
Is Dr. Jones intentionally misrepresenting the African American History standards to score political points?
After explanation of her misguided understanding, she added, “I was hoping they would take out that clarification. They have not, but you know, parents have to realize that if they don’t want their child listening to that, they don’t have to be in the classroom.”
Host, Michael Marsh, who once filed a book challenge against Green Eggs and Ham, had a follow-up point where he contradicted himself. He admitted that a teacher would not teach it using that interpretation described by Dr. Jones. “Sure, it’s not going to be taught like that,” he affirmed. From there, Mr. Marsh retracted and pushed the conversation, digressing further into the possible assumptions and feelings of students and teachers. Co-host Adam Ogilvie said, “I would think the teachers would straight-up protest against it.”
“Yeah,” agreed Dr. Jones. Truthfully, anyone would if they were to believe Kamala Harris’s and the Dr. Jones’s purposeful misrepresentation. Mr. Marsh closed down the strange segment by asking if there would be some type of permission slip in the “Focus portal.” Focus is an online system that parents access for permission slips and forms regarding their child’s education. Dr. Jones responded, “I have to talk to Dr. Moore about that to see if parents can be notified that that’s coming up.”
Of course, if Dr. Jones loses this election, then Truth will defeat political lies. For district 8th graders, who were prevented from receiving free copies of the US Constitution booklet, that would be the best lesson of all.