Steve Vernon has been listed as a Director on the Board of the Florida Citizens Alliance (FLCA), though it appears that in early 2022 he is currently the Manatee and Sarasota chapter leader of the FLCA. The group is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit that through calls to action, ‘suggested’ legislation, and relationships with Florida’s Republican leaders has undermined the way climate science is taught in Florida’s classrooms.
Vernon’s LinkedIn page notes that he is the Treasurer of the Republican Party of Manatee County and President of the Lakewood Ranch Republican Club. His biography on the FLCA website notes that, “Mr. Vernon fears the future of the United States because biased liberals teach all subjects our children. He believes stridently that only intervention by our citizens will stop the perverted indoctrination of our education system. We must inform, educate and enlighten our children through our grandparents, parents, conservative educators and our churches/synagogues.”
In 2022, the FLCA office team includes Flaugh, Rick Stevens, Domine Clemons and Maria Buenano.
Florida Citizens Alliance on Climate Change
The Daily Beast writes about a conversation with Steve Vernon. He describes how, ‘the Alliance’s members began line-reading school textbooks for violations of their beliefs, creating carefully detailed reports on how many times, and in what context, elementary and high school students were learning about rising seas, or melting ice in Antarctica. “Unfortunately, what it’s become is indoctrination and not education. That’s our major problem,”
Vernon goes on to speak about the FLCA impact on the Florida legislature saying, “The legislators became less fearful of thinking differently, of not being so establishment oriented,” Vernon told me, noting that ideas that had once been politically unsavory could now be effective tools to raise campaign funding. “The idea that climate change wasn’t man-made was something politicians could now take out on the campaign trail.”
In an Education Week article, Keith Flaugh, listed as the FLCA Managing Director and self-described FLCA activist, is quoted as saying, “Man-made global warming [is] presented as fact when it is still very much a theory!” He’s also cited as remarking “Books that treat evolution as a proven science are discriminating and bully children and families against their religious beliefs.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Flaugh is a former IBM employee who says, “Ask your child or grandchild what they are being taught in our public schools? Man-made global warming is not proven, yet most of you will find our kids are being indoctrinated with the Progressive worldview.”
Additionally, the Miami New Times notes that for the Florida Citizens Alliance, teaching climate science in the classroom is a target. In 2018 the FLCA supported legislation that allows Florida residents to challenge “virtually any piece of material taught in public schools.” The same article reviews a number of positions advocated by the FLCA and notes that two Alliance members, Rick Stevens and Keith Flaugh, at times advise Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
In 2019, State Senator Dennis Baxley introduced a bill at the suggestion of the FLCA to allow school districts to teach alternatives to what he considers “controversial” theories like climate change and evolution. Baxley’s legislation is designed to create doubt in the well-established facts of global climate change in an effort to control the climate change policy conversation.
The Alliance also maintains supportive links with like-minded organizations, including the Heartland Institute. The Heartland Institute is well-known for its climate change skepticism and denial.
Florida Citizens Alliance on Current Issues
The FLCA opposes COVID-19 vaccine mandates. They also draw false equivalencies between vaccinated an unvaccinated individuals.
For political advantage, the Alliance already exploits imagined fears revolving around Critical Race Theory. Now it has decided that Critical Gender Theory is a threat to our children. As they say, “Not only does this blatantly undermine parents, but the ideologies are nonscientific and perverted at best. Critical Gender Theory and its applications are subversive and have no place in K-12 classrooms.” They go on to remark, “Sadly, today’s schools are not filling students’ heads with good and true things. Instead, students are exposed to a deceitful and inappropriate worldview.”
See Also
Ron DeSantis
Jim DeMint
Stephen Raj