A dozen Florida school districts face losing millions for defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) ban on mandatory masking in schools, as lawmakers look to reallocate the funds.

While DeSantis’s administration faced legal challenges over his ban on mandatory masking in Florida schools, he has stood firm in his position that parents should determine whether their children wear masks in schools — not the government. When November came, every school district that went out of its way to defy DeSantis’s ban on mandatory masks  — including Broward, Alachua Broward, and Miami-Dade counties — dropped their rule, as they provided opt-out provisions.

However, lawmakers are now looking at punishing the school districts that failed to support the choice via the “Putting Parents First Adjustment.”

“We are going to reward those school districts that stand with us and stand with parents,” said state Rep. Randy Fine (R) said, adding, “The next time school districts think whether they have to follow state law, hopefully they will think about it a little harder.”

The total amounts to a collective $200 million.

 According to First Coast News:

Fine calculated the $200 million by combining the salaries of 1,644 district office employees in those 12 counties who make $100,000 or more.

That money would then be spread to the 55 counties that did not have masks mandates.  ”

…

Teacher salaries would not be affected. It’s unclear if the salaries of superintendents are included in that total.

 “Paying a bureaucrat that sits in a cushy central office doing who-knows-what, more than double what a starting teacher makes, I think it’s a fair question to ask if those positions should exist in any state of the world,” he added.

The House Appropriations Committee will vote on this proposal Wednesday, and details of the proposal can be found here.

Gov. DeSantis on Monday briefly spoke to the hypocrisy of politicians who continue to force children to mask up in schools. He said during a roundtable discussion in Miami:

You know they want all these kids forced masked in school which we don’t allow in Florida but, and then they’ll take pictures of all these poor kids suffering. They’re just beaming and smiling with no mask on. I mean, it’s just unbelievable what you’re seeing across but that’s the thing.

“These policies are just about control. They want to do certain things to control the Americans,” he added.