News Roundup: Sunshine Week and the Sunshine State

Inquiriespress@americanoversight.org

This Sunshine Week, American Oversight celebrated victories for government transparency, warned about threats to public records access — and sued the Florida Department of Education for the release of records related to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing attacks on public education.

Our lawsuit comes at a time of increasing alarm and urgency over DeSantis’ attempts to politicize and reshape his state’s education system. In the last year, his administration has spearheaded several measures that have placed harsh limits on classroom instruction of American history, including regarding racial justice, and prohibited teaching children about issues impacting the LGBTQ community.

At issue in our lawsuit are eight public records requests we submitted as far back as May of last year, which have been met with delay.
We’re seeking Department of Education officials’ and State Board of Education members’ communications with DeSantis’ office and external groups about topics like critical race theory, as well as guidance, reports, assessments and other internal documents related to the rejection of the AP African American Studies course.
“The DeSantis administration’s efforts to stifle classroom discussion and rewrite history are a grave threat to the education and well-being of hundreds of thousands of students, teachers, and parents in Florida,” said Heather Sawyer, our executive director. Listen to her interview with Tampa public radio station WUSF.

DeSantis has also posed a grave threat to transparency in the Sunshine State and its well-respected open government laws. He has claimed that “executive privilege” — something not mentioned in state law or Florida’s constitution — shields him from having to release public records, and last month, in a highly controversial opinion, a Tallahassee judge agreed.

DeSantis isn’t alone: Top elected officials in several states have made efforts to obscure a wide range of government activities. For Sunshine Week, we outlined some of the gravest threats to transparency from the past year, which also include state lawmakers exempting themselves from open records laws as well as the issue of officials using ephemeral messaging apps and personal accounts to conduct official business

We also highlighted major victories we’ve been a part of, such as improving federal records retention policies, spurring better training for FOIA staff at the CDC, and our involvement in other legal wins that protect the public’s right to know.
Sunshine Week is also American Oversight’s sixth anniversary. We marked the occasion by celebrating six of our biggest wins for government transparency — read about them here.
On Twitter, we explained what the Freedom of Information Act is and why it’s such a powerful tool. You can also learn about the past, present, and future of FOIA here.

On the Records

The 2023 Foilies

The annual Foilies are out! This year’s awards, which “name and shame” agencies and officials that have been obstacles to government transparency, highlight two sets of records requests from American Oversight.

The “Transparently Proud of Destroying Public Records Award” went to attorney Michael Gableman, based on our lawsuit for records related to the Wisconsin Assembly’s partisan review of the 2020 election.
The “Ancient Art of Dodging Accountability Award” went to Cyber Ninjas, citing the lawsuit filed by American Oversight and the Arizona Republic for records related to state Senate’s partisan and discredited “audit” of the 2020 election results.

News Roundup: Sunshine Week and the Sunshine State

On the Records

The 2023 Foilies

Other Stories We’re Following

Jan. 6 Investigations

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

Voting Rights

In the States

Attacks on Education

Abortion Rights

National News

Trump Accountability