Editor’s note: This profile is part of a series on Florida legislators who help shape education issues. See previous entries here, here and here.
Sitting with her mother trying to read the word “star,” Jennifer Sullivan stumbled. She could pronounce the “st” but couldn’t put the whole word together.
Reading was a challenge for the 5-year-old at the time.
A homeschooled student, Sullivan shared her frustrations with her mother, breaking down in tears.
Her mother decided that she did not need to learn to read right away. Instead, she shifted her focus to other areas where she excelled. For a time, Patricia Sullivan focused on teaching her daughter different life skills, values and character strengths. She immersed her daughter in other subjects, such as biology, by taking her outside to study caterpillars.
Then, at age 8, reading suddenly clicked for Jennifer, and she delved into books. Now a state representative, she continues to love reading to this day.
Her mother argues homeschooling gave her the flexibility to find a path forward.
“If she were in public school, she would have been labeled as having a learning disorder and would have been held back and her entire future would have been set on a different course,” she said. “I think that when you have an intimate knowledge of your child’s hopes and fears you can just be proactive and steer them in the direction that they will be successful.”
Her mother said such challenges made her daughter stronger every time.
Elected in 2014 at the age of 23, Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, was the youngest state lawmaker at the time. She has emerged as a prominent voice in education debates. She has spearheaded bills on personalized learning and homeschooling. In a sign of her growing influence, she recently assumed a post as vice chair of the Education Committee.
“Rep. Sullivan has been a champion for ensuring that all of Florida’s families have options in what schools they attend,” said Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, who is in line to become Speaker in 2020. He noted she has pushed for the expansion of competency-based learning in public schools and Gardiner scholarships for students with disabilities.
In other words, she advocates for policies that put children and their individual needs at the forefront of education policy – like her parents did when they taught her at home.
Rep. Sullivan said her upbringing influenced her policy views.
“It gives me a greater understanding of the value of school choice because I was a recipient of the benefit of school choice,” she said. “And now, I have the privilege of being an advocate so other students can have the same opportunities I had.”
She said school choice is often misunderstood.
“Public school is a part of having school choice,” she said, noting that approximately 2.5 million of Florida’s 3.2 million students have chosen public schools run by districts.
Tough assignments
Rep. Sullivan has made an impact outside the education arena, sponsoring bills that garnered national attention.
Within a year of becoming a legislator, she sponsored a bill that required a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can receive an abortion. Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill. This year, after sexual harassment allegations brought down powerful politicians in Florida and across the country, she has sponsored legislation that would protect victims. Her local newspaper, The Daily Commercial, described her bill as offering “the toughest protections against sexual harassment in the nation.”
Sitting in her legislative office, where the walls are adorned with pictures of her family, Sullivan reflected on how she has taken on tough issues that she is passionate about, including homeschooling. She said homeschoolers still face misconceptions, like the idea that they are antisocial and isolated.
“I found that being homeschooled actually gave me greater socialization skills, because I had more opportunities to be involved in my community and work with different elected officials and grow in my ability to communicate,” she said.
At the age of eight, Sullivan became involved in 4-H until she graduated high school.
Sarah Hensley, UF IFAS State Specialized Extension Agent III, worked with Sullivan from 2005 to 2007, and remembers how the state representative worked with all the clubs in the county to collect 13 tons of peanut butter for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
An emerging career
At a young age, growing up in Lake County, Rep. Sullivan became exposed to the world of politics.
Her mother was active in politics, making a bid for Congress in 2010. She co-founded the North Lake Tea Party and has been viewed as a prominent voice in conservative politics. Indeed, in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott accepted her invitation to sign the state’s budget in Eustis, the Sullivans’ hometown.
Patricia Sullivan now serves as Republican state committeewoman for Lake County.
She said she would bring all four of her children to vote. For years, they were the only ones at the steps of Eustis City Hall on the National Day of Prayer. Now, she said, the events draw hundreds of people.
Her daughter picked up that enthusiasm. She knocked on doors during the 2008 presidential race and made over 1,000 phone calls at the Lake County Republican headquarters.
“I think she learned at an early age, particularly through her homeschooling, the importance of representative government in this republic and the importance of listening and I think this has been very valuable for her when it comes to education,” said Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, who has worked with her for many years.
Rep. Sullivan said she began volunteering on campaigns and her mother joined her at those events.
Growing up, Rep. Sullivan said she understood what it meant to have financial worries.
Her dad did not have a college degree and worked in the restaurant business while her mother homeschooled the children.
“We lived on meager things, and I think that some people don’t realize that everybody has a choice, and some people are willing to sacrifice a great deal to make choice available,” she said.
In the education arena
This year, Sullivan introduced legislation expanding a state initiative intended to help students learn at their own pace.
HB 1035 would open a personalized learning pilot program to every district in the state and give participating school districts more flexibility to decide how they award course credit to middle and high schoolers.
“The reason we are trying to innovate is that we recognize in many ways we are failing our students by not giving them the life skills they need to be career-ready,” Sullivan said.
The bill is intended to promote a shift toward “mastery-based learning.” The idea is that students should advance based on their mastery of a topic, rather than the amount of time they spend in class. And instruction should cater to individual students’ needs.
Sullivan said homeschooling is the embodiment of personalized learning.
“It is one-on-one, looking at the student’s strengths and weaknesses,” she said. “Looking at what they are passionate about and giving them the educational tools to succeed. You don’t have to put a student at a desk and lecture to them for seven hours to have them learn.”
She continued: “When you look at personalized learning, it enables them to learn by doing. To actually work on something that they care about and is applicable to their life.”
Sullivan also introduced HB 731 , which would limit requirements school districts can place on homeschoolers and increase homeschoolers’ access to dual enrollment and career education courses. That bill passed the House this week.
Sullivan said homeschooling is gaining mainstream acceptance, and students are excelling because of their self-motivation.
“You are responsible for making sure your coursework is done,” she said. “That transfers so well into a classroom environment.”
Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay spoke of Sullivan’s dedication to education, explaining she is working to obtain state funding to revitalize the construction academy at one of the county’s local high schools, Leesburg High School, to provide students the opportunity to develop job skills while earning industry certifications in the fields of carpentry, plumbing, electrical and masonry.
Sullivan filed HB 4145 to appropriate $1.5 million for the construction academy.
Lake County School Board member Bill Mathias said Sullivan represents how young people have emerged with a powerful voice in the Legislature.
“Many times, people speak about young people being our future and she is our now,” he said.
