DeSantis Sparks Outrage by Hindering Florida Education. What Does it Mean for Students?

Photo byMatt Johnson

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is serious about monitoring schools and higher education institutions.

He has requested Florida colleges and universities to submit data on courses and programs that include “diversity, equity and inclusion” and “critical race theory. The state refused to disclose how it would utilize this information.

However, the move is clearly politically motivated. Pupils and students will have to bear the final price.

In a memo shared by Bryan Griffin, spokesman of DeSantis, the state’s 12 universities and 28 state colleges are required to complete a "comprehensive list of all staff, programs, and campus activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and critical race theory."

The Republican plan to limit education

The memo also mandates that institutions disclose the number of positions, total funding, and share of state financing allocated to each program. Responses must be sent by next Friday.

In his second inauguration address on Tuesday, DeSantis attacked "woke ideology" and said he would focus on higher education in his second term.

“We must ensure that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the pursuit of truth, not the imposition of trendy ideology,” DeSantis said.

These words could be translated as: Florida Republicans don't want to teach anything outside their rigorous agenda.

The memo said the governor's office needs to have "a full understanding of the operational expenses of state institutions,” even though it did not specify why the request was being made or how the state intends to utilize the information.

It also alludes to a state bill that incorporates elements of House Bill 7, commonly known as the "Stop WOKE" Act and introduced by DeSantis last year. The bill is one of the governor’s top priorities, aimed to limit how K-12 schools, universities and colleges, and workplaces talk about race, gender, and sexuality.

What do you think about DeSantis' latest attack on education?

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