An Attack on Florida’s Higher Education
As a high school student in Miami, Florida, the educational policy-making done by Governor Desantis directly affects the way that I will spend the next year and possibly my college education. Especially as a person who is interested in the political sciences, higher education opportunities seem to become decreasingly available.
This is a byproduct of Gov. Desantis’ policies dating back to last year with his Stop W.O.K.E. Act passed in July, which banned the teaching of race relations or diversity that implies a person be either privileged or oppressed by their race, color, or sex. This essentially means that the study of discrimination by race, color, nationality, or sex is banned if it implies that either a party was oppressed or privileged from this discrimination. This extremely vague legislation not only confuses many people but has also left teachers confused about what they can or cannot teach as it may break the law. For instance, it is unsure whether it is illegal to teach slavery and claim that the slaves were oppressed or that plantation owners were privileged by enslaving people.
Desantis has further continued his targets of changing the education system in Florida by going after an organization that high school students know all too well. The College Board has been the governor’s latest target in his crackdown on “woke” education practices. In a conference last month, the governor claimed that Florida may try to move on all together from the College Board. This came after the College Board announced a plan for the AP course AP African American Studies, which Desantis has accused with no evidence of holding a “political agenda”. By going after the College Board and the AP curriculum, the governor is targeting major courses in which students have the ability to take college-level courses in high school and receive a higher education opportunity in topics that are not typically taught to students. Specifically for the AP African American Studies course, Desantis claimed that the topics of Black queer studies, Black feminist literary thought, reparations, Black struggle in the 21st century, and movements for Black lives raised concerns for the possibility of breaking the law and argues that they will not teach facts but rather political indoctrination. This seemingly contradicts what the College Board CEO, David Coleman, says, calling the course an "unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture."
Desantis’ legislation has not only affected education at the high school level but also at the collegiate level. For instance, due to the limitations caused by the W.O.K.E. Act, many college professors are not able to teach their courses and include all the topics that a prestigious college would have in its curriculum. When these professors are not able to teach the topics of racism that are critical to multiple courses, the professors will likely find other colleges outside of Florida to teach at. The combination of a limited curriculum and the loss of professors will likely cause highly regarded colleges such as the University of Florida or Florida State University to further lose opportunities for grants. Furthermore, Desantis is calling for the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. He has called for legislation that bans higher education institutions from funding any DEI programs or initiatives, as he claims it advances a political ideology.
This continued limitation on education is extremely dangerous for the future of Florida’s students. Desantis’ oppressive rule on what knowledge can and cannot be taught restrains students from getting a full education on the societal conditions that have led to the way people live in the world today. These “political” teachings are taught not because they are to push an opinion but rather because they are stating facts. The way Desantis has used his power to ban the teaching of facts that do not fit his narrative or he disagrees with is a dangerous overreach of the 1st amendment and the people's right to learn about history.
