ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Republican allies are seeking more influence in university classrooms, targeting tenure, waging a battle against “politicized” courses and contemplating a significant change in how professors are hired across the state.
The draft bill also barred general education “curriculum that teaches identity politics, such as Critical Race Theory, or defines American history as contrary to the creation of a new nation based on universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.”
Even though the draft bill was shelved, it illustrates a desire among politicians to exert even more control over what happens on college campuses, said Robert Cassanello, president of the United Faculty of Florida at the University of Central Florida.
But the governor’s agenda is also prompting a backlash from the United Faculty of Florida, a union that represents more than 25,000 faculty members across the state.
A toxic political climate is hurting the reputation of Florida’s universities and making it harder to recruit the best teachers, said Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida.
“What we clearly see is a shift toward authoritarianism and we are seeing it manifesting in higher education — an assault on tenure and free speech,” he said.