Announcing the new policy in a press statement released on Wednesday, January 17, the Florida Board of Education announced that it has implemented regulations that will prohibit the use of state funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the state’s system of public higher education. The ban applies to “programs, activities, and policies” within the schools.
In doing so, Florida is following Oklahoma’s lead. There, Governor Stitt decided in December of 2023 to ban DEI funding at public colleges and universities in the state. His executive order prohibits public centers of higher education from using state resources of any sort for DEI programs and demanded that those same colleges and universities dismiss all “non-critical personnel.”
Florida’s State Board of Education, in its press release on the matter, announced the “strict regulations” to stop the DEI funding in state colleges and universities. It said, “Today, the State Board of Education implemented strict regulations to limit the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies in the Florida College System (FCS).”
Continuing, the press release noted, “The rule adopted by the Board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions from using state or federal funds to administer programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment. The Board’s decision will ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses.”
Then, describing another change made by the Board of Education to better education Florida students, it announced, “The State Board of Education also replaced the course “Principles of Sociology” with a comprehensive general education core course in American History. The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course.”
Manny Diaz Jr., the Commissioner of Education in Florida, said, “Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies.” He added, “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”
Concluding, the statement released by the board of education on why it is implementing the policies said, “Florida remains committed to providing our students with a world-class education rooted in the pursuit of truth, rather than biased indoctrination, which is why the state’s higher education system has been ranked #1 in the nation for seven consecutive years by the U.S. News & World Report.”
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, describing why his state is against public funding of DEI initiatives, told Fox News Digital in an interview that “What we’ve seen is the most radical, [Marxists] push woke ideology through DEI programs.”
Continuing, he added, “We do not want kids to be told that they are oppressors or victims based on their skin color. We instead want our kids to be told that they are each individually created by God, and they can do great things, and that’s up to them as individuals.”
Featured image credit: Of Manny Diaz Jr, By Florida Department of Education – https://www.fldoe.org/about-us/commissioner.stml, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=143119430
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