Florida's New Education Bill Would Ban Gender Studies Majors, Diversity Programs At State Colleges

The new measure which reflects a legislative agenda announced by DeSantis in January, would also ban consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in hiring of faculty.

New Delhi: Florida’s state colleges and universities will be forced to shut down majors involving gender studies and critical race theory if a bill filed this week wins support from the Republican-controlled legislature.

The bill is likely to give the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis a lot more influence in the state's public university system, as per Reuters. The new measure which reflects a legislative agenda announced by DeSantis in January, would also ban consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in hiring of faculty.

"In Florida, we will build off of our higher education reforms by aligning core curriculum to the values of liberty and the Western tradition," DeSantis said in January.

Universities would also be prohibited from funding or supporting any "programs or campus activities" that "espouse diversity, equity, and inclusion or Critical Race Theory," the bill says, according to a Business Insider report.

Each institution would have to approve hires by the board of trustees, giving DeSantis greater influence over those decisions because the governor appoints a significant number of board members.

As per Reuters, the wide-reaching legislation represents a new front of the Republican party’s war against the “woke” agenda which many conservatives believe that liberals are trying to push on public education across the US. 

DeSantis, who is expected to launch a presidential bid after Florida's legislative session ends this spring, has positioned himself as a leader in that fight.

The legislature, which has a clear Republican majority, convenes for its regular session in March, reported Reuters.

The bill, HB 999, was filed by Representative Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the governor, Jeremy Redfern, on Friday, told Reuters that DeSantis would decide whether to sign it after seeing a final version passed by lawmakers.

Meanwhile, free speech advocates, academics and students condemned the bill. Jeremy C Young senior manager of free expression and education at the writers' organisation PEN America, tweeted that it would be the "central battleground for the soul of higher education."

"It would virtually end academic freedom, shared governance and institutional autonomy at all Florida colleges and universities," Young said in a statement on Friday, according to Reuters.

More than 400,000 students are enrolled in Florida's public university system which includes 12 universities.

As per Reuters, using DEI programs in its hiring has caused controversy more widely. Critics have said that favouring underrepresented groups is unfairly detrimental to others. While advocates say these efforts are needed to help give traditionally marginalised groups equal footing.

On Wednesday, the University of Texas system's board of regents said it had paused all new DEI policies in its hiring.

If passed, the Florida bill would ban spending on programs or campus activities that promote DEI and what it calls "Critical Race Theory rhetoric” only exempting programs required for compliance with federal regulations and some other assistance programs.

The measure states that general education core courses taught at public universities "may not suppress or distort significant historical events or include a 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," reported Reuters.