Our fearless governor has vowed to rid us of annoying people with strange accents and peculiar habits, especially in Florida’s institutions of higher education. Ron DeSantis demands the state Board of Governors “pull the plug” on those H-1B visas that allow practically any Tomás, Didier, or Haoran with a fancy degree and a slew of top-drawer publications to get a gig in our colleges.
Schools
Bill Would Add Ideological Viewpoint Protection in Florida Schools
The “Florida Student and School Personnel First Amendment and Religious Liberties Act,” introduced by Sen. Clay Yarborough and Rep. David Borrero, would add First Amendment “political and ideological” viewpoint protections against discrimination or “academic penalty” to current religious viewpoint and expression language in Florida Statute.
21 Red States Ask Appeals Court to Uphold Florida’s Sweeping School Library Book Bans
Republican attorneys general from 21 states are trying to help sway a federal appeals court to uphold a 2023 Florida law that led to books being removed from school libraries.
Flagler District Wants Exemption to Later School Start Times Despite Sleep Science on Healthier Adolescents
The Flagler County school district is preparing to exempt itself from a Florida law requiring later start times for middle and high schools by 2026. Citing logistical challenges, transportation costs, and parental preference for current schedules, district officials argue against the change despite scientific evidence supporting more sleep for adolescents. A recent district survey indicates that while parents acknowledge the health benefits of later starts, many fear disruptions to work schedules and extracurricular activities.
Florida Bill Would Allow All College Faculty and Teaching Assistants to Open Carry on Campus
Florida professors, university faculty, and teaching assistants could soon be able to openly carry firearms on campus, thanks to a sweeping new measure filed by a Republican lawmaker.
Doctors Clash with Florida Officials Over Plan to Repeal Meningitis and Chickenpox Vaccine Mandates for Schools
Florida health officials are advancing a proposal to eliminate school entry requirements for vaccines protecting against hepatitis B, chickenpox, and meningitis. While mandates for polio and MMR vaccines remain, officials signaled intent to eventually repeal those laws as well. At a contentious workshop, pediatricians warned the move invites fatal outbreaks and endangers herd immunity, while state officials and supporters defended the rollback as a victory for parental rights and informed consent.
Deputies Seize ‘Lipstick Knife’ and 29 THC Vapes in 3 Student Arrests at Flagler Palm Coast High School
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested three Flagler Palm Coast High School students this week following separate investigations, two for drug-related charges and a third for threatening another student with a knife.
DeSantis Unveils Final $117.4 Billion Budget: Raises for Police and Teachers, New College Takeover of USF-Sarasota
Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a final $117.36 billion “Floridians First” budget for 2026-2027, proposing raises for teachers and law enforcement, plus $278 million for cancer research. The plan includes a controversial directive for New College to absorb USF’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. While touting record education investments, the proposal drew criticism from the teachers’ union. It also funds conservation, maintains tourism marketing, and supports a future property-tax slash amendment.
UF Adopts Strict ‘Neutrality’ Policy Forbidding Leaders’ Social Commentary Under Threat of Firing
To prevent alleged “ideological takeover,” UF Interim President Donald Landry and trustees adopted a strict “institutional neutrality” policy Friday forbidding leaders from commenting on social or political issues under threat of firing. Landry argued leadership silence is actually required to protect open discourse. The board also unanimously reelected Mori Hosseini—a major Ron DeSantis donor—as chair, solidifying his influence just months after the state rejected the trustees’ previous pick for president. Landry indicated he may seek the permanent post.
The Phoenix Declaration’s Serenade of Dog Whistles
The Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix” doctrine, recently adopted by Florida, is a Christian nationalist manifesto designed to eradicate educational dissent. It prioritizes “parental omnipotence” over children’s intellectual freedom. By diverting public funds to private vouchers and sanitizing history, the doctrine cements a decades-long conservative war against public education and enforces a “pinched, angry” monoculture that suppresses critical thinking in favor of dogmatic, exclusionary patriotism.
Matanzas High’s Remy Battles Is 2025 Leaders for Life Fellow, One of Only 6 Statewide
Remy Battles, a senior at Matanzas High School, has been named a 2025 Leaders for Life Fellow, one of only six students statewide selected for the prestigious honor by the Asofsky Family Foundation.
4-Day School Weeks Winning Popularity But Fail Data Test
Four-day school weeks come down to staff recruitment and retention, fewer discipline problems and improved attendance, while they also help stretch tight school budgets. But the promised benefits have not shown up in the data as longer school days can harm academic performance. Such concerns might not matter as four-day school weeks become more popular nationwide.
From Mentorship to Tradition: Celebrating Student Success in South Bunnell as Bossardet Keeps 2018 Promise to Sugar Pop
The annual Bulldog Block Party returned to Bunnell’s Carver Gym on November 19, drawing 450 people to celebrate student academic progress. FPC Principal Bobby Bossardet honored the late Elijah “Sugar Pop” Emmanuel, keeping a promise made in 2018 to keep the event going. Originally launched to boost GPAs at Buddy Taylor Middle School, the event connects families with support services and celebrates achievements. Superintendent LaShakia Moore praised the initiative for “setting the standard” in community-oriented leadership, continuing a legacy of mentorship.”
Senate Proposes Clean-Up of Florida’s School Voucher Shortfalls
The proposal to clean-up Florida’s school voucher system establishes a categorical fund for the scholarship programs as opposed to the existing practice of lumping those funds together with all school funding; requires a minimum of $250 million in a fund that offsets unexpected budgetary costs related to school choice scholarships; and “clears up the timing confusion in the present system and establishes clear application and scholarship acceptance deadlines that occur prior to the funding of scholarships.”
How DeSantis Demolished Florida’s New College
New College of Florida is on its intellectual deathbed. Once an authority-challenging, free-thinking institution for students passionate about learning, a place where difference was celebrated and creativity encouraged. Now, it is becoming a third-rate jock school with over-paid administrators and under-achieving freshmen, a casualty of Ron DeSantis’ culture wars.
Audit of State Funding Of School Vouchers Reveals ‘Myriad of Accountability Problems’
The state’s school voucher program has exhibited “a myriad of accountability problems” and caused a funding shortfall for public schools, a state audit released this week shows. The audit, encompassing the 2024-2025 school year, was presented this week to lawmakers, who are spending the weeks leading up to the legislative session learning the woes of […]
Furry and Chong Won Their Sleazy Battle. Ramirez and Ruddy Won the School Board.
Will Furry and Christy Chong are chair and vice chair of the School Board in title only. In a grab for Furry’s title they fought an ugly, vulgar nine-hour battle that mirrored their character. They won the battle. They lost the School Board, and whatever respect they imagined they still bore in this community. The future, like the true leadership of this board, belongs to Ramirez and Ruddy.
After 9 Hours, 103 Votes and Immeasurable Entitlement, Will Furry Grasps Vice Chair for School Board
In possibly the most embarrassing and cringeworthy meetings of a board that has not lacked for contemptible meetings over the last few years, the Flagler County School Board, after nine hours and 103 votes, elected Will Furry its vice chair, after Furry had been chair for two years, denying the position to Lauren Ramirez. A divided board the previous day–in the same meeting–had elected Christy Chong chair. For most of Tuesday night and early this morning, the board deadlocked in 2-2 votes over the vice chair nomination.
Florida Board Approves Hard-Right Heritage Foundation’s Sweepingly Ideological Education Manifesto
Florida education leaders on Thursday approved a set of principles that would teach a conservative-backed vision of the United States. The State Board of Education, which also approved social-studies changes intended to highlight ideological evils of communism, signed off on Florida becoming the first state to adopt the Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
Local Samaritans Successfully Outbid Developer with $7.1 Million Pitch for Marineland Dolphin Adventure
A $7.135 million bid by a philanthropist couple looking to save Marineland Dolphin Adventure became the successful bidder at a reopened auction for the property Monday, displacing a developer’s $7.1 million bid. The successful bid by the couple, Barbara and Jon Rubel of Green Cove Springs, is the latest twist in a frantic three and a half weeks of efforts to save the 87-year-old oceanarium following what had appeared to be a done deal favoring Delightful Development. The final sale hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m. before federal Bankruptcy Judge Laurie Silverstein in Wilmington, Del.
15-Year-Old FPC Student Charged as Adult Sentenced to 18 to 36 Months in Lock-Up Over Gun Incidents
After carrying a 9 mm handgun with him all day at Flagler Palm Coast High School last Sept. 4, Sean Junior Goska, 15, who was on probation for a series of felonies but nevertheless attending school, went to McDonald’s with a few friends and pulled the gun on one of them. On Friday, in a plea, he was sentenced to 18 o 38 months in a juvenile prison followed by two years of house arrest and three years on probation.
Bill Would Require Professors to Sign Oath
State college and university administrators and instructors would have to take an oath to the nation and Florida, under a proposal filed Friday by Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville. The measure (SB 430) also calls for public school administrators and instructional personnel, including prekindergarten instructors, to perform a similar oath.
Florida Education Is a Model of Regression
The DeSantis administration seems happy to trash that pesky First Amendment whenever they feel like it, forbidding educators to discuss systemic racism — no learning about redlining, unequal access to justice, Jim Crow, habitual dumping of toxic waste in minority communities, or denying Black veterans access to GI Bill benefits — policing college course descriptions for naughty words such as “gender” and “decolonize,” or hyperventilating over the possibility sex might be mentioned in the classroom.
DSC Signs Transfer Agreement with Western Governors University, an Online School
Daytona State College has signed a new transfer agreement with Western Governors University (WGU) that will allow DSC students to easily transfer credits toward WGU programs and apply for financial aid.
In a Flagler First, Three Former FPC Students Are Its Teacher, Employee and Rookie of the Year
In what appears to be a first in the county’s history, three former Flagler Palm Coast High School students–Alex Giorgianni, Calvin Grant and Madison Mead–have been named the school’s Teacher of the Year, Employee of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year. FPC Principal Bobby Bossardet celebrated the occasion in a schoolwide.
Florida Cabinet Questions Voucher Dollars Going to Muslim Schools, But Not Christian Schools
All three members of the Florida Cabinet are questioning the legality of the state voucher system that has steered taxpayer-funded scholarships to private Islamic schools that they contend undermine “Western” values. Attorney General Uthmeier, Chief Financial Officer Ingoglia, and Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, all Republicans and allies of the governor, spoke against extending vouchers to the Hifz Academy and Bayaan Academy, Islamic schools in Tampa now accepting these scholarships.
Homeward Bound Program Helps Promote Commercial Truck Driving Training at FTC
Now in its fifth year, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Homeward Bound program at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility is helping Flagler Technical College (FTC) put a “face” on workforce training in Flagler County.
A Tour of New Nexus Center Is a ‘Coast to Country’ Surfing Experience in Flagler’s Ultra-Modern Library
Library Board of Trustees members and others took a tour of the new, $16 million Nexus Center, the south-side library in Bunnell, on Monday. It’s not just the floor space or the large windows, the natural light, the high ceilings and the blue-green trim that make you feel as if you’re not entirely indoors. The entire 23,000-square-foot building, with the exception of the back offices and the segment reserved for the Department of Health and Human Services, is designed along a “Coast to Country” theme that creates a sense of motion as if from one to the other and back.
Bill Would Require Florida Teachers to Take Oath
A bill filed Monday by state Rep. Tom Fabricio would require teachers to take an oath to the Constitution and nonpartisanship. The bill, HB 147, would require teachers to, “before entering upon the duties of a classroom teacher,” take the oath. The language is similar to oaths taken by lawyers, doctors, and public officials.
Students Protesting Gaza Genocide File Lawsuit Against USF, Alleging Violations of Constitutional Rights
Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, a group protesting in support of Palestinian rights, filed suit last week against the University of South Florida, claiming the university violated members’ constitutional rights after expelling one student and disciplining others.
DSC Offering Full EMT Certificate Program at Flagler/Palm Coast Campus Starting in January
Daytona State College will begin offering the full Emergency Medical Technician Certificate program at its Flagler/Palm Coast Campus beginning in January 2026 and is now taking applications for the program.
Stetson University Student Musicians Performing at Carnegie Hall
Stetson University student musicians will take the stage at one of the world’s most celebrated concert venues next spring. The Dr. M. Jean Greenlaw Stetson University Concert will be held on Friday, March 6, 2026, at 8 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City, showcasing the talents of selected student soloists and chamber ensembles.
Florida’s 1st Public School Chaplain Is Trump Disciple at War with Church-State Wall
Rev. Jack Martin, the state’s first public school chaplain, twice ran for Congress, wrote an ode to Charlie Kirk, preached the need to “battle alongside Trump” and defended the Jan. 6 assault on Congress as “the ratification of the theft of the presidency.”
He identifies with the Black Robe Regiment, a coalition of pastors committed to tearing down the wall of separation between church and state.
Palm Coast’s Ebike Ordinance in Effect: Limits Speeds, Restricts Riders’ Age to 11 and Up and Requires Photo ID
Palm Coast’s ebike ordinance is now in effect following the Palm Coast City Council’s approval Tuesday of a measure that sets speed limits at between 20 and 28 mph, depending on the bike, restricts riders to age 11 and up, and requires riders to carry government-issued identification at all times.
Florida’s Colleges and Universities May Be Forced Each to Change a Street Name for Charlie Kirk
Every one of Florida’s 40 public universities and colleges would have to redesignate a road, a street or an avenue after Charlie Kirk, the extremist controversialist who was assassinated last month, if a bill introduced by a Dade City Republican becomes law. Revered among wide swaths of the right, Kirk had a long record of making divisive and bigoted comments. It is likely the bill will generate significant debate if it is taken up in committees.
Florida Attorney General Leads 21 States Backing ‘Parental Rights’ Over Child’s Gender Privacy in Court Case
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier led 21 states in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court Monday supporting a Tallahassee mother who claimed her rights were violated when a local middle school created a secret plan supporting her child switching genders.
Teacher Who Certified Student as ‘Most Likely to Become Dictator’ Battles Pending Firing
With state Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas vowing to prevent her from teaching again, an Alachua County teacher is fighting a disciplinary case that includes allegations she presented a certificate to a student that said he was the most likely to “become a dictator.”
State Debating Trophy Will be Named After Controversialist Charlie Kirk
The top student debaters in the state will hoist a trophy named for the late, controversial conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced Friday that the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative championship trophy will be named for Kirk, who gained notoriety for debating students on college campuses before he was assassinated.
Florida Schools and Parents Censored 444 Book Titles in 2025, Down from 732
Both the Florida Department of Education and PEN America, a nonprofit advocating for freedom of expression, have released their annual lists of books removed from school classrooms and libraries, each reporting fewer removals than last year.
Daytona State Offering 25 Art Scholarships for Veterans and Their Families Through Vets Create Program
Daytona State College is offering up to 25 scholarships for classes in ceramics, painting, drawing, design, photography, dance, theater and music to veterans and their dependent family members as part of the College’s Vets Create program.
Paul Renner Isn’t Interested in UNF Presidency
Don’t expect a former House Speaker and current candidate for Governor to swoop in as President of the University of North Florida. UNF’s President Moez Limayem is the sole candidate in the running for the presidency of the University of South Florida, creating a likely opening at the Jacksonville school and stoking speculation about whether Renner might want the job.
Teachers Must Now Self-Report When Arrested for Numerous Crimes
Florida law now requires educators to self-report to their employers within 48 hours an arrest for a felony or certain misdemeanors. The list of offenses ranges from sexual misconduct with mental health patients, felony fraud, murder, aggravated assault, human trafficking, weapons on school grounds, prostitution, felony voyeurism, threats to kill, and more.
Looking Beyond the Turning Point of Charlie Kirk’s Death to the Soil We’re Tilling for the Next Generation
Charlie Kirk’s assassination feels like more than another entry in America’s long and tragic list of political violence. It feels like a hinge point, writes former School Board member Colleen Conklin. But history suggests scars can be the beginning of strength. If the pattern holds, today’s youth may yet rise to become the next Greatest Generation. Now is the time to cultivate compassion stronger than ideology, courage rooted in empathy, the ability to separate people from their ideas. What then grows could astonish us.
UCF Meets ‘Preeminent State Research University’ Standard
The University of Central Florida announced Monday it has met standards to be designated as a “preeminent state research university,” which, in part, would lead to increased funding and recognition. “At a university of nearly 70,000 students, this accomplishment is truly remarkable and unprecedented at our scale,” UCF President Alexander Cartwright said in a prepared statement.
Florida Is Misleadingly Invoking Slavery as It Readies to Kill All Vaccine Mandates in Schools
On Sept. 3, 2025, Florida announced its plans to be the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates for its citizens, including those for children to attend school. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general and a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, has stated that “every last one” of these decades-old vaccine requirements “is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” He is wrong.
More than 11,000 Register for UNF’s Free AI Certificate Program Online
More than 11,000 people have registered in the last two weeks for the University of North Florida’s new AI for Work and Life Certificate program, which begins this Thursday. The course is open to all – professionals in any industry, students preparing for careers and anyone else curious to understand artificial intelligence. No prior AI experience is required. For professionals and lifelong learners alike, the course awards 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU).
Contrition, Grimness and Encouragement from Flagler County’s Lawmakers Ahead of Another Messy, Miserly Session
Florida Sen. Tom Leek spoke contritely, then grimly, then encouragingly at Friday’s annual Flagler County legislative delegation meeting, ahead of the legislative session in January. The contrition was for the misbehavior of the legislature in the last session, the grimness was about another year of tight budgets, and therefore few legislative appropriations for local governments, and the encouragement was for local officials to make their pitches anyway, as long as they matched that with commitment of their own.
UF Rescinds Emeritus Status for Professor Over Kirk Facebook Post
The University of Florida rescinded a retired professor’s emeritus status Friday, the university announced, over a Facebook post the evening of Charlie Kirk’s death that garnered social media backlash. The university posted to social media Friday that “a retired faculty member who issued a post on social media that is raising concerns” had lost emeritus status. In a followup, the university did not confirm to the Phoenix who the professor was. The Gainesville Sun reported that it had confirmed the professor in question is retired UF law professor Jeffrey Harrison.
David Jolly, Democratic Candidate for Governor, Supports ‘School Choice’ But With More Accountability
The main Democratic candidate for governor — former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly — called Thursday for changes to Florida’s universal school voucher program, which helps pay to send students to private school, but not repeal.
Palm Coast Scraps Ebike Speed Limit and Lowers Age Allowance to 11 as Council Refines Rules and Seeks More Input
Palm Coast will eliminate what had been a proposed speed limit for ebikes, the allowable age limit for riders was further reduced to 11 (it had started at 15 two weeks ago), and student IDs would be a permissible form of identification for riders, as opposed to government-issued IDs, according to the latest version of an ordinance the Palm Coast City Council is crafting.