By Diane Roberts
A recent column in the Independent Florida Alligator laments how college professors and other educators who teach disfavored subjects or use certain words are beginning to self-censor.
The headline reads, “Think While It’s Still Legal.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis and his angry regime aren’t big fans of thinking. Or learning.
They hate and fear knowledge: How dare these so-called “experts” with their years of study and their graduate degrees dispute the state’s most cherished prejudices?
Many Floridians agree: Expertise is for losers.
That’s why the state surgeon general inveighs against vaccines, alters medical reports, and is now having hysterics over fluoridated water.
That’s why the state commissioner of education rejected an Advanced Placement course in African American History as “woke indoctrination” because it explored the horrors of slavery.
That’s why Florida universities are now under siege from right-wing ideologues — like DeSantis himself — who think “Marxist” professors seduce innocent undergraduates into becoming trans feminist America-hating DEI activists.
The result? Our universities are have fallen several places in the rankings for public institutions.
(Yes, Florida is still called one of the “best” states for higher ed, but that measures level of student debt at graduation, percent who get jobs, etc., not actual intellectual accomplishment).
Our SAT scores are dropping like rocks off a cliff face, too.
Florida now ranks 47th in the nation in K-12 education.
Dedicated teachers have been leaving the profession: Maybe because their pay ranks 50th in the nation — down from 48 last year.
The good news is third grade reading scores are up: 53% can now read at or above grade level.
The bad news: That just a little over half. On a regular test, that’s a D-.
This isn’t cheap
The worse news: You, Florida taxpayer, are now shelling out $15.6 million to an education technology outfit in Maryland to put together a “statewide, centralized, easily accessible” system for anyone from parents to random ideologues to “examine” materials in Florida libraries and classrooms.
The state pretends this is about “transparency;” but we all know it’s about finding books to object to, demanding certain instructional documents be removed, and protesting anything they deem “inappropriate.”
It’s a tool to make it easier to ban books — and Florida already bans more books than any other state in the nation.
Not a distinction to be proud of.
We shouldn’t be surprised: The minute somebody shows up at a meeting and hollers about “And Tango Makes Three” (the true story of two male penguins raising a chick), or “Sold,” Patricia McCormick’s novel about human trafficking, or George Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” school boards yank it off the shelf.
Ignorance ain’t cheap: To give just one example, the Escambia County school board has already spent $440,000 plus another $200,000 on a related lawsuit, defending its book-banning habits against the parents, students, PEN America, Penguin Random House, and others who are quite sure reading a book about “gay penguins” will not make kids turn gay.
U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II told the school board they should settle asap, given they “could end up having to pay all or part of Plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees on top of its own attorneys’ fees if Plaintiffs prevail in this case.”
It’s taxpayer money, but conservatives figure protecting Florida’s youth from the painful realities of history and the scary realities of the present day is a great way to spend your hard-earned cash.
Freedom of expression be damned.
Kids aren’t stupid
This absurd waste of public money may appease Moms for Liberty, neo-Puritan evangelicals, and everybody else terrified of 21st Century realities.
They fear Their Youth will discover that 1. Racism has been part of the fabric of the U.S. since its founding; 2. Slavery was not vocational training; 3. People have sex; 4. Sometimes gay sex.
What this nonsense does NOT accomplish is advancing education in Florida.
Moreover, these hysterics may deny it, but their children already know about sex.
Their children have cellphones.
Those probably know less about the history of Native American genocide, the slave trade, anti-Asian exclusion laws, lynching, the moral ambiguities of war, and other aspects of our national story that do not proclaim that we are the “greatest country in the world.”
Their solution? Tell kids they can’t read Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and other authors.
Not just their kids — yours, too.
But no matter how much these book-banners try to shield their children from reality. Everyone eventually crashes into it.
The question is: Will they be equipped to handle it?
Will they know how to interrogate what authorities tell them?
Will they know how to think?
Assuming it’s still legal.
There’s a world out there in which war is not peace and ignorance is not strength.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Sad but true, just look at our own mess of Will Fury & Co, here in Palm Coast! My grand kids go to a school in towne center, my daughter says its worth the drive….Im happy Dianne, didnt blame TRUMP for this too
FlaPharmTech says
It’s inferred. He’s the anointed leader of the idiots.
Tom Hutson says
Reference: Florida Celebrates Ignorance
Diane Roberts, I agree wholeheartedly with your OP-ED on Florida Education and Book banning, unfortunately Florida voters are so engrossed in political correctness and the leadership of our elected officials in Florida. It’s so sad.
But those following Big Daddy Warbucks and Florida’s own Baby Mussolini, they miss what is really taking place, everyone should read the 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. The parallels between the novel and today’s society in Florida are so amazing. Too bad that most Floridians will just scoff at it. The biggest losers are our young people in schools and universities today. America’s future.
Joe D says
Should ANYONE be remotely SURPRISED that the Florida Educational system is sinking fast when compared to other states!?!
How many millions of dollars was siphoned off from just Flagler County Schools budget just this year, for the so called Parents’ Choice program? Now repeat that for every other county in Florida. Almost $8000/ student (including home schooled students/private school students) REGARDLESS of parental income! You can be a BILLIONAIRE in Florida, and still collect your ~ $8000. Many states offer lower income families a voucher, and a lottery system for using money for private school education, but you have to be attending a “failing” school to qualify. Even before the subsidy, other states allowed home schooling of students, HOWEVER, most states required that your student take a standardized progress test at the end of every year…if you didn’t maintain your grade level in home schooling, you had to be put back in either a private or public school the following year. FLORIDA (to my knowledge) has NO SUCH REQUIREMENTS for testing home schooling students to assess if they are maintaining grade level. And, once your child gets out of elementary school, it can be VERY CHALLENGING for the average home school parent to teach advanced subjects at a proficient level…I know I wouldn’t be able to do it in all subjects.
So as we see College curriculum’s in Florida censored, and professors sanctioned or fired for putting CHALLENGING ideas in the classroom, designed to make students THINK and QUESTION (Oh how TERRIBLE and “WOKE” of them) the status quo’s, we can see parents ( those from out of state who have other college options, and those “in state” students who can afford PRIVATE college education), send their children elsewhere in DROVES! If the current POLITICAL trends continue in Florida, over the next 5 or so years, you won’t be able to RECOGNIZE the Florida Higher Education system (and not in a GOOD way)!
My son works for a company that has multi-state locations. They were opening a location near the Orlando area, and he wondered if he should accept a transfer offer. I told him ABSOLUTELY NOT! My (biracial ) 5 year old grandson is FLOURISHING in a public school in my prior home state, in a school that is EASILY maintaining grade level scores. Why would I expose them to the political and educational CHAOS that is Florida right now, under it’s current ADMINISTRATION…It BROKE MY HEART!
PS: not to mention the cost of renting/buying appropriate housing in the local area!
Jeani D says
Just sick! There is a time and place for things in life. School is not the place for children to be exposed to sex issues. It’s about learning to read, write and learn to apply mathematics. Maybe focus on teaching children how to balance a bank account and apply common sense to real life issues. Slavery was not limited to “race or color”. There is only 1 race, “Human”, and only one color, “Brown”. Humans are various shades of brown. Simple!!! Now, Let’s teach these kids how to Read, Write, Budget, Manage Finances and their Emotions.
Jim says
From your comments, I’m guessing you got your education in Florida.
To quote you: “Slavery was not limited to “race or color”. There is only 1 race, “Human”, and only one color, “Brown”.” Please enlighten all of us on your sources. In this country, almost all slaves were blacks (or to stay with your definitions – “dark brown”).
As far as kids being exposed to “sex issues” at school, I’ve got some really bad news for you. What do you think kids talk about amongst themselves a lot more often than math? Sex. And often they’ve got it wrong but – over time – they’ll eventually get the straight scoop. Not from any educational tools (if folks like you can help it) but through trial and error (pregnancies?). I’m older than dirt and that’s what was discussed very often when I was growing up. We didn’t have the internet so I guess kids get the straight dope quicker nowadays. So dream on if you think Florida is doing any kid a favor. All the BS is being done for is the parents who didn’t have the good experience the first time through school and are making sure their little baby is kept pure until they’re married (or pregnant, whichever comes first).
Atwp says
Is it true teachers are fleeing the state? If it is true, I love it. From my understanding of the story, teachers in Florida are close to the bottom of the pay list. A good reason to flee. I don’t have to remind people that taxes and insurance are very expensive in this state. We will see what happens to education in this state and country as time goes by.
Endless dark money says
Don’t worry republicans won’t take any accountability for it and blame it on the woke. Future haha that’s funny Who has a future? Oh I guess the science deniers are the only ones who still believe there will be much at all in a couple decades. Funny how stupid people are if you read a book with gay characters does that make one gay? Nope. Maybe we should tech kids about our leaders and how they are convicted felons who paid money to have sex with hookers and committed millions in financial fraud while paying no taxes at all.
My new number sticker *President musk please do not eat my dog. *
marlee says
My sister in law who taught in FL, left because of the restrictions.
The dude says
As did we.
I had a middle schooler in the “good” school in Palm Coast, and my wife was a teacher.
We were getting hammered from all sides…
Low pay, onerous regulations, poor educational standards, low information parents and olds voting in low information school boards… all of it.
Michael J Cocchiola says
None of this is a shock or surprise. I am mentally sick of and angry at Floriduh. Unfortunately, these feelings are now spilling out to America as a whole. I would leave, but that’s no longer possible. So I reluctantly endure.
The good news for Floriduh is that much of the South is crawling up the MAGA backside, and we will soon see a crowd tied in last place for school systems’ and kids’ performances. Make America Dumb Again!
I suppose we all need tire changers and lawn care.
Jim Morrison says
I need to look further but I bet that large dem cities are the reason the state is doing so poor. let’s look at orange, dade, broward, duval, leon, hillsborough counties compared the the rest. do you want to look for me and support my claim?
The dude says
Expecting others to do the work you’re too lazy to do.
Especially when yelling at the clouds or arguing with strangers on the interwebs… and demanding they provide proof to bolster your argument.
That’s peak MAGA right there, and totally on brand.
It takes all kinds says
The author needs to get their facts straight. Many, perhaps most of the assertions early in the article are false. And the alleged “book bans” are often cases where librarians purposely remove books from the shelves, ostensibly out of fear that they will violate an unwritten rule, and then claim that the books were “banned”. None of this would be necessary if higher education wasn’t already a left-wing bastion where conservative thought was squashed. It’s the education establishment that “hates and fears knowledge” and protects their own “most cherished prejudices”. For years, “college professors and other educators who teach disfavored subjects” like free inquiry were already “self-censoring”. Now, the other side has had enough and demands equal time. Hopefully in the end universities will be places of open debate and study, versus ideological factories. Meanwhile, don’t complain — this was your doing.
Matt says
Spoken like a true psycho left wing nut job communist. Lefties HATE anyone who does not agree with them & typically their first move is character assassination & this article is no disappointment for that.
NEXT here comes all the false accusations & baseless claims, Blah, Blah, Blah.
It’s no wonder that the general population is waking up to all the bovine excrement that the left offers, supports & pursues.
FlaPharmTech says
Hi. Leftie here. Curious what you see in the mirror?! Oh right, you’re in the trump cult, hence nothing to see here, move along politely.
We Lefties are gonna trump ya.
Mondexian Mama says
Psycho left wing nut job communist? You better lay off the cooking sherry and watch what you say, or the gazpacho police may get you!
Endless dark money says
This is what Florida voted for. Hahaha now watch the department of education and other social programs be dismantled by a trillionare. Fools get what they deserve. I’m excited to cut social security and Medicare why are we paying for the richest generation ever not to work. Kick those millions of people off the affordable care act and see if Luigi gets a Mario haha.
Ed P says
Anyone interested in “ the rest of the story” should visit:reports.college board.org and see the entire Florida SAT picture in its entirety. It provides all the stats and information on the SATs for any year.
Second, some responsibility must fall at the actual educators feet. It can’t all be because of administrators or book banning. Teaching talent/ skill have limitations but should be taken into account. The total tax dollars spent per student is important but more importantly is how are those dollars being utilized.
If you are interested, the % of seniors tested rose from 81% in 2021 to 95% in 2024. The inclusion of the additional 14% who may not necessarily be serious or college bound could have effected scores.
If you examine the ethnic break down of test takers and score achievements, a pattern will be apparent. Two groups who stand out amongst the whole are Asians and whites.
Is it possible that metro schools are not performing to acceptable levels? Looks that way. The American Indians/Alaska Native appear to struggle the most. Rural schools an issue? Maybe.
To lump all the public school system, or lay the blame on Republicans or Democrats, or blaming the teachers does not tell the story fairly. It’s complicated, but….
The students and the parents have a major role in each of their own success or failure.
How many parents understand the importance of their daily participation in teaching their children. Leading by example, working hard, using all the resources available including reading with their children. Make learning fun at home, you’ll be amazed how much your children can teach you.
Trudy Beerman says
Florida may be a Red state with a Republican Governor, BUT the school system HAS BEEN BLUE!!! Tampa Florida’s School Board – BLUE!
This piece may want to finger-point at DeSantis, but the Red State voted in a Blue school system. If nothing else, neither supported the other, leading to the falling grades. However, I am more inclined to think the Blue Management system failed the school. Even the higher echelons of education are Blue – including Ivy League institutions.
If education is failing, it is a blue-triggered issue.
Jim says
Wow! When did the Tampa school system take over the entire state of Florida? I missed that. I’m pretty sure Florida is a red state from north to south and east to west with small pockets of Democrats here and there who have little to no impact on much of anything. But, somehow, you’ve determined that one city in the state is responsible for the downturn in SAT scores for the whole state. But that’s to be expected from you MAGA folks. You can take a small kernel of information and turn it on it’s head to claim it’s the whole story!
Good try but I think most of know that Florida’s school system(s) are tanking and until voters start paying attention to the kind of people we’re putting in office, it will not get better.
FlaPharmTech says
Is the sky blue? Is the ocean blue? Is the sun yellow? Is grass green? Is Moby Dick a classic story? Now for the tricky part…is Moby Dick about a whale?
Reading is truly fundamental. Reading the book that speaks to you must be unconstrained. Reading is freedom.
Last I checked the USA is the Land of the Free.