Florida Board of Education Restricts DEI Funding in State Colleges, Replaces Sociology Course

The Florida Board of Education on Jan. 17 implemented a new rule limiting the use of public funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, activities, and policies in the state’s college system.

The decision will “ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses,” the board revealed in a statement.

The colleges include Valencia College, Seminole State College of Florida, Polk State College, Palm Beach State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Eastern Florida State College, Daytona State College, and the College of Central Florida.

The rule adopted by the board defines DEI as “any program, campus activity, or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”

It bans Florida College System 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” or generally meet the state’s definition of DEI.

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Florida’s Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said.

Florida ‘Will Not Spend Taxpayers’ Money Supporting DEI’

“These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”

The board noted that Florida remains committed to providing students with “a world-class education rooted in the pursuit of truth, rather than biased indoctrination” and that the state’s higher education system has been ranked first in the nation for seven consecutive years by the U.S. News & World Report.

The Florida Board of Governors voted on Nov. 9, 2023, to approve similar regulations regarding the implementation of a bill preventing public universities from using state or federal funds for DEI initiatives.

However, the Jan. 17 decision by the state’s board of education officially implements the regulation for the Florida College System.

The move comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vows to reform higher education across the state while condemning controversial DEI programs. Some lawmakers and experts are concerned that the programs teach critical race theory and promote social justice activism focused on race and gender in schools.

‘Accurate, Factual Account of Nation’s Past’

In May 2023, Mr. DeSantis signed legislation banning taxpayer dollars from being used in state colleges and universities for DEI programs and restricting how gender and race are taught on campuses, particularly as they pertain to “identity politics.”

“DEI is better viewed as standing for ‘discrimination, exclusion, and indoctrination,’ and that has no place in our public institutions,” Mr. DeSantis said when signing that bill into law.

However, critics argue that such measures target underrepresented groups and risk further marginalizing some students.

On Jan. 17, the Florida Board of Education also announced that it will replace a “principles of sociology” course with a “comprehensive general education core course in American history.”

The board said the replacement will “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.”

While the sociology class will no longer be available on the course options, students will still be able to access it if they want to, according to Florida College System Chancellor Kathryn Hebda.

Responding to the board’s decision on Jan. 17, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump wrote on X: “We continue to go down a misguided path of censorship in Florida!”