Citing state policy on tenure, elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and the cost of living, Florida faculty laid out their frustrations in a recent survey.

In a Faculty in the South survey conducted by various conferences of the American Association of University Professors, 31% of Florida respondents said they have applied for a job outside of Florida since 2023. That number was 25% among all survey respondents in the South.

The same, 31% of Florida respondents, said they plan to seek employment in another state during the next hiring cycle.

“The governor of Florida threatens at every turn to take funding away so administration at colleges don’t stand up to him or board of education. I no longer have any motivation or creativity to make courses better,” a tenured professor at a public community college wrote.

The survey focused on policy affecting employment, including whether faculty would recommend working in their state to up-and-coming academics, and trends in applications for faculty positions. It included nearly 200 responses from Florida faculty among its nearly 4,000 responses across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The survey concluded with an open-ended question asking faculty to provide examples of how “attacks on higher education are directly impacting your work.” It did not report respondents’ identities beyond basic demographics like gender, race, tenure status, years of experience, and type of institution they teach at.

‘Walking on egg shells’

“Students report any classroom discussion they don’t like directly to the Governor’s office. Everyone is afraid all the time,” one woman teaching at a public four-year school wrote. “I have stopped teaching books that might be in any way controversial. I don’t open up general discussion in class but ask only direct questions that will elicit non-controversial answers. I need health insurance so I can’t just quit.”

The state scanning course materials for disfavored viewpoints was a widespread stressor for many faculty.

Florida DOGE to ‘deep dive’ into state universities, ‘prune’ ‘ideological study stuff’

“Most of the courses I’ve taught for decades now violate state and university mandates,” a man teaching at a Florida tier-one research university said.

As of earlier this year, Florida institutions’ general education courses no longer contained “indoctrinating concepts,” State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues proclaimed in January.

Florida universities have conducted a review, required by a 2022 law, of general education courses to ensure that they do not “distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics.”

“I’m continually worried that the content of my clases [sic] will be flagged as “DEI” because I am a historian of the Caribbean, a region mostly populated by non-white people,” one professor said.

One women’s studies professor described the effect as “Constant anxiety, walking on egg shells trying to anticipate what would be used against me/us.”

More than a third, 34%, of Florida respondents said administrators have questioned syllabi or curricula choices for their courses. Among all states surveyed, half as many, 17%, indicated administrators questioned their curricula.

One professor said that since the state and federal government have made illegal “a wide range of Constitutionally protected components of speech and expression,” “I must break the law in order to tell the truth. Because I’m hired to tell the truth, and because I’m much more committed to the truth than to the law, I break the law. This means I am expecting to be arrested in front of a classroom any day, for actions that are illegal only as a result of the right-wing fad of the most recent decade.”

Nearly three in four, 71%, of faculty in Florida who were surveyed said they would not encourage a graduate student to seek employment in Florida.

“I am going to take early retirement despite a great job and salary. The threats are real and I am exhausted, between fighting this and fighting AI and poorly prepared, lazy, unethical students,” a tenured professor at a four-year public university wrote.

Higher education funding cuts have been the subject of nationwide political debate, including Florida State University reporting that it lost $100 million in federal grants, although $83 million of that has since been reinstated, the school’s president said last week.

About one-in-10, 11%, said they have had a federal contract ended by the Trump administration.

“The loss of vital federal grants has removed opportunities from me and my colleagues,” one professor wrote. “Attacks on LGBTQ students, immigrants, and diversity have also made it difficult to recruit promising graduate students or to guarantee their health and safety. Florida colleges being forced to remove diversity languages has destroyed years of valuable work, overturned an incredible general education curriculum, taken power and governance away from faculty, and wasted a lot of valuable time.”

Tenure troubles

Since 2023, professors in Florida with tenure have been subject to post-tenure review, graded on standards crafted by university trustees relating to research performance, teaching, service, and compliance with state laws and university policies.

Of the nearly-one-third who recently applied for an out-of-state job, tenure and DEI issues, academic freedom, the political climate, and cost of living were among the most common concerns.

Respondents said the number of applications for coworkers’ positions, as well as the quality of applicants, have decreased.

“Our department is trying to improve, but we have had several failed searches in recent years because candidates don’t want to move to Florida because of the broad political climate and the fact that tenure protections functionally no longer exist here,” a tenured public university professor said.

Some faculty said they have not experienced problems with “attacks on higher education,” one stating, “I haven’t felt any — Florida is great!.” Another said, “They’re not, and freedom in the classroom still persists, and I am at a public university in… wait for it… FLORIDA…”

“I find that I’m having to spend more time explaining to students why they need to use evidence to support their views and why clear arguments are important,” a professor at a private institution wrote.

One professor complained that “our board of trustees stacked with heritage foundation members, our president was forced out and replaced by a republican politician.” Course materials face heightened scrutiny, this professor added.

“The climate of persecution, retaliation, and ideological imposition makes it impossible to teach my discipline accurately or well without opening oneself to disciplinary measures,” that professor said. “While New College got a lot of headlines, similar invasions of public universities are happening with no national press, leaving those of us who work here isolated and vulnerable to attack.”

‘Academic freedom is on life support,’ say professors surveyed on tenure, censorship

Gov. Ron DeSantis orchestrated a shake-up of the University of West Florida Board of Trustees in a more conservative light earlier this year and that institution is now led by a former GOP lawmaker.

Results for the survey were collected throughout August and more than 60% of respondents said they are tenured. Last year’s iteration of the survey featured responses from about 350 Florida professors.

“There is a lower threshold of critical thinking because everyone is fearful about what is ‘allowed’ vs. ‘banned’ by law. The fear and the self-censorship is widespread. Our administration, now saddled with a governor-imposed, unqualified hire as a President, is understandably more cautious rather than vocal about protecting academic freedom,” one professor wrote.

Florida governors have long held sway over the selection of state university presidents, but Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken extra care to install political allies with limited higher education experience in these well-paid jobs, including his former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.

Now, a bill filed for the 2025 regular session of the Florida Legislature would limit the governor’s authority, giving universities more autonomy in selecting their leaders. Sen. Alexis Calatayud of Miami and Rep. Michelle Salzman of Escambia County introduced the measure.

HB 1321 in the House and SB 1726 in the Senate would strip the State University System’s Board of Governors (BOG) and State Board of Education of their power to approve university and college presidents, leaving it up to the institutions’ trustees and search committees. The bill would prohibit Board of Governors members from sitting on search committees.

Since 2023, five of Florida’s 12 public universities have hired new presidents — the University of Florida, New College of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Polytechnic University, and Florida Atlantic University. Four — Florida International University, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, and Florida A&M University — are in the process of finding new presidents.

UF hired former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse as president in February 2023, but he stepped down in July 2024 and reports of profligate spending followed, requiring a fresh search.

FAU chose Adam Hasner as its president this month. The former state House majority leader faced pushback from College Democrats because of his partisan background, although he pledged during forums that he would stay away from politics as president.

Nuñez stepped away from the DeSantis administration to become interim president at her alma mater, FIU, this month, two years before her term in office was set to end.

Trustees from both institutions applauded their new presidents for their connections in Tallahassee and perceived political influence over appropriations.

Jose Oliva, a member of the Board of Governors, said moments before that panel approved Nuñez that when he was speaker of the Florida House and Nuñez was lieutenant governor, “it was very standard to see her during budget time in the speaker’s office advocating for FIU and making sure that FIU received not just the proper support from the Legislature, but also the proper recognition for its many successes.”

People who protested Hasner, Nuñez, Sasse, and former House speaker Richard Corcoran at New College largely focus on fears they would politicize the institutions. DeSantis has been plain that he wants to convert the formerly progressive New College into the Hillsdale of the South, referring to the conservative Christian college in Michigan.

DeSantis has hinted that similar transformations may be coming at the University of West Florida, which just underwent a big shake-up of its board of trustees, and elsewhere within the system.

The governor’s office and BOG have made no secret of their motives, making clear they want to “prune” “ ideological study stuff,” want no more “indoctrinating concepts,” are putting certain degrees under the microscope for their return on investment, now that colleges and universities must undergo “DOGE Florida” audits.

“I want to say that we are fully aligned with the Board of Governors’ vision and mission because ultimately we recognize that FIU’s success is also the BOG’s success,” Nuñez said Feb. 20 in front of governors about to vote for her confirmation.

The governor reached out to FIU to advocate for Nuñez. Earlier, DeSantis reportedly positioned now-state Sen. Randy Fine for FAU’s post (although that fell through), and his office guided Sasse to Gainesville, Politico reported.

The newly proposed legislation would reverse heightened secrecy that the Legislature and DeSantis imposed for presidential searches in 2022, reopening records about presidential searches under Florida’s public records laws.

Among the other requirements, Calatayud and Salzman’s bill would impose term limits on State Board of Education members (two four-year terms), college trustees (eight consecutive years), university trustees (10 consecutive years), and Board of Governors members (one seven-year term) and require them to disclose their financial records. Members of the Board of Governors would have to be residents of the state.

Calatayud declined to comment about the legislation, nor did Rep. Demi Busatta, chair of the House higher education appropriations commitee, respond to requests for comment.

The bill has support from the two Democrats on the Senate Higher Education Appropriations committee, Sens. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Tracie Davis.

“I’ve been concerned for many years that the governor has used his power to influence decisions on provosts and university presidents really to reward his most loyal soldiers, and it’s not getting us great leaders at our higher education institutions. In fact, it’s resulted in a lot of grift and a lot of corruption,” Smith told the Phoenix.

Davis called the Calatayud’s bill “refreshing,” saying DeSantis “has basically weaponized the appointments of presidents here in the state of Florida.”

“Being an educator myself, many of them don’t have the qualifications to be presidents of universities,” Davis told the Phoenix.

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, too, supports a move toward independence for universities.

“That legislation, I think, is going to be in tension with the governor,” Driskell told reporters on the opening day for the legislative session last week. She added: “I really appreciate that to the extent that we can get away from the governor having such a heavy hand on these appointments, I think that would be better for the people of Florida, too.”

‘Long history’ of nontraditional candidates

Critics see DeSantis’ exertion of control as worrisome for the universities and academic freedom but BOG vice chair Alan Levine counsels calm. He is a former deputy chief of staff to former Gov. Jeb Bush.

“It really isn’t new. I know people want to hang this on Gov. DeSantis, I just don’t think that’s fair,” Levine told the Phoenix in an interview before Salzman and Calatayud filed their identical bills.

“Gov. DeSantis is not the first governor to be interested in who university presidents are,” Levine said, adding that he believes some of the best presidents in Florida were not academicians.

Hasner, selected unanimously over two career-academic finalists, and Nuñez have no experience in higher education administration, while Corcoran previously served as Florida education commissioner and Sasse was president of Midland University, a small, private institution in Nebraska.

When he served under Bush, Levine said, “a new president didn’t get hired unless we were aware of who it was and we were comfortable with who that person was.” The Board of Regents — now replaced by the Board of Governors — would keep the governor’s office informed about presidential searches he added.

“There’s a long history of people that are nontraditional candidates” who proved “exceptional presidents,” Levine said, listing former House Speaker John Thrasher (FSU 2014-2021); former House Speaker T.K. Wetherell (FSU 2003-2010); former Jacksonville Mayor John Delaney (UNF 2003-2018, Flagler College 2021-present); and former Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan (FAU 2003-2009).

He also listed attorney Marshall Criser, who served on the Board of Regents and as president of University of Florida for five years starting in 1984.

How does Florida stack up with the rest of the nation?

Politics in higher education is happening “most in red states,” Judith Wilde, a presidential search researcher at George Mason University, told the Phoenix, listing as examples Virginia, Texas, and Georgia.

“It’s those sorts of southern red states where we see politics come in most. The most egregious by far is in Florida,” Wilde said. “DeSantis makes it clear what he wants, and his people make sure that’s what happens. There’s not much more to say about that.”

“It was exacerbated in a way by Sasse himself, when you look at the reasons that he was forced out of the position,” Wilde said. “When he took on the role, he said he would not bring politics into the position and yet he hired people who had been on his staff when he was a senator to do things. He hired some firms that he knew from his days in Washington. … So, he brought politics right back into it.”

UF responded to Sasse’s administrative practices by implementing new HR policies for the office of the president.

DeSantis himself claims the universities are heading in the “direction quite frankly that Florida voters have been very favorable towards in the last many elections.”

“We believe in the mission, but we also have a responsibility to make sure [presidents are] operating in ways that are consistent with the state’s best principles and best ideals,” DeSantis said during a news conference last month.

“So, when you have somebody that has already proven that they have a dedication to classical mission of the universities, that they have opposed efforts to use universities for ideological indoctrination, I just think it gives people a little more confidence that they’re going to do that as they go in.”

Wilde argued that presidents selected through nonpolitical processes can produce conservative leadership, but that relying on politicians may not always lead to the desired result.

“I think it’s sort of naive to say that having a politician, you know what they’re going to do and that they will remain conservative,” she said. “I don’t feel that that’s necessarily a rule, and if they really want somebody conservative, then they should be able to get that with a regular search. Most politicians don’t seem to really have a clue about what a university does, and so how can they really lead it?”

Fear of political payback could prevent search committees from advocating for candidates other than the one preferred by the governor, Wilde said.

“It’s going to take a lot of thinking and cogitating on the part of the members of the search committee to go against the governor, because they know that if they go against him and choose somebody else without having a really good reason, or being able to convince that this other person would be better, that they may lose their positions in whatever it is they do.” Wilde said.

More presidents than in the past across the country are stepping down before their terms end, one reason being the increased frequency of secret searches and another lack of support from the university community, she said.

“When the search is done in secret, it means that the people at the university don’t know who’s coming and, at the end, kind of like the Wizard of Oz — suddenly a curtain has pulled aside and with a roll of drums, here’s your new president,” Wilde said.

At UF, Sasse was the sole finalist named — notwithstanding a state law requiring a “shortlist” of finalists to be made public.

Wilde’s research into the 2015-16 academic year found that 92% of searches nationwide involved an outside search firm, the vast majority of which suggested secret searches. During 1975-76, only 2% of searches were done in secret; the rest were done locally and involved alumni, faculty, students, and local stakeholders.

According to a 2022 nationwide survey of college presidents by the American Council on Education, since 2006, presidents’s tenure has decreased by 2.6 years. Presidents surveyed had been in their position an average of 5.9 years.

“I’m not aware of any specific effort for this to happen, it’s just sort of a natural evolution,” Levine said.

What’s it take?

According to Artis Hampshire-Cowan, a search consultant hired by FAMU, university presidents must be “ business executives” to be successful — tenacious, with an understanding of the complexity of university finances and the scramble for resources.

About 80% of presidents will serve in that capacity at only one school in their career; 17% will serve in a second presidency, Wilde said.

“[Search firms] claim you need to have someone who’s been president, and yet there aren’t very many of those who choose to be president again,” she added.

Sen. Gayle Harrell, chair of the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee, said she believes political experience can help a president but isn’t everything.

“They have to be the complete package.” Political experience “may give you a leg up, but it’s only one aspect of all the credentials that you have to present,” Harrell told the Phoenix.

“There are insights gained from having legislative experience or administrative experience in Tallahassee that perhaps someone coming from out of state or from another university system might not understand,” Harrell said.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Florida’s universities and colleges will go under independent audits, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday, with an eye toward fiscal responsibility and to “prune” the “ideological study stuff” while maintaining “core, important subjects.”

DeSantis announced the audits as part of a larger DOGE effort in Florida, mimicking the “Department of Government Efficiency” headed by Elon Musk in President Donald Trump’s administration.

He said Florida universities and colleges will “be subjected to an independent review and audit to study efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and financing.”

“This is the DOGE-ing of our state university system,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Tampa. “And I think it’s going to be good for taxpayers and it’s ultimately going to be good for students, as well.”

DeSantis said his administration will conduct a “deep dive” into “all facets of university operations and spending,” and make recommendations to the Board of Governors and Board of Education about how it could “eliminate any unnecessary spending.”

“Now, this will include examining courses programming and staff at the institution to ensure that Florida students are receiving an education that will best equip them to gain meaningful employment after graduation,” DeSantis said. “There are certain subjects that, look, if you want to do some of this, go to Cal Berkeley, go to some of these other places. We don’t really want to be doing some of this stuff in Florida.”

The effort extends to state agencies, too. DeSantis instructed each agency to form its own team using “the most innovative technology feasible,” including artificial intelligence, to reduce spending, programs, and contracts.

The governor’s comments Monday reflect the same agenda laid out in SB 266, a 2023 law that eliminated courses from the required general education curriculum and prohibited spending state or federal dollars on initiatives related to diversity, equity, or inclusion.

DeSantis said the focus should be on students getting jobs by teaching “the core, important subjects,” and that “classical liberal arts subjects that are really important, can help you become a better thinker and ultimately see the world in better ways.”

“It’s not like it’s rigid, but some of the ideological study stuff, we just want to prune that and get that out, and we want to make sure that these universities are really serving the classical mission of what a university should be, and that’s not to impose ideology,” DeSantis said.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said he is “laser-focused” on student outcomes.

“The programs at our higher ed institutions should provide our students with a strong foundation rooted in the principles of our country, what it was founded upon, which leads students to a long-lasting career. While other states have pushed students into degrees, as the governor often likes to mention, in zombie studies. Florida is focused on the workforce and the needs of our economies,” Diaz said.

Opposition

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried contested DeSantis’ DOGE efforts Monday, saying he has “consistently passed the largest state budgets in Florida’s history” and that he used taxpayer money to campaign against amendments 3 and 4 on legal marijuana and abortion rights in the most recent election.

“Ron DeSantis needs to shut his damn mouth,” Fried said in a news release. “Republicans have been in total control of Florida’s government for nearly 30 years, and he wants to talk about government waste?”

UnidosUS, a Latino advocacy organization, criticized DeSantis’ record, calling it “political theater” and advocated for policies that benefit all.

“After 30 years of uninterrupted Republican leadership in Florida, Gov. DeSantis has decided it’s time to audit … Republican leadership,” UnidosUS Florida Director Jared Nordlund said Monday.

“The irony is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. The governor’s latest move to create a ‘DOGE task force’ — a knockoff of the ineffective federal DOGE — feels less like a serious policy effort and more like a bizarre attempt to stay relevant in national politics. During today’s press conference, he claimed to have been mulling over this for two years, but what has he been doing for the past six years as governor?”

ROI

The state has commissioned a study of the “return on investment” of certain programs offered by universities, including women and gender studies, computer science, civil engineering, finance, and nursing, the Phoenix reported in December. The report is expected to be released about midway through the Legislative session, which starts next week.

Rep. Anna Eskamani told the Phoenix that targeting the financial aspect of women and gender studies and related programs represents a second effort to eliminate the programs after lawmakers shied away from taking that step in 2023 after she raised First Amendment concerns.

“What the BOG is trying to do is give another reason to remove this program by saying, ‘Economically it doesn’t make sense,’” Eskamani told the Phoenix in December.

“So, this is what is really scary, because they knew they couldn’t remove these programs just based on speech. … So now they’re trying to make up an argument that, ‘Ooh no, there’s an economic reason why we don’t like them. We don’t care about what the programs teach, we just don’t see the economic value of them anymore.’”

New College concerns

Although DeSantis’ and Diaz’s comments centered around having better outcomes for students, the Board of Governors mulled stronger financial oversight over universities in January amid concerns that the New College of Florida was not using transparent financial practices.

New College came under the leadership of former House Speaker Richard Corcoran two years ago after DeSantis replaced its board of trustees with his own appointees. The institution has shifted toward a more conservative approach, including eliminating its gender-studies program.

Board of Governors suggests more financial transparency; New College spending questioned again

Board of Governors member Eric Silagy suggested during a meeting last month that the institution has been improperly spending on athletics and he has “frustration because of the inconsistency around a lot of these things” when reviewing university finances.

Vice Chair Alan Levine suggested a “more transparent scorecard of university finances,” and advocated for more visibility into the financial management of the institutions.”

Another point raised by Silagy centered around the approximately $90,000 cost to the state to educate each student each year at the small liberal arts college in Sarasota.

DeSantis’ executive order will create an “independent” audit effort within the Office of Policy and Budget in the governor’s office. It is in addition to measures currently taken to promote financial accountability.

Universities have long had internal audit processes and are subject to audit reviews by the Board of Governors Audit and Compliance Committee and the board’s inspector general.

The Legislature appoints an auditor general, responsible for auditing universities, including reviewing former University of Florida President Ben Sasse’s spending while in office.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Members of the Florida Legislative Jewish Caucus vocalized opposition to the newly appointed University of West Florida Board of Trustees chair, citing what they consider his antisemitic social media posts as a disqualifying factor.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Scott Yenor to the UWF Board of Trustees in January and then his fellow trustees elected him as their chair.

The bipartisan caucus is asking DeSantis to reconsider Yenor as a trustee, in part because of a recent thread of social media posts in which he commented on politicians’ sexual orientation, race, and “non-Jewish” status.

Watching @PeteHegseth‘s hearings yesterday I looked at the Dem Bench for national leadership or for reforming the party. Pretty slim pickin’s.
🧵🧵
— Scott Yenor (@scottyenor) January 15, 2025

Rep. Mike Gottlieb, chair of the caucus, told the Phoenix, “I mean, this is not the kind of guy that we need running an institution of higher learning and education here. He’s completely racist.”

In the thread, Yenor breaks down “the Dem Bench for national leadership or for reforming the party” by mentioning how many are heterosexual, lesbian, which states have two senators who are women, how many are “non-Jewish males over 65,” how many are Jewish, and concludes by writing that “only three of the 23 Democrat governors are straight white men under sixty-five.”

“Why are they non-Jews as opposed to being Christian?” Gottlieb said. “People are people, there is no need to label anybody.”

Yenor, a political science professor at Boise State University who has served as a fellow at conservative think tanks, has faced scrutiny for remarks advocating women stay out of higher education and against the LGBTQ community.

“There’s more to it than just what appears to be the anti-Jewish bias,” Gottlieb said. “… How does that make us any less qualified to be elected based on our religion, and that’s essentially what he said, and to me, that is marginalizing individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or religion, and I think that’s the definition of antisemitism.”

‘I’m not familiar with that’

DeSantis defended the appointment in January, saying he was not familiar with Yenor’s belief that women should put motherhood first, the Phoenix reported.

DeSantis defends UWF board nominee who criticizes women prioritizing their careers

“I’m not familiar with that. I mean, obviously, I think if you look at the state of Florida, we probably have a higher percentage of women enrolled in our state universities than we do men, and that’s probably grown under my tenure,” DeSantis said during the Jacksonville press conference in which he talked about the results of his education policy. “But what I don’t do, what I don’t like, is cherry-picking somebody saying this and then trying to smear them.”

Although Yenor is on the board, the appointment is yet to be approved by the Florida Senate.

Gottlieb said the caucus “felt like the governor should know more about this person.”

The bipartisan bunch of lawmakers, in addition to Gottlieb, includes Reps. Hillary Cassel and Yvette Benarroch as vice chairs, and Sens. Lori Berman, Randy Fine, and Tina Polsky, and Reps. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, Rita Harris, Chip LaMarca, Mitch Rosenwald, Michelle Salzman, David Silvers, Kelly Skidmore, Allison Tant, and Debra Tendrich.

Former Sen. Lauren Book and former Rep. David Silvers were included in the call to the governor.

Rep. Mike Caruso, who was the lone House vote against the special session immigration package DeSantis also disapproved of, is a member of the caucus but did not sign the letter.

Fine noted the impending confirmation vote Monday in an X post in which he declared he was “very troubled” by the appointment.

“He must still be confirmed by the Florida Senate and I will be sharing my concerns with my colleagues. There is no place for antisemitism in our Universities, let alone in their leadership,” Fine wrote.

‘Divisive and prejudiced remarks’

WUWF reported that some members of the UWF community and trustees expressed a desire for leadership with deeper ties to the community. The Pensacola News Journal reported that one of 13 trusteeships at UWF has direct ties to the Pensacola area.

Gottlieb said Yenor reached out to members of the caucus Monday.

“He’s contacted members of our caucus and tried to sort of explain his rationale for that and it didn’t fly with them,” Gottlieb said.

“Look, is he saying anything in that tweet explicitly negative to Jews? Not necessarily explicitly. But, by implication … I think when you call somebody out for being Jewish or not Jewish, that is antisemitic in and of itself.”

A news release from the caucus said that “allowing individuals with a track record of divisive and prejudiced remarks to hold positions of influence within our institutions … erodes public trust” and undermines the mission of Florida’s universities.

“From where I sit, we have a responsibility as legislators and certainly, as chair of the caucus, when I see something to say something, and this was brought to my attention by members of my caucus who felt that this was yet again another troubling appointment by Gov. DeSantis that doesn’t appear to be properly vetted,” Gottlieb said.

During the January news conference, DeSantis alluded to the idea that changes would be coming to UWF. His attention to its board of trustees mirrors his overhaul of New College of Florida two years ago.

Gottlieb said that, aside from the Jewish caucus concerns, Yenor is another “minion” for DeSantis.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Florida middle schoolers’ math and reading scores continue a decline that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Department of Education data released in January show. The data are not a fluke, as Education Commissioner Manny Diaz suggests, according to test administrators.

Reading scores among eighth graders dropped in the last four iterations of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) by the U.S. Department of Education in 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024.

Math scores among eighth graders dropped in the last three iterations in 2019, 2022, and 2024.

Eighth graders ranked in the bottom 10 states in reading and math scores, posting their lowest scores since 1998 and 1996, respectively.

Fourth graders improved their math scores in 2024, yet the results remain below pre-pandemic numbers. Reading scores for fourth graders decreased to their lowest level since 2003.

Florida was the second highest performing state in fourth grade math, behind Massachusetts, and the 10th highest state in reading.

The nationwide data collected in early 2024 showed reading scores declined for both grades, while math increased for fourth graders and made no significant change for eighth graders. National scores remain below pre-pandemic levels in all tested grades and subjects, NAEP found.

Marty West, an education professor at Harvard and vice chair of the NAEP executive committee, believes the reasons for declining reading scores are likely found outside of school.

“As I look at the more recent trends, I think it obviously comes to mind that we should be looking at what social media and the rise of the screen-based childhood is doing for reading habits and reading skills,” West said during a panel discussion in Washington, D.C., recapping NAEP results.

“We know from NAEP data there’s been a sharp decline in the share of students who report reading frequently outside of school for fun. … But I’m intrigued by the screens hypothesis because I could actually imagine it being something that creates both declines at the bottom and at the same time accelerates students at the top, because screens can be a remarkable source of enrichment if you know how to use them right.”

Nationally, NAEP reported that absenteeism “remains a problem.” Students still miss school days at a rate higher than before the pandemic, although attendance is up compared to the 2022 report.

The congressionally mandated NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, has been administered since 1969.

“The Nation’s Report Card is the only common yardstick to measure how U.S. students are doing. The results are essential to understand what students have learned and the road ahead for the schools and communities that serve them,” Martin West, vice chair of the NAEP governing board, said in a news release.

Diaz dissents

Diaz wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Education after the scores were released, criticizing the assessment’s methodology, saying it “fails to account for Florida’s educational landscape and I respectfully request that these shortcomings are addressed in future administrations of the exam.”

“In years past, this assessment has been the gold standard for states to compare their students to other states, allowing our state departments of education to adjust education policies to boost student achievement,” Diaz said in a letter to Acting Secretary Denise Carter.

Diaz offered “suggestions to help make NAEP great for educational progress once again,” including letting private schools participate in the assessment.

“The number of families pursuing the choice options that work best for them is growing fast and its one of our proudest achievements in Florida. Most importantly, these numbers represent the most engaged families and students our state has, yet NAEP results are only comprised of public school students,” Diaz wrote, mentioning that 524,000 students in Florida receive a school choice scholarship for private school or home school.

“It is incongruous that NAEP purports to grade the state of Florida while leaving such a huge portion of our students out of the sample,” Diaz concluded.

West addressed Diaz’s concerns during the discussion in Washington.

“Florida is a state that, according to the NAEP data, suffered some further declines between 2022 and 2024 in three of the assessments that we released results for today and so it’s not surprising that they would want to ask questions about the validity of the results,” West said.

West said the U.S. Department of Education would “love” to include private schools in the results but cannot because not enough agree to participate.

Diaz argued the assessment disproportionately included urban areas and underperforming schools.

West argued the selection of schools must be agreed upon by each state’s education department. Florida did sign off on the selected schools, according to West.

“So, it’s a little surprising to hear them raising questions about it after the fact,” West said.

Diaz suggested that a new computer and internet format deployed for the 2024 assessment could have affected the comparability of the results to earlier years. Peggy Carr, commissioner of the center administering the NAEP, said changes to the delivery were done in a “scientifically defensible way” and that it had no effect on the results.

Diaz added at the end of his letter that he supports the GOP push to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and that “Florida stands ready to assist” the federal department.

Education association blames policy

The Florida Education Association called Florida’s results “long-term consequences of underinvestment, overburdened educators, and bad policies that fail to support students equitably.”

“This should be a wake-up call: Florida’s students deserve real investment in their neighborhood public schools — now,” the teachers’ union said in a news release. “It’s time to take immediate action and that starts with fully funding public education, ensuring fair wages for educators, and keeping politics out of the classroom. Our students’ futures depend on it.”

Progress monitoring positive

The Florida Department of Education reported last month that its mid-year monitoring showed fourth and eighth grade reading improvement from the previous school year.

The mid-year monitoring is gathered through the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking, a test administered by the state three times a year to monitor progress.

The department reported that eighth grade students increased their math performance from the previous school year, and fourth grade students improved over assessments taken earlier this school year.

“Florida’s students continue to succeed at every level,” Diaz said in a news release. “Progress monitoring provides students with faster interventions leading to better results.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he will “have somebody ready to go” to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created by Marco Rubio. Given the slim GOP U.S. House majority, he suggested the appointee should come from outside of Congress.

Rubio is expected to resign when President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Rubio is Trump’s pick to serve as secretary of state.

“Well, we’re obviously, we’re going to make an appointment very soon,” DeSantis told reporters during a Monday morning press conference at the Capitol.

“I anticipate a vacancy occurring in the afternoon of the 20th or no later than the 21st, so we’ll have somebody ready to go on that,” DeSantis said.

Attorney General Ashley Moody has been rumored to be on a shortlist of potential appointees, although last week the governor said he will not be “refereeing any ‘who’s in, who’s out’” conversations.

Monday, DeSantis said elevating a Floridian from the U.S. House might not be the best strategy to maintain GOP strength in Washington.

Voters elected 220 Republican representatives during the 2024 elections, although the five-person majority potentially slims to two with former Rep. Matt Gaetz not taking office and others leaving for other offers, including Rep. Mike Waltz leaving to serve as national security adviser. Taking away from the House could give Democrats a chance to control the chamber, DeSantis said.

U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida. (U.S. House) Cory Mills. (U.S. House)

“We’ve talked to a lot of good people. We’ve got a lot of, I think, credible candidates, and some good candidates,” DeSantis said, confirming that he’s spoken with Rep. Kat Cammack and Rep. Cory Mills recently.

“I’ve been honest with the congresspeople, that’s a big concern of mine, because one of the criteria I had with who I’m going to appoint is, we just had an election. President has a mandate. I want you to help facilitate that. I don’t want you to be sand in the gears,” DeSantis said. “… But if you put someone there, and then it reduces the numbers in the House, and they make it harder for them to be able to enact an agenda.”

DeSantis said Cammack is a “fighter. She’s really really good, really strong, I think she’s got a great record.”

Mills has said he will run for the Senate seat when it is up for election in two years, Politico reported.

Mills took to social media after the news conference, saying he understands DeSantis’ “concerns regarding the U.S. House slim majority.”

“While I feel I would add value and be better positioned to help [Trump’s] American First agenda, we will have to see what the Governor decides,” Mills posted. “Either way, it’s an honor to be considered for the Senate and appreciated the positive feedback the Governor gave after our interview.”

Resign to run

Florida law currently requires anyone running for a new office to submit an irrevocable letter of resignation ahead of qualifying if the terms of the two offices overlap.

DeSantis on Monday criticized Florida’s resign-to-run laws, saying they prevent congressional and legislative special elections from happening on the same day because of the timeline requirements in statutes. DeSantis is charged with setting the special election date after consulting with the secretary of state.

“Incidentally, on this resign to run, I think it’s a ridiculous thing the way it’s worked out in Florida. I mean, the idea is, I think, that they want you to focus on the job you got elected to, and then not run for anything else while you’re supposedly being … ,” DeSantis trailed off. “The problem is, you don’t actually resign until the election’s over anyways.”

State Sen. Randy Fine and state Rep. Joel Rudman are among those campaigning for the two spots available in the U.S. House left by Waltz and Gaetz.

DeSantis said he wanted to schedule the legislative and congressional special elections on the same day, but existing law does not allow enough time for candidates to qualify.

Fine and Rudman are required to resign from their Legislature posts, although the law allows both to delay their departure until the day before the April 1 election.

Rudman made his resignation effective Jan. 1, while Fine will not leave the Senate until March 31.

“So, if you were going to do resign to run, you would say you resign the minute you announce your candidacy, which is not what they’ve done,” DeSantis said. “So I think they should just chuck the whole thing. I think it’s been more expensive for the state as a result of having to do the resign to run. It just hasn’t worked. But at a minimum, if you’re going to do it, the resignation, you would want it to be effective prior to the campaigning.”

The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the governor for not calling special elections for the open legislative seats.

The Legislature in 2023 changed Florida’s resign to run laws so DeSantis could make a presidential run and would not have to resign his job as governor had he become the GOP candidate.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

Rick Wilson, the former GOP political operative turned critic of Donald Trump and MAGA, has defeated a defamation suit filed by Michael Flynn, briefly Trump’s national security adviser, involving social media posts tying Flynn to Russia and the Qanon conspiracy theory.

Following a January trial, a Sarasota County trial judge ruled that Flynn, also a retired lieutenant general, failed to prove that Lincoln Project co-founder and Tallahassee resident Wilson had defamed him.

On Wednesday, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the decision.

Wilson argued that his messages were protected by the First Amendment as opinion or rhetorical hyperbole; the trial and appeals courts agreed.

“We have the privilege of living in a country with a ‘profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks,’” Judge Susan Rothstein-Youakim wrote for a panel also including judges Darryl Casanueva and Laurence Silberman.

“Like it or not, such attacks are a characteristic feature of our democracy — regardless of the political persuasion of the speaker and regardless of the political persuasion of the public figure on the receiving end of that speech,” the opinion continues. “As the trial court noted, Wilson’s tweets may not have been polite, and they may not have been fair. But the First Amendment required neither, and so we affirm.”

Flynn sought $50 million in damages and an order for Wilson to stop “defaming” him. Instead, he has been ordered by the court to pay Wilson’s appellate fees — which, Wilson wrote, amount to “Many zeroes. Six figures.”

“Their decision wasn’t just a win for me — it was a powerful affirmation of free speech,” Wilson said in his newsletter. “Not the warped, Elon-flavored ‘The Nazis had some good points’ free speech MAGA Twitter loves to celebrate, but actual free speech: my right to call out Mike Flynn’s character, conduct, and record.”

Ukraine invasion

Wilson’s tweets came in response to Flynn’s reaction following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“My ‘offense?’ I tweeted ‘Putin Employee Mike Flynn’ after he tried some shameless Vladwashing of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And their second ‘pillar’ — and I use that word as loosely as possible — was that I retweeted Jim Stewardson, who (in part) referred to Flynn as ‘Q’ of QAnon fame,” Wilson wrote Thursday in his Substack newsletter. “I kept imagining the legal implications if a retweet could be found to be defamatory. The world would be in some deep legal waters.”

Flynn has had a number of connections to Russia. He served 22 days as national security adviser but Trump fired him after concluding Flynn had lied to the FBI and Vice President Mike Pence about discussing U.S. sanctions placed by Barack Obama on Russia with the Russian government before taking office. Additionally, Flynn accepted a speaking engagement with RT, Russia Today, in Moscow in 2015, receiving $45,000, NBC reported.

Plain meaning

Flynn’s arguments focused on the plain meanings of the words Wilson used but the appellate judges replied that the context was crucial.

“And stripped from the rest of the tweet, Wilson’s statement may indeed appear to be making a factual claim about Flynn’s economic relationship with Putin,” the opinion reads. “But that is not what a reasonable reader of Wilson’s Twitter feed would think Wilson was trying to communicate. Rather, whether Flynn gets a regular paycheck from the Russian Federation — like Putin’s secretary perhaps — just isn’t Wilson’s point.”

The court said Flynn provided no evidence that Wilson acted with legal malice, nor could the Qanon statement be proven true or false.

“We agree with the trial court that no reasonable jury could find that Wilson defamed Flynn through the retweet of ‘FYI, Mike Flynn is Q,'” the judges wrote.

‘Lawfare’

Wilson wrote that the case exemplified the use of “lawfare” by the MAGA movement to intimidate critics.

“Flynn’s crusade against me is just one stitch in the broader MAGA tapestry of lawfare. Whether it’s their suits against the Federal Government, NBC, CNN, Nicolle Wallace, Andrew Weissmann, Fred Wellman, MeidasTouch, Jim Stewardson, or anyone else who dares to speak the truth, the strategy is clear: silence the critics of Trump World by any means necessary, ” he wrote.

“Thankfully, the lower court — and now the DCA — disagreed. Free speech isn’t a one-way street, no matter how hard Flynn and his ilk try to rewrite the rules.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

A survey of professors at Florida universities found that new state government limits on tenure and academic freedom, plus the state’s political climate, have prompted many of them to apply for jobs outside the Sunshine State.

Of approximately 350 faculty working almost exclusively in Florida public institutions, 135 — 39% — reported that since 2022 they have applied for a job in higher education in another state. Popular destinations include California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York.

The survey, headed by Georgia branch of the American Association of University Professors Conference President Matthew Boedy, asked professors across the South how political interference like tenure limits and political vetting of course materials have affected their career outlooks.

More than 2,900 professors answered across 12 states from Aug. 12-30. Responses to the Faculty in the South Survey came from Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Professor profess

Topics driving Florida professors to apply elsewhere were largely listed as “tenure issues,” as well as academic freedom, DEI, and the overall political climate.

In a free-response section, professors anonymously provided examples of how changes in tenure, contracts, and academic freedom affect their work.

Florida professors consistently highlighted post-tenure review. Approved by the Board of Governors in 2023 at the Legislature’s direction, the practice puts tenured professors under review every five years to determine their “productivity.” If deemed unsatisfactory, a professor can be terminated.

A report compiled by POLITICO shows that 91% of the 861 public professors who underwent tenure review met or exceeded expectations laid out for them. Some earned bonuses. Professors who did not meet expectations, 64 of them, must show improvement during the next year or face termination. More severe, 10 faculty members statewide had “unsatisfactory” performance and were terminated.

Professors spoke out forcefully against the reviews before they took effect last year, and this year’s survey results reflect that sentiment hasn’t shifted.

“Though I am not in direct danger from [post-tenure review], I am now eying the door,” one professor wrote.

“I traded off a higher salary and choice of where I wanted to live, among other things, for academia and its promise that I would be allowed to use my expertise to the best of my ability for my students and the good of society. But this bargain doesn’t hold anymore. The governor and university leaders hold their own faculty in suspicion and contempt. They are actively working to destroy lifelong careers. Tenure is definitely gone, and academic freedom is on life support. It’s time to go.”

‘Anti-woke policies’

Another professor said Gov. Ron DeSantis brags about Florida’s top ranking in higher education by U.S. News & World Report but neglects other topics.

“Rather than working on real problems … the governor keeps looking for more unconstitutional ‘anti-woke’ policies he can implement. Morale among faculty at my institution is the lowest I have seen in more than two decades of working in higher education.”

The Wall Steet Journal released its annual rankings of public universities Monday and it showed Florida’s institutions tumbling in the rankings, including the University of Florida losing its #1 spot.

More than two-thirds of respondents to Boedy’s survey said the effect has been a reduction in applications to join their departments or institutions.

One professor said she recently left a “BIG FL state school in Orlando” because the school “did not defend academic freedom” and did not give a pay raise for the 2023-2024 school year.

“My institution also allowed for post-tenure review to go into effect. I am a new scholar (PhD earned within the last five years), and, frankly, there was no viable reason to stay at that institution,” she said.

“No raise? No tenure (post-tenure review effectively nullifies some of the more important tenure protections)? Not being allowed to teach things from a “non-Western” point of view? My administration cowing to politicians? For real, what incentive is there to stay in FL in higher ed?”

Touting tenure review

DeSantis claimed during the Republican National Convention that Florida universities are “bringing in huge amounts of talent.” Something “maybe even more important” that, he added, is that Florida was “the first state to eliminate DEI” and was implementing post-tenure review.

DeSantis said the rule “is now allowing us to kind of get academia focused on the classical mission of pursuing truth, preparing students to be citizens of this republic, high standards, not be some type of an indoctrination camp.”

He added: “Some of these professors that were unproductive and had their other agendas, they’ve gotten processed out. The media will be like, ‘These professors are fleeing Florida.’ Wait a minute — if Marxist professors are leaving Florida, that is not bad for Florida, that is good for Florida.”

The legislative changes implementing post-tenure review were led by two state senators who now serve as Florida Department of Education officials: public schools Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.

During implementation of post-tenure review, DeSantis asserted that “unproductive” tenured professors are the “most significant deadweight costs” for Florida universities, the Phoenix previously reported.

More than 80% of professors said in the survey that they would not recommend a graduate student or out-of-state faculty seek employment in Florida.

“The governor of the state of Florida and his university oversight (BOG) have purposely misled the public about higher education,” one professor wrote.

“They are deceiving the public about what is taught, the implications of how ideas are communicated, and the outcomes of higher education. Their desire is for a college degree to simply be vocational education to prepare students to be ‘cogs in a machine’ rather than employees who understand social, political, and economic factors that have affected the ways employee rights have changed over the years.”

The state Legislature passed the Stop WOKE Act in 2022, which the state argues allows it to forbid college professors from criticizing the governor or teach concepts surrounding race, racism, and privilege.

Uploading a different syllabus

The effects of that law and related efforts by the state government have left professors bowdlerizing their courses.

“We literally upload a different syllabus to the public system than we distribute to our students in class just to avoid having to explain every single detail of it to some draconian maniac from the state legislature,” one professor submitted in the survey.

Another professor pointed out that the Math for Liberal Arts course name was changed to eliminate the word “liberal” to comply with state requirements.

“I no longer feel safe teaching works about Jewishness (I am Jewish) because my university is datamining our Canvas courses for mentions of words like Jew, Jewish, Palestine, Israel etc.,” one professor wrote, referring to an August order from Rodrigues to universities, asking them to review courses that may contain antisemitic material.

One professor said he is being censored from “telling legitimate truths,” and that “what we are seeing from our state government is deeply hegemonic and antithetical to the purpose of higher education.”

He said: “Even though I have been highly successful in a major state university in Florida, I am actively seeking faculty, administrative, and nonprofit jobs in other states. Florida has become toxic to anyone who believes in freedom of inquiry, freedom of speech, and the need to expose students to critical inquiry and a diversity of viewpoints.”

Another professor said she feels “hampered” in teaching contentious issues. “Respect for education to teach critical thinking skills is tanking,” she wrote.

“I can’t advocate safely for students and human rights. I worry my ‘Freedom of Speech’ isn’t so ‘free’ now,” another professor wrote.

During the post-tenure review policy approval process, professors warned that universities might struggle to recruit faculty if it were approved. Now, professors responding to the survey report, that prediction has come true and pools of candidates for many positions are mere fractions of what there were before the political focus on education intensified.

One professor said educators’ work is more relevant than the governor’s and that noise about Florida education seems to come more from outside the state.

“People outside the state seem to have more negative things to say about the state of higher education in Florida than those who actually work and live here,” he wrote.

“Judging a university by whether one likes the governor or not is both short sighted and politically biased in its own way. This is why we have elections and term limits in this country. The most relevant and important work happens in the classroom not the governor’s mansion.”

Across all states surveyed, a majority of respondents said they were deeply dissatisfied with the state of higher education, and 48.9% have noticed a decrease in the number of applicants for professor jobs.

Investigating impacts

Education policy in recent years drove Boedy, an associate professor at the University of North Georgia, to research the effect on those who teach.

“I wanted to do this survey of faculty in the South because I wanted lawmakers and policymakers and those who attack higher education to understand the impacts of those attacks,” Boedy said in an interview with the Phoenix.

“As you can see from the results of the 12 states, many faculty are feeling not just attacked but are feeling that they can’t do their jobs well and many are considering leaving their state. Those attacks from outside of higher education and within higher education have real impacts and I wanted the survey to show that.”

Boedy said the range in salary and experience in responses provides a “good picture of faculty across the 12 states.”

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.