The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, is interested in learning how much money has been allocated to diversity initiatives at Florida’s public colleges.
Press secretary Bryan Griffin released a letter sent to Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz and Florida State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues on December 28 to the public on Wednesday. He directs the Florida legislature to collect data on diversity programs in the state’s universities and colleges in advance of upcoming budget debates.
It was emphasized throughout this presentation how important it is to have accurate cost data for government agencies. In this letter, we inquire about critical race theory financing from the State University System and the Department of Education.
The university administration has been instructed to detail the percentage of each program’s financing from external sources, the total number of FTEs added, and the total amount spent.
Since George Floyd’s untimely death in the summer of 2020, several news sites have reported on the influx of cash into the youthful diversity industry. According to research by the Heritage Foundation, colleges hire around three people from underrepresented groups for every one hundred full professors. An examination by Fox News found that diversity officers in public institutions in the states of Michigan, Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois earned salaries of $329,000 to $430,000.
The conservative think tank recommended that higher education committees, state legislatures, and university boards look into the funding institutions get for DEI employees. Providing tangible instances of how investing in DEI can enhance the would help persuade stakeholders that investing in DEI is vital to attaining their goals.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, who was just re-elected in a landslide, has undertaken several changes in response to the pervasiveness of Critical Race Theory. Students at state colleges and universities must complete a civic literacy course and assessment as a graduation requirement. Students at state colleges and universities must conduct annual evaluations of viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom. These bills were signed into law two years ago.
Conservatives were outraged to learn that the new parental rights law included provisions that would discriminate against students who identify as LGBTQ in elementary and secondary schools. A whole grade level (K-3) was singled out by a rule that forbade teachers to avoid addressing sexual orientation and gender identity with their kids.
We must guarantee that our institutions of higher learning are focused on academic excellence and the hunt for the truth, not the imposition of fashionable ideology,” DeSantis said in his second inaugural address. We will protect our children from influences that might harm them and work to improve the quality of life for parents.