The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is backing the Donald Trump administration’s work to remove “racial discrimination and stereotyping in education” from the classroom.
And the agency is ready to help states working to comply with the edict from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).
“Florida leads the nation in education, which has included ending policies of racial preferences and discrimination, and we stand ready to assist any state working to comply with the directive from USDOE,” reads a statement from Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.
After all, he said, Florida has done much of the work already.
“Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has been a leader in ending policies that discriminate based on race and encourage racial stereotyping amongst students,” the statement continued.
“Through the Stop WOKE Act, signed in 2022, Governor DeSantis ended the teaching of any concept that promotes, advances, or compels individuals to believe discriminatory concepts such as Critical Race Theory. Additionally, this bill expanded instruction of African American History to develop students’ understanding of the ramifications of prejudice and racism.”
Upon introducing the concepts behind the Stop WOKE Act, DeSantis slammed “woke ideology” and “cultural Marxism,” saying it was “an attempt to really delegitimize our history and our institutions” designed to “tear at the fabric of our society and our culture and things that really we’ve taken for granted.”
The FDOE also notes that DeSantis signed SB 266 in 2023, a bill that bans “institutions from spending federal or state dollars on discriminatory initiatives such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs.”
“SB 266 also prohibited programs, majors, minors, curriculum and general education core courses that violate Florida law regarding prohibited discrimination or that are based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States,” the FDOE added.
“The Florida State Board of Education followed that by passing a rule to permanently prohibit DEI programs, activities and policies in the Florida College System (FCS).”
When signing the legislation, DeSantis said it struck a blow against a campus “monoculture” that was driven by DEI.
“DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” he said. “That has no place in our public institutions.”
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