Ron DeSantis plotted an all-out assault on public universities

[Sancho]

https://jasongarcia.substack.com/p/ron-desantis-plotted-an-all-out-assault?s=r

Over the past year, Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature have been on a crusade against public universities, tarring them as “intellectually repressive” and “socialism factories.”

They have passed laws ordering community colleges and state universities to dig up details about the personal political beliefs of their employees, making it harder for professors to maintain tenure, interfering with university accreditation, and threatening funding for schools that don’t fall in line with the governor’s efforts to control the teaching of slavery, segregation and institutional racism.

And DeSantis may just be getting started.

Records obtained through a series of public-records requests show that DeSantis’ office recently developed a sweeping plan to overhaul higher-education oversight in Florida. The governor’s proposal would have centralized more power in boards run by the governor’s political appointees, made colleges and universities more dependent on money controlled by politicians in Tallahassee, and imposed more restrictions on what schools can teach.

The DeSantis plan would have even stripped university presidents of the ability to hire professors.

Just for context:

Stacking the FL Board of Governors

DeSantis has stacked both boards with friends, fundraisers and ideological loyalists. His appointments include a donor who once gave DeSantis a place to live when he needed a new address; a former education secretary who presided over the failed privatization of an entire school district; a woman who has expressed support for Jan. 6 rioters and the QAnon conspiracy theory that government, business and media are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles; an attorney who defends Republican dark-money groups; a Boca Raton doctor and investor who gave DeSantis $50,000 one week before his appointment (and who has given DeSantis more than $75,000 more since); the CEO of utility giant Florida Power & Light; and a lobbyist for Walmart.

[TigressDem]

1. Dumb down the people so they believe the lies. Grrr. nt

[Mister Ed]

2. Prepare for a brain drain.

Students and educators alike will probably begin to avoid Florida public colleges and universities.

[spooky3]

3. Smart move, DeSatan. All the best faculty and students will go

To other universities they can afford. It’s like deliberately chopping up roads or turning off water supplies needed by fire departments.

[TheRealNorth]

4. I hate to say it...

But a lot of people probably care more about how good the Gators and Seminoles are at football and not whether the kids are getting a good education.

[Timeflyer]

5. DeathSatan

Desantis is up for reelection this year (2022). He's an authoritarian with a very thin skin who is politicking to his base at all times, trying to out-Trump Trump. He and his cronies/financial backers want to privatize all aspects of schooling, and make laws so they can control curriculum and produce more ill-educated Repuglican voters. He's okay with gerrymandering, voter suppression, take-over of women's bodily autonomy, whatever foul red meat will feed his base --there's no hope for Florida if he gets another term.