DeSantis’ Policies Will Have Impact Beyond Florida Public Schools

In 2020, then-Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran proclaimed that “Governor DeSantis truly is the Education Governor, and Florida is the ‘Education State.’” The statement is an encapsulation of the reputation that DeSantis has carved out for himself, for better or worse, and reflects how he has made educational policy the cornerstone of his controversial political career.

As many speculate that the governor is eyeing a 2024 presidential election bid, his proposals for education reform in Florida have only increased in frequency and intensity. In March 2022, DeSantis approved House Bill 1467, which mandated new training for librarians in K-12 schools, a review of instructional materials that may be “inappropriate or unsuitable” for any grade level or age group, and procedures for parents or county residents to object to the use of certain materials on these grounds. DeSantis has also asserted his influence in public colleges and universities, most recently replacing six of the thirteen members of the Board of Trustees at New College of Florida in Sarasota with conservative political allies.

While DeSantis’ targeted impact on public education—from K-12 schools to institutions of higher education—is evident, his educational policies promise ramifications for the private sector as well.

The sway that the governor’s administration has on private educational institutions was illustrated in his sparring match with the College Board over their recently unveiled Advanced Placement (AP) course in African American Studies. After taking issue with some of the course’s subject matter, DeSantis and fellow conservatives in Florida’s Department of Education engaged in communications with the College Board about proposed changes to course materials. Remarkably, reports surfaced that the College Board altered elements of the original AP African American Studies course in accordance with conservative state legislators’ objections. The pared-down version of the curriculum, which reportedly came as a surprise to many of those who initially contributed to the materials, eliminated some current topics that were subject to controversy, including topics such as reparations, critical race theory, and Black Lives Matter, and added “Black conservatism” as a possible research topic.

College Board has vehemently denied that Florida legislators influenced amendments to the course: “We had no negotiations about the content of this course with Florida or any other state, nor did we receive any requests, suggestions, or feedback.” They further argued: “We deeply regret not immediately denouncing the Florida Department of Education’s slander, magnified by the DeSantis administration’s subsequent comments, that African American Studies ‘lacks educational value.’ Our failure to raise our voice betrayed Black scholars everywhere and those who have long toiled to build this remarkable field.”

Educators and activists have since expressed their belief that the changes were indeed at the behest of DeSantis’ administration. David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, claimed that the changes prove the College Board had “capitulated” to the governor’s protestations. Despite the College Board’s denial, legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw similarly expressed this belief in a tweet: “For the College Board to cave to politics—which they now admit—is a disservice to education and undermines democracy.”

The indirect effect of DeSantis’ rhetoric on race and higher education has also surrounded recent disciplinary action leveled against Samuel Joeckel, a professor of English at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a private Christian college in West Palm Beach, Florida. Joeckel was notified that his contract renewal was suspended pending further inquiry into a parent complaint that his unit on racial justice constituted “indoctrination.” He has been teaching at the university for over twenty years and claims that the racial justice unit had been a part of his syllabus for twelve years without complaint. The notice was given on the same day that DeSantis was slated to host a press conference on the university campus to announce his “Digital Bill of Rights,” aimed at, among other things, “eliminating unfair censorship.”

While DeSantis’ visit was not directly related to the action against Joeckel, in many respects, it symbolized the ways in which DeSantis’ looming presence in the state’s educational system has shaped the landscape of higher education—even in the private sphere. Joeckel stated in an interview: “What is happening here is part of a broader cultural and political moment—as DeSantis and other politicians seek to weaponize education and control the narrative about America’s fraught racial history, institutions of liberal education have the opportunity to instead embrace free thought, open dialogue, and critical examination of our history and institutions. Instead, PBA has chosen to capitulate to that toxic and fear-based political ideology.”

Beyond the direct influence of his policies on public institutions, these recent events demonstrate the ways in which DeSantis has also changed the terms of the dialogue around education, race, and pedagogy in myriad settings. While his regulatory decisions have a significant impact, the underlying effect of his rhetoric will have far-reaching implications for educational organizations and institutions—public and private alike.