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- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that requires the public universities to survey students and staff about their beliefs.
- The surveys purportedly seek to determine the state of "intellectual diversity" on campuses.
- DeSantis said campuses that are "hotbeds for stale ideology" are "not worth tax dollars."
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed legislation on Tuesday that will require the state's public colleges and universities to survey students, professors, and staff about their political views in an effort to crack down on intellectual "indoctrination" on campus.
DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential contender who's closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, threatened to cut funding from state universities if he determines they don't sufficiently promote "intellectual diversity."
The governor said campuses that are "hotbeds for stale ideology" are "not worth tax dollars and that's not something that we're going to be supporting moving forward," during a Tuesday press conference at a Fort Myers middle school.
The annual surveys will assess "viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom" and determine "the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented" and whether students, professors, and staff "feel free to express beliefs and viewpoints on campus and in the classroom," according to the text of the bill.
The law, which is effective July 1, demands Florida's students "be shown diverse ideas and opinions, including those that they may disagree with or find uncomfortable."
University professors and education experts in Florida have expressed concern that the law will allow the state government to interfere with teaching, politicize faculty hiring, firing, and promotions, and stifle faculty and student speech.
"I worry that this bill will force a fearful self-consciousness that is not as much about learning and debate as about appearances and playing into an outside audience," Cathy Boehme, a researcher at the Florida Education Association, told the Miami Herald in April.
DeSantis said he knows "a lot of parents" are concerned their kids will be "indoctrinated" in college.
"It used to be thought that a university campus was a place where you'd be exposed to a lot of different ideas," the governor said. "Unfortunately, now the norm is really these are more intellectually repressive environments. You have orthodoxies that are promoted and other viewpoints are shunned or even suppressed."
The conservative effort is part of a broader right-wing drive to push back on progressive influences in education. Republican lawmakers across the country are pushing to prohibit the teaching of The New York Times' 1619 Project, about the history of slavery, and critical race theory, both of which have been banned in Florida's public schools.
The governor also signed two other education bills on Tuesday mandating new civics and "patriotism" education requirements in Florida's K-12 schools, including teaching about the "evils" of communist and totalitarian governments.
Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Republican, emphasized at the Tuesday press conference that Florida's kids needs to be taught "about loving America," and "what our real history is and what our legacy is."