MSN The Times interviewed a dozen academics — in fields ranging from law to psychology to agronomy — who have left Florida public universities or given their notice, many headed to blue states. While emphasizing that hundreds of top academics remain in Florida, a state known for its solid and affordable public university system, they raised concerns that the governor’s policies have become increasingly untenable for scholars and students." The University of Florida has been hit particularly hard, according to the report, as liberal arts "faculty of color have left," including "Paul Ortiz, a history professor" as well as "a former president of the school’s faculty union," who's "leaving after more than 15 years to join Cornell next summer." Furthermore, the Times reports, the school of arts "struggles to hire or retain good faculty and graduate students in the current political climate." The university's law school has seen a "30 percent faculty turnover rate."
It's not surprising that the state government is making this argument, but it is repugnant all the same: Florida says school libraries have right to remove LGBTQ books First Amendment experts and advocates interviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida all had grave warnings about what court support for the state’s argument could mean. “There’s considerable irony in that those who seek to limit access to books in school libraries often say they’re fighting for parental rights,” said Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. “If government speech determines what books can be in the library, the government is essentially saying your children can only see the ideas that the government has approved. “That’s not parental rights,” he added. “That’s authoritarianism.”
I’m one that thinks elementary schools should not have certain books in their library but on the flip side think books should not be banned at public libraries. My argument has been if it’s important to a parent they can take their kid to the library or go there themselves and check the book out to bring home.
I imagine everybody agrees that elementary schools shouldn't have some books. But the government doesn't and shouldn't have unfettered discretion in determining what books they do have. Governments controlled by Democrats shouldn't be able to purge any book that Republicans like simply to punish Republicans. And governments controlled by Republicans shouldn't be able to purge any book that Democrats like. There has to be some limit.
Article on professors choosing to get out of Florida due to the current regime and hostility to higher education. As the article notes, UF Law has been particularly hard hit: In Florida’s Hot Political Climate, Some Faculty Have Had Enough
A wave of tenured professors leaving their highly coveted positions say the DeSantis administration is the reason they're leaving Florida (msn.com) Neil H. Buchanan, an economist and legal scholar who specializes in tax policy, was recruited to the University of Florida College of Law in 2019 in a tenured position, a huge get for the school. Now, four years later, Buchanan has decided to head to Toronto to become a visiting professor. In a recent Justia article, Buchanan wrote that Florida Republicans "have shown in every way possible that they want to get rid of people like me," criticizing their "increasingly open hostility to professors and to higher education." "In that sense, it is fair to describe my situation as one in which 'the other guys won,'" he added. (He said he'd take a sabbatical from UF through June 2024, and he expected to be tapped as Professor Emeritus next year.) The Times spoke with a dozen academics from a range of fields who had decided to leave Florida's public colleges or were doing so, with many headed to Democratic-led states. They said Florida remained a home for an array of top academic leaders in their fields, but DeSantis' policies were unsustainable for both academics and students. .......... Danaya C. Wright, a University of Florida law professor, told The Times that several job candidates had pulled back their interest in moving to the state. "We have seen more people pull their applications or just say, 'No, I'm not interested — it's Florida,'" she told the newspaper.
In terms of the "parental rights argument," does the process evaluate complaints made by parents differently than complaints of others? I seem to recall reading about complaints submitted by people who do not have children in the school(s). I don't know if the complainants even have to live in the district at issue?
It's supposed to. Although, the process is slanted towards the people wanting to ban books, rather than the people wanting to keep them.
In tonight’s debate when asked what president do you admire - DeSantis said Calvin Coolidge. GOP Debate in Alabama Live Updates: Haley, Ramaswamy, Christie and DeSantis Clash The moderators ask: Which former president would you draw inspiration from and why? Chris Christie: Ronald Reagan because he was a “slave to the truth.” Christie said he has been writing a book about Reagan titled “What would Reagan do?” Nikki Haley: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln because Washington outlined what the government was intended to do and Lincoln brought a divided country together. Ron DeSantis: Calvin Coolidge understood the proper role of the federal government under the Constitution. Vivek Ramaswamy: Thomas Jefferson for writing the Declaration of Independence and inventing the swivel chair. He had a pioneering spirit.
DeSantis is proving to be a bit of a dud in the POTUS race. No matter, his state is going, glowing and growing and, under his leadership, was among the first states to emerge from Covid tyranny.
Nothing concerning about this: Florida tells judge that removing books is protected government speech Trying to get a better understanding of Florida's argument that public school libraries are meant to convey the government's message and that book removals are protected government speech, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor posed a hypothetical. During a Wednesday hearing in Tallahassee, the Trump-appointed judge asked a representative of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's office if, for example, the state believed an official could selectively remove school library books written by Democratic politicians. Attorney Bridget O'Hickey replied in the affirmative. If Floridians didn't like it, she added, they could vote that official out.
Libraries as government propaganda centers. More, “what would the commies do” legal reasoning out of FL “conservatives”.