Stop WOKE Act

The Hillsborough County School District will gauge the community's reaction to its racial equity policy in the coming weeks after the state Department of Education said the district is out of compliance with the new "Stop WOKE" law.

The governor wants state colleges to submit information on programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion,and critical race theory.

On this week's Florida Roundup, we discuss Gov. Ron DeSantis' statement that Florida is “where woke goes to die” and what that means for professors — and students — on the receiving end of the governor’s policies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis may have sounded like he was talking to the rest of America, but a USF political communications expert says the governor was actually playing it safe.

They include challenges to new laws that prevent abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and restrict classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

One of the responses was filed on behalf of University of South Florida professor Adriana Novoa, student Samuel Rechek and the First Amendment Forum at USF. It alleges that the state has “established a blacklist of ideas on college campuses.”

Senior Chancellor Jacob Oliva said Hillsborough County is planning a full review of all policies and procedures to ensure compliance.

DeSantis has often said rulings that halt his legislative priorities are likely to be reversed by appeals courts in Florida that are generally more conservative.

The university system’s Board of Governors is slated to consider a draft of the regulation, which lays out criteria that makes clear that compliance with the race-related instruction law would be considered.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker last month issued a preliminary injunction, agreeing with three businesses and a consultant that the workplace-training restrictions in the “Stop WOKE Act” violate the First Amendment.

The lawyers raised a series of arguments that the "Stop WOKE Act" violates speech rights.

Governor Ron DeSantis is reshaping school boards in Florida. He's exerting control over local school policies, including how they teach children about race and sexual orientation.