A key part of Florida’s 2022 Stop WOKE Act was blocked by an appeals court this month. It’s the part that restricts how instructors at colleges and universities can talk about issues surrounding race and gender.
The latest successful legal challenge is the topic of today's Speaking Of.
Another part that placed similar restrictions on workplace trainings was blocked in 2024.
Now, the law has just one main component left. The restrictions still apply to the state’s K-12 schools.
Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for this law to stop what he called "indoctrination" in university classrooms. It was meant to suppress discussions around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as critical race theory, which delves into the idea that racism is systemic.
At a bill signing ceremony in Hialeah Gardens in April of 2022, he championed the legislation as providing protections for students and parents.
He said the changes would "ensure that the education they're receiving in Florida is consistent with the standards of the state of Florida, and those standards do not allow pernicious ideologies like critical race theory to be taught in our K through 12 schools."
"We are not going to use your tax dollars to teach our kids to hate this country or to hate each other," DeSantis said. "We are not going to tell some kindergartener that they're an oppressor based on their race and what may have happened a hundred or two hundred years ago, and we're not going to tell other kids that they're oppressed based on their race. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't succeed in this state."
Florida A&M University College of Law professor LeRoy Pernell was the named plaintiff in this lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of a group of Florida public university professors. The case was successfully argued by ACLU senior staff attorney Leah Watson.
"They weren't going to be able to provide important information, even to teach foundational concepts that are required by their academic disciplines," Watson says. "So we sued on behalf of these professors, challenging the Stop WOKE Act on constitutional grounds...Academic freedom has traditionally protected the ability to determine what to teach and how to teach it."
We hear from Watson as well as Ana Goñi-Lessan from The News Service of Florida, who urges us to "stay up to date with these laws" and "stay informed."
Click LISTEN above to hear the full conversation.
