Today, a federal court of appeals has ruled unconstitutional the higher education provisions of a classroom censorship law that unfairly restricted an educators’ ability to teach about concepts like race, gender and more, commonly known as the Florida Stop W.O.K.E. Act.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for academic freedom and the free speech rights of instructors in our classrooms and notwithstanding the lawmakers and Governor DeSantis, the appeals court has acknowledged that we as content experts and scholars have a right to decide the content of our lessons and the curriculum for our classes,” said Robert Cassanello, President of the United Faculty of Florida. “The Governor and lawmakers cannot compel us to repeat state drafted political speech to our students. Our first amendment right to free speech has never and will never hinge on who happens to lead our state.”
“We are glad to see the ruling by the court to deem parts of Florida’s classroom censorship unconstitutional,” said Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association. “For too long, ideas and concepts that encouraged critical thinking were blocked simply because some Florida leaders didn’t agree. This ruling is clear- you cannot limit the rights of others just because you don’t like what they say.”
According to the court ruling:
“Florida’s salary-for-speech rule is a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse in the very places the State’s own statutes recognize as centers of inquiry—classrooms where students are trusted to puzzle through ideas that are good and bad, easy and hard, ideally getting ever closer to the truth…
Florida seeks to strip public university professors—and by extension their students—of the ability to fully engage with ideas that are, for better or for worse, very popular in some academic circles. The State asks us to consider its rules a means of targeting discrimination. But hearing an idea you disagree with is not discrimination; it is an opportunity to come up with a better idea, or maybe even change your mind…
The proper role of universities in our society has long been a topic of fierce debate. Universities and professors do not always get it right. Neither does the government. But as we said not long ago, “[i]ntellectual and cultural tumult do not last forever, and our Constitution is unique in its commitment to letting the people, rather than the government, find the right equilibrium.”
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The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with 120,000 members. FEA represents PreK-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational staff professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired education employees.
