No changes needed to cut CRT, diversity efforts, First Coast state colleges decide
State college officials who pledged to remove critical race theory from coursework and policies have found almost nothing to change at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
“After a thorough review of our offerings, it was not necessary to make any changes or updates to our course materials or policies,” college spokeswoman Jill Johnson said by email.
Presidents of the Florida College System committed Jan. 18 to a review that Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said reinforced that education would be “free from indoctrination and woke ideology.”
The presidents set Wednesday as their deadline to evaluate and remove any policies, training or instruction that “suppresses intellectual and academic freedom, freedom of expression, viewpoint diversity, and the pursuit of truth in teaching and learning.”
More on Black history:What is 'The 1619 Project' and why has Gov. DeSantis banned it from Florida schools?
What does it mean to be 'woke'? And why does Florida Governor Ron DeSantis want to stop it?
Johnson said FSCJ’s only change was a shift in the title of one human resources employee, and that no jobs had been eliminated.
St. Johns River State College, which operates campuses in Clay, St. Johns and Putnam counties, also “determined it was not necessary to make changes to uphold the Council on Presidents commitment,” said spokeswoman Michelle Sjogren. The University of North Florida and other schools in the state university system were not part of the review.
The deadline for changes passed while education activists focused on separate issues involving wokeness and Florida campuses, including Gov. Ron DeSantis’s statement Tuesday that he would seek to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college and university campuses.
The proposal was raised publicly during an event where the governor also advocated eliminating tenure, the job-security system that protects academics who research subjects that others find controversial or unpopular.
DeSantis had begun groundwork for cutting diversity spending earlier, however, asking colleges in December to report on the expenses involved in programs dealing with diversity or critical race theory.
Data compiled by school administrators in January showed that UNF committed about $1.8 million in state funds for staffing and work in areas including the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, UNF’s Intercultural Center, its Interfaith Center, LGBTQ Center Women’s Center and other projects including funding for anthropology courses. Those efforts received about $3.5 million in total funds, some coming from private backers.
UNF pays for about 20 jobs through projects that receive state funding, but it’s not clear how many of those jobs would be eliminated if only state funding were cut.
FSCJ budgeted about $3.7 million for work involving the areas the Governor’s Office asked about, but only $148,375 of that came from state funding.
St. Johns River State College allotted $79,853 for diversity-related efforts, which included $42,547 in state funding, Sjogren said.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Critical race theory: FSCJ, St. Johns River State say no change needed
