Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

It wasn't enough to try to force FSU to open a chiropractic school. According to something called The Independent Florida Alligator, some Republicans in the Florida legislature now have found an even better way to undermine the state University system. It's called H-837 (aka S 2126) [full text below], and has this innocuous title,

An act relating to student and faculty academic freedom in postsecondary education; amending s. 1002.21, F.S.; providing student rights to academic freedom; creating s.1004.09, F.S.; providing a postsecondary student and faculty academic bill of rights; specifying student, faculty, and instructor rights; requiring the dissemination of copies of the act to state universities and community colleges; providing an effective date.

But in fact, as the Alligator summarizes the bill, it's quite remarkably stupid:

TALLAHASSEE — Republicans on the House Choice and Innovation Committee voted along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill that aims to stamp out “leftist totalitarianism” by “dictator professors” in the classrooms of Florida's universities.

The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, passed 8-to-2 despite strenuous objections from the only two Democrats on the committee.

The bill has two more committees to pass before it can be considered by the full House.

While promoting the bill Tuesday, Baxley said a university education should be more than “one biased view by the professor, who as a dictator controls the classroom,” as part of “a misuse of their platform to indoctrinate the next generation with their own views.”

The bill sets a statewide standard that students cannot be punished for professing beliefs with which their professors disagree. Professors would also be advised to teach alternative “serious academic theories” that may disagree with their personal views.

According to a legislative staff analysis of the bill, the law would give students who think their beliefs are not being respected legal standing to sue professors and universities.

Students who believe their professor is singling them out for “public ridicule” — for instance, when professors use the Socratic method to force students to explain their theories in class — would also be given the right to sue.

…Professors might have to pay court costs — even if they win — from their own pockets.

The silver lining to this asinine proposal is that the University of Miami, which is a private school, won't be affected. Destroying the public law schools in the state would certainly leave UM as the undisputedly best law school in the state, instead of having to compete with UF and FSU …

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