You are 100% right of course - but that is not really the objective - his objective is to galvanize a base that believes in this(who probably are not attending these schools), and raise money for a political campaign - and his objective will be a successful one
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FL residents could also consider Academic Common Market publics in the other states shown at Southern Regional Education Board.
Well, Princeton is not a very good example, as it is beyond wealthy and prides itself on having courses only 1 or 2 students are enrolled in. It is private, so not my concern how it spends its money. Public universities, for better or worse, are beholden to those who charter and pay for them, the taxpayers and their representatives
Hillsdale does not participate in federal financial aid, because they don’t want to be required to adhere to the regulations associated with participation in federal Title IV financial aid programs. This leads me to wonder whether this proposed “Hillsdale of the South” will refuse to comply with federal regulations - and if so, will it lose the ability to participate? I know exactly where this is heading, and it’s being done for a very specific political purpose.
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Teachers are allowed to augment the AP curriculum . Let me correct that. Teachers outside of Florida are allowed to augment the curriculum.
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UCF is a public school. They are going to comply with federal regulations.
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OMG! We love Ralph’s World. After not listening to it for awhile since my older ones are teens, my youngest (10) and I were listening to our favorites over the last 2 days. The songs are so catchy they get stuck in my head day and night. Tonight she brought me a glass of lemonade while singing “Happy Lemons”. Your post made me smile in this otherwise sad thread.
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I sense that it could become the test case for a big fight that goes beyond Florida. The whole premise of Hillsdale is consistent with their refusal to follow rules with which they disagree.
I guess since it’s a public school instead of a private like Hillsdale is, the Supreme Court case will be deciding State’s Rights.
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It seems a giant unwarranted leap to assume NCF will suddenly stop following applicable federal regulations. I don’t see any indication of that from any public university in the US.
NCF is a very expensive failure now. I would prefer it would just close, but if the state wants to try to overhaul it to give it one more chance, I can understand that. I think a major-specific brand would be better than the proposed overhaul ( maybe an engineering only school? A true honors school?) But this is the current option chosen by the taxpayers’ representatives, which is how democracy works.
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One more thing I don’t think has been mentioned on this thread is that DeSantis is shopping for new accreditors for the state colleges. This allegedly started because SACS is investigating political influence at UF and FSU.
There’s a lot out there, but this article is thorough (access with free account): Florida seeks new accreditors
I don’t know much about school accreditation, can you add insight @kelsmom? or anyone else?
Since they seem to be moving to the largest accrediting body, I am not sure what the concern is? The legislation requires changing accreditation bodies every 10 years or so? So eventually they will cycle back to their current accreditors. Actually I think it is a good practice to change it up frequently-prevents too cozy a relationship and brings a fresh set of eyes to the process.
Frankly, I see no practical reason to switch accreditors. I have been involved in renewals, and it’s extremely time consuming. Switching accreditors would be a nightmare. Unless there was a compelling reason to switch - like the accreditor ceasing operations - I can’t think of any point to it. I guess the only thing I can think of is that the politicians want the schools to completely reconfigure their programs and administrative policies … which could not be justified if they remain with the current accreditor. They would be wasting a whole lot of money switching, so they could push for massive changes at the same time.
I am familiar with HLC accreditation and the process of reaccreditation with them. They are one of a number of accreditation agencies, and I honestly don’t understand how the cost involved with switching could be justified.
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Well, I’ll say that my D23 has an acceptance/merit to one of the big state FL schools, and that school is no longer on the list. I’m not spending my money - or betting her college experience - on four years within a political football. No thanks. I also originally had NCF on her potential list, thank God it was removed early on. I thought it was a quirky but interesting school - but too small for D23.
Anyway, I don’t see this as a mere attempt by DeSantis to try something new - which would be within the scope of his duties. Instead, and I’ll use NCF as the example, this is an attempt to use colleges - and students, and faculty, and staff - as fodder for a political launch at POTUS.
If he thought the NCF’s mission was not a good one, and/or that NCF wasn’t working, and wanted to try something else, that’s fine. There are ways to go about that that are legitimate. But putting literal right wing provocateurs and bomb throwers on the board is clear evidence that this is not a good faith attempt to change a mission for educational reasons. Chris Rufo (for example) is not on NCF’s board now to engage in good faith conversations about creating a solid college education. He’s there to start fights, piss people off, and ultimately to make headlines and then appearances on the GOP’s various entertainment wing media outlets, all to make sure that DeSantis’s “anti-woke” cred is in place for a 2024 run.
Regardless of what one thinks of “wokeism” or “CRT” or what-have-you, this is a shameful misuse of the power of the Governor’s office.
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Florida has an engineering only school (and it isn’t all that successful either) and engineering is offered at almost all (all?) of the universities. The honors colleges at UF, FSU, and UCF are well established and largers than NCF.
There is no need for NCF to become anything. It is just a very expensive school that the state can’t really afford anymore.
What I don’t understand is why Desantis is pouring more money into it right now to make it fail.
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My guess is for the headlines and nods of approval from the base he is creating.
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He is doing it to score some political points. That’s it.
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According to CRT, if you “don’t endorse it” you are proof of its premise. I don’t know how a “theory” like that (one that doesn’t allow questioning) is a helpful part of education. And CRT isn’t taught as much as it is used as a basis for all teachings.
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Well, I assume he is in part trying to save at least some of the jobs affiliated with that college, rather than fire everyone? I would expect there are not any active buyers interested in the facilities. One wonders why this place ever existed at that price
It has almost as many employees as students.
Here is a good read on CRT, which is not necessarily what it is portrayed as being: What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack?. Food for thought.
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