Political ‘Litmus Tests’ in Florida
Academics oppose proposed legislation to survey student and faculty political beliefs at public universities.
By
Colleen Flaherty
Proposed legislation in Florida would require public universities to survey students’ and faculty members’ political beliefs annually.
The bill, HB 839, passed a House panel last week, amid opposition from Democrats who expressed concern about how the survey data would be used. A similar bill has been proposed in the Florida Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, and Governor Ron DeSantis is a Republican.
The survey language, which is part of a broader set of proposed performance metrics, is short on details. There is no assurance of data anonymity or clarity on who will use the data, for what purpose.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/03/18/academics-oppose-proposed-survey-student-and-faculty-political-beliefs-florida