State Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson (D-Gainesville) and State Senator Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) recently filed legislation HB 6007 and SB 810 to remove the three major provisions of HB 233—secret student recordings, anti-shielding measures that limit course content selection, and political litmus tests in the form of ideological surveys. These measures are severely detrimental to academic freedom as well as the right to privacy of the higher education community, which includes faculty, staff, and students.
Representative Yvonne Hayes Hinson issued the following statement:
“HB233 represents a whole-scale assault on higher education and the freedom of individual thought in Florida. It puts unjust restrictions on the great colleges and universities within our state, recently exemplified by the University of Florida’s denial of the three political science professors to consult and testify as experts on voting rights. We cannot allow such a bill to inhibit individual freedoms. We must remove these impediments and allow our higher education system to operate in a way that protects free speech and promotes true intellectual freedom.”
Senator Tina Polsky issued the following statement:
“I strongly opposed HB 233 last session because I believe in the merits of intellectual freedom and the free exchange and debate of ideas originating in our universities. Throughout our history institutions of higher learning have served as incubators of innovation, making our country the great nation it is today. HB 233 would subjugate these fine institutions in our state to the whims of ideology.”
