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> FL Capitol bill aims to control 'leftist' profs
>
> THE LAW COULD LET STUDENTS SUE FOR UNTOLERATED BELIEFS.
>
> By JAMES VANLANDINGHAM
> Alligator Staff Writer
>
> TALLAHASSEE - Republicans on the Florida 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.
>
> "Some professors say, 'Evolution is a fact. I don't want to hear
> about Intelligent Design (a creationist theory), and if you don't like
> it, there's the door,'" Baxley said, citing one example when he thought
> a student should sue.
>
> Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, warned of lawsuits from students
> enrolled in Holocaust history courses who believe the Holocaust never
> happened.
>
> Similar suits could be filed by students who don't believe
> astronauts landed on the moon, who believe teaching birth control is a
> sin or even by Shands medical students who refuse to perform blood
> transfusions and believe prayer is the only way to heal the body, Gelber
> added.
>
> "This is a horrible step," he said. "Universities will have to
> hire lawyers so our curricula can be decided by judges in courtrooms.
> Professors might have to pay court costs - even if they win - from their
> own pockets. This is not an innocent piece of legislation."
>
> The staff analysis also warned the bill may shift responsibility
> for determining whether a student's freedom has been infringed from the
> faculty to the courts.
>
> But Baxley brushed off Gelber's concerns. "Freedom is a
> dangerous thing, and you might be exposed to things you don't want to
> hear," he said. "Being a businessman, I found out you can be sued for
> anything. Besides, if students are being persecuted and ridiculed for
> their beliefs, I think they should be given standing to sue."
>
> During the committee hearing, Baxley cast opposition to his bill
> as "leftists" struggling against "mainstream society."
>
> "The critics ridicule me for daring to stand up for students and
> faculty," he said, adding that he was called a McCarthyist.
>
> Baxley later said he had a list of students who were
> discriminated against by professors, but refused to reveal names because
> he felt they would be persecuted.
>
> Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, argued universities and the
> state Board of Governors already have policies in place to protect
> academic freedom. Moreover, a state law outlining how professors are
> supposed to teach would encroach on the board's authority to manage
> state schools.
>
> "The big hand of state government is going into the universities
> telling them how to teach," she said. "This bill is the antithesis of
> academic freedom."
>
> But Baxley compared the state's universities to children, saying
> the legislature should not give them money without providing "guidance"
> to their behavior.
>
> "Professors are accountable for what they say or do," he said.
> "They're accountable to the rest of us in society ... All of a sudden
> the faculty think they can do what they want and shut us out. Why is it
> so unheard of to say the professor shouldn't be a dictator and control
> that room as their totalitarian niche?"
>
> In an interview before the meeting, Baxley said "arrogant,
> elitist academics are swarming" to oppose the bill, and media reports
> misrepresented his intentions.
>
> "I expect to be out there on my own pretty far," he said. "I
> don't expect to be part of a team."
>
> Florida House Bill H-837 can be viewed online at
> www.flsenate.gov.