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FUSA updates! (Talking Blues edition)

In the grand folk tradition of Talking Blues, the following post will address some recent issues affecting Higher Ed and workers in general. We aim to inform and, when possible, provide some options for organizing around and responding to these issues.

Woody Guthrie, could we use you now!

Talkin’ syllabi postin’ requirement blues

FUSA has learned through monitoring efforts by FEA public policy advocates and the UFF government relations committee that the State board of Education is amending the rule governing the FL Statute, 1004.085 – Textbook and instructional materials affordability and transparency, which contains the mandatory syllabi posting requirement.

One curious thing about laws not covered by Schoolhouse Rock is the rulemaking process. This is the process of laying out how the law (or statute) is implemented and interpreted. Where the law has the broad strokes, the rule includes the fine detail. Rulemaking authority is typically granted to the agency executing the law. Agencies can also amend the rules. In this case the State Board of Education (SBOE) is seeking to amend the previous rule imposing syllabus requirements in some significant and concerning ways.

While we’ve gotten used to posting our syllabi in advance and the process thus far has been fairly simple and straightforward, the SBOE seeks to change that. The new rule seeks to add the following onerous and unrealistic syllabus posting requirements:

  • Required and recommended textbooks and reading materials
  • student assignments including a title, brief description of the assignment, and any required readings

Find the full text of the of the proposed rule on the State’s page for FCS Textbook Affordability: Rule 6A-14.092, Florida Administrative Code. The State needs to hear from faculty about this ill-advised rule change and why it is simply not a realistic expectation. Leave your public comment on the State Board Rules Under Review page before the next State Board meeting on November 13, 2025. (look for the row: 6A-14.092 – Textbook and Course Material Affordability and Transparency)

Talkin’ get your politics outta my academic freedom blues

The attacks keep coming from both the federal and state levels. We need to stand up united and push back! Here are some resources on Academic Freedom from the American Federation of Teachers and the American Association of University Professors as well as actions you can take to help protect it.

Talkin’ government shutdown sent me to the food kitchen blues

With the longest government shutdown in our history still affecting furloughed (or fired) federal workers and citizens in need of government services, and with no clear signs of resolution in sight, we have some options for making your voice heard. Please consider taking action with one or more of the options below:

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Time to fight back

Educators in Florida are facing a two-prong attack. Closer to home, the Florida legislature is again coming at us with union busting bills, while nationally we have the current administration’s unconstitutional efforts to dismantle the Department of Education to contend with. But don’t lose hope. Fight back! Let them know we stand united in defense of education, students, and the right to a collective voice to negotiate better wages, benefits, and working conditions.

On the Florida front

It is time to tell your legislators once and for all to leave educators, students and unions alone. Year after year bills are filed and often pass that defy your constituents and the intent of the Florida constitution which has enshrined the right to collectively bargain. Year after year teachers have shown that we will fight for our voice as workers that teach for the public good.

On the national front

It’s time to tell Congress to do their constitutional duty as a coequal branch of government and to protect the federal agencies they created from the callous, chaotic, incompetent cuts like those aimed at dismantling the Department of Education. Read UFF’s Press Release Condemning Executive Order Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, then take action:

More allies and ways to get involved

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January FUSA meeting, member benefits, and more

The next FUSA Council meeting will occur Fri. Jan 24, 2025 at 9am in YLRC 305. All Faculty are welcome to attend.

Member benefits

Are you taking advantage of all of your union benefits? FUSA members are part of a larger labor movement for educators specifically and workers in general. In addition to the provisions and protections in our contract, or collective bargaining agreement (CBA), there are many other benefits members can choose to tap into. Learn more about the benefits of membership.

Legislative session

The 2025 Legislative session will begin in March. Your elected UFF Senators and the FUSA Council will keep abreast of the potential impacts to higher ed. Take a look at how you can get involved in and contact us:

  • Join the FUSA Government Relations committee
  • Become a member of the Higher Ed Regional Outreach (HERO) team for West Central Florida.
  • Here are the FEA Legislative Priorities for the upcoming session (March 4 – May 2).
  • Not interested in the legislative session or government relations? Ask us about other ways to get involved.
i'm sticking with my union
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A sobering report on higher ed in Florida

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a long-time defender of higher education principles, faculty, academic freedom, and shared governance has released the full report of its investigation into the state of higher education in Florida and it is not pretty. A preliminary look at the findings had been released over the summer but the full report is a damning indictment of Governor DeSantis and the Legislature’s “politically and ideologically driven assault” on higher education, faculty, and institutions like New College, “unparalleled in US History.”

Indeed, the report notes that meaningful higher education in Florida may not survive. It also notes how college and university administrators have been silent while their own institutions, faculty, and students have been under siege. Sadly, at times they’ve even been complicit in the implementation of “policies that would severely restrict academic freedom and faculty and student rights.”

It is clear that no one is coming to our rescue. The only bulwark against these attacks is the collective strength of faculty unions. If you aren’t a member, join today to add to the collective voice pushing back against the political forces that wish to dismantle higher education, academic freedom, and intellectual freedom. As a member of FUSA you are also a member of state and national affiliates that are continually working to protect your rights and improve your economic and working conditions.

Read the Full Report

Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System – AAUP

Summary of findings

The preliminary report offered four main findings:

  1. The “hostile takeover” of New College is both a “test case” and a “blueprint for future encroachments on public colleges and universities across the country”;
  2. Academic administrators in Florida “not only have failed to contest” attacks on the system “but have too frequently been complicit in and, in some cases, explicitly supported them”;
  3. Legislation enacted by Governor DeSantis and the legislature, “taken collectively, constitutes a systematic effort to dictate and enforce conformity with a narrow and reactionary political and ideological agenda” and represents “a uniquely bold and dangerous program designed to reshape public higher education according to ideological and partisan political standards”; and
  4. “The chilling effect on academic freedom of the governor’s and legislature’s efforts has already been felt by faculty and students.”

Further Reading