Ron DeSantis Goes For Jugular of Education Establishment, Sues To Halt “Unchecked Power” Of Federal-Enabled College Accreditators
“The result is that private accrediting agencies enjoy near limitless power over state institutions,” Complaint asserts, seeks injunction to block Education Department from enforcing accreditation-related provisions of the Higher Education Act.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is going after a big game in his latest battle over Florida and education. He is suing the Biden administration over the college accreditation system, which he rightfully calls unaccountable.
Inside Higher Ed reports:
DeSantis Challenges Constitutionality of Accreditation
For 58 years, the accreditation system of higher education has stood, enshrined in federal law and reaffirmed with each reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Now, a federal lawsuit from the state of Florida is looking to upend that entire system, which is a key part of the federal accountability system that helps to determine which colleges and universities receive access to federal financial aid.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, and other state officials argue in the lawsuit filed last week that Congress has “ceded unchecked power” to the private accrediting agencies, violating the U.S. Constitution. They want a federal judge to permanently block the Education Department from enforcing accreditation-related provisions of the Higher Education Act. Currently, federal law requires that colleges and universities be accredited by an Education Department–recognized accreditor in order to receive federal student aid such as Pell Grants.
“The result is that private accrediting agencies enjoy near limitless power over state institutions,” Florida officials wrote in the initial complaint. “Accrediting agencies have the power to hold billions of federal education dollars hostage based on the formulation and application of substantive education standards that are immune from meaningful government supervision.”
Another article at Inside Higher Ed has the completely predictable response from the Biden White House:
“Governor DeSantis is now bringing his culture wars, like book bans, to the long-standing system that helps ensure students receive a quality college education,” the White House said in a statement. “This administration won’t allow it. We’re committed to ensuring all students receive a high-quality education, and will fight this latest effort by opponents to get in the way of that.”
This article also boils down the issue to this:
Florida passed a law last year that required state colleges and universities to change accrediting agencies every 10 years. The complaint argues that the Education Department has issued guidance over the last year to make it more difficult for a Florida college or university to switch accreditors. The state wants a federal judge to at least toss out the guidance.
You can read the full complaint here.
Whether you agree or disagree with what DeSantis is doing here, he deserves credit for getting involved in the issue of education, particularly higher education. The right ignored the issue for so long that the left completely took it over. More Republicans need to get involved.
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Comments
Article right after pizza joints in NYC
Interesting
Obviously a pro-DeSantis plot to tie Trump to pizza haters.
roflmao
Would this power be imperium, auctoritas, potestas or officium?
It’s all Latin to me…
And if it’s in Latin, it’s Greek to me …
It’s a monopoly, sort of like the Bar Associations or public schools, that needs to be ended,
It is novel to have a Governor that actually takes action to push the federal gov’t out of the State gov’t’s domain. Call me crazy, but I think that may be even more effective than tweeting about it.
Ron Desantis showed his great courage by signing a bill that would allow him to run for president without resigning as governor. He wouldn’t know a jugular if it bit him in the ass.
Phenomenal and articulate insight.
Perhaps the people of FL realize that our country is in dire straits and needs professional help, not TV gimmicks and rallies.
Really? How else would President Trump get his message out as he’s not in elected office as of now,
.
I recall it being stolen
And I recall him being the most effective President in many many years
But you keep beating that drum
Maybe take a walk on the wild side and go to his we sight and look at not only his accomplishments, but his proposals going forward?
Dude, nobody cares.
Apparently DeSantis did
Dude
Accidentally downvoted you instead of upvoting you. I’m not sure why the comment software does not allow one to correct a mistake.
You know the “permanent record” your guidance counselor scared you with? When you graduate, they send it to LI to keep it up to date.
DeSantis follows Trump around, repeats his platform as though it is his own and cannot even mention his name. He has as much charm as JoyBehar
Are you.telling us that the policies of Trump and DeSantis are interchangeable?
If so doesn’t that reduce the reason to hand a candidate with significant negative approval (reflected in polling data FWIW) and offer the nomination to the alternative candidate with less negative approval?
If not so why try and spin something that isn’t so?
Do you really believe polling data?
This early? All the specific campaign horse race polling data is suspect until people begin paying attention in the fall after a primary debate of two and more coverage of candidates policies. So the campaign polling should be taken with a grain of salt. The state level data, particularly swing state data, is worth looking at to discern trend lines but not for anything more specific.
The approval / disapprove polling data of the candidates is far more reliable. Particularly for candidates who have a longer presence on the national stage who have a previous baseline for comparison.
So broadly.speaking outside the narrow set of approve / disapprove data and trend in swing States the polling data is way to early for reliability. Of course that’s equally applicable to each candidate or their advocates who seek to use the less reliable way too early polling data to present a more favorable position for their preferred candidate.
Nope. Trump is a disaster and it’s rigged to show him leading the field.
Oops I did the denial backwards…
It’s a bold move, certainly one that could garner his campaign a lot of attention. I don’t think it’s a just a campaign stunt either: whether or not he wins the presidency I think this is something he’ll continue to push. He’s shown a willingness before to keep pushing to achieve what he wants done. Now of course if he does win the presidency then he’s got more of a chance to get this done as he can come at it from a federal level and not just via lawsuit. Does beg the question though: what changes does he want made in how the Education Department grants loans such as student aid? Because I doubt the feds are going to cease being involved in higher ed I would like to see that answered.
The accreditation system is the heart of the beast. Good for DeSantis.
This is another key reason to wage the culture war fight. Even if unsuccessful in court perhaps as a sitting President DeSantis can shepherd the needed reform legislation thru Congress. At a minimum a sitting POTUS could issue EO and use the discretion that the d/prog admin state wield to create needed change. It is a pity no previous President saw the need to take there steps while in office. They all chose to ignore the problem, just like many other culture war issues they didn’t want the political headache that comes with fighting.
Going after the accreditation agencies is crucial.
Very little can change in higher education unless accreditation is substantially altered or gotten rid of.
+1000. See especially the ABA (which is the sole accreditor of law schools) and the AMA (sole accreditor of medical schools), both of which are not shy about demanding that grad schools dance to the politically correct tunes they call.
The Texas Senate passed SB 1987 a few months ago, which would have allowed universities in the state to choose between *any* recognized accreditor, not just the ones they originally used. That would have at least provided a check against most undergrad accreditors getting too pushy on DEI and related matters, as schools would be free to go elsewhere.
Unfortunately, the Phelan machine killed the bill in the Texas House, just like they emasculated the “anti-DEI” bill (SB17) and the tenure reform bill (SB18).
One can hope that Gov. Abbott would add that to the upcoming special session call that will deal with school choice in K-12. But unfortunately, history teaches that Greg Abbott has about as much interest in meaningful higher ed reform as the Bidens have in telling the truth.
Well, I will say this, and I don’t like Abbott, although, Beto ? Really!
In Texas it’s the rual Republican school districts that are stopping school choice passing. They are afraid of losing the center of their small communities where everyone is employed, where every Friday night the whole community is at the football games.
I don’t think the small communities have much to worry about because they are not teaching the BS so people aren’t going to pull their kids out BUT they were offered $10,000 per kid that leaves for 2 years… but they say, what after 2 years?
So that’s where the real fight is
Really shocked me
gonzotx,
That’s a very good analysis and one which is counterintuitive to what we might expect; stronger support for school choice the deeper red the area.
Anecdotally we saw something similar in my rural hometown of 10K residents. Had two neighborhood elementary schools and the school district /board voted for consolidation and construction of new facilities. It was entirely coincidence that the new facilities would be located on the edge of town in a new subdivision who’s developers were married to school board members and City Council members.
So after the opponents lost they sought to buy one of the elementary school buildings; beautiful architecture and well maintained. It was approved but then immediately rescinded when the school district realized the opponents were organizing for a private school.
The thing is the schools in rural areas are still sane and well run. The reason is everybody’s children attend them; from the children of Attorneys and Physicians to garbage collectors. The teachers and administrators can’t send their kids somewhere else b/c no place else exists. Everyone’s incentives are aligned in many sure their schools are well run with common sense, traditional measures of attainment and performance.
In places like this there isn’t such a pressing need to upend the public school system b/c it still works just like it did decades ago. The HS graduates actually had to perform to advance to the next grade level. Standards are maintained and expectations remain high.
That’s a great observation you made pointing out the counterintuitive nature of the school choice debate in small, rural communities.
Yep. If I am teaching something crazy, my neighbors are gonna come tell me about it. I will see parents in stores around towns. People will see me working in my yard and stop to ask me about it. I don’t currently have any of my church members as students, but that happens as well.
“”The thing is the schools in rural areas are still sane and well run. The reason is everybody’s children attend them; from the children of Attorneys and Physicians to garbage collectors. The teachers and administrators can’t send their kids somewhere else b/c no place else exists.””
Your and Gonzo’s claim may or may not be true, but if this quote is correct, why on earth would they even care about school choice in places where it clearly isn’t true, and where public schools clearly don’t measure up?
Gonzo:
The school choice bill is a completely different piece of legislation.
sB1987 was directed strictly at higher ed accredation.
“We’re committed to ensuring all students receive a high-quality education”
No, you’re committed to producing idiots loyal to the regime.
This is an interesting development. I can’t speak to the legal matters here, but in my career in higher ed – over 30 years – I’ve had plenty of cause to question the accreditation regime. Every time my school was up for reaccreditation, the rules seemed to have changed. Who decided that? On what authority? So, yes, I’d like to see this practice of regional accreditation “interrogated” (as postmodernists like to say).
I worked in hospitals for 40 years and I was sure numerous times the hospital would get hit hard on tons of God awful practices, black mold in closets ( yes, a big Ascension hospital), terrible staffing ratios, filthy air conditioning system….
And they passed with flying colors each and every time
$$$$$$… makes the cred business go around
He won’t win but it’s still a good idea.