By Carolyn Jones and Mikhail Zinshteyn
Culture wars have erupted at colleges and local school boards in both California and Florida, and both governors have been outspoken in their response. But while Ron DeSantis has encouraged book bans, anti-LGBTQ policies and a crackdown on race-related curriculum, Gavin Newsom has taken the opposite approach.
When the Temecula Unified school board voted in May to ban a textbook that referenced gay rights icon Harvey Milk, Newsom called them “radicalized zealots” and threatened to send the textbooks directly to students and bill the district.
DeSantis, by contrast, signed bills that prohibit teachers from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation in the classroom, ban gender-affirming care for minors and restrict the use of preferred pronouns in schools. Despite pushback from LGBTQ rights organizations and others who said the law would harm students, DeSantis was defiant. "I don't care what Hollywood says. I don't care what big corporations say. Here I stand. I am not backing down," he said.
DeSantis also signed a bill that restricts how teachers can address history and race. California, meanwhile, has expanded education related to race by requiring an ethnic studies class for all high schoolers.
On the test score front, California lags slightly behind Florida in reading and math, but both states are near the national average. California spends significantly more per student — $16,300 a year — than Florida, which is near the bottom at $11,800.
How to regulate public higher education is also a major difference between Desantis and Newsom. Consistent with his war on “wokeness,” DeSantis has pushed for legislation that limits what professors can teach in their classrooms. That’s been pilloried as a major violation of academic freedom.
DeSantis also pushed through a 2023 law to have tenured professors undergo a review every five years and limit how faculty can appeal personnel decisions. Tenure typically protects professors from political pressure. Academics say the new law would further chill free speech among professors.
Newsom, meanwhile, hasn’t fought tenure or academic freedom — which are highly valued by labor unions, groups that are major supporters of Democrats in California. He’s supportive of diversity efforts, while DeSantis banned public campuses from funding diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Newsom has also made higher-education spending a priority. In 2018, California spent about $3,000 more per student than Florida. In 2022, it grew to roughly $5,000 more per student, adjusted for inflation.