Jan. 17 (UPI) — Florida’s Board of Education announced a new rule Wednesday “to permanently prohibit” the use of state or federal funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs or activities at public colleges throughout the state.
The new rule applies to 28 schools within the Florida College System, including Seminole State College of Florida, Valencia College, Florida State College at Jacksonville and others that serve large populations of Black and Latino students.
“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said in a statement.
“These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society,” Diaz added.
Florida’s Board of Education defines DEI as “any program, campus activity or policy that classifies individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, gender identity or sexual orientation and promotes differential or preferential treatment of individuals on the basis of such classification.”
DEI professionals define DEI as correcting inequities within an organization for marginalized groups.
“The Florida State Board of Education has implemented new ‘strict regulations’ to prohibit the use of public funds for DEI programs, activities and policies at 28 state college campuses,” civil rights activist and attorney Ben Crump wrote Wednesday in a post on X. “We continue to go down a misguided path of censorship in Florida!”
The new regulations are based on S.B. 266, which was passed in May 2023 by Florida’s state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called DEI programs “discriminatory initiatives.”
On Wednesday, Florida’s Board of Education also announced it would replace the course “Principles of Sociology” with a comprehensive general education course on American history.
“The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now-replaced course,” the board said.
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of fatally shooting a police officer with his own service weapon during a traffic stop is set to be executed Tuesday evening in Florida.
Billy Leon Kearse, 53, is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Kearse was initially sentenced to death in 1991 after being convicted of first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
The Florida Supreme Court found that the trial court failed to give jurors certain information about aggravating circumstances and ordered a new sentencing. Kearse was resentenced to death in 1997.
This is Florida’s third execution scheduled for 2026, following a record 19 executions last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The highest number before then was eight executions in both 1984 and 2014, under former governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott, respectively.
According to court records, Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish pulled over Kearse for driving the wrong way on a one-way street in January 1991. When Kearse couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license, Parrish ordered Kearse out of his vehicle and attempted to handcuff him.
A struggle ensued, and Kearse grabbed Parrish’s firearm, prosecutors said. Kearse fired 14 times, striking the officer nine times in the body and four times in his body armor. A nearby taxi driver heard the shots and used Parrish’s radio to call for help.
Parrish was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died from the gunshot wounds, officials said. Meanwhile, police used license plate information that Parrish had called in before approaching Kearse to identify the attacker’s vehicle and home address, where Kearse was arrested.
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by Kearse. His attorneys had argued that he was unconstitutionally deprived of a fair penalty phase and that his intellectual disability makes his execution unconstitutional.
Final appeals were pending Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis, far outpacing Alabama, South Carolina and Texas which each held five executions.
Besides the two Florida executions this year, Texas and Oklahoma have each executed one person so far.
Two more Florida executions have already been scheduled for this month. Michael Lee King, 54, is scheduled to die on March 17, and the execution of James Aren Duckett, 68, is set for March 31.
All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
Gray Reid has spent most of his career in basketball and sports media. He began as a student manager for the Nevada men’s basketball team, then went on to coach overseas in China and later joined the LC State men’s basketball program as a graduate assistant. After coaching, Gray joined SBLive Sports as a videographer and video editor, eventually moving into his current role as Regional Marketing Director.
Exclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
Mother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
Wildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling
Arturia’s FX Collection 6 adds two new effects and a $99 intro version
Florida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
Video: How Lunar New Year Traditions Take Root Across America
