The war on woke is heating up in Florida classrooms.
One sociology professor crossed the line Florida won't tolerate.
And Ron DeSantis scored one victory that sent this woke professor home empty-handed.
Florida takes action against professor pushing gender ideology
Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas dropped the hammer on a sociology professor who thought he could sneak radical gender ideology into his classroom.
Dr. Phillip Wiseley found himself immediately removed from a statewide sociology course work group after reports confirmed he was using instructional materials promoting gender ideology in his Introduction to Sociology course at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers.¹
"As a professor at Florida SouthWestern State College, you have been entrusted by the people of Florida, who pay your salary, with a responsibility to teach in a way that complies with State law," Kamoutsas wrote in a public letter to Wiseley. "You have broken that trust and failed in that responsibility."²
The commissioner didn't mince words about what Wiseley had done wrong.
Kamoutsas explicitly stated that the professor's SYG 1000 course violated Section 1007.55 of Florida Statutes, which mandates that general education courses cannot be based on content that is "unproven, speculative or exploratory."³
"Gender ideology is both unproven and speculative," Kamoutsas wrote. "By including this content in your course, you are in clear violation of Florida statute."⁴
https://twitter.com/StasiKamoutsas/status/1983943425453076615
The irony wasn't lost on the education commissioner.
Wiseley served on the very panel tasked with providing recommendations to ensure sociology courses conform to state law and public expectations.
"This professional lapse is made all the more egregious by the fact that you are participating in the statewide sociology course workgroup, which is tasked with providing recommendations on curricular requirements so that sociology is taught in a way that conforms to public expectations and state law," the letter stated. "You, of all people, can make no claims of ignorance."⁵
Governor Ron DeSantis backed the action with a simple message on social media: "Boom!"⁶
By the next day, Kamoutsas announced that Wiseley's replacement had been found and shared just one word: "Accountability."⁷
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1983964220493623545
Florida's battle against woke ideology in higher education continues
This isn't the first time Florida has taken on radical leftist indoctrination in its public colleges.
The Sunshine State became ground zero for fighting back against the woke agenda when DeSantis transformed New College of Florida starting in January 2023.
The governor appointed six new members to the small liberal arts college's board of trustees with a clear mission: restore classical liberal education and end the dominance of radical leftist ideology that had taken over campus life.⁸
The board voted to abolish the school's Gender Studies program in August 2023, making New College the first public university in America to roll back what board member Christopher Rufo called "the encroachment of queer theory and gender pseudoscience into academic life."⁹
The move sent shock waves through academia's woke establishment.
But Florida wasn't backing down.
DeSantis signed legislation in May 2023 banning public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.¹⁰
"If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination," DeSantis said during the bill signing at New College. "And that has no place in our public institutions."¹¹
The law also prohibited general education courses from including curriculum that teaches identity politics or critical race theory.
https://twitter.com/DeAngelisCorey/status/1640372913978089472
Florida's aggressive stance on woke ideology in higher education represents what conservatives across America want to see replicated in other states.
The legal foundation for Florida's crackdown
Section 1007.55 of Florida Statutes provides the legal framework that enabled Kamoutsas to act swiftly against Wiseley.
The statute declares the Legislature's intent to ensure undergraduate students at Florida public colleges "graduate as an informed citizen through participation in rigorous general education courses that promote and preserve the constitutional republic through traditional, historically accurate, and high-quality coursework."¹²
The law explicitly states that "courses with a curriculum based on unproven, speculative, or exploratory content are best suited as elective or specific program prerequisite credit, not general education credit."¹³
This gives Florida's education officials clear authority to crack down on professors who try to inject radical gender ideology into required courses that students must take to earn degrees.
The statute requires public colleges to report their general education courses to the Department of Education for approval by the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors.
Schools that fail to comply with these requirements become ineligible to receive performance-based funding.¹⁴
That's real accountability with real consequences.
Kamoutsas made clear what Florida taxpayers deserve from their public education system.
"Florida taxpayers deserve general education courses that reflect proven, lawful, and fact-based instruction — not speculative ideology," the commissioner said.¹⁵
The swift action against Professor Wiseley sends an unmistakable message to other faculty members who might be tempted to push radical leftist ideology on students.
Florida has the legal tools and the political will to enforce its education standards.
And state officials won't hesitate to use both.
¹ Wiseley, Phillip, Florida Department of Education letter, October 30, 2025.
² – ⁵ Ibid.
⁶ DeSantis, Ron, X post, October 30, 2025.
⁷ Kamoutsas, Anastasios, X post, October 31, 2025.
⁸ Newsweek, "Florida College Moves to Abolish Gender Studies Program," August 14, 2023.
⁹ Rufo, Christopher F., X post, August 10, 2023.
¹⁰ NPR, "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a bill banning DEI initiatives in public colleges," May 15, 2023.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Florida Statutes Section 1007.55.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Kamoutsas, Anastasios, X post, October 30, 2025.
