{"id":148783,"date":"2026-02-09T12:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/148783\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T12:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T12:33:09","slug":"florida-teachers-unions-withdraw-complaint-against-state-syllabus-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/148783\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida teachers unions withdraw complaint against state syllabus rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

The big story: The Florida Education Association and United Faculty of Florida have quietly withdrawn their complaint<\/a> against the state rule<\/a> requiring university instructors to post course syllabi online at least 45 days before the first day of class.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the unions filed a one-line notice<\/a> with the Division of Administrative Hearings on Friday saying they would no longer seek a determination that the rule was invalid. It came 10 days after an administrative law judge rejected the state\u2019s motion to dismiss the complaint, but told the unions<\/a> to submit added details about which provisions of the rule were being challenged and how each would \u201csubstantially affect\u201d members.<\/p>\n

The unions contended in a December press release<\/a> that the rule was an \u201cunlawful and unconstitutional overreach of agency authority\u201d in violation of Florida\u2019s Administrative Procedure Act. They also said it undermines academic freedom and campus safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got more information that we had not previously had, we decided it was appropriate to withdraw,\u201d Andrew Spar, the Florida Education Association president, said Sunday in a text message. He said he needed to get more specifics from the union legal team.<\/p>\n

Education commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas declared victory over the unions in couple of social media posts over the weekend, calling the activity \u201canother courtroom loss\u201d for the FEA. Kamoutsas and Gov. Ron DeSantis have frequently criticized teacher unions<\/a> as not working in the best interest of students and families.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney that should be going to support Florida\u2019s teachers was once again wasted on a frivolous lawsuit they were never going to win,\u201d Kamoutsas, who also sits on the university system Board of Governors, wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThey walked away because they know the truth: transparency matters. Posting syllabi and reading lists for postsecondary students is simply the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The information also captured the attention of national school choice activist Corey DeAngelis, an adjunct scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute. He wrote about it for the Real Truth Media website, where the story titled \u201cFlorida Teachers Unions Lose In Court\u201d<\/a> was trending over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rays on campus: Hillsborough College faculty, students and staff are weighing the pros and cons of a proposal to build a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium<\/a> on the school\u2019s Dale Mabry campus.<\/p>\n

Protests: Students at more than a half dozen high schools across the Tampa Bay region walked out of classes<\/a> Friday to protest ICE activity. \u2022 Hundreds of Broward County teens participated in anti-ICE rallies and walkouts<\/a>, WTVJ reports. \u2022 A few dozen Volusia County high school students protested<\/a> in downtown DeLand, Spectrum 13 reports. \u2022 Students at several Lee County high schools held walkouts and protests<\/a> against U.S. immigration enforcement, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. \u2022 Students at one Alachua County high school protested for the second straight week<\/a>, WCJB reports. \u2022 Students at three Brevard County high schools walked out of class<\/a>, Central Florida Public Media reports.<\/p>\n

Immigration enforcement: A Jacksonville parents group says ICE activity near schools<\/a> is leading to decreased attendance, while district officials say ICE is not coming into schools, Jacksonville Today reports. \u2022 Brevard County school officials spelled out how staff should handle interactions with ICE agents<\/a> who come to schools, Florida Today reports.<\/p>\n

Health report: All Florida high school student athletes will be required to undergo an electrocardiogram<\/a> to participate in sports, beginning in July, Bay News 9 reports. \u2022 Panhandle area school districts will be sending home students with high fevers or rashes in light of a recent measles case<\/a> reported in the area, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.<\/p>\n

Diversity, equity and inclusion: Students at Florida A&M University say they\u2019ve been told not to use the word \u201cBlack\u201d<\/a> in their flyers advertising Black History Month events, WKMG reports. \u201cIt was \u2018Black,\u2019 \u2018affirmative action,\u2019 and \u2018women\u2019 as well,\u201d law student Aaliyah Steward said.<\/p>\n

College enrollment: A state lawmaker has proposed limiting the number of out-of-state students<\/a> at four of Florida\u2019s public universities, the Orlando Sentinel reports.<\/p>\n

Campus security: The Florida Legislature\u2019s latest bill to enhance school safety and security<\/a> does more than set up a guardian program for postsecondary institutions, its most talked about feature, WTSP reports.<\/p>\n

Bus rides: Bus driver shortages<\/a> are causing frustration for Clay County families, WJXT reports.<\/p>\n

Budget cuts: St. Johns County school district officials say the district could be $15 million short<\/a> next year, with vouchers a prime culprit, First Coast News reports. \u2022 Supporters of Leon County\u2019s locally operated virtual school<\/a> are pressing the school district not to shut down the program as a cost-saving measure, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.<\/p>\n

Bell schedules: The Santa Rosa County school district is asking parents for their thoughts about possible bell schedule changes<\/a> for seven schools, the Pensacola News-Journal reports.<\/p>\n

From the police blotter … A Miami-Dade County teen was arrested on accusations of attacking two school employees<\/a> during a classroom altercation, WPLG reports.<\/p>\n

From the court docket … There\u2019s a new class action lawsuit<\/a> challenging the Hillsborough County school district\u2019s appeals process for school bus camera violations, WFTS reports. \u2022 A former Marion County school administrator pleaded guilty to 15 charges tied to inappropriate contact with students<\/a>, WCJB reports. \u2022 A former Pinellas County charter school teacher pleaded guilty to several child exploitation charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cPeaceful protests are meant to be a form of resistance. We could be living under a government where we can\u2019t organize a protest. But we do have that liberty.\u201d \u2014 Rafael Faraci, St. Petersburg High School student government leader, amid student anti-ICE protests statewide (Tampa Bay Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen our state leaders speak to us, we listen. We respectfully listen to that, but we\u2019re not governed by the volume of politics. We\u2019re governed by the voice of our people, and also what is lawful, definitely.\u201d \u2014 Karen Perez, Hillsborough County school board chairperson (Tampa Bay Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we need to be very careful in terms of redistricting now, that we don\u2019t push more (students) out. We want to make it so we grab those kids back.\u201d \u2014 Marihelen Wheeler, Alachua County commissioner, on redrawing school boundaries (Independent Florida Alligator<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Florida lawmakers are talking about high school marching band. What\u2019s up with that?<\/p>\n

a) They\u2019re looking for groups to perform at special events<\/p>\n

b) They want to require all students to participate in band to graduate<\/p>\n

c) They want to let students use marching band to meet their graduation requirements for PE and art<\/p>\n

Find the answer from News Service of Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss a story. Here\u2019s a link to Friday\u2019s roundup.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey S, Solochek is a reporter covering education as a member of the Tampa Bay Times Education Hub. You can contribute to the hub through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The big story: The Florida Education Association and United Faculty of Florida have quietly withdrawn their complaint against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[71977,28,15578,30,100,29,71976,3815,71978,3650],"class_list":{"0":"post-148783","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-course-syllabi","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-education-association","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-legislature","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-postsecondary-students","15":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","16":"tag-unions","17":"tag-university-of-south-florida"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}