by Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
With the support of Gov. Charlie Crist and former Gov. Jeb Bush, business and education leaders unveiled a report filled with sweeping reforms that include doubling the funding for the higher education system and raising the standards for the popular Bright Futures scholarship program.
The Florida Council of 100 and the Florida Chamber of Commerce released a report Thursday with several wide ranging recommendations to improve the state’s educational system from voluntary prekindergarten to the university system.
“This is about ensuring that the American dream continues and there’s no better place to get there than in the state of Florida,” said Susan Story, the chair of the Council of 100, a nonprofit organization that advocates on the behalf of business.
Education leaders and business leaders partnered last year in the push for higher education funding, and were somewhat successful, winning a fight to raise tuition and holding higher education cuts to about $150 million — the third consecutive year of reductions.
University and PreK-12 officials also have been promising to develop a more cohesive educational system for the state.
But most reform efforts have collided with the state’s budget straits. Florida is facing a $2.6 billion budget shortfall next year and the organizations which Thursday touted the need for improving the state’s education system also typically urge tighter state spending and resist eliminating sales-tax exemptions or fee hikes that have been proposed to draw more money into the state treasury.
At the PreK-12 level, the groups are pushing for heightened graduation standards, the virtual elimination of teacher tenure and a constitutional amendment legalizing vouchers, all policy initiatives which formed the core of Bush’s two terms as governor and remain promoted through his Foundation for Excellence in Education.
Eliminating teacher tenure has been fought steadily by the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, which also heavily financed Bush’s 2002 gubernatorial opponent, Bill McBride. Bush’s private school voucher program, which the business groups are calling for reestablishing, was declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.
Graduation standards and teacher tenure have long been political fights in the corridors of the state capitol and are also a part of the state’s Race to the
Top application, which could bring in up to $700 million for education.
There is currently a bill before the Legislature that would heighten graduation standards in math and science, but it failed last year after it could not gain traction in the Senate.
Tenure also remains a politically sensitive issue with the state’s teacher unions typically opposing changes. Under the proposal in the report, teacher’s salaries would be based on how well their students performed on tests, rather than their years spent teaching.
“Teachers matter more than anything else,and yet we pay teachers not based on performance, we pay teachers based on longevity of service,” said Bush during the news conference.
At the university system level, the proposals may be even more difficult to achieve. The report suggests doubling the university system funding over a period of five years through tuition and a $1.75 billion infusion of state dollars. However, the state is facing a $2.6 billion shortfall for the upcoming year, and while economists predict state coffers will grow healthier, they do not expect a booming turnaround.
Additionally, the issue of the Bright Futures scholarship program, which pays for many Florida students’ college educations has long been a problem for Florida lawmakers.
Since its 1997 inception, the scholarship has paid for full or partial tuition and fees for Florida’s highest achieving students. For a full award, a student must earn a 3.5 grade point average and a 1270 SAT score. For a partial award, students must earn a 3.0 grade point average and a 970 SAT score.
But the program ballooned from $75 million in its first year to $435 million in 2008-2009. Last year, the lawmakers tweaked the program and decided that scholarships cannot cover the cost of classes that were dropped after a university’s add/drop period, when students can drop a class without penalty.
The program also no longer fully covers the 15 percent tuition increase implemented by the state universities.
The recommendations in the report ask the state to consider raising the eligibility standards for the award meaning fewer students would qualify. The business groups also called for limiting full Bright Futures’ awards to students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
University system Chancellor Frank Brogan said that though the Bright Futures program could be politically troublesome and that altering it further may anger many parents, many state officials feel more revisions may be needed to rein-in its cost.
“The issue of Bright Futures is never easy,” said Brogan.
Despite the many proposals in the report, few have legislation behind them and it risks landing on a shelf like so many other reports in recent years that have proposed sweeping education changes. Crist balked when pressed whether he endorsed the entire report and all its suggestions.
Instead, Crist said he endorsed the general themes the Council of 100 and Florida Chamber advanced.
“I’m supporting the consensus of what this report embodies, moving Florida forward, continuing to improve education, making sure that we continue to stress accountability,” said Crist.