by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
The man who’s at the top of the state’s education system says progress is being made for a complete overhaul of the system.
“In the past, education has been fragmented,” said Orange Park’s Jim Horne, the secretary of the Florida Board of Education. “K-12 programs went their way, the community college another and the universities another. We’re trying to change that, to get everyone at the same table talking about the same things.”
But, Horne was asked at Monday’s meeting of the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee, how can the state change the system when past efforts have failed?
“We got everyone together — some of them for the first time — and found out what they needed,” said Horne. “Then we put together a realistic budget. And, we intend to follow through.
“Money changes behavior. A lot of money changes a lot of behavior.”
The changes developed by Gov. Jeb Bush and Horne forces everyone into the same system: Horne calls it “K-20,” a reference to the community school systems’ K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) approach. Now it includes 13 and 14 (community colleges) and 13-20 (universities and graduate schools) which receive state funding.
The budget of $20 billion has passed the cabinet — “Quickly,” said Horne. “It was presented at 9 a.m. on Sept. 11” — and now goes to the legislature.
“The governor has made education a priority and we think the legislature will, too,” said Horne, a former state senator.
That won’t be his only goal, he told the committee, which met at the Chamber headquarters downtown.
Calling the state’s education department “a gargantuan bureaucracy,” he said that changes will start at home.
“Our department has lost its way,” he said to an audience of about 75 that included FCCJ president Steve Wallace, City Council member Lad Daniels, and representatives of all congressional offices that serve this area. “We need to refocus, to realize who our customers are.
“How many businesses are doing things today the way they did 30 years ago? Not many, because those businesses don’t last.”