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Citing report, Graham blasts education reform
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Tallahassee Deputy Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE -- U.S. Sen. Bob Graham says a "scathing" report showing Florida losing ground to other states proves it is not doing enough to improve education. Graham on Tuesday repeatedly cited the Florida Chamber of Commerce New Cornerstone report to bolster claims that Gov. Jeb Bush's revamping of the education system is wrong for the state. The state's senior elected Democrat, Graham is leading a grass-roots campaign to force a vote in November on restoring the board of regents that Bush replaced with separate trustee boards at 11 universities. The Graham plan would keep trustee boards at each university but would add a 17-member board of governors overseeing the entire system. Speaking to editors and reporters at the annual Associated Press legislative seminar, Graham blasted Bush's handling of the issue that will dominate the 2002 governor's race: education. Graham ticked off a series of categories in which the Chamber of Commerce report, sponsored by state business leaders, showed Florida faltering, from high student dropout rates to a shortage of skilled workers. During the 1990s, Graham said, the number of Florida manufacturing jobs fell for the first decade since World War II. He attributed that to "the failure to see commitment to education as an investment in a broad economy." At the same time, Graham argued, politicians are "dissipating" scarce dollars on such questionable programs as a new medical school at Florida State University and two more law schools -- projects opposed by the now-defunct board of regents. In a slap at the Republican-led Legislature, Graham cited cases of political meddling in higher education. He mentioned a brief campaign by some Miami-Dade lawmakers to block the appointment of Donna Shalala, a former Clinton administration official, to head the University of Miami, and Education Commissioner Charlie Crist's denunciation of a student play at Florida Atlantic University that depicted a gay Christ character. "Those are the kind of interferences that crush the reputation of a university system," Graham said. Bush rejected Graham's criticism and said he doesn't understand Graham's "passion" for the subject. He said the state's university presidents have endorsed the new system. "Every university president believes the new system we're moving toward is vastly superior to the one we had. Are they not lovers of their own university system? I'm missing something here," Bush said. "We're advocating flexibility." As for politics, Bush said, the chancellor of Florida's universities during part of Graham's tenure as governor, Charlie Reed, "was probably the most political guy I've ever met in my life." University presidents have continued to press for autonomy when it comes to setting the tuition rates on their campuses. Graham said his initiative committee, Education Excellence for Florida, has gathered 163,477 voter signatures as of last week. That total represents nearly a third of the statewide total needed to get on the November 2002 ballot if the Florida Supreme Court approves the initiative's language. The state Division of Elections said the latest signatures had not reached its office. Bush cited a December letter by the presidents of Florida's 11 state universities in which they went on record as opposing Graham's initiative. But one of Bush's rivals for governor questioned whether the presidents made that decision independently. "Is it really that they are happy? Or are they silenced?" asked Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, the House Democratic leader and a candidate for governor. Frankel said she agreed with Graham that scrapping the board of regents in favor of separate trustee boards at each university was a step backward, because it would pit schools against one another in a "competition for crumbs." - Times researcher Deirdre Morrow contributed to this report.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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