State: Graham pushes college changes

MIAMI -- U.S. Sen. Bob Graham was set to deliver a typical graduation speech at Florida State University in April 2000 when he switched gears and berated state leaders for their radical proposal to revamp higher education in Florida.

It was the unofficial beginning of his campaign to take on Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican Legislature over who should run the state's 11 universities.

Voters will see the result on the Nov. 5 ballot: an amendment to the state Constitution creating an independent, statewide governing system for state universities.

"He was frustrated because he had made enormous strides in higher education as governor," said Buddy Shorstein, Graham's longtime adviser and former chief of staff.

It was no secret Graham adamantly opposed the state's creating a one-size-fits-all Board of Education to oversee all education in Florida from kindergarten to postgraduate studies.

Still, it was months before he finally decided to take on the Tallahassee power structure and devote the time, energy and money to the effort.

"This constitutional amendment fundamentally puts the people in charge," Graham said in a recent interview with the St. Petersburg Times. "They are going to decide what kind of universities we will have."

"I don't think he wanted to do this in particular," said Dubose Ausley, a friend of Graham's and a former member of the defunct Board of Regents, which oversaw universities under the old system. "But no one else stepped up."

Graham gathered the core group of friends and advisers he has relied on for decades, many of them fellow graduates of the University of Florida.

They include Charles Reed, former chancellor of the Florida university system who now holds a similar post in California; Robin Gibson, Graham's former general counsel; and E.T. York, former state chancellor and interim UF president.

"It's a UF initiative and don't think for one moment it's not," said Carolyn Roberts, a Board of Education member who is leading the opposition. "They think UF has been cheated."

Supporters and opponents of the so-called "Graham Amendment" agree it wouldn't have much chance without Florida's popular senior U.S. senator.

"Sen. Graham is indeed our star, our chief spokesperson," said Alice Skelton, campaign manager for Education Excellence for Florida. "He brings credibility to this issue no one can. If Sen. Graham is backing it, then people know it's a really good amendment."

Still, Amendment 11 is hardly a sure bet.

Fifty-two percent of likely voters support the initiative, a St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald poll found late last month. Twenty-one percent opposed it, and 27 percent were undecided.

Graham, 65, a moderate who manages to please Democrats and Republicans alike, has plenty to do these days.

As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the typically low-key Graham has appeared in the national news almost daily, talking about terrorism and Iraq. Amendment opponents have even criticized him for neglecting his duties in Washington.

Friends say Graham considers state universities an integral part of his legacy. He was disappointed when lawmakers abolished the Board of Regents.

"He thought it was very destructive to the system," York said. "It was the wrong move, the worst thing that could have happened."

Graham admitted his passion for the plan arises from his personal experiences.

"We have an urgent need to not go backwards, as I suspect we are doing now, but rather to aggressively reform our universities," Graham said.

A dozen members of his immediate family went to Florida universities, including his mother and three children. He has bought prepaid Florida college tuition for six of his grandchildren.

"He wants to do it for his grandchildren," Reed said. "He believes in it. It's deeply personal."

Still, opponents question his motives.

Is he attacking Republicans? Does he want to try to work his way onto a vice presidential ticket in 2004? Does he have a grudge against Gov. Jeb Bush?

"It's a much bigger issue than personalities," Graham said, brushing aside such accusations.

Bush, running for re-election largely on his education record, opposes the amendment, as do the Board of Education and each university's Board of Trustees -- local governing bodies that were created as part of Bush's reorganization. But Bush is too preoccupied with his own tight race to campaign against Graham.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill McBride, several former regents and faculty unions support the proposal. But the amendment has not gotten the same attention as a proposal to reduce class sizes.

Education Secretary Jim Horne, a Bush appointee, is campaigning against the Graham amendment as "un-American" and "frightening."

"His passion for higher education is misguided," Horne said. "He wants to go back to a time that never existed."

Graham said he didn't think the Board of Regents was a bad system until the Legislature disregarded its decisions and created its own programs based on the whims of powerful legislators.

As governor, he vetoed an attempt by the Legislature to abolish the Board of Regents in 1980. Rather than proposing to restore the board, Graham crafted a measure that creates a two-tier governing system that would strike a compromise between the old and current systems.

"The structure we are suggesting . . . is where the future of the relationship between higher education and the political structure of the state are going," Graham said.

Modeled after the North Carolina system, the amendment calls for a Board of Governors to spend money and establish statewide policy, while local boards of trustees oversee individual universities. The proposal would be protected from most future changes to its structure, and could be modified only if voters decided to amend the state Constitution again.

Graham said the current system has led to greater political fighting among universities and a costly duplication of programs. He wants the universities to be given the power to set tuition and to appropriate money, duties usually left to the Legislature.

For example, Graham cites a decision to decrease funding to agriculture research in Florida while spending money on new law and medical schools.

Graham, who has visited Florida every weekend for the last month to campaign, knows that he is the biggest reason that Education Excellence has raised $1.4-million while the opposition has raised less than $100,000.

The opposition admits Graham is formidable.

"When you go against a very powerful senator, it's hard to debate," Roberts said. "If Bob Graham wants to put his political organization behind this, there's no one more powerful in the state."

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk