State: Regents' days are numbered

TAMPA -- Despite warnings from U.S. Sen. Bob Graham that its work may be unconstitutional, a state task force Monday began finalizing its recommendations for the most radical overhaul of higher education in Florida's history.

The proposals, which are expected to be approved today, would eliminate the state Board of Regents and give new local boards the power to hire and fire university presidents -- a process that would now occur largely outside public view.

Graham said such changes could cause irreparable damage to Florida's university system and to the state's future. The regents, he said, are being sacrificed on the altar of political vengeance -- "executed" for having the audacity to advise against the pet projects of powerful lawmakers.

"First they overrode their objections, then they shot them for it," said the former governor, who is calling for a constitutional amendment that would both resurrect the regents and protect them against future interference.

While his spirited attack heartened many of the higher educators who packed a University of South Florida ballroom to hear him, it also heightened speculation about his motives.

Three-term senators do not generally involve themselves in the workings of a relatively obscure education task force. But there Graham was, launching a full-throated assault on what he called meddling state lawmakers.

Some political observers think he may be positioning himself for a run against Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002. Or at least trying to bluff Bush into thinking those are his plans.

When asked about his intentions, Graham said he liked what he was doing in Washington, where he has been a U.S. senator since 1986.

"I'm not looking for another job," he said.

Whatever his motivations, several members of the task force, especially those who also serve as state lawmakers, were visibly annoyed by his accusations.

"I am offended," said state Rep. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach. "You forget that legislators are the people. We don't get elected unless we are doing what the people want."

Graham did not offer an apology. If fact, he used his remarks to question the legitimacy of the task force's work.

In 1998, Florida voters approved an amendment to the state Constitution that eliminated the elected education commissioner and authorized the governor to appoint a new state education board.

Graham said the new board was supposed to focus entirely on Florida's K-12 system, and have nothing to do with higher education. He said that is clear from the records of the Constitutional Revision Commission, which drafted the amendment.

Phil Handy, the Winter Park businessman who chairs the task force, said Graham is wrong. He said the commission's general counsel has advised the panel that the amendment does relate to secondary education.

"There is plenty of documentation and legal opinion that we're on the right track," said Handy, who noted that even Florida's university presidents have dropped their objections to the overhaul.

That doesn't mean there hasn't been considerable fallout. University system administrators say dozens of employees have quit in recent months, in large part because of the uncertainty over their future.

The most recent casualty was university system Chancellor Adam Herbert, who resigned last week. He has told friends and colleagues he saw no place for himself in a revamped system.

University system officials say they are working with the task force to create the best system possible under the circumstances.

University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft told the task force she and her colleagues would prefer to have as much authority as possible moved from the state to the university level.

That includes the hiring and firing of presidents, which was the province of the regents, and was expected to be vested with the new state Board of Education.

But Handy said the task force has changed its mind, and has now decided to give that authority to local boards of trustees, nine-member bodies whose members will be appointed by the governor. The boards also will have the power to bargain collectively with employees, set tuition rates and approve new degree programs.

The task force announced Monday it also will support one other controversial change -- taking much of the presidential selection process out of the sunshine.

Several members said the recent difficulty in selecting a new University of Florida president convinced them that public scrutiny was hurting the system.

Under the new scenario, names of candidates will become public only after the local board settles on up to three finalists. But the board could name only one finalist, eliminating public scrutiny.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk