The Florida State College System (FCS) had Gov. Rick Scott's back in 2012 when he challenged all 24 institutions to offer a four-year, $10,000-degree program.
Five years later, maybe all colleges' affordable-degree programs aren't running like clockwork, but every one of them accepted the challenge and are working at it. Every one of them.
Their cooperation -- enthusiasm, in some cases -- made the governor a hero to tens of thousands of students and families across the state, Floridians who had no idea until Scott's bold initiative how they were going to keep up with the skyrocketing costs of a college education.
And Florida's reputation soared. Even this year, the Sunshine State's low tuition, high graduation rates and low debt have earned the Florida College System -- not the state universities -- "Best in the Nation for Higher Education" in the latest U.S. News and World Report higher education rankings.
Now it's time for Gov. Scott to show Florida colleges he has their back, too.
He can veto the $1.2 billion portion of the 2017-2018 state budget that savages the 28 state colleges' remedial education funding, cutting it by $30.2 million.
It's the right thing to do for Florida families, the governor's primary concern for every budget, every year, since Scott held the office.
If allowed to stand, the remedial education cuts will have “a devastating impact” on the colleges. They include the loss of job placement services and tutoring, which would impact the “most vulnerable students” significantly, including students from low-income families, minority students and military veterans.
And, said St. Petersburg College President Bill Law, “The negative impact on students ultimately hurts the community as a whole.” Ninety percent of community college graduates are employed or continuing their education within one year of graduating, he said in a recent WFTS-Tampa interview.
Make no mistake, the optics also inflict a deep wound for the college system left behind. While lawmakers slashed $30.2 million from community colleges, they invested an additional $232 million into the state universities -- as Senate President Joe Negron put it, "to make Florida’s 12 public universities 'elite' destinations."
State colleges are already working with reduced budgets because of declining enrollments. That makes the Legislature's reduced funding a double whammy.
Gov. Scott has the power to veto the portion of the budget that affects community colleges, sending it back to the Legislature for a do-over. It's the right thing to do for a state college/community college system that bent over backwards to help the governor achieve his goals for higher education reform. We hope he will agree.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
