The Florida Board of Governors is set to discuss a number of controversial changes to the state’s higher education during its meeting Wednesday, including performance funding and mental healthcare.
Performance funding has been a long-disputed issue for the state’s universities.
The current system ranks the schools’ performances based on a series of metrics and dishes out bonus funding based on the rank, with the bottom three schools receive no additional money.
State Rep. Ramon Alexander (D-Tallahassee) called it a broken system during debate on the House floor in February.
“All 12 of our state universities deserve an opportunity to flourish, to provide the quality of life experience," said Alexander. "There’s no one-size-fits-all approach in regards to providing high-quality education within the state university system.”
Critics argue it’s unfair to compare a large research school like the University of Florida with a small liberal arts school like New College.
Among the changes the Board will consider are new benchmarks to grade the universities and replacing the “bottom three” system with a student success plan.
The Board will also hear an update from the Drug, Alcohol and Mental Health Task Force and discuss budgeting money for campus upgrades.
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