Former Governor Bob Graham and Florida Democratic Party chair Rod Smith Wednesday blasted the course of education funding under Republican state leaders. Both said there is a strong relationship between the state’s economy and its investment in higher education.
Graham pointed proudly to his two terms as governor from 1979 to 1987. He said the state ranked high nationally for student achievement and for the funding Florida provided.
"While that was going on, for the first time in Florida history before or since, Florida surpassed the national average of per capita income”, Graham said. “We were creating quality jobs. We were creating quality jobs."
Surrounded by students from Florida State and Florida A&M Universities, Graham said GOP policies have caused tuition to spike and hampered Florida's economic growth.
Sierra Taylor, a recent FAMU graduate, said budget cuts for 2011-2012 had caused to school to eliminate the foreign language program in which she was earning A’s.
"I was directly impacted by the cuts that were made to education in Florida. And in turn it caused me to stay another year in college, to study another program, to pay higher tuition and get less financial aid", said Taylor.
The 2012 Legislature cut $300 million from Florida's higher education budget and raised tuition on college students by 5%.
Now, though, Governor Rick Scott is making education a higher priority. Last month he toured K-12 schools, meeting with students, parents, teachers and members of the Florida Education Association.
He's said he doesn’t want cuts to education spending, though his remarks were aimed at K-12 spending.