Back to Florida. Now that the rush to hand out money to Scripps is over and done with, Joseph Layton puts it in perspective. In Florida, we have:
• A governor mouthing support for education but injuring that same system with his higher educational governance plan -- a plan rejected by Floridians.
• A governor refusing to properly fund education so that Florida voters were forced to pass a constitutional amendment to decrease class size to ensure that our children are educated, not warehoused. Then the governor pleads poverty when asked to enforce the constitution, ignoring the will of the people.
• A governor claiming a desire for educational excellence and accountability but starving the education system of funds, from grade school through the state university system. The system was cut by $110 million, and the University of Florida by $50 million this year. This was done after a spate of large tax cuts -- mostly to out-of-state corporations -- depleted our treasury.
Now, with little public discussion or input, Gov. Jeb Bush tells us that he has a great deal. With $310 million in state monies and another $200 million from Palm Beach County, he will bring to Florida a ''world-class research institute,'' the Scripps Research Institute. The funding is to be spaced over seven years, handing over to Scripps $72.9 million per year. Scripps promises 545 jobs for this largess. There may be more, or maybe less, jobs. However, 545 jobs at $510 million comes down to $935,780 per job -- no bargain for Florida. "Governor should use funds to improve education".
HARRIS "SERIOUSLY" CONSIDERING SENATE RUN -U.S. Rep Katherine Harris -- whose role as Florida's Secretary of State during the 2000 presidential election made her a hero to Republicans and a villain to Democrats -- said Thursday she is "seriously" considering running for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat next year. "Katherine Harris ponders Senate race".
SENATE POLL -With nine months to go before the primary, about two-thirds of Republican voters haven't picked a favorite in the race for U.S. Senate, a poll by GOP candidate Bill McCollum showed. "'Undecided' leads in McCollum poll".
FIRST PREZ DEBATE AT UM -The political spotlight will shine on South Florida Sept. 30, 2004, when a national television audience tunes into the first debate in the presidential general-election campaign of 2004 at the University of Miami. "Contested state in election debacle to kick off 2004 debates".
A LEGITIMATE QUESTION -Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Lieberman set up a town hall-type meeting in Broward County Thursday to talk about issues vital to seniors. So he was caught off guard by one attendee's question.
Seventy-five-year-old Alice Romans, seated in the front row, asked, "What about the young people walking the streets with their dropped pants?"
Lieberman quickly recovered from his surprise. "All right, where's my staff? What's my position on dropped pants?" he said with a broad smile as his audience roared.