{"id":4102,"date":"2012-01-10T14:12:59","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T19:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=4102"},"modified":"2012-01-11T19:01:20","modified_gmt":"2012-01-12T00:01:20","slug":"house-speaker-says-higher-ed-system-has-no-clear-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/01\/10\/house-speaker-says-higher-ed-system-has-no-clear-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"House Speaker Says Higher Ed System Has “No Clear Mission”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Florida House<\/p>

House Speaker Dean Cannon said House members have muddied the mission of state universities.<\/p><\/div>\n

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon said state lawmakers trying to benefit their own parochial interests have muddied the mission of the state’s higher education system.<\/p>\n

Cannon, R-Winter Park, said the House will study how to improve the system because the state’s economy is tied to a “strong and dynamic” higher education system, according to prepared remarks sent to the media.<\/p>\n

Cannon did not promise a bill — in fact he said it’s up to the Board of Governors and not the Legislature to set the university system’s priorities. But Cannon said both the House and the Senate would have a conversation about overhauling higher education.<\/p>\n

Cannon’s statement is after the jump:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And that brings me to my final topic \u2013 reform of our Higher Education System.\u00a0\u00a0 Florida once had a public higher education system built on the 2+2 model with an overriding goal of providing access to higher education.\u00a0 Twenty years later, after a steady stream of reform proposals, several originating from this House, we have a higher education system with no clear mission, universities pursuing overlapping agendas despite limited public resources, and our community colleges rapidly transforming themselves into 4 year degree institutions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have a Board of Governors unsure of how to exercise its authority or execute its mission.\u00a0 And we, as a Legislature, and I freely include myself in this critique, have contributed to the problem by parochially advancing the interests of our local university or college at the expense of the system as a whole.\u00a0\u00a0 If left unchecked, we will continue to have a higher education system that is aggressively racing to the middle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am not standing before you today to tell you that I know the solution to the problem.\u00a0 In fact, the Florida Constitution makes it clear that it is not the role of the Florida Legislature to dictate the mission of the State University System; that role is reserved by the constitution for the Board of Governors.\u00a0 And while this may not have been the system I would design, if we are going to have a successful higher education system, we need to stop playing musical chairs with the governance structure and focus on implementing a modern, coordinated system for the State of Florida.<\/p>\n

Since we have contributed to the muddying of the waters, it is my hope that the Florida House can play a constructive role in clarifying them.\u00a0 To that end, I have tasked the House Education Committee to engage our university presidents and the members of the Board of Governors in a dialogue about the future of our system.\u00a0\u00a0 This Friday, the presidents of the University of Florida and Florida State University will meet with the Education Committee.\u00a0\u00a0 During week two of Session, the committee will visit with the remaining nine presidents over the course of three separate committee meetings.\u00a0\u00a0 The purpose of these conversations is to help solve a problem of vital importance for the future prosperity of our State.\u00a0 So I would ask our Members that you approach these conversations with open ears and open minds.<\/p>\n

We have not started down this path with a predetermined outcome in mind, and these discussions may or may not result in legislation.\u00a0\u00a0 But the time feels right to have this conversation, in no small part because this is our chamber\u2019s last opportunity to draw on the wisdom and experience of Dr. Bill Proctor before he is termed out of office.\u00a0\u00a0 Dr. Proctor was a leader in this state on higher education issues before I was born.\u00a0 He is, along with our beaches, our sunshine, and the Everglades, one of Florida\u2019s precious natural resources, and I can think of no better person to help us chart a path to success than Chairman Proctor.<\/p>\n

Our State has reached a moment in our history where we must find new pathways for success.\u00a0 The undeniable fact is that the stability and diversity of our state\u2019s economy are inextricably linked to the maintenance of a strong and dynamic system of higher education.\u00a0 We must ensure that Floridians are provided with the tools they need to compete in the global economy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve often said that government can\u2019t create jobs. But we can promote public policies that create the stability, the confidence, and the opportunities necessary for private sector job creation to occur.<\/p>\n

I know that all of you share this goal. And I know it is a goal that is shared by our partners in the Florida Senate, and by our Governor. While we may have different ideas or approaches on how to best address the challenges facing Florida, I believe we are more similar than different. We want to see Florida\u2019s unemployment rate continue to drop as jobs return to the private sector.\u00a0\u00a0 We want to continue to reduce the burden of government on Florida\u2019s families and businesses.\u00a0 And we want to promote a vibrant, diverse K-20 education system.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon said state lawmakers trying to benefit their own parochial interests have muddied the mission of the state’s higher education system. Cannon, R-Winter Park, said the House will study how to improve the system because the state’s economy is tied to a “strong and dynamic” higher education system, according to prepared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":4103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[1105,242,125,1040],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4109,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions\/4109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}