Pictured Above: Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, has backtracked on his proposed bill limiting Bright Futures awards.
Courtesy of the Florida Senate
By Sophie Ojdanic
Bowing to backlash from students, parents and faculty, a state senator has amended a controversial bill that would have reduced some students’ Bright Futures scholarships based on their academic majors.
In a letter to fellow senators on Monday, Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said his bill would still require the state board that governs Florida’s public universities to compile an annual list of majors that don’t lead directly to employment.
But the list would be advisory only. It would no longer reduce the amount of Bright Futures scholarships for students in those majors.
Also gone from the bill is another controversial element.
The proposal would not reduce Bright Futures aid for students who earn college credits through high school programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and dual enrollment.
“We have awakened a giant,” Baxley said in his letter to senators. “We have to reconnect the education and economic model and we have begun that process.”
The original versions of Baxley’s bill drew a firestorm of opposition around the state. More than 120,000 people signed an online petition denouncing it, and senators got an earful from students, parents and educators who want to leave Bright Futures as is.
Baxley’s bill has not been introduced in the Florida House of Representatives, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled that he might not embrace Baxley’s original proposal.
USF St. Petersburg geology professor Chris Meindl said Baxley’s decision speaks to what has been left unsaid.
“The fact that Sen. Baxley will not simply drop his proposed solution demonstrates that he believes a problem exists,” Meindl said. “But he has not shown us evidence of a problem. But I challenge Sen. Baxley and the legislature to produce this mythical army of college graduates who have degrees but no jobs.”
“I think it is a figment of their ideological imagination for them to believe that college graduates must always be employed in a field related to their major.”
Edyn Gottlieb contributed to this report, which includes information from the Orlando Sentinel and Tampa Bay Times.
