Judge has issue with wording of Amendment 5 tax ballot, Orlando Sentinel

By Josh Hafenbrack
August 14, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - The campaign to wipe out most school property taxes in Florida moved to a courtroom Wednesday, with an openly skeptical state judge raising the possibility that the ambitious tax plan could be torpedoed before it ever reaches voters.

Backed by battling business and real-estate groups, lawyers argued over whether the Amendment 5 tax plan's title and summary scheduled to be printed on Nov. 4 election ballots in Florida are misleading.

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Florida's budget shortfall may hit $1.2B, Miami Herald

By Marc Caputo
August 14, 2008

Florida's dwindling state budget could fall about $1 billion deeper into deficit due to a combination of record-high gas prices, the crashing housing market and record job loss in the state.

State economists plan to meet Friday to determine just how big the hole will be, but the previous quarter's lower-than-expected tax collections indicate they'll be facing a deficit benchmark of as much as $1.2 billion.

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Our View: Investing in tomorrow, Florida Today

August 12, 2008

It's an exodus the state must stop, or badly damage its already unstable economic future.

We're talking about the brain drain of top talent at state universities as nationally known professors pack their bags and head to posts in states that pay more -- and where there's more support for excellence in higher education.

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Tax-swap treachery, The Ledger (Lakeland)

August 11, 2008

Gov. Charlie Crist surprised few last week in announcing his support for Amendment 5, the proposed constitutional measure that would eliminate most school property taxes in Florida. What is surprising is the governor is so blinded by ideology that he will not acknowledge the ever-growing evidence that it would cause long-term economic and educational harm to our state.

Amendment 5, which will appear on the November ballot, has been dissected by business and education groups as well as some of the state's leading economists.

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Pay Florida's professors, Palm Beach Post

August 11, 2008


Florida's 11 public universities have made an advance request for $65.4 million to retain faculty and staff members who have not had raises in two years. Yet the Legislature is looking at another major shortage in the 2009-10 budget. Something has to give. In this case, it's the Legislature.

Demand for science-based skills is high, for example, and research grants are portable. So not only are professors leaving, they're taking their money with them. At Florida International University, even the history department is down 37 percent as one professor leaves for the University of Tennessee, another for the University of North Carolina. "We have no shot at keeping" many of them, said university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg. "And since everybody's networked, it's difficult to get good people to come down because they know the situation" in Florida.

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Hard at work on college applications, Herald Tribune (Sarasota)

By Tiffany Lakes
August 10, 2008

Amanda Basnight needs one more thing -- her schedule for her senior year of high school -- to complete her college application to the University of Florida. She is hoping she will be able to send her materials within a week of school starting Aug. 18.

"I am trying to work as hard as I can so that I don't have to worry about competition," said Amanda, 17, a senior at Venice High this year.

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UF, 2 others use 'dirty little secret' for alums' kids, Palm Beach Post

By Kimberly Miller
August 10, 2008


The children of University of Florida alumni were more likely to be accepted to the school this year than their non-Gator-related peers.

One reason: legacy, an admissions policy that some education experts call the "dirty little secret" in public university enrollment offices and one that three Florida schools use.

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Florida's skinflint sheepskins, Palm Beach Post

August 10, 2008


Florida has taken pride in offering a college education at a bargain-basement price, but students are starting to get what their parents are paying for.

Consider this statistic:

If Florida's 11 public universities raised their lowest-in-the-nation tuition 1 percent statewide, it would bring in all of $4 million. This year and last year, the Legislature cut $200 million from the universities' budgets. So the colleges would have to raise tuition 50 percent just to make up what they lost.

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Privitization is key to saving UF, Gainesville Sun

By Bill Cunningham
August 10, 2008

UF President Bernie Machen announced recently that Florida should invade its "rainy day" fund of more than $3 billion to relieve the institution's financial crisis.

Readers and members of the university community will recall that last spring the state legislature cut UF's budget by some $47 million, allegedly eliminating about 430 faculty and staff positions (some vacant), necessitating personnel layoffs, and curtailing or modifying a number of academic programs, especially in languages but including biological and social sciences.

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Provost improvefs FSU numbers, St. Petersburg Times

By Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler
August 10, 2008

TALLAHASSEE — The sign leading into provost Larry Abele's office at Florida State University is unequivocal: It's the students, stupid.

Inside, his bookshelves sag under the weight of three-ring binders and reports that track such things as enrollment and graduation trends, faculty departures and salary data.

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Board OKs request to up faculty pay at UF, Gainesville Sun

August 8, 2008
By Nathan Crabbe

JACKSONVILLE - - When the last professor leaves Florida, please turn off the lights.

The situation isn't that dire yet, but the Florida Board of Governors on Thursday acknowledged that state universities face the challenge of fleeing faculty and skyrocketing energy costs.

The board unanimously approved a legislative request for nearly $65 million to raise faculty pay to stem the so-called brain drain. The University of Florida and other state schools have seen faculty departures fueled by budget cuts, estimated at one university to be happening at three times the rate of previous years.

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Florida universities' governing board approves $450 million budget increase, News-Press (Ft. Myers)

By Stephen D. Price
August 7, 2008

JACKSONVILLE — The Florida Board of Governors approved a $3.7 billion budget request Thursday, a $350 million increase over current-year spending.

Officials said they realize requesting a budget increase while the economy is poor may be a pipe dream, but they are obligated to spell out all the State University System's needs.

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