July 30, 2005
Black enrollment decline a knock on Bush policy
Florida officials want to withhold judgment on preliminary data that show the number of African-American freshmen admitted to the state university system for the fall has dropped by 1,400 from three years ago. The silence about the nearly 11 percent projected decrease in black freshmen enrollment is odd, because this usually is when Gov. Bush begins leaping through verbal hoops to justify the contradictions of his One Florida plan to "transcend" affirmative action.
Gov. Bush promised the exact opposite effect on black enrollment, of course, with his 1999 initiative to outlaw race as a consideration in university admissions. His only substitute was guaranteed admission to a state university for high school seniors graduating in the top 20 percent of their classes. In other words, he "helped" the 20 percent already most assured of admission. In 2001, Gov. Bush promised that 400 additional minority students would go to college under the Talented 20 provision of the education-reform fantasy he was overselling. Between 2000 and 2004, however, the final statewide enrollment numbers of black freshmen increased by 370 students, from 12,340 to 12,710.
There is excellent news in the preliminary numbers that show Hispanic freshmen increased by 20 percent over the same period. Gov. Bush will tout that improvement, but the Hispanic student increase is at least as attributable to the growth of the largest minority population in Florida.
Despite Florida's ever-increasing population, meanwhile, African-American numbers haven't kept pace with the rest of the university system's population. When black student enrollment stayed flat, Gov. Bush shifted to declaring success by claiming credit for it not plummeting. Blaming economic factors and increasing academic standards, as Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan did last week, is another dodge. The key economic factor, higher tuition costs, has been controlled by Gov. Bush and the Legislature. Their lack of need-based scholarships is consistent with the idea of diverting scholarship money, as FAU did, to fill its athletic program's budget holes.
"Relentless media criticism cannot obscure the fact that One Florida is working better than its critics ever imagined," Gov. Bush insisted in 2002, responding to the numbers, which showed then that minorities were losing ground. Board of Governors Chairwoman Carolyn Roberts is correct that a real discussion of the numbers requires the real numbers, due in September. That also was true in the past when, without them, Gov. Bush was spinning One Florida.
Posted by Opinion staff at July 30, 2005 7:49 PMIf the Post would like to do something constructive then, perhaps, they should look at graduation rates for African-American college students. The purpose of the exercise is not how many get into college, since we can win that game easily by lowering standards, but how many graduate and go on to make a better life for themselves.
Has the Post actually taken the time to interview possible candidates for college admission to see why they aren't enrolling? My guess is they have not, it's just as easy to post an editorial, citing statistics, and blame Governor Bush.
It's obvious that, with the State of Florida willing to help the top 20 percent of high school students get into college, that higher graduation rates are possible, since this group has proven itself to have the study habits necessary to be successful in a college atmosphere.
I recommend that the Post put a valid effort into studying this program and seeing if it might just be working. I would hate to see us return to a place where we take pride in the amount of Black faces enrolling in our Universities and Colleges and lose sight of where all this should lead, with graduation. If students are enrolled, who have few of the necessary tools to be successful and end up leaving before the end of their first semester, what have you accomplished.
Preparation for college begins in the lower grades. It should be up our Board of Education to provide the necessary tools, for students to move on to the next level, to all those that desire to do so, no matter what their race. There are many reasons for people not to take advantage of what's offered, let's not force them to move on and fail, just for the sake of
playing a numbers game.
It might not be that African Americans are not qualified, or that graduating high school seniors are fading out of the whole educational system. If we did a study, we might find:
1) Older African American seniors have unemployed family members in the emediate household that they are helping to support.
2) The desire to work AND go to school is very realistic in a household where minority students are not used to the student loan debt they must incure to finish college. They are more realistic and naive about carrying debt. And thus are more realistic about life.
3) There is a war going on, and if minority high school seniors sign up, there is good cash and collge benefits. Maybe they are thinking long term about the ability to finish college with savings and better benefits.
Not like I am a proud supporter of all of Jeb's policies. But in big families, the burden for support falls upon ALL of the household members . Such specific needs of one person are seen as frivolous. What the community SHOULD be focusing on is: how can the community do like Tampa Bay St Pete College has done? And that is, make school hours negociable to the working class.
Posted by: Peggy Arvanitas at August 1, 2005 12:14 PM
It makes "Good Americans" and African Americans, who believe that "they've arrived", feel that the hateful, bigoted and elitist political policies of this Administration and the majority of politicians who rubberstamp these policies have no direct bearing on enrollment and general education. It's all part of that fantasy world selfish Americans are living in. Too bad it's not the reality that we all live in and are affected by in our daily lives.
Posted by: Sharon Dupree at August 2, 2005 7:13 PM
