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Friday, November 01, 2002 Amendment 11 won’t do what it says, and it shouldn’t. Proponents of Florida’s Amendment Proposal 11 claim it will insulate the state’s universities from politics by establishing a Board of Governors. Let’s assume, for the moment, they are right. Is that good? As disparaged as politics and politicians are, in a democratic republic that is how the people influence government. If politics hinders the effectiveness of a government operation, it raises the question whether that operation should be the government’s responsibility, a question I’ll save for another time. If government entities are more effective when they are not answerable to the public, perhaps we should apply the same principle to other departments, like the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Law Enforcement. Proponents will point out that the members of the new Board of Governors will be appointed by the Governor. That only means that candidates must please the Governor to get the job. Once in, they don’t answer to him, and with seven year terms, most will probably serve during more than one administration. Then they will mention that the legislature still has budgetary authority for the system. Doesn’t that leave politics very much in the picture? University Governor: Mr. Influential Legislator, we need money to update the library at UCF. Influential Legislator: Well, Mr. Governor, I think we can find that, providing we also establish a Basket Engineering program at Hometown U. It’s the golden rule at work, the one that says whoever has the gold makes the rules. Supporters also say the amendment will save money and eliminate duplication by creating an additional educational bureaucracy. Talk about voodoo economics! Most of the state’s newspapers decry the "unstable" system of "fiefdoms" forced to compete with each other for resources and call for "coordination" by a central authority. They already report to a central authority, the Department of Education, and the proposed arrangement will not end the competition, it will just add a new bunch of bureaucrats to convince. And by the way, that competition is a good thing. Florida needs to reject this amendment that will just spend more of the taxpayer’s money to accomplish nothing.   sez Doug Murray 10:12:34 AM   sez you [] Copyright 2002 © Doug Murray