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4. Building a Better Florida: The 1973 Florida Education Reforms
- The University of Alabama Press
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4 Building a Better Florida The 1973 Florida Education Riforms In July 1973, Florida education commissioner Floyd Christian reported to state teachers that "better days are here." Christian had good reason for his claim. In June, Reubin Askew had signed into law one of the most sweeping and progressive education reform packages in Florida history. Not since 1947, when the state established the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) for education, had the state experienced such drastic change. Most education experts agreed that the 1973 education legislation made Florida a national "model" for education reform. The moving force in this watershed in Florida history was Governor Reubin Askew. Shortly after assuming office in 1971, he created the Florida Governor's Citizens' Committee on Education (CCE) to study Florida education and make recommendations for its reform. Askew's appointment of the CCE, its concrete and specific recommendations, and the governor's moral suasion constituted , as Christian pointed out, a "major turning point in education."l Compared with its neighbors, Florida's education system did not appear to need reform. In almost every index, the state ranked ahead of every southern state except Virginia. In 1968, Florida spent more per pupil than the rest of the South, $554 per child compared with Georgia's $498, South Carolina's $418, Alabama's $4°3, and Mississippi's $346. The nation spent on average $619. In 1970, the average salary of a Florida teacher was $8,3°0, ranking it first in the South and twenty-second in the nation. Alabama ranked forty-fifth, paying its teachers $6,817, and South Carolina ranked forty-seventh, paying an average of $6,750. Mississippi ranked last in the nation with $5,87°. A substantial number of Florida teachers, more than 28 percent, also made more than $8,500 a year in 1970. Virginia was highest in the South with 30.4 percent, though still well below the U.S. average of45 percent. By contrast, only 5 percent of South 9 2 Reubin Askew ifFlorida Carolina's teachers earned more than $8,500. Alabama paid only 7.3 percent of its teachers that much. 2 Reubin Askew knew the state could do better. Not content with continually outpacing most of the South, Askew believed Florida should lead the nation. His vision for the state included serving not only as a national example for racial reconciliation but also as a model ofhow to finance and run schools effectively. Two months after taking office, Askew elaborated on his vision of what education should be. "Education is the hallmark of our democracy," he said, "a democracy which cannot exist without an enlightened citizenry." Later he added that "ignorance is the midwife of demagoguery and oppression." He suggested that one of the first things the state needed was tax reform. Education could not operate effectively without increased funds and accountability: "We have overburdened those least able to afford additional taxes while continuing to allow the politically influential to escape paying their fair share. As a result, Florida today has one of the most regressive tax structures in the United States." Askew demanded that the state institute a corporate profits tax. As it stood, Florida did not tax incomes earned by corporations operating within the state. This had made Florida an attractive place for industry to relocate or expand. Askew declared that the free ride had to end. His campaign to amend the state's constitution and install a corporate income tax was the first step in his 1973 success. 3 In the fall of 1971, Askew began a campaign to amend the state constitution and institute a corporate income tax. The battle to get a referendum scheduled by the legislature was only a portent of things to come. In a compromise, Askew and tax opponents in the legislature agreed on holding the referendum in an extraordinary election in the fall of 1971. With the date set, the state witnessed one of the "bitterest 'nonpolitical' campaigns " in state history. Askew campaigned on a populist platform, asking voters, "Who runs this state?" Opponents charged that corporations would pass the tax down to the consumer, in effect making it another sales tax. They also misled voters into thinking the governor wanted a general income tax increase, not a tax on corporations. If approved, the corporate income tax meant almost $ 100 million for the state in the following year alone. Askew pledged to use the money to relieve sales and lease taxes and to aid education. Askew...