A plan to revamp the state鈥檚 Bright Futures program is being further watered down amid opposition from parents and students. The original version of the proposal would have tied the higher education tuition scholarship to whether a student鈥檚 major leads to a job.
The newest version of Republican Senator Dennis Baxley鈥檚 bill would no longer tie Bright Future鈥檚 funding to a student鈥檚 major. That provision drew outrage from educators, students and parents like Susie Drauer, whose daughter was so determined to earn a full Bright Futures scholarship, "she spent all last summer studying for the SAT, and took practice test after practice test and brought her score up significantly, because she wanted it that bad."
Drauer says her daughter hasn't quite decided on what she wants to do. She's only 17, "And that鈥檚 okay." Her concern is for other students, who may be feeling the presser to decide their futures immediately.
"I don鈥檛 know if they鈥檙e [lawmakers] aware that depression, anxiety and suicide is up in teenagers. There鈥檚 already so much pressure鈥ou鈥檙e supposed to have your life figured out at 17.鈥�
Drauer worries state鈥檚 efforts to keep changing Bright Futures requirements is only stressing out students more鈥攔ather than helping them. The Scholarships have become increasingly difficult to obtain, to the detriment of many low-income and minority students.
Baxley鈥檚 proposal has undergone several changes as its moved through committee amid widespread opposition. It no longer ties scholarship awards to programs and majors. Baxley acknowledged the role parents and students have played in his decisions to amend the bill.
鈥淚f anything, the publicity of this bill has demonstrated鈥� the intensity of emotions wrapped around our children and their success, and that鈥檚 a good thing," he told the Senate's Education Appropriations Committee Tuesday.
What remains in the proposal are requirements that students undergo career counseling and the creation of a list of majors that don鈥檛 lead to jobs. The plan also still ties the scholarship amounts to state budget appropriations and removes language that requires tuition be either 100% or 75% funded depending on what the student qualifies for. The loss of a funding guarantee, says Allison Rausch, a Florida State University student, is unfair:
鈥淵ou say you鈥檝e never guaranteed students this money. But when I signed a contract to attend FSU I was promised a full cost-of-attendance scholarship鈥y decreasing the money allotted for our scholarships, your breaking your promises to me and every student like me," she testified.
Republican lawmakers say Bright Futures has always been tied to state appropriations, and Sen. Travis Hutson says the funding is guaranteed--for current students.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e talking about through the GAA is going forward, these 6th and 7th graders, can we make the same guarantee for them? But I want to be very clear that every student who is qualified who is in college right now, will be taken care of.鈥�
The measure has cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee on a party line vote, but there is no House companion measure. Recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked his take on the proposal. DeSantis says he supports fully funding the program.
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