Those championing tuition equity in Florida made large strides Thursday: The Florida House passed a bill extending in-state tuition rates to undocumented students.
The bill, quite simply, makes sense. If you’re a student who has attended all four years of high school in the state of Florida, why wouldn’t you pay in-state tuition? Moreover, as Florida Rep. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, said, “In this Sunshine State, opportunity should shine brightest.” Cruz is one of the many politicians and activists in Florida pushing for the rights of undocumented students to include affordable higher education.
The debate over tuition equity has been building for decades, the Miami Herald reported. It’s been brought to the forefront of Florida politics by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, on the state level and by student activists on the university level. UF is one of a handful of universities pushing its trustees to grant partial-tuition waivers to undocumented students, as Florida International University and Miami Dade College have done.
As the issue has pressed on, all eyes turned toward Gov. Rick Scott to see where he would stand on tuition equity. The conservative governor has taken hard stances on immigration policies before: The Herald reported that Scott vetoed a bill last year that would have allowed some children of undocumented immigrants to obtain temporary driver’s licenses. The bill had nearly unanimous support before Scott rejected it, which shows his attitude toward rights for children of undocumented immigrants.
His sudden support of tuition equity, then, smacks of voter pandering.
According to the Herald, Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Allison Tant said, “For three years, Rick Scott hasn’t been treating young undocumented immigrants like people — now he’s treating them like political pawns.”
Despite the transparency of Scott’s support of tuition equity, the passage of this bill would signify a turning point in Floridian immigration policy. The conservative nightmare of undocumented students yanking the rug from beneath American-born youth is far from a reality. Undocumented immigrants tend to take on jobs that don’t require Social Security numbers, such as farming and construction. In fact, our country’s agricultural system relies on the cheap labor of undocumented workers. Denying education and a chance at upward mobility for the children of those workers, who continue to prop up our economy, is criminal.
Obviously, Florida has a large Hispanic voter community, especially in South Florida — hence FIU and Miami Dade College’s partial-tuition waiver policies for undocumented students. Scott’s attempt to entice voters in the coming election season won’t go unnoticed by the communities he’s trying to win over. After all, why would you vote for the politician who allows you in-state tuition but not the privilege of a temporary driver’s license?
The governor’s motives are clear, and they’re anything but pure.
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 3/24/2014 under the headline "Scott’s position on tuition equity hypocritical"]
