Editor's Note: The state Board of Education does not oversee the Board of Governors.
The Board of Governors has given up its pursuit to revise the Legislature-controlled Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program - a move that comes in a time of tension between the two bodies, which are currently facing off in a lawsuit.
The board, which oversees Florida's 11 public universities, stated in a news release Thursday that tweaking Bright Futures would be removed from its agenda for the upcoming legislative session.
The board previously suggested freezing the scholarship program's current funding of $400 million through the 2011-2012 school year.
It had also proposed transferring $100 million of the program's funding to the Florida Student Assistant Grant programs and allotting another $100 million to provide incentives for students pursuing "areas of high state need," according to the Board's Feb. 21 agenda.
Mark Rosenberg, chancellor of the board, stated in the release that the board would instead focus on "securing adequate support in an environment of budget cuts and stopping the brain drain from Florida's universities."
Bill Edmonds, spokesman for the Board of Governors, said the board never intended to revoke funds from the program. Still, it's given up efforts to improve it.
Negative feedback prompted the board's decision, he said, but the most important reason was the need to focus on vital issues, such as statewide budget cuts.
"The budget issues are so all-consuming," Edmonds said. "We didn't want to create a sideshow."
Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, wrote in an e-mail Monday that the board's Bright Futures proposals stemmed from ill intentions.
"Let me be clear, this is not a move on the part of the Board of Governors to save Bright Futures," Pruitt wrote. "It is an attempt to chip away at the funding."
It's not the first time Pruitt has gone against the board.
He and Rep. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, are the Legislature's defendants in a lawsuit with former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and the board over control of Florida's universities, specifically concerning tuition.
The board joined Graham's lawsuit in July 2007.
Just three days before the board's announcement that it would back off Bright Futures, Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota, filed a resolution that would dissolve the board altogether.
Carlton's proposal to create a state constitutional amendment would eliminate the State Board of Education - the board that oversees the Board of Governors.
The Legislature meets for its spring session in March. If the resolution passes, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the Cabinet would replace the education board.
Carlton was unavailable for comment Thursday.
