November 16, 1999

Statement of Barbara R. Arnwine on Governor Jeb Bush's One
Florida Initiative

Last week the nation's attention was focused on the proposal announced by Governor Jeb Bush of Florida to issue executive orders and seek legislation to end affirmative action in state contracting and higher education and replace these programs with other allegedly more inclusive measures. After a careful review of the Bush plan, it is clear that the Florida Legislature, Cabinet and Board of Regents must be urged to reject the Governor's proposal to end affirmative action in contracting and higher education. In a rush to end affirmative action policies, Bush's proposal falls short of offering effective and successful alternatives capable of maintaining the inclusiveness and diversity obtained through affirmative action. Indeed, many of the proposed alternatives such as those improving K-12 public school education should be enacted but they must go hand in hand with affirmative action in providing equal opportunity.

Currently, Florida offers many valuable affirmative action programs in education and contracting which have expanded opportunities for many Floridians, especially its younger citizens who attend state educational institutions and for many women and minority contractors who face substantial barriers to full participation in the state contracting process. These programs which have resulted in inclusion should not be dismantled for unproven programs of questionable impact. Additionally, his plan overlooks the reality of the present day discrimination which continues to plague Florida's African-American and Latino citizens and makes the need for affirmative action programs to prevent and remedy ongoing discrimination all the more urgent.

Governor Bush's plan is a misguided effort that seeks to end vital policies in Florida despite the fact that they have been upheld by the Supreme Court and the United States Congress. Although hailed by many last week for its creativity, Bush's proposal would end these programs in their entirety and only offer ideas in their place, ideas which are have not been proven to be effective at maintaining even the modest levels of diversity that Florida has achieved in its educational institutions and state contracts. While it is important to remedy the underlying problems that exacerbate and contribute to the inequalities in our society, it is irresponsible to do so by eliminating legal programs that have been successful at creating diversity and remedying discrimination and replacing them outright with new and untested proposals for which no evidence has been provided to show it will be successful at increasing diversity and expanding opportunities for minorities.

The first part of Bush's plan which addresses education seeks an end to affirmative action in admissions and despite promises of increased numbers of minorities attending state institutions offers no proof that it will enhance or even provide the same educational opportunities for minorities. His proposal in education is inadequate to address the educational inequities that continue to exist in Florida. In fact, many of the programs he suggests such as expanded Advanced Placement courses, offering funding to students to take the PSAT and improving college preparation for students in low-performing schools are necessitated by decades of governmental inaction and are steps that he and the Legislature should be taking, in addition to advancing affirmative action, as part of their responsibility to equally educate all of Florida's children. These provisions are not and can not be sufficient substitutions for affirmative action in a state with a rich history of recent discrimination and segregation in education and where, for example, Floridian's of color had to leave the State in order to attend graduate or professional schools. Moreover, even if successful, it would take years for the full effect of these public education improvements to produce any semblance of educational equity for Florida's minority and poor children.

There is certainly some merit in the Governor's proposal to the degree that it might decrease reliance on the SAT which adversely impacts admissions for minority and women students and, if the legislature acts accordingly, to provide needed financial assistance for deserving students. Nevertheless, the "Talented 20" plan, which guarantees state-university admission to the top 20 percent of students in every Florida high school is flawed as it relies on segregated communities for its success and provides no evidence of the level of diversity that is likely to be attained in each of Florida's ten universities, especially the flagship institutions. Indeed, one need only look at the Texas Top Ten program and the California Board of Regents decision to see the probable outcome of this proposal a "cascading" effect whereby minorities are clustered in the less prestigious of the state's universities. In addition, the Bush plan fails to include tutorial and other assistance to students admitted from low performing schools to increase their success. In all likelihood, the Bush plan will segregate minority students into lower-tiered schools, close off opportunities in the flagship institutions and recreate the segregated educational facilities that Florida's implementation of affirmative action sought to remedy.

The Governor's contracting plan suffers from the same failure to recognize Florida's historic discrimination and purposeful exclusion of minorities, here directed specifically at minority-owned contractors in state and local contracting. His plan eliminates fair and reasonable measures which have removed barriers, have increased diversity and the participation of qualified minority owned-businesses in state contracts. Bush's plan threatens to jeopardize Florida's economic growth because it fails to recognize how affirmative action tools in contracting benefit all businesses by providing a positive means of growth for them. Bush, instead of attacking the discrimination in the industries which exclude minority participation, eliminates affirmative action programs which are one of the most meaningful tools available to address ongoing and persistent discrimination in the contracting industry. Further, his plan only offers untested proposals in place of affirmative action, proposals which ring hollow because they do not include a measurable way to evaluate their effectiveness at promoting diversity and enhancing opportunities for minority owned and operated businesses in state contracting.

Governor Bush's program fails to offer any concrete proposals to preserve the valuable tools that constitute affirmative action and which are essential to prevent and remedy the present-day discrimination that so many Floridians face. Considering Florida's expansive history of exclusion and discrimination it is far to soon to say affirmative action has done what it could and must be replaced. While it is believed that thoughtful and comprehensive policies must be put into place that address inequities in education from kindergarten to graduate school and which expand diversity in new and creative ways, they cannot come at the expense of effective affirmative action programs but must exist alongside it. The success of inclusive and thoughtful programs which address inequity, discrimination and exclusion may one day substantially reduce the need for affirmative action, but we know that we are not there yet. What is clear is that the proposal Governor Bush made last week is insufficient to replace the fair, successful and lawful affirmative action programs that currently exist and which have worked to expand opportunities in business, education and employment for qualified women and minorities.

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