Florida House leader says secrecy made hiring university presidents like ‘a spoil system'
Appearing before leaders of the state university system, House Speaker Daniel Perez on Wednesday defended a bill that would repeal a law shielding information about school presidential candidates from public disclosure.
Perez equated a 2022 law that provided exemptions to public-records and public-meetings laws for presidential searches to a 'spoil system,' which he said the House bill (HB 1321) seeks to rectify. He also pointed to rules that the university system's Board of Governors approved, including giving its chairman a role in reviewing candidates to become school presidents.
'We cannot reject DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] in the name of meritocracy while replacing it with a spoil system for a select few,' Perez, R-Miami, told the Board of Governors during a meeting at Florida A&M University. 'Unfortunately this board adopted a rule that breaks faith with the spirit of that public-record exemption. Under your rule, the BOG chair can, in the darkness of the search committee process, unilaterally veto candidates without standards or limitations, so that the [university] board of trustees may only pick one candidate.'
Board members, who gave Perez time to address them during a discussion about compensating college athletes, did not immediately respond.
READ MORE: FIU names Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez president in hasty board vote encouraged by DeSantis
Supporters of the 2022 law have argued the exemption was needed to help attract top candidates who might be hesitant to apply for Florida president jobs if their current employers could find out.
The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Pensacola, started moving forward last week. It came after numerous state universities and colleges have hired presidents in recent years and as others conduct searches.
In February, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, was chosen to serve as president of Florida Atlantic University, and former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez was chosen to serve as interim president of Florida International University. Also, University of South Florida President Rhea Law announced last month she will step down.
In addition, Florida Polytechnic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida State University, the University of North Florida and New College of Florida have presidents who were appointed since 2021. Meanwhile, in addition to Florida International University, the University of Florida and Florida A&M University are operating with interim presidents.
ANALYSIS: New FIU president continues Florida trend of political connections over academic experience
In the state college system, Broward College, Northwest Florida State College, South Florida State College and State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota have hired new presidents during the past two years. Also, North Florida College President John Grosskopf announced this month he will step down from his post.
Along with repealing the public-records and public-meetings exemption for presidential searches, Salzman's bill would place term limits on members of the Board of Governors, require them to file detailed financial disclosures and eliminate a requirement that presidents selected by university boards of trustees go to the Board of Governors for confirmation.
Salzman's bill, which was approved by the House Education Administration Subcommittee, needs to clear the Education & Employment Committee before it could go to the full House. A Senate version (SB 1726) has not been heard in committees.
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