A promise for a politician is always guaranteed whether they’re running for office or holding office.
Governor Rick Scott fits that mold as well.
One his promises: A higher education system focused on giving “Florida a competitive edge over other states: Achieve the first top 10 research public university and a second ranked public university in the top 25.”
PolitiFact Florida took a look at the governor’s work so far and rated this promise IN THE WORKS on the Scott-O-Meter.
Writer Joshua Gillin said even with the rating, there is some question about the way Governor Scott thinks about the rankings.
“A lot of experts we talked to said the big problem here that we need to keep in mind as we work toward this one on the Scott-O-Meter is who’s going to come out,” Gillin said. “Schools would have to be bumped out of the way to do this.”
It is for that reason, Governor Scott’s promise received a rating of IN THE WORKS.
SOURCES: Competitive edge in Florida education promised
- U.S. News and World Report, Public university rankings, 2016
- Gov. Rick Scott, Degrees to Jobs summit, May 24-26
- University of Florida, Rankings, 2012-16
- Times Higher Education, University World Rankings, 2015
- National Science Foundation, Rankings by R and D expenditures, 2014
- Miami Herald, "Gov. Rick Scott, lawmakers tangle with universities over tuition costs," March 12, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida, "Florida agency's misleading attack on California's minimum wage hike," May 4, 2016
- Interview, Brittany Davis, Florida Board of Governors spokeswoman, May 10, 2016
- Interview, Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News, May 13, 2016
- Interview, John Thelin, Professor at the University of Kentucky, and author of A History of American Higher Education published by Johns Hopkins U Press, May 20, 2016
- Interview, Roger Geiger, Distinguished Professor of Education (Higher Education) and Senior Scientist at Penn State University, May 21, 2016
- Interview, Dennis Schnittker, Florida State University spokesman, May 23, 2016
- Interview, Paul Bernard, University of Florida spokesman, May 20, 2016