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Florida's Constitution now insists that lawmakers keep their noses out of university programs, but that didn't stop them from creating a chiropractic school, of all things, this year. Regrettably, the people who are supposed to oversee universities, the Board of Governors, did little more than vent their frustrations at their meeting last month.
The chiropractic school, fashioned for Florida State University, is largely the brainchild of a chiropractor, Sen. Dennis Jones, who has held influential positions in the Legislature. It would be the only such school on any university campus in the United States, a form of education that a 2000 FSU consultant's report euphemistically called "unique." But the proper role of universities in the teaching of alternative medicines is the least of the questions facing the governors board.
The Legislature's $9-million chiropractic school appropriation is a direct affront to the board's authority, which was duly noted in an animated dialogue on the subject. Zach Zachariah, a board member who is a Fort Lauderdale cardiologist and Republican fundraiser, was emphatic. "We have the authority," he said. "In my opinion, there's no question. We have to stand up."
Instead, the board opted, on an 8-5 vote, to sit down - at least for now. Miguel DeGrandy, who is a former lawmaker, advised his colleagues: "I don't think this is one where we want to cause a rift with the Legislature. We have to pick our fights carefully."
DeGrandy's point about diplomacy is well-taken. The board is new, and its constitutional standing is untested. It will have to build a working relationship with the Legislature, which ultimately holds the purse strings to all of state spending. But the chiropractic manipulation is no less an affront to higher education by virtue of the fact that its legislative roots extend farther than the board itself. Voters approved a separate governing agency precisely because they wanted to stop this kind of meddling.
The Board of Governors is also in the midst of refereeing a fight over new medical schools, and the three universities hoping to build those costly programs will be watching to see if the end-around approach works for the FSU chiropractic school.
To some extent, the angry debate is an encouraging sign. The board, after all, was created over the objections of the same governor, Jeb Bush, who then appointed 15 of the 17 members. The first chairman, Jacksonville businessman Tom Petway, turned over most of the board's duties, including the selection of a chancellor, to Education Commissioner Jim Horne before quitting four months later to campaign for President Bush. A year later, Chairwoman Carolyn Roberts, a former university regent, says she thinks the new board ultimately "will take the appropriate action to protect our duties."
The chiropractic school will at some point have to bring its education plan to the Board of Governors for review, which means this fight is not necessarily over. The board, not the Legislature, is supposed to establish program priorities, and it is hard to see how chiropractic education would be high on the list.