ORLANDO, Fla. – A newspaper analysis suggests former Gov. Jeb Bush’s decision to abolish affirmative action in college admissions has hurt minority enrollment.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday that Black college enrollment has failed to keep pace with the number of minorities graduating high school.
When Bush implemented the “One Florida” plan in 1999, Blacks made up just over 20 percent of Florida’s high school graduates and 17.5 percent of college freshmen. But by 2008, Black high school graduates accounted for 19.5 percent of the overall class and just 14.9 percent of college freshmen.
The gap between Hispanic students who graduate high school and enroll in college also widened, from just under one point in 1999 to 2.3 points in 2008.
“We had the remedy in place, which was affirmative action,” said state Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville. “We turned our back on a policy that we know was working. And now we have less diversity.”
Bush said the program achieved its goals admitting minority students without explicit racial preference and pre-empting a lawsuit or divisive ballot initiative, which California endured.
“If we had done nothing … my guess is the numbers wouldn’t be as good as they are today,” Bush said, “The old system really was a very passive system.”
