At a time when Florida’s 11 state universities are financially gasping, the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott are throwing $50 million away on a whimsical new school that might as well be called Useless State.
It’s the work of a Lake Wales Republican named JD Alexander, who — sadly for taxpayers — chaired the powerful Senate Budget Committee.

Alexander is leaving the Legislature because of term limits, but as a going-away present he demanded that his colleagues fund a new university in his home district. And then he basically stomped his little feet and held his breath and huffily threatened to gut another school’s budget if he didn’t get his way.

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Normally the (Board of Governors) would have been deeply involved with the birth of the new school — an authority granted by voters in a constitutional amendment. The whole point was to avoid such costly debacles, and to buffer higher education from the influence of grimy politics.

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Only a coldblooded cynic would wonder if Alexander or any of his pals will benefit from the gush of taxpayer funds being used to construct Useless State.
A court could stop the bleeding, but in the meantime applications are being taken for the make-believe school’s Board of Trustees.

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