It’s only fitting that the U.S. Department of Education has ruled that Florida didn’t violate any anti-discrimination laws in its administration of Bright Futures scholarships. Of course it didn’t. The inquiry was based on allegations that the eligibility criteria (GPAs, SATs, ACTs among them) was, in effect, discriminatory against African-American and Hispanic students.
Criteria, of course, can always be re-thought, but let’s at least remember this: Is this a “scholarship” or a “subsidy”? The original (1997) intent of BF was to address a “brain drain” from the Sunshine State. Merit-based BF was an alternative to hand-wringing over the challenge of keeping more of our “best and brightest” right here in Florida. As for need? It’s what Florida needed, according to the Florida Legislature.
This is now 2014. Is this too much help for high-achieving, affluent students? Too little for relatively needy, good minority students? That conversation is worth having. But not the one that raised the bogus issue of discrimination.