One Florida--For All!


On November 9, 1999, Jeb Bush announced the One Florida initiative. Its mission is to unite Floridians behind a shared vision of opportunity and diversity. “Our vision of diversity has been one that does not compromise quality…” Through the Equity in Education component of the One Florida Initiative, Bush proposed to guarantee admission to one of Florida's state universities to students who are ranked in the top 20 percent of their public high school senior class and who have completed a college preparatory curriculum. One of the major positive results has shown an increase in minorities taking the Advanced Placement Exam.

However, when you visit the website it is hard to determine if this is just another political ploy for more minority votes. One would tend to doubt it since Governor Bush, who is bilingual and has a Mexican American wife, has had to withstand a lot of criticism from within his own party – especially when it comes to funding the initiative according to the Washington Post. However, facts speak for themselves and in 1998 he received 61% of the Hispanic vote and raised his share of the African American vote by 14%.