Gillum, an alumnus of Florida A&M University, addressed the issue in a questionnaire from the Sarasota Herald Tribune.
Q: “Do you support or oppose the allocation of performance-based funding for state universities to equip them for pre-eminence?”
A: “In its current format, the performance funding model for our state universities is exacerbating inequalities and unfairly punishing some universities, including Florida’s largest institution of higher education dedicated to serving people of color. Not only have some universities received zero state performance funding, but an individual university’s own budget is harmed by not receiving back its own share of institutional investment. That’s wrong. All of our state universities should have a fair chance to succeed — and a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t doing that. It makes no sense to pit universities with different missions against each other — our state college system performance funding of comparing improvement against own past performance is much more fair.”
FAMU was denied new state investment PBF funds in 2015-2016, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 under the current model.
Gillum also wants students majoring in education to attend college for free if they agree to teach in Florida.
Q: “Do you support or oppose tighter state limits on tuition at state colleges and universities?”
“I believe we need to hold harmless our students and families from rising tuition and fees — a product of our failure to adequately invest in our education system. We can’t expect Floridians to thrive when weighed down by a mountain of higher education debt — that’s why I propose making Florida’s public colleges and universities free for those who commit to stay in Florida and teach our next generation.”
This proposal could help FAMU save millions on scholarship money for education students.