Two weeks ago, the University of Florida voted to deny Jeb Bush an honorary degree. By a 38-28 vote, the faculty Senate rejected the former governor’s nomination, citing concerns about some of Bush’s educations initiatives, including his dismantling of affirmative action programs in the state. Under Bush’s “One Florida” plan, which outlawed affirmative action at state universities, African-American enrollment dropped at the University of Florida and across the state, as critics predicted it would. Bush’s policies of “rewarding and punishing schools according to students’ standardized test results and using vouchers to send certain students to private schools at public expense” also contributed to the rejection of his nomination. The faculty’s decision did not sit well with Bush’s supporters in the Florida legislature, especially Rep. David Rivera (R-Miami), who was “outraged” and responded by introducing a proposal to name the school’s college of education after Bush. The measure passed the conservative-controlled House Schools & Learning Council on Tuesday. So now, over the faculty’s objections, the school will “have to erect ’suitable markers’ noting the college’s new name and include the revised name in all university documents, including catalogues and brochures.” That new name? The “Jeb Bush College of Education.”

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