Students plan statewide protests

Posted Nov 28, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Nov 28, 2011 at 02:02 PM

University students across Florida are planning to rally this week to protest tuition hikes and proposed cuts to the Bright Futures scholarship.

Gov. Rick Scott is leading a “relentless attack on higher education,” says the news release from a group calling itself the Florida Student Alliance.

It links students from USF, USF St. Pete, University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Florida State.

Scott has made it clear he plans to look hard at higher education next year, talking up a Texas think tank proposal that would revamp how professors are paid and awarded tenure and emphasizes larger classes.

A group of Florida university presidents has come up with an alternative plan that would, among other things, set tuition lower for science and math programs, to lure students into these classes.

Most of this week’s student rallies are set for Thursday.

This is part of a nationwide movement, we wrote in Sunday’s Tampa Tribune.

A group called Occupy Colleges organized a student strike for today, to demonstrate solidarity with students at campuses across the country protesting tuition hikes.