Among other things, the report claims the Talented 20 fails to guarantee admission to the crème de la crème of Florida’s state schools, like the Texas program does. Instead, Talented 20 students must meet individual admission requirements for state colleges.
The Civil Rights Project report also notes that Florida’s Talented 20 lacks the extensive freshman support mechanisms found in Texas’ Top 10.
Jeb Bush created Talented 20 in an effort to preempt affirmative action foe Ward Connerly’s bid to bring his movement to the Sunshine State.
“We found that the program was really a failure on a pretty massive scale,” Orfield says of his organization’s 2003 study.
Calls to the Florida Department of Education seeking comment about the Talented 20 program were not responded to, nor were requests for data indicating how the program has functioned since its inception.
--Blair S. Walker
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