Hailed as a bold stroke by supporters, Gov. Charlie Crist’s plan to let state universities raise tuition by as much as 15 percent annually may also have drawn a potent foe at Thursday’s unveiling, the state’s first self-styled education governor, Bob Graham.

Flanked by gushing university presidents who have been howling for more cash, Crist announced the proposal as a way to improve education and help fix the ailing economy.

“You produce good jobs by having great education,” Crist said.

But Graham and some Republican and Democratic lawmakers said on Thursday that they were concerned. For one thing, the Legislature would be agreeing to abdicate some of its power to set tuition, which members may not be willing to do.

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Zogby first gained attention in the 1992 presidential election when he released a survey showing the New York State Gov. Mario Cuomo would lose in his home state to incumbent President George H. W. Bush. He also correctly polled the cliffhanger result of the presidential election won narrowly by George W. Bush.

Since 1996, Zogby has polled for Reuters News Agency, the largest news agency in the world, and for four years, conducted polls for NBC News. He regularly appears on all three nightly network news programs, plus NBC’s “Today Show,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and is a frequent guest for Fox News and MSNBC special programs, along with CNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”

His analytical expertise has been published on the opinion pages of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Christian Science Monitor and Newsday to name a few. Zogby’s new book, “The Way We’ll Be,” was released this summer and is a portrait on the new American consumer.

If you would like to reserve tickets for the lecture, click here.

Macy’s sponsors the award and gives $10,000 to the winner and a $1,000 check for their school.

“Jean Lamar is a phenomenal educator, whose mastery of teaching and dedication to her students goes well beyond the classroom,” said Julie Greiner, Macy’s Florida Chairman and CEO.

Lamar gave a series of presentations to teachers in Orlando and received her prize during the Florida Teacher of the Year gala at the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe. For the coming year she will take a sabbatical during which she will travel around the state to support other educators.

Three other seats are scheduled to be decided next month, including open contests in Districts 1 and 3. School Board member and former Mayor Tommy Hazouri is also seeking re-election in District 7.

With Jordan now the prohibitive front-runner in the race, I would expect we’ll see one or more of these other candidates bow out before qualifying next month.

Five candidates are currently in the race for Representative Jordan’s House seat, they include former Councilman Lake Ray, Mario Rubio, and Gordon Morgan.

Stanton College Prep slipped from number 3 to number 5 this year, while Paxon School for Advanced Studies moved up from 17th to 8th place in the new survey.  Nease High School is the only other local entry in the top 100, ranked at 89th in the nation.

To see the full list of rankings, click here.

Around 11am today, a UNF campus police officer discovered a suspicious looking package near building 9.  Over the next several hours, much of the campus was closed and students were evacuated.  The bomb squad was called in to provide back-up.

Ultimately, four suspicious packages were dicovered.  A student approached officers to inform them that the boxes were part of a multi-media art project.  After inspecting the items, police lifted the evacuation order.  The campus was reopened in the early afternoon and within a couple of hours most classes resumed their normal operation. 

Students seemed to be taking the scare in stride, and as of 9pm over 450 people had joined the Facebook group: “I survived the ‘art project’ of 2008″

If the amendment is passed, the change would reverse what voters did when they eliminated the post and created a Board of Governors to oversee our state’s universities.

The new amendment would shrink the Board of Governors and make the Education Commissioner a cabinet-level post, to be filled by statewide election. It would also do away with the appointed Board of Education, which oversees the K-12 system, and in turn give those duties to the Governor and the Cabinet.

Republicans in the legislature have been pushing this forward for some time, but there is still significant opposition that must be overcome. Both Jeb Bush and Bob Graham, powerful former governors, have come out against restoring the elected post. Graham was instrumental in doing away with it back in 2002.

This (hopefully) ends a controversial and public battle between Councilwoman Lee and former Jaguar Tony Boselli. Lee claimed that members of her community needed more time to study Boselli’s involvement, and some suggested that the discussion had taken on racial undertones — Boselli is white, the neighborhood is largely African-American.

The spat gained some unfortunate national attention when radio personality Neal Boortz harshly criticized the Jacksonville City Council on his daily program.

FMU (now Everest) is owned by Corinthian Colleges Inc. which seems to be combining all their institutions under the new Everest umbrella.

Their campuses provide students with short-term, career training in a variety of programs. Some offer diplomas and/or degrees in accounting, business administration, criminal justice, dental assisting, legal assistant, massage therapy, medical assisting, medical insurance billing and coding, paralegal, pharmacy technician, practical nursing, surgical technologist, and much more. With a variety of programs available at each campus.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reports on the name change…

Florida Metropolitan University has changed its name to Everest University, effective immediately.

The name change is part of a plan by the school’s parent company, Corinthian Colleges Inc., to bring most of its campuses under one name to increase its recognition.

“Changing from FMU to Everest University will afford our Florida-based students more extensive career opportunities and better ensure their long-term success,” said Jan Schoonmaker, president and chief operating officer of Everest (Florida) University.

The school is the 12th-largest in the Jacksonville area with full-time equivalent enrollment of 963, according to the Business Journal’s Book of Lists.

The rechristened school has Northeast Florida campuses in Jacksonville on Philips Highway and in Orange Park on Wells Road. The campuses are two of 10 in Florida.