Florida schools didn’t use quotas. Their diversity initiatives were focused on providing support and services to students of diverse backgrounds to help them succeed in their studies.
Sorry, I wasn't very clear there. I meant the quotas in regards to the CHIPs act with hiring certain numbers of women or minority owned companies. I'm comfortable with something akin to the Rooney rule in the NFL, but hiring should be based on merit.
It really doesn't matter what we think of DEI. What matters is what the work force that companies are trying to recruit thinks of places to work that work against DEI. The issue is that when DEI is attacked, people who are minorities. LGBTQ or immigrants often take it that their kind isn't welcomed in those communities. It is as much about the optics as it is the reality. And, no amount of incentives can make up for the inability to build a properly skilled workforce.*
No different than when the GOP holds up a decades old rape case by an immigrant as somehow representative of millions of immigrants. When, statistics show that U.S. citizens commit crimes at far higher rates than immigrants. The GOP is playing to optics, not reality. Turnabout is fair play.
*In a lot of states, incentives are really a reduction or giveback of taxes that are higher than Florida so the incentives may not really be that much more than coming to Florida, a lower tax sate. Smart companies look at the total package (e.g. land, taxes, labor, utilities, logistics, natural disasters, insurance, suppliers/customers, quality of life, educational options, etc.), not just some incentives that are mostly one-time and may be a relative fraction of the cost, long term, of operating in an area. By example, if they have to pay higher ongoing rates to attract labor, that could quickly wipe out the value of incentives.
Like I said, I don't see the evidence that what you're saying about DEI being essential to attracting companies. I was a bit reductionist in how I framed it, but ultimately the decision to invest is primarily about dollars and cents. As a whole, Florida has a relatively favorable business environment which is why its economic growth is outpacing the national average.
This initiative to bring the semiconductor institute is a great move to position north Florida for future growth, and I think that's something we can all agree on.
