Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith joined House Democrats in blasting ruling Republicans Wednesday for falling short in dollars for public schools and forcing university students to shoulder an increasingly bigger share of state higher education spending.

“Rick Scott said he was going to focus on our education system — but sadly he and the Republican legislature seemed to only focus on tearing it down and making education less affordable for Florida’s middle class,” Smith said at an election-year media event held outside the Capitol.

 ”While the GOP has failed to improve education, they have succeeded at what they do best: prioritizing corporate tax breaks, special interest projects and Tea Party extremism ahead of Florida’s families,” he added.

Reps. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, and Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, were among the half-dozen House Democrats flanking Smith.

University spending faces a $300 million reduction in the $70 billion state budget positioned for a final vote Friday. While public school spending is boosted $1 billion in the budget, that still falls short of the $1.3 billion cut from classrooms last year, when per-pupil dollars dropped to their lowest level in six years.

“These devastating cuts to higher education make it increasingly unaffordable for students like me to attend college,” said Dominique Gelin, president of Florida College Democrats.

A pair of Palm Beach County Democrats are teaming with a Central Florida Republican senator to sponsor legislation aimed at teaching school children about the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Reps. Lori Berman of Delray Beach and Joe Abruzzo of Wellington are sponsoring the measure (HB 1027) requiring that Florida schools provide instruction on events surrounding the attacks and their longer-term impact on the nation. Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, plans to sponsor the proposal in the Senate.

“The best defense of our nation is through the education of our children. We must teach the history of 9/11 to avoid a recurrence of these tragic events,” Abruzzo said.

Berman said events leading up to and unspooling after that day are a key part of the nation’s history. She likened the need for school children — who were infants, or born after the attacks — to understand the day’s meaning, the way others recall Pearl Harbor, 70 years after that attack.

“It is vital that our students, representing the next generation, understand the meaning of what transpired,” Berman said.

Lake Worth Drainage District representatives are trying to get Gov. Rick Scott to embrace legislation aimed at helping direct water from remote northwest Palm Beach County to the crowded cities that line its eastern shoreline.

First-year Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach,  drew a warning this week from Scott’s office that the Republican governor was inclined to veto her bill for the special district (HB 741) if it continued on the path to approval.

On Tuesday, the House Finance and Tax Committee unanimously approved the measure — its third straight OK without opposition — leaving it tantalizingly close to full House action.

But district attorney Terry Lewis said he’s also stepped in, huddling with representatives of Scott’s office to ease concerns the legislation could add tax liability to taxpayers within the district’s 200 miles of Palm Beach County.

“It won’t,” said Lewis, although he acknowledged the measure will give the district authority to issue bonds to develop new water supply sources. “We’re talking. I think the governor’s office has a better understanding.”

Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said discussions are continuing over the bill.

The district is looking to build a reservoir, improve canals and other work to direct water from wetlands northwest of the C-51 canal toward southeastern Palm Beach County — where the people are.

The district also is seeking the Legislature’s go-ahead to become a water supplier to county and municipal utilities, once the work is completed.

Lewis said enhancing the supply will make water costs cheaper for county taxpayers. Also, the work planned by the district will create jobs — all part of his sales pitch to Scott.