Remember when Charlie Crist sold out the future of Florida’s school children by vetoing a school reform bill that would have introduced merit pay and tweaked tenure in order to curry favor with that state’s powerful teachers union in the hopes that they would aid him in his race for the Senate? Let’s see how that’s working out:
JACKSONVILLE — The Florida Education Association announced today that it was backing both Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek in the race for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
“Kendrick Meek has always been a strong backer of public education and our positions for as long as he’s been a public service. He has always supported our schools and its employees,” said FEA President Andy Ford. “We wouldn’t have the class size provisions in the Florida Constitution without Kendrick’s tireless work to get that on the ballot and to win its approval. We know Kendrick would be welcome addition to the U.S. Senate.
“Gov. Charlie Crist took bold action this year in bucking the leaders of his former political party and listening to the teachers and parents of Florida when he vetoed Senate Bill 6 and set the stage for a better Florida application in the federal Race to the Top grant,” Ford said. “S.B. 6 energized teachers and parents throughout the state and Crist’s actions showed so many Floridians that their voices count. We think an independent Charlie Crist working for Floridians would also be a great asset in the Senate.”
Instead of his 30 pieces of silver, Crist got what amounts to an IOU. Faced with a tough election campaign during which he won’t be able to count on the support of either the Democratic or Republican parties, Crist thought he could at least count on the teachers to knock on doors for him and deliver some votes. Time to start working on Plan B, Governor Crist.
The full AFL-CIO backed Meek whole-heartedly, meanwhile. It appears that Crist has miscalculated, and badly.
Photo courtesy of Str1ke
