Rick Scott’s rise in the race for the GOP nomination for govenor has been impressive. He’s up by 13 points on a well known candidate in Bill McCollum. But he’s dodged education thus far, and has avoided the drama that ripped apart the Florida GOP over SB6.

Scott’s not hidden from his own resume and honestly has been answering questions about his time as Columbia-HCA CEO. But his entry into the race for the state’s govenorship happened after Charlie Crist’s veto of SB6, the GOP’s attempt at radical changes in public education.

Scott’s not addressed it yet and has a vague statement on his education platform posted on his website.

Where do you stand on merit pay for teachers?

I believe we should hold people accountable for those results and when they produce, they should be rewarded. In business, we judge that by the quality of work people produce. In the same way, a “merit pay” plan would reward high-performing teachers and hold school administrators accountable, while under-performing teachers would be challenged to improve.

Ok. Fine. Merit pay is good. But as govenor, would you sign SB6 into law, the makeover of Florida’s public school system that the state’s GOP legislators have vowed they would pass under a Bill McCollum govenorship?

Scott doesn’t say, and has not been asked specifically. But he says this about “educating Florida’s workforce.”

“As a successful businessman, I know the importance of an educated workforce in growing the economy. In order for Florida to attract business, compete effectively in the global economy, and create 21st century jobs we must have an educated workforce. I am committed to improving education and putting Florida back to work.” – Rick Scott
An educated workforce is essential for job creation. Florida’s education system must prepare our children to get good paying jobs, so that they are able to support their families and fuel the economy. Each student who is not going to college must be equipped with the skills necessary to compete in the 21st century economy. Rick understands this well as he went to community college before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, then upon returning he finished the education that was the foundation of a successful career in business.

•Rick believes in accountability in education.
•Rick believes in school choice, including vouchers and charter schools.
•Rick supports merit pay.
•Rick supports eliminating teacher tenure for new teachers.
•Rick supports homeschooling for parents who feel this is the best option for their children.

So maybe the answer is yes. All of Scott’s points are included in SB6. But Scott indicates nothing of the details which were what generated such vigorous opposition to the bill.

Rick Scott desires going against a significant number of the state’s teachers, families and students. Far from being a new Republican or being a new voice, Scott essentially is signing onto the same policy that Bill McCollum advocates. No real debate will be allowed. Input from teachers, families and administrators will be suppressed. Intentionally misleading the public on your intententions and actions will be just fine.

Far from being any different from McCollum or his allies.

But Scott has a chance to seperate himself from McCollum with some clarification. His inclusion of a simple comment on merit pay coupled with an overall policy stand is a bit clumsy. He’s never spoken directly to SB6 and unlike state GOP legislators has not said anything about recognizing Hillsborough County’s pilot program with the Gates Foundation that’s imlemented with teacher’s input.

Furthermore, Scott could indicate that he supports the stance that now departed candidate Paula Dockery had in that it’s crucial that parent and students be held accountable:

“The idea that teachers are solely responsible for a child’s performance goes against everything we know about what makes children successful,” Dockery said. “I support further rewards for our top teachers, but I cannot support legislation that disrespects all Florida teachers in one fell swoop.”

Scott likely will not address this anytime soon. He doesn’t have to with a 13 point lead. But Alex Sink will be reminding voters about SB6 during the general election, and the issue will fly as school will be in session during the campaign. McCollum, endorsed by Jeb Bush and part of the state GOP machine, will not have trust of voters whom were passionately against SB6. Scott owes no loyalty to Bush or the machine. Republican and independent voters whom were against SB6 will be looking for a fresh look at reform efforts.

Posted under FLORIDA POLITICS

It’s beacuse Scott’s kicking his ass in the polls right now by 13 points.

Here’s what staunch GOP supporter E. Royce White has to say about McCollum’s smear tactics.

What I am against is candidates (like Bill McCollum) who use third party proxies to do their dirty work. I’ve already posted once on Bill McCollum hiding behind this PAC and stand by my piece. This type of sleazy political behavior and “Old Guard” GOP tactics is the main reason the Democrats hold overwhelming majorities in both the Senate and the House. It also resulted in an electorate that was fed up with such tactics and sent, in desperation, a totally unqualified novice to the White House. Mark my words if the Republicans somehow manage to take back the House or Senate this election, and it marks return of the same old GOP tactics of 1996-2008…then expect voters (like me) to look for alternatives to the GOP. Also, if you think Bill McCollum’s campaign was not aware and sanctioned this trash, then you probably think Obama is doing a heck of a job on the BP Oil Spill

Most GOP voters are aware of Rock Scott’s past as CEO of Columbia/HCA, but apparently McCollum’s people are so desperate that they are doubling down. The state’s GOP powerbrokers are fearful of losing the seat to an outsider. I’d venture to say that some would even prefer that in the event Scott prevails in the August primary, that Democrat Alex Sink wins the govenorship.

Posted under FLORIDA POLITICS

A colleague recently provided a quote from Florida State Sen. Don Gaetz he made in the aftermath of Charlie Crist’s veto of SB6:

“Sen. Don Gaetz, a Republican from Niceville and a former head of Okaloosa County schools, also vowed that the legislation will be back next year.

“I think recognizing and rewarding Florida’s outstanding teachers is a moral imperative,” he said. “This is an issue that won’t go away.”

“It won’t be Gov. Crist who signs this bill next year, it will be Gov. McCollum,” Gaetz said.”

Gaetz knows that the bill has little, if anything, to do with “recognizing and rewarding outstanding teachers”.

Funding for Florida’s public schools continues to decrease in percentage. To fit increased teacher pay into such realities one must first cast aside a simple principle of running a business. Business owners know only a certain percentage can go toward salaries. There’s not a teacher is the state of Florida who doesn’t know that the money available to run the building they work in is tight. To somehow imply that a yet to be determined group of teachers would somehow be paid more cannot be fit into any business model.

Yet this is just one way how Gaetz and the GOP state’s legislators whom advanced SB6 are spinning the issue. Here’s another whopper from Senate President Jeff Atwater:

Senate president Jeff Atwater, a candidate for CFO, said “I am disappointed that today Governor Crist chose to reverse direction and veto SB 6.”

“SB 6 was the culmination of months of study, public participation, and debate,” Atwater said. “At each step of the legislative process, testimony was received and amendments were offered and adopted. The Florida Senate worked closely with Governor Crist’s Education Commissioner Eric Smith and maintained an open door to all interested parties

Atwaters’s assertion that “testimony was received and amendments were offered and adopted” is misleading at best.

SB 6 meets our definition of jamming a bill through, which is good for Crist. What’s bad for him, however, is that the debate over the federal health care bill was actually more collegial. We have to rate Crist’s statement Half True.

How can state GOP leaders be trusted on education with such public dishonesty and legislative heavy-handedness?

Gaetz himself has lost the credibility he once had with the teachers who once worked for him. Some, like me, were strong supporters.

When Gaetz went to the legislature he maintained his Okaloosa School District’s email list. He frequently kept us updated with legislation that that were of interests to constituents, but not one time did we receive anything of SB6, a bill he co-sponsored.

So it is such assertions as Gaetz’, “It won’t be Gov. Crist who signs this bill next year, it will be Gov. McCollum,” which gives many teachers like me such pause. Such pause in fact that I am considering something I said that I would never, ever, do again. A vote for Democrat Alex Sink might be a necessary counterweight to my own party that’s run amok with poor judgement, dishonesty and wrecklessness.

Posted under EDUCATION, FLORIDA POLITICS

From GOP advisor Eric Wall comes a link to a story that Hall, a state’s attorney fired for speaking at political rallies, may have been let go for political reasons. It seems that her boss is a Democrat and former “community leader” for a Democrat gubernatorial candidate. Two prominent GOP pols in AG Bill McCollum and Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottcamp have condemned the firing.

Hall’s boss, Skip Jarvis, appears to have judged Hall’s private political activities via the prism of partisan Democrat politics.

Doesn’t it seem that if Jarvis’s firing were justified any AG seeking an elected public office could not do so? With Jarvis’ interpretation they wouldn’t be able to make speeches. Or what if Hall were simply speaking to members of her church on abortion? That wouldn’t be ok either?

Jarvis won’t be able to resolve this when he’s actually forced to. He’s obviously a smart guy, so why did he feel justified in firing Hall?

Perhaps Jarvis is like other Democrats whom buy into Joe Klein’s sediton angle. If so, Democrats need to hope that “Klein Bombs” don’t become viral.

Posted under FLORIDA POLITICS

Independent candidate Paul McKain writes an effective defense of assistant state attorney KrisAnne Hall whom had been fired for being a frequent speaker at Tea Party rallies.

McKain has several well crafted opinions on his web site and should be able to make some political hay out of his justified support for Hall.

Posted under FLORIDA #2, FLORIDA POLITICS, OBAMA WATCH

I’m putting by conservative bonifides on the line again by touting an LA Times op-ed, but this is a good one.

The “unschooling” movement of the 1970s featured open classrooms, in which children studied what they were most interested in, when they felt ready. That was followed by today’s back-to-basics, early-start model, in which students complete math worksheets in kindergarten and are supposed to take algebra by eighth grade at the latest. Under the “whole language” philosophy of the 1980s, children were expected to learn to read by having books read to them. By the late 1990s, reading lessons were dominated by phonics, with little time spent on the joys of what reading is all about — unlocking the world of stories and information.

No wonder schools have a chronic case of educational whiplash. If there’s a single aspect of schooling that ought to end, it’s the decades of abrupt and destructive swings from one extreme to another. There is no magic in the magic-bullet approach to learning. Charters are neither evil nor saviors; they can be a useful complement to public schools, but they have not blazed a sure-fire path to student achievement. Decreeing that all students will be proficient in math and reading by 2014 hasn’t moved us dramatically closer to the mark

The LA Times has something for everyone in their piece and hasn’t reflexibly just taken the side of national teacher’s unions. They advocate for some level of teacher assessments while effectively pointing out the flaws of standardized testing.

This sort of middle ground is the place the Republican Party needs to be taking on education. Instead it continues to buy into Draconian takeovers like SB6 that betray conservative principles while demonizing naysayers.

Posted under EDUCATION, FLORIDA POLITICS

She could be.

The St. Petersburg Times has an excellent peice on Bondi. Here’s a bit:

MIAMI LAKES — Pam Bondi stands at a podium, looking and sounding a lot like the prosecutor she was for more than 18 years.

Once she jumped in, the evolution from prosecutor to politician moved so fast and with such ideological fervor that it jolted those who knew her.

Bondi, a frequent guest FOX news touts strong conservative principles.
says the Times:

Political Pam touts herself as pro-business, pro-Second Amendment and pro-life. She talks about Lincoln and Reagan and bedrock Republican Party principles. She blasted the national Democratic leadership on the Sean Hannity Show and hobnobbed with ex-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at a breakfast in Washington, D.C.

She even wears a necklace with elephants on it.

Definitely my kind of gal.

You can also follow Bondi via Facebook.

Bondi finds Obamacare to be “terrifying” and “completely unconstitutional”. She also says, “I prosecute murderers. I’d be glad to take on the federal government.”

The field that’s vying for the AG spot is crowded. Even if Bondi is unsuccessful, her political career is certain to not be over.

Posted under FLORIDA POLITICS

Powerful Niceville Senator Don Gaetz took the opportunity yesterday to take a purely partisan whack at Govenor Charlie Crist yesterday when he excoriated him at the opening of a cabinet meeting on Crist’s handling of the Gulf oil spill crisis.

Only hours later another Senator from his own county Durell Peaden rebuffed Gaetz in statement.

“I am disappointed in my friend and colleague Senator Gaetz. I have been with the Governor as he traveled to the affected Northwest Gulf Coast counties and met with our constituents, from oystermen and fisherman, to our restaurants and hotels. They know as I know that the Governor is fighting for them.

“Now is not the time to score political points. We should unite together behind the families and businesses that are hurting the most. As a Senator from the Panhandle region, I recognize the Governor’s hard work and stand ready to continue the fight against those who caused this terrible spill.”

Peaden, like Gaetz were both co-sponsors of SB6. For Gaetz, a former school board member and superintendent this must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Neither Gaetz nor Peaden were part of the GOP attack machine that went after teachers and Crist. Perhaps it is beacuse both realized how unpopular the bill was in their own counties.

Peaden had endorsed former candidate Paula Dockery and Gaetz, Bill McCollum for govenor. Gaetz is a Marco Rubio supporter while Peaden remains loyal to Crist in his senate bid. Gaetz tipped his hand when he said that he longed for the heady days of Jeb Bush’s administration.

It is Bush loyalists, like Gaetz, Larry Cretul and Steve Atwater whom have grasped control of the RPOF and drive heavy handed legislation like SB6. The former govenor still serves as a power broker by championing SB6 and FCAT. Early on it was clear that Rubio was his candidate. Crist’s veto of SB6 sent the schism in the RPOF into the open.

Peaden’s endorsement of Dockery along with that from a handful of other legislators was a subtle sign that some realize the party needs to move on from the Bush days. Good thing there are term limits.

Posted under FLORIDA POLITICS

The former govenor is not alone in his own party. Partisan Republican group think seeks to impose their all-knowing take on education based on cherry-picked data from his own foundation and feel good platitudes.

Govenor Bush continues to grip tightly to the notion that the FCAT – a one day assessment that was intended to measure acheivement levels is an end all in measuring learning “gains”. Utilization of the FCAT remains his primary justification for the advancement of his party’s agenda. This would be just a simple-minded embarrassment for a public servant of magnitude if it weren’t so demonstrably wrong. Yet the fervor that his agenda is advanced by an entire political party creates a never ending train wreck for the education of America’s children.

It is the FCAT that Jeb Bush continues to insist we accept as the end all to make all of our decisions regarding education. Pay no attention to evidence that FCAT is proving harmful or ineffective. Lets catalog a few.

1. Students have failed FCAT time and time again, even while they, their schools, teachers and families know they need it to graduate. Some 3000 south Florida HS seniors may fail to graduate as they did not score hig enough on FCAT retakes. Bush would have you believe that this simply means that blame needs to be placed on these student’s teachers.

2. Only 16% of Florida’s 22,000 seniors who retook FCAT reading passed. Only 28% of 8600 seniors whom retook FCAT Math passed. This is a bitter pill for these students knowing that this was at least the third time they took the test. Never mind the fact that both No Child Left Behind (Bush)and Race to the Top (Obama) see 100% graduation as the goal and that such a standardized test as the solution. But it’s the teachers fault you see.

3. Many don’t realize that a significant number of these same students will substitute a passing grade on the ACT or SAT – both college entrance exams – for the FCAT to graduate. Some 130 HS Seniors from the Treasure Coast graduated in 2008 because of accpetable scores on the ACT or SAT. They’re passing a college entrance test, but not the FCAT? This fact alone begs for further assessment of using FCAT as any kind of assessment tool.

4. FCAT Reading scores in Florida have been on decline. One look at the numbers of the counties with the highest percentages of students accepted by colleges – Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Martin and St. Johns showed passing rates of 10th grade reading of 47%, 43%, 50% and 53%. Only half of 10th graders? Bush would have us assume somehow that these rates indicate teachers are somehow at fault and that some should even be fired. Bush furthermore would have us believe that somehow the FCAT is working.

The first two in the above lists use stories released over the past few days and Bush’s op-ed piece looks desperate in it’s attempt to put FCAT in a glowing light. Bush’s study used teachers who’s students made the highest gains on FCAT. The observations they make about effective teachers are one’s that any teacher, parent or student could come up with. Yet Bush’s use of FCAT indicates that he would have us believe that only teachers who’s kids have done well on the FCAT can actualize such lofty ideals.

Still despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Bush maintains that FCAT scores are up and that the measures he advanced during his govenorship and his championing of SB6 are right for education.

Perhaps it is the fact of the matter that it is not only educators whom realize the folly in the use of standardized tests in general and the FCAT in particular. The lesson of SB6 should serve as a teachable moment for Jeb Bush and his acolytes in the Florida legislature.
Opposition to the bill could not have been more broad. The cynical among the Republican Party unfortunately still choose to see Charlie Crist’s SB6 veto and gubernatorial candidate Paula Dockery’s opposition as pandering to the teacher’s union when the public at large are now distrustful of unions.

This continued spin and delusion on the part of the Republican Party and pols like Jeb Bush on education only serves to harm the conseravtive movement. The administration of SB6 could have not been more contary to conservative principles. The manner in which it was advanced through both Florida legislative houses was earily similar to the way Obamacare was shoved through in Washington.

So perhaps it is the naysayers amongst Republicans like Dockery that thoughtful conservatives in the state should be paying more attention to. The fact that Charlie Crist leads a three-way race in some polling data indicates that some conservatives were turned off by the hysterical hostility heaped upon him by many GOP Florida legislative leaders. Republicans cannot be alienating conservatives, but their shrill rhetoric and flawed justifications and methods regarding education issues are doing just that.

Posted under EDUCATION, FLORIDA POLITICS

From the ever useful Buzz.

As the story indicates, the FEA is pressuring the AFL-CIO to do the same.

Well maybe “pressuring” is too strong a word. I can’t see the AFL-CIO not going with a Democrat, but the FEA couldn’t betray the large number of independents among their membership who were heartened by Crist’s veto of SB6.

Count me among those members. Count me again as a Republican who’s furious with his party’s continued naivite on education. I understand why so many colleagues on conservative values become one issue voters.

It is here where the GOP needs to change and stop seeing education as blood sport with unions. My party’s terribly misguided desire to measure students outcomes with multiple choice tests and apply it to teacher salaries betrays reasoned judgement.

The senate vote is a tough one for conservative teachers who were once supporting Marco Rubio as I did. But Rubio’s reflexive endorsement of SB6 along with the continued heavy handedness of Florida’s GOP leaders on the bill gave many of us pause.

That pause is still there.

Charlie Crist’s willingness to make hard choices that would enrage hyper partisan republicans I find terribly appealing. Rubio was too quick to react negatively to the Arizona immigration bill, before he backpeddled. But Crist is going to start showing me that he’s not just pandering to liberal Democrats right now for me to give him my vote in November.

Posted under EDUCATION, FLORIDA POLITICS