A dramatic – and some would say opportunistic – reversal on a sweeping teacher pay and evaluation bill is among the top reasons why many Republicans have no love for former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. So it’s no surprise they don’t see a rosy future for education reform in Florida if Crist were to end up back in the governor’s mansion as a Democrat or independent.
“I think it would be a sad day. Whatever is the flavor of the month is what he’d do,” state Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, told redefinED. Wise has chaired both the senate education and education appropriations committees but is term-limited out this year.
Speculation about Crist’s intentions – and the possibility of another run for governor – became a subplot at the RNC this week after he announced in the Tampa Bay Times that he will support Obama for president. Crist is also scheduled to be a speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte next month.
Elected governor in 2006, Crist quietly supported the school accountability vision of his predecessor, Jeb Bush, even as he fostered friendly relations with the state teachers union. One exception was school choice, where Crist was a visible proponent.
His switch on SB 6 – a bill that would have transformed how Florida teachers are hired, fired, paid and evaluated – came as his bid for a U.S. Senate seat was faltering in the Republican primary against now Sen. Marco Rubio. He subsequently ran as an independent, drawing support from the teachers unions but ultimately finishing a distant second in a three-man race. The teacher bill, meanwhile, was passed by the Legislature the following year and signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott.
Under a second Crist term, “Choice for kids would be gone,” Wise said. “He’d be beholden to the teachers union.”
State Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, wasn’t sure where Crist would end up on specific issues. “That’s a hard question that I don’t even think Charlie Crist could answer for himself,” said Legg, who heads a charter school and has been an influential lawmaker on education. “It’s the riddle of Charlie Crist. When it came to SB 6, he was all for it until he was against it.”
Legg added, though, that he thought the state’s boldness on education would suffer.
“Education needs leadership. When you have a governor like Jeb Bush driving the conversation … good things happen,” he said. “I don’t think a new Crist administration would be beneficial to the conversation because it would essentially be rudderless.”
Update at 12:26 p.m.: Just heard back from state Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, who sits on the boards of two charter schools: “If Crist were elected, he would govern on grinding axes and not on any principles. It would not surprise anyone if he worked to pass the teachers’ unions agenda which clearly flies in the face of school choice. Having said that, I don’t believe the people of Florida would fall for this.”
