Would Alex Sink beat Rick Scott in a rematch?

Who may run against Rick Scott. According to Florida Trend, at least six challengers are already lining up: Nan Rich, Alex Sink, Dan Gelber, Buddy Dyer, Jimmy Morales and Charlie Crist. Rich, Sink and Gelber have taken strong positions against many of Florida’s ed reforms, while Crist of course vetoed Senate Bill 6.

More fallout from charter payout. For charter school opponents, the $519,000 payout to the principal of a failed Orange County charter is the gift that keeps on giving. “School boards would face public rage for even proposing such pay,” editorializes the Bradenton Herald. The original Orlando Sentinel story also gets posted on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Get Schooled blog. Georgia is in the middle of a big fight over a charter school amendment to the state constitution, and the Orange County case is cited as an example of what happens when oversight is lax.

Virtual expansion. The Marion County school district opens its first online elementary school, reports the Ocala Star Banner.

Taking aim at parent trigger. “The biggest lie about ‘parent trigger’ is that it is about parents,” writes a member of Florida’s Fund Education Now in the U.S. News & World Report.

Charlie Crist

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.” (more…)