Florida Governor Vetoes Legislation on Merit Pay, Tenure

Crist Cites Flaws in Measure, Teacher, Parent Opposition, Along With Rush to Passage

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision to veto legislation that would have made it easier to fire teachers and linked their pay to student test scores earned him praise from the nation’s largest teachers’ union, but puts him at odds with Republican legislative leaders and former Gov. Jeb Bush, who worked hard for the bill’s passage.

The Republican governor said his April 15 veto was not about politics. But he acknowledged an outpouring of opposition by teachers, parents, and local school officials around the state had an effect.

Gov. Crist—badly trailing in his Republican U.S. Senate primary campaign—once favored the bill and said he still supports the concept of pay for performance...