States

Will Teacher-Tenure Bill Derail or Save Charlie Crist’s Political Career?

April 17, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

It’s rare that an education issue takes center stage in high-profile, nationally-watched political races.

That’s why the turn of events in Florida—where Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed what would have been the most far-reaching overhaul of teacher tenure laws in the nation—has been so fascinating to watch. Gov. Crist, as most everyone knows, is running for the U.S. Senate and has been trailing badly behind Marco Rubio in the polls. Rubio, who served as speaker of the house in the Florida legislature, is challenging the moderate Republican governor in the state’s GOP primary on August 24.

The so-called teacher tenure bill that Crist apparently agonized over, would have put new teachers on annual contracts with no chance for tenure and would have tied half of a teacher’s salary increases to student learning gains. After being inundated with tens of thousands of appeals from teachers and students who opposed the measure, both in person and via e-mail, Gov. Crist said the bill was too flawed for him to sign.

But would he have made a different decision had he not been in the midst of a bruising primary campaign?

By some accounts, Crist, early on, favored the core principles in the bill, but as public opinion mounted against the legislation as it went through the legislative process, the governor kept his distance. While it seems that the governor was genuinely moved by the pleas from teachers and students to veto the measure, he is, after all, fighting for his political life in the Senate primary. Had he signed it, the governor wasn’t likely to persuade many hard-core conservatives&mdash who are the biggest proponents of the measure&mdash to break their allegiance to Rubio, most political analysts have said. On the other hand, the veto isn’t expected to do much for his standing in the Republican primary either, leading many to speculate that Crist may be positioning himself to drop out of the primary and run as an independent, a move that could attract hordes of votes from teachers and other voters who staunchly opposed the bill.

Whatever ends up happening to Crist’s career, it’s clear that this showdown over tenure and pay for teachers will go down in the annals as one of the most telling events in his political life.

Enlighten me: Any other examples of such a high-profile politician being ensnared by a substantive debate and disagreement over education policy?

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the State EdWatch blog.

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States Oklahoma Will Cut Funding to Districts That Don't Sign Trump's Anti-DEI Pledge
The state says it will withhold federal funds from districts that don't sign a Trump administration DEI pledge.
8 min read
Ryan Walters, Republican state superintendent candidate, speaks, June 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters is pictured on June 28, 2022, in Oklahoma City when he was a candidate for the position he now holds. Walters this week told districts he would halt federal funding beginning Friday, April 25, if they don't certify they're not using diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in schools.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
States Tracker 'Illegal' DEI: See Which States Are Telling Trump Their Schools Don't Use It
The Education Department wants states and schools to sign a certification saying they don't use DEI. Here's how they're responding so far.
6 min read
DEI Removal 042025 506859558 1481700088
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week and Getty
States Opinion How One State Improved Its NAEP Scores
Louisiana's state schools chief discusses the importance of reading and math instruction and "letting teachers teach."
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
States Lawmakers Want to Fix Student Absenteeism With Ice Cream Parties, Data, and More
State lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills aiming to make school attendance a priority.
3 min read
New canvas school bags hanging on the backs of empty classroom student chairs in a large modern classroom
iStock/Getty Images