Election 2014: What Will It Mean for Education Employees?
The 2014 election cycle is off and running with big implications for Florida’s public schools.This fall, Florida voters will decide whether to re-elect their current governor or fire him and hire someone new. In addition, voters will have the opportunity to choose up to 120 Florida House members, 20 state senators and many of their local school board members. These elected offices, particularly the governor, have substantial impact on the nature, scope and direction of our public school funding, policies and reforms.
It is surprising that while Florida voters have consistently listed “education” as a top state issue and expressed overwhelming support for their local public schools, less than half of Florida’s eligible voters bothered to vote in the last gubernatorial election.
That decision carried a heavy price for public schools and public school employees. In his first legislative session, Florida’s new governor, Rick Scott, cut more than $1 billion in funding for public schools, gave it away in the form of new tax breaks for corporations and proudly signed the punitive teacher evaluation legislation, SB 736, as his very first bill.