By Allie Bidwell
U.S. News & World Report
November 4, 2014
Florida GOP Gov. Rick Scott eked out a win over Republican-turned-Democratic challenger Charlie Crist Tuesday in a tight race that came down to fewer than 100,000 votes.
Citing technical difficulties that made voting difficult throughout the day, Crist filed an emergency motionseeking to extend voting hours in Broward County, but a judge blocked the motion. In the end, Scott pulled out a slim win when The Associated Press called the race at 10:20 p.m.
Throughout the campaign, Scott and Crist sparred over who would do more to increase funding for education. Although most states are still spending less on K-12 education than before the Great Recession, Florida is one of a handful of states that decreased spending per student in the 2015 fiscal year – by 1.6 percent, or $62 dollars.
During his tenure, Scott irked teachers throughout the state, both Democrats and Republicans. An October poll conducted by Hamilton Campaigns showed 91 percent of Democratic teachers and 62 percent of Republican teachers gave him a negative rating.
Although Crist won the support of teachers unions who heavily campaigned on his behalf – American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made a stop in Florida during the final week before the election – the half-million dollars the American Federation of Teachers donated to his campaign was not enough to put him over the edge.
Early voting data compiled by the American Federation of Teachers showed union members turned out to Florida voting booths in significantly higher numbers than the general population: Teachers union members outperformed the general population by 10.2 percentage points.
Kara Kerwin, president of the Center for Education Reform, says Crist returning to the governor’s mansion would have been “a huge setback” for education reform policies.
On the other hand, Scott has been supportive of expanding school voucher and scholarship programs, tax credits and merit pay for teachers. But union members say Scott has placed too much of an emphasis on standardized testing at all grade levels. Those student test scores also count for a significant portion of teacher evaluations.
“[Crist] has already declared he would like to roll back scholarship programs and tax-cut programs,” Kerwin says. “He was not easy to work with when it came to charter school policy when he was in office before.”