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Teachers endorse Smith, Davis

Both Democrats "are strong on education issues and very supportive of public education," says the union's state president.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO and ADAM C. SMITH
Published May 13, 2006

After throwing millions of dollars and all its might into trying unsuccessfully to elect Bill McBride governor in 2002, the Florida Education Association is playing it safer in this year's governor's race.

The state's largest union on Friday decided to endorse both Democrats, U.S. Rep. Jim Davis of Tampa and state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua.

The move was a disappointment to Smith, who appeared close to winning the coveted endorsement despite new union rules making it much harder to get.

"Both Jim Davis and Rod Smith are impressive candidates and are strong on education issues and very supportive of public education," said union president Andy Ford.

Meanwhile, all four candidates for governor talked up their education agendas to state business leaders at a St. Petersburg meeting of the Florida Council of 100.

Republicans Tom Gallagher and Charlie Crist strongly stood behind Gov. Jeb Bush's education agenda, including its heavy reliance on testing to measure student progress.

"Do I think it's perfect? No. Do I think it could be made better? Of course. Maybe the timing of when we do it could be modified," Attorney General Crist said of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test. He also supports paying teachers more.

Gallagher proposed creating regional magnet schools to serve students with the best FCAT scores and said he wants to make it easier to get rid of bad teachers and pay good ones more than lesser ones.

"I don't think any of you in this audience would let a so-so employee of yours, just because they've been there three years, get a lifetime contract," Gallagher said. "But that's what we do in our school system. It's called tenure, and it doesn't make any sense to me."

Smith said his first priority will be a plan to get Florida's teacher pay ranked in the top half of the country in four years. He stressed that he supports accountability, but said the FCAT should be at the start of the year and should not be used to grade schools.

Davis missed much of the meeting because he was meeting with the FEA in Orlando. But he told the business group Florida should invest much more in schools as an economic development engine, rather than focus so much on tax incentives.

"It should be icing, not the cake," he said of incentives. "It has become the cake."

A former prosecutor and forceful speaker, Smith typically stands out when the candidates are together, and he did again Friday. Thanking the business executives at the outset, he noted, "I read the list out front. For a Democrat, this is a road game."

The room roared.

The FEA is a major player in Democratic politics and a full teachers union endorsement would have given a big boost to Smith. In recent days the two biggest union locals, Miami-Dade and Broward, threw their support to Smith, the underdog against Davis.

Both candidates' campaigns have been touting education and both claimed victory with the dual endorsement.

"A year and a half ago when Rod Smith got into this race, nobody would have ever expected to get this honor," said campaign manager Paul Neaville. "We have the two largest locals in the FEA and we look forward to several other locals large and small going for us. This shows the direction the race is going."

Davis' campaign press secretary said Davis was equally pleased.

"It goes to what we've been saying all along; Jim Davis has for 17 years been an advocate for education," said Davis press spokeswoman Danae Jones.

[Last modified May 13, 2006, 02:30:25]