The Florida Education Association sued Wednesday to overturn the new state law that ends teacher tenure and introduces merit pay based in large part on how students perform on standardized tests.

The state’s largest teachers’ union said the measure — approved by the Republican-ruled Legislature and the first bill signed into law by Gov. Rick Scott — violates constitutional collective bargaining guarantees. Employment terms are to be decided by negotiations between teachers and school districts — not by state lawmakers, said Ron Meyer, attorney for the FEA, which filed the suit on behalf of six school teachers.

“It strains credulity that people in Tallahassee,  over in the Capitol, know better than the people on the ground,”  Meyer said.

Andy Ford, FEA president, said the new standard — approved in a mostly party-line vote, with legislative Democrats opposed — “totally changed the teaching profession in Florida.”

“It denies teachers the constitutional right to collective bargaining,” Ford said.

The merit pay legislation requires that 50 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be based on student achievement on tests — including the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and other standardized exams, most of which must still be developed by state and local educators.

Under the bill, current teachers would retain existing pay schedules and contracts — even those spanning multi-years. They could lose their jobs, though, if they drew two subpar annual evaluations within three years.

Teachers hired after July 1, however, are limited to one-year contracts and would draw raises only if rated “effective” or “highly effective.”

Former Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a similar bill last year. But during last fall’s governor’s race, Scott made ending teacher tenure and enacting merit pay a central portion of his campaign, with the FEA throwing in heavily behind Democrat Alex Sink.

Gov. Rick Scott has a 59 percent disapproval rating and would lose a do-over election to Democrat Alex Sink by a 57-to-35 percent margin, Democratic firm Public Policy Polling says in a new survey.

If the 2014 gubernatorial election were held today, and if Republican-turned-independent former Gov. Charlie Crist were running as a Democrat, Crist would thump Scott by a 56-to-34 percent margin, the poll finds.

Asked if the Republican governor’s actions have made them more or less likely to vote Republican in the 2012 presidential race, 40 percent of all voters — and 45 percent of independents — said they were less likely to vote Republican next year because of Scott.

The June 16-19 poll of 848 Florida voters has a 3.4 percent margin of error.

The good news for rookie Republican Gov. Rick Scott: After three months of budget cutting, high-speed-rail rejecting, pension revamping and other decisions and proposals that were bound to upset some Floridians, his approval rating remains at its post-election, pre-inauguration levels.

The bad news: that approval rating was, and is, in the low 30s, according to the Democrat-oriented Public Policy Polling firm.

A new PPP survey finds only 32 percent of Floridians approve of the job Scott is doing as governor, while 55 percent disapprove. He’d lose a hypothetical do-over election to Democrat Alex Sink by a 56-37 percent margin.

In December, PPP found only 33 percent of Floridians had a positive view of their governor-elect after his narrow win over Sink. PPP’s Tom Jensen calls Scott “incredibly unpopular.”

Rookie Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, on the other hand, has an approval/disapproval score of 43/31. That’s better than two-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson‘s 38/34 score as he heads into a 2012 reelection bid.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist and former Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink will lead a bipartisan rally today to support a constitutional ban on offshore drilling today.

Crist, a Republican-turned-independent, and Sink, a Democrat, will appear with lawmakers and others at an event at 12:30 on the steps of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee.

Crist called lawmakers in for a special session last year to pass a similar amendment to put on the November 2010 ballot, but they snubbed him. The legislature met briefly and adjourned without doing anything after Crist abandoned the GOP and became an independent to avoid a Republican primary in the U.S. Senate race, which he eventually lost to Marco Rubio.

Before leaving office in January, Sink struggled to get BP claims czar Ken Feinberg to improve his claims process after tens of thousands of Panhandle residents, and hundreds of Floridians throughout the state, complained about problems with his Gulf Coast Claims Facility.

That system remains troubled as Feinberg is set to begin making final payments to more than 500,000 applicants for damages caused by the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

Yesterday, senators discussed creating a state system for victims of BP’s massive oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to expedite the claims system.

Next Friday, Feinberg will appear before a House committee at the behest of House Speaker Dean Cannon. Hundreds of Panhandle officials and residents are expected to show up. Complaints about Feinberg’s payments from the $20 billion fund set up by BP include delays, an inability to find out where claims are in the process, and inconsistencies in who gets paid and how much.

A federal judge recently ruled that Feinberg is not independent of BP, as he contends, and ordered him to quit saying that he is.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is so fed up with Feinberg’s erratic claims system that on Monday he asked a federal judge to take it over “to facilitate the timely and just processing of claims.”

Gov. Rick Scott added five more high-level workers to his staff – including one fired by his former gubernatorial opponent Alex Sink – as the new governor continues to put together an administration at the end of his second official week on the job.

Scott hired Melinda Miguel to come back to her old post as inspector general, which she also held under Gov. Charlie Crist.

And Scott tapped Doug Darling as his third deputy chief of staff (Darling will be in charge of Cabinet affairs). Then-Chief Financial Officer Sink axed Darling, who was her chief of the Division of Accounting and Auditing, for failing to discover a scheme to defraud the state of millions of dollars. The plan was revealed by an auditing firm. Darling, a former Marine, later went to work as chief of staff and, until now, inspector general for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Jesse Panuccio, an associate at Cooper & Kirk, and C.B Upton, general counsel for the Department of State, will join Scott’s legal team.

And Brian Hughes will go to work for Scott’s spokesman Brian Burgess. Hughes recently served as spokesman for Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s winning campaign. Hughes also served in the military and is a decorated Air Force vet, according to a press release on Scott’s Facebook page.

Two top-tier Florida candidates – Gov. Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink – won the dubious distinction of making MSNBC’s “Worst Candidate of 2010″ list this morning.

Crist – an independent who jumped the GOP ship when it looked like he couldn’t win a primary against Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race – and Sink – a Democrat who lost her bid for governor to Republican Rick Scott – were named as two of the three “worst candidates” by MSNBC hosts Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie.

But the worst of the worst, according to MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” hosts?

Sink.

“You lost to a guy who defrauded Medicare,” Todd said when announcing the “winner, pausing for effect. “In Florida! Okay? More people on Medicare in Florida than maybe any other state.”

Scott started up and was CEO of the Columbia/HCA hospital chain that wound up paying an historic fine to the federal government – $1.7 billion – for Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Whether or not the “Lizard King” unzipped his pants and exposed himself to a crowd of thousands more than 40 years ago remains a mystery.

Jim Morrison’s alleged antics will remain forever a part of the late rocker’s legacy.

But the charges against him for indecent exposure and public intoxication won’t.

Gov. Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum, acting as the state Clemency Board, granted Morrison, the lead singer of “The Doors,” a pardon Thursday afternoon as one of their final acts as a panel before leaving office.

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Despite grumblings from Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel to the contrary, former state Sen. Rod Smith insists he’ll be the next state party chairman.

“I believe I’ll be the appointee,” said Smith, a Gainesville-area former prosecutor who most recently was Alex Sink’s running-mate in her losing bid for governor.

His bid to replace Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, who is retiring, got a boost yesterday when an officer of the Alachua County party stepped down to make room for Smith.

Smith would have to be elected the chairman of the county executive committee or state committee man before he can be eligible to run as head of the FDP.

Once that happens, Smith said he’ll continue to build support from activists, donors and other county leaders.

“It’s a process that’s ongoing. It sometimes appears slow and ponderous but it’s an important process that allows people to have input about their concerns,” Smith, 61, said.

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Former state Sen. Rod Smith will announce Monday he’s ready to take over the helm of the Florida Democratic Party as a replacement for Karen Thurman, who resigned today.

Smith, just off the campaign trail after running as Alex Sink’s running mate in her losing bid for governor, said he’s trying to build a consensus among Democrats smarting from major losses in this month’s elections in Florida and nationally.

Apart from Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s victory, Republicans swept the Florida Cabinet and nailed down a veto-proof super-majority in both the state House and Senate.

“I’m going to try to create a culture of success,” said Smith, a Gainesville lawyer and former prosecutor who earned a reputation as a dynamic orator during his tenure as a state senator.

Smith said he’s trying to get the support of a handful of other Democrats who’ve thrown their hats in the ring to replace Karen Thurman, who resigned today.

“I want to be a unifier. I don’t want to create division,” said Smith, a “This isn’t like a lot of campaigns. This is about trying to make sure that you first do no harm. Right now I’m focusing on trying to convince people that this is the right thing to do for me and for the party but I also remain open to listening to people’s concerns.”

Smith, who’s got behind-the-scenes backing of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, said he’s already won the support of Palm Beach County Democratic Chairman Mark Alan Siegel, who said Friday he’ll support Smith’s bid.

Whoever takes over for Thurman has their work cut out for them, said Broward County Democratic Chairman Mitch Ceasar.
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Gov.-elect Rick Scott will meet this afternoon with predecessor Charlie Crist this afternoon to discuss the transition to Scott’s administration. Scott will take over on Jan. 3.

Scott’s also meeting with House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R-Orlando, while in Tallahassee.

It will be the two governors’ first meeting since Scott defeated Democrat Alex Sink in Florida’s closest governors’ election in more than a century.

Gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink didn’t inspire the Democratic voter turnout she needed to win Tuesday’s election, and she wasn’t helped by a weak slate of statewide candidates, says Democratic strategist Screven Watson.

He pointed to “abysmal” voter turnout by black voters and a lackluster showing by Democrats in general.

“Was there an enthusiasm gap? Yes, there was,” Watson said. “But I don’t believe a gubernatorial candidate can make up that gap.”

Then there was the matter of the uninspiring choices across the Democratic ticket. Sink was the only Dem to make a statewide race close. U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek got a paltry 20 percent of the vote, and Democrats running for chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner received less than 40 percent of the vote.

“She had nobody above her and she had nobody below her that were really pushing people out to vote,” Watson said.

After getting trounced in the Florida House and Senate races and a GOP sweep of the Cabinet, state Sen. Jeremy Ring is demanding that Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman resign.

“With the momentum of all the losses on the Democratic sides, there needs to be new leadership. Karen Thurman needs to resign. Immediately,” Ring, D-Margate, said of the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman early today.

Republicans swept the Cabinet seats and won a veto-proof majority in both the state Senate and ultimately recaptured the governor’s seat after Palm Beach County’s election returns left Rick Scott’s victory in the lurch overnight.

Ring, a moderate Democrat who frequently votes with Republicans, said the “election activities of the Republicans trumping the Democrats” at polling places he visited on Election Day demonstrate that his party is in a shambles.

“Whether it was hundreds of more signs and volunteers and palm cards and all the precincts covered, I didn’t see any coordinated effort on the Democratic side yesterday,” Ring said.

Ring was among several prominent Democrats who tried to oust Thurman when she was reelected as chairwoman two years ago.

Those efforts failed because no replacement could be found, Ring said.

He blamed Thurman for that.

“Part of any leader’s job is not to only raise money and recruit candidates but they should recruit their successor…part of her job is to have a succession plan. Clearly there isn’t one,” he said.

Democrat Alex Sink is now conceding the governor’s race to Rick Scott.

After a long night, Scott’s campaign staff and supporters are gathered in a ballroom celebrating Sink’s long-awaited concession speech and anticipating Scott’s arrival.

Late results from Palm Beach County left the state without a clear winner last night, but after most of the returns are in Sink appeared to have at least 30,000 fewer votes than needed to trigger an automatic recount.

TAMPA — Alex Sink says she has lost the governor’s race.

“While this is one of the closest elections in Florida gubernatorial history, there is not path to victory for us,” Sink said. “Rick Scott will be the next governor of the state of Florida.”

Sink grew teary but didn’t break down. Sink said she called Scott to congratulate him, and asked him to keep in mind the closeness of the election.

“He will need to work very hard to bring our state together,” Sink said. “I hope Rick Scott remembers that here are 2.5 million floridians who did not vote for him, and his highest priority needs to be to bring our state together to meet our challenges.”

Sink blamed a “tsunami” of voter discontent and Scott’s record spending for her loss. Sink said she had no regrets about the way she ran her campaign.

After shutting down their election night party after 2 a.m. this morning, Rick Scott’s campaign is waiting to see what Democrat Alex Sink will do before deciding their next move.

After the last of Palm Beach County’s votes came in after 4 a.m. this morning, Scott was ahead 48.8 percent and Sink 47.8 percent and led by about 53,000 votes – far more than the 26,000 vote margin that would require an automatic machine recount of the race.

Sink is holding a press conference at 10:45 a.m.

“Our lawyers and our advisors are looking into the uncounted votes,” Sink spokeswoman Kyra Jennings said about 9:30 a.m.

Scott’s team, meanwhile, is holed up at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel waiting for Sink to concede so they can begin the transition to the office.

A confident Scott and his wife Ann came on the stage shortly after 2 a.m. – nearly two hours after Alex Sink had gone home – and spoke to about 100 weary stragglers.

“I apologize this has taken so long,” the ever-polite Scott said, adding that he was glad it didn’t rain although it could have without him knowing it when he was sequestered in his suite watching the election returns on television.

“After all the votes are counted..I am absolutely confident I will be the next great governor of the state of Florida,” he said.

Scott said he would have more to say later today

“We know we’re going to win and we look forward to getting this state back to work,” he said, riffing on his trademark “Let’s Get to Work” campaign slogan.

Scott sidestepped a question about his disappointment over not being able to declare victory.

“I had a great speech,” he said, smiling. “I had a great speech. We had great confetti and everything. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

TAMPA – With Rick Scott ahead by less than 1.5 percent of the vote and ballots still left uncounted in Palm Beach and three other counties, Democrat Alex Sink refused to concede the race to GOP opponent Rick Scott.

“This is turning out, as expected, to be a nail-biter. We’re coming down to the wire in what looks to be a dead even race,” Sink told a crowd of more than 200 supporters shortly after midnight.

She said hundreds of thousands of votes in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough counties remain to be counted.

“We’re Floridians so we know what it means to count every single vote. We will wait to have all the voices heard.

In Fort Lauderdale, Scott watched election returns on the 12th floor of the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel but did not address anxious supporters eager to cap off a night of partying with a victory speech.

“It’s embarrassing. One of the most important races in the country and Palm Beach County can’t get their races in on time?” Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, said with disbelief.

“So what is this, the first election she’s ever been part of?” Asked former secretary of state Sandy Mortham, now a lobbyist.

“They might consider updating their technology,” Mortham said. “I mean, why wouldn’t they have modems?”

TAMPA — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he hopes he and Marco Rubio can continue what he called a tradition of cooperation between Florida’s two senators, even if they’re from different parties.

“I will be calling Sen.-elect Rubio and congratulating him just as soon as I can get to a telephone,” Nelson told reporters shortly before 9:30.

Nelson is attending Alex Sink’s election night party here. While Sink is trailing so far, Nelson predicted that Sink will make up the margin in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

“Dade and Broward will decide the governor’s election,” Nelson said.

Some of Tallahassee’s most powerful lobbyists crowded into the ballroom at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina for “outsider” GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott’s election night party, including those once bankrolling his primary opponent Bill McCollum’s campaign.

Scott, who campaigned as an “outsider,” defeated the attorney general after a brutal primary campaign, not unlike his general race against Democrat Alex Sink.

Scott’s imposing security staff blocked off hallways at the waterfront marina and hotel and even employees complained about the restrictions. One hotel guest trying to leave the property had to plead with Scott’s bouncers to let him leave without walking around the entire hotel to get to his car.

The movers-and-shakers in attendance included Fred Leonhardt, who was on McCollum’s finance committee, and donors who contributed at least $100,000 to Scott’s campaign.

Others on the A-list getting an early foot in the door with Scott included Ron Book, Billy Rubin, Dave Ramba, Jim Eaton, Pat Malloy, Jennifer Green, and U.S. Sugar’s Robert Coker.

Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, a handful of other GOP legislators and former RPOF executive director Will McKinley and former RPOF fundraiser are also in the house.