The local chapter of the NAACP is holding a prayer vigil at the governor’s mansion Thursday night to encourage Gov. Charlie Crist to veto a controversial teacher pay bill.

Crist has until midnight Friday to act on the bill, and recently said the tremendous opposition to the measure (SB 6) has made a “fairly significant impression” on him.

State Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, is helping organize the vigil, which is slated to begin at 7 p.m. unless Crist takes action on the measure first.

NAACP Tallahassee chapter president Dale Landry said the bill will force teachers to kick poor-performing students out of their classes because their salaries will be tied to how well the children score on standardized tests.

“You’re talking about a person’s livelihood being tied to children” and factors outside the classroom over which teachers have no control, Landry said.

“To me that’s criminal,” he said.

The separation of church and state has been in Florida’s constitution for more than a century.

But that might this fall under a proposal approved by a Senate committee this morning that could go before voters on the November ballot.

The “Religious Freedom” amendment would delete the 125-year-old provision in the constitution prohibiting state money from being spent directly or indirectly to aid any church, sect or religious denomination. And it would open the door to former Gov. Jeb Bush’s school voucher program allowing public school students to use state money to pay for religious school tuition that the Florida Supreme Court struck down.

Also known as the “Blaine Amendment,” the separation of church and state restriction was an anti-Catholic, anti-immigration measure aimed at keeping Catholics from obtaining government funding for their schools.

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Gov. Charlie Crist has a week to decide if the controversial teacher merit pay bill is a “sucker-punch to the gut of the teaching profession” or a visionary reform now that SB 6 has reached his desk.

The “teacher tenure” bill poses a conundrum for the U.S. Senate candidate framed in the old Pete Seeger union song, Which Side Are You On?

The self-described “People’s Governor” is facing mounting pressure from fellow Republicans to sign SB 6 into law and from Democrats demanding that he kill the bill.

Crist originally said he thought the merit-pay proposal was a good idea. But after tens of thousands of teachers, parents and students inundated lawmakers’ offices and his own with phone calls and e-mails blasting the plan, his enthusiasm may be waning.

“The more you listen, the more you learn,” Crist told reporters Thursday morning. “There are things I like and things that give me some concern,” in the bill. “I’m listening to the people of Florida — my boss.”

After the House passed the bill at 2:30 this morning, Speaker Larry Cretul urged the governor to keep his word.

“I believe we have passed legislation this morning that is important,” Cretul, R-Ocala, said. “It is legislation I believe the governor should want to sign. I take him at his word that he will.”

But even before the measure reached Crist’s desk shortly after noon today, Democrats ramped up demands that Crist to put his red pen to use.

Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat running to replace Crist, called on the governor to “stand with the people of Florida against this attempt by Tallahassee politicians to take control away from our local schools.”

Her campaign this morning launched an online petition for Floridians to sign to request the veto.

Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson said in a statement “our governor needs to stand his ground” and veto the bill Lawson called a “sucker-punch to the gut of the teaching profession.”

Read the full story here.

After pontificating for nearly 12 hours, the Florida House at 2:30 this morning finalized approval of a sweeping package of public school changes that could eventually reach every student and teacher in the state.

The divided House ultimately sent to Gov. Charlie Crist a quartet of bills that could prove to be the most significant education changes passed out of the state legislature in a decade.

The proposals would change the way teachers’ contracts and raises are negotiated, make class sizes larger, high school graduation tougher and send more state money to private schools.

The chamber finished with the most controversial measure of all – SB 6 – that would tie teacher pay and job security with how well students perform on tests. Angry teachers, parents and students overwhelmed lawmakers with telephone calls and e-mails objecting to the bill. House Speaker Larry Cretul forbade Democrats from reading any of the e-mails during debate on the bill that ran on until 2:30 this morning.

Read the full story here.

So many angry teachers called House Speaker Larry Cretul’s office late last week his staff had to add four additional telephone lines and four workers to field the complaints, Cretul spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin said.

The Speaker’s office received more than 5,500 phone calls on Thursday and Friday about SB 6, the measure approved by the Senate last week that would revamp teacher salaries and job security by basing educators’ pay on how well their students perform on standardized tests.

Most of the calls objected to the proposal, Chamberlin said.

“It’s hard to generalize, but many people did not seem to know what the bill does (they thought it would reduce current teacher pay—it won’t) (they thought it would affect current teacher retirement and benefits—it won’t, etc.) and many thought we were taking a poll (which we were not.) It is certainly possible that some people didn’t get through or got voice mail—considering the volume,” Chamberlin said in an e-mail.

Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bill McCollum blamed the teachers’ union for Florida’s failure to win out on the first round of federal “Race to the Top” education funds.

The Florida Education Association, that opposed the stimulus funds, is “now responsible for the loss of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for Sunshine State students, teachers and schools,” McCollum campaign manager Matt Williams said in a press release.

“Today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Education that Florida was not selected as a first round winner of the Race to the Top competition is a disappointing reminder the unions will continue to put the interests of bureaucracy over the best interests of Florida’s children,” Williams accuses.

Sen. John Thrasher, who also serves as the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, joined in the teacher-bashing chorus although Gov. Charlie Crist said he remained hopeful that the state could ultimately win some of the $4 billion in federal funds.

The Senate passed a measure that would have a far-reaching impact on teachers’ salaries and job security after a heated debate by Democratic opponents and an angry defense of the bill by Republicans.

Four Republicans – Sens. Charlie Dean of Inverness, Paula Dockery of Lakeland, Dennis Jones of Seminole and Alex Villalobos of Miami – joined Democrats on the losing side of the 21-17 vote.

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By MICHAEL C. BENDER and DARA KAM

Here are some notes from an interview today with Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach:

FIRST DAY OF SESSION: With bipartisan support to delay unemployment tax payments, the plan is waive the rules and pass it to Gov. Charlie Crist before the end of the first day. The Senate will also name a Jacksonville roadway for the late Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville and debate reforms to the Public Service Commission.

Atwater choked up when speaking of the road designation for King, a former Senate President who passed away last summer.

“Though that may seem as ceremonial, for those of us who had the honor of serving with him, it’s far more than that. It’s really,” Atwater said haltingly, on the verge of tears. “It’s important.”

Also on the first day, the Senate will take up changes to the Public Service Commission that will put into effect suggestions from a grand jury report left on the shelf since 1992 to improve the integrity of the maligned regulatory agency.

LAST DAY OF SESSION: What Atwater doesn’t want to happen is another breakdown in budget negotiations and be forced to extend session past April 30. With that in mind, Atwater is planning on planning to encourage more transparency, which would require more time for the budget process

“I’d like to test some things this session and recommend them to the next administration of the legislature,” Atwater said. “Last year we did our very best. So now, we’re going to try to see if we can lay that down in writing.”

Atwater didn’t say if he planned to specifically include the allocation process (when the two chambers decide how much money to spend on broad areas, like education, health care and transportation), but it sounded like he would:

“I would want every bit of the process to be discussed in public and the conversation completed in public.”

BUDGET PRIORITIES: There will be winners and losers. Atwater said he’s not interested in across-the-board cuts and anything that can be considered a job generator will be more likely to get money.

“We will have to go deeper in some places to create any initiative for job creation: incentives, venture capital funding, all of that,” Atwater said. “I don’t know where those places will be or the depth of those reductions.”

The economic incentives could include lowering the bar for some programs already in existence or loan programs for small businesses.

Atwater’s “seed” programs won’t include the $10 million economic gardening loan incentive hurriedly pushed through by Gov. Charlie Crist more than a year ago that still hasn’t gotten off the ground.

“I can’t tell you that we would measure any level of success there,” he admitted. “We may try again a loan program. We may try some more in the area of venture capital. But that’s fair criticism. We’ve got to get them out on the street and get them working.”

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Legislative leaders-in-waiting Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Will Weatherford are heading up a GOP initiative to water down constitutional class size limits approved by voters.

Gaetz, R-Destin, and Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, sponsored a constitutional amendment lawmakers are expected to put on the ballot this year that would undo some of the class size restrictions voters approved in 2002.

Floridians have already spent $16 billion to shrink class sizes but plummeting property tax collections – which pay for public schools – have sent lawmakers scrambling to foot the $22 billion-a-year tab for education.

Gaetz and Weatherford, who are expected to lead their chambers in 2012, will reveal details of their proposal at a press conference tomorrow morning.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate, recently said that he supports undoing the class size restrictions, which have been been introduced gradually and which school officials say costs too much and doesn’t benefit student achievement.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democrat is also running for the U.S. Senate seat Crist seeks, was the force behind the class size amendment in 2002 while he was in the state Senate.

He isn’t backing down from the limits, which are set to go into full effect by the end of this year.

“Eight years later, Tallahassee officials have not relented in trying to water down hard-fought class size limits while refusing to tackle the special interest bidding that is alive and well in the state capital, ” said Kendrick Meek, who served as Chairman of Florida’s Coalition to Reduce Class Size in 2002.

“Florida families cannot be shortchanged. They simply ask that their children not be packed into overcrowded classrooms. Instead of focusing on misguided priorities, Florida needs a long-term perspective to secure a better future for our children. Implementing the class size limits without delay is critical so our teachers can teach in classrooms where our students can learn. Moreover, it is important to note that our state needs to invest now in its human capital in order to reverse the tide of joblessness for tomorrow’s workers,” Meek said in press release.

Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposed $500 million boost to education spending based on an unlikely gambling agreement is unrealistic, Senate President Jeff Atwater said this morning.

“The numbers that I would see at this moment that were included in that release did seem to be a bit optimistic,” Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said at a meeting of reporters and editors.

Crist’s $22.7 billion public education budget, released Monday, relies on about $433 million from the Seminole Tribe of Florida now sitting in the bank as part of a deal with the state allowing certain types of gambling at the tribe’s casinos.

But the legislature has refused to sign off on a deal inked by Crist and the tribe and early indications show that an agreement this year remains in doubt.

“We worked hard on a gaming compact and we’re not done but to just plug in the numbers that I saw was rather optimistic,” Atwater, who is running for chief financial officer said.

Gov. Charlie Crist, apparently recovered from the man-hug he shared with President Barack Obama last year, is trying to meet with the president tomorrow in Tampa.

Obama will be in Florida to announce the winners of about $8 billion in federal grants for high speed rail projects, and it is almost certain that at least part of the state’s $2.5 billion ask will be granted.

Crist, who is scheduled to be in Tampa tomorrow, said his staff is working on a get-together with the president.

“I would like to see him, yes. It looks like it’s possible, yes,” Crist said after a speech to editors and reporters at the Capitol this morning.

Crist said he has three things to discuss with Obama, including some advice on reaching out across the aisle, a practice that has landed Crist in hot water with his fellow Republicans.

“I hope that what he announceas in Tampa brings a lot of jobs to Florida in the form of high speed rail. Number two, I’d like to talk to him about a more bipartisan approach which means, you know, it’s a two-way street, you know, reaching out more to Republicans and have them involved in the important issues of the day.
And then finally, encourage him on Race to the Top and lobby him a little,” Crist said. Race to the Top is a federal education grant program that could bring about $1 billion to Florida.

GOP critics lambasted Crist, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, for cheerleading for Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package last year. Crist appeared with Obama in Florida last year and a photo of the two embracing was used by critics to embarrass Crist in his GOP primary campaign against former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

Crist later denied he supported the stimulus, saying he did not have the opportunity to vote for it in Congress.

Crist repeated his “let’s-all-get-along” emphasis when asked what he expected from the president’s state of the union address tonight.

“A common sense approach, more bipartisanship, and I hope he delivers,” he said.

First Lady Michelle Obama will give out awards at the Florida Campus Compact annual gala in Miami next week.

The fundraiser and awards ceremony takes place Oct. 15 at the Landmark Freedom Tower in Miami.

Florida Campus Compact is a coalition of 50 colleges and universities, including Florida Atlantic University, that gets students involved in community service.

“It’s a huge deal for us,” said Florida Campus Compact executive director DeeDee Rasmussen, a former aide to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

It may be a huge deal for the coalition of 50 colleges and universities throughout the state but one that apparently is top-secret.

There’s no mention of the First Lady’s presence at the annual gala and luncheon on the Florida Campus Compact home page on its website.

But a little persistence and clicking on the “speakers”
tab on the gala’s page reveals that Mrs. Obama will be joined by Palm Beach County home town celebrity: Frank Brogan.

In July, the state Board of Governors Brogan to be the chancellor of the state university system. Prior to that the former Martin County schoolteacher served as president of Florida Atlantic University.

Michelle Obama was involved in similar campus efforts at the University of Chicago, where she developed the university’s first student community service program.

“I couldn’t think of a better person to come and give kudos and congratulations to the people who are in the trenches every day. She used to work in this field in Chicago and I know it’s something near and dear to her heart,” Rasmussen said.

Gov. Charlie Crist will join in a world-wide literacy event starring “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” the classic children’s book published 40 years ago, this morning in Orlando.

Freedom Shores Elementary schoolchildren in Boynton Beach are some of the 100,000 kids throughout the state participating in the event aimed at introducing low-income youngsters to the joy of reading.

The Pearson Foundation, the charitable organization of the publishing giant, donated the books and is trying to beat last year’s “Read for the Record” world record of 700,000 readers.

“Unbelievably, one in three Pre-K innocents have never had a book read to them and too many lack basic literacy skills that are a must for a chance at achieving early literacy which is the base for their entire education experience,” said Victoria Zepp, a Tallahassee lobbyist and consultant whose clients include Pearson.

Zepp is joining Crist at Vista Lakes Elementary in Orlando where the governor is scheduled to read Eric Carle’s classic children’s tale.

Crist is one of a number of celebrities participating in the event kicked off by NBC Today show host Matt Lauer this morning.
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RIVIERA BEACH — After visiting an elementary school that has improved from a D grade to an A in four years, Gov. Charlie Crist said public schools in Florida and Palm Beach County are “on the rise.”

Crist and his wife, Carole Crist, visited Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School this morning, greeting cafeteria workers, administrators and safety patrols and stopping in on three classes.

Crist is also slated to meet with restaurateurs in Palm Beach County today and to attend a fund-raiser in Manalapan tonight for his U.S. Senate bid.

“I can’t tell you how impressed I am with your school and your accomplishments here and what you’ve been able to do in a short period of time,” Crist said after being shown around by principal Glenda Sheffield.

Bethune Elementary got an F grade in 2002 based on its Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test scores and was a D school in 2006. After Sheffield became principal, the school got C grades in 2007 and 2008 and an A this year.

“You’re an A school. And it wasn’t that long ago that Bethune Elementary wasn’t an A school. That kind of gain and that kind of accomplishment is exactly what Florida students deserve and what they should have,” Crist said.

Asked about the controversy in Palm Beach County over its use of tests roughly every three weeks to measure whether students are on track, Crist gave a vote of confidence to Superintendent Art Johnson.

“I think we’re getting better every day,” Crist said. “I think that’s the message we want to convey to people that may have concerns. Florida’s on the rise and Palm Beach County clearly is on the rise. The leadership that Art has provided here is exceptional.”

Vice President Joe Biden will visit an Orlando middle school on Wednesday to tout Florida’s $3.5 billion share of the economic stimulus package for education.

Biden will be joined by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. They’re scheduled to appear at Jackson Middle School in Orlando at 10 a.m.

Not all of the money is being spent in schools or on teachers, however.

Florida’s three-year education stimulus cash includes money for school lunch equipment, homeless education, independent living programs and services for older blind individuals.

Perhaps the White House duo will receive a warmer welcome than Congressional members touting the president’s health care package at raucous town hall meetings throughout the country.

Forty years after moving onto the Florida State University campus as a freshman, T.K. Wetherell took up residence at the president’s mansion.

After six years at the helm, Wetherell, the first FSU graduate to return as president, is stepping down, leaving behind a university wracked by budgetary woes, impending mass firings and a cheating scandal that could cost Bobby Bowden a chance to be the all-time winningest major college football coach.

Wetherell announced his resignation Wednesday at a Board of Trustees meeting, two years before his contract runs out.

“It would really be nice to win the national championship, go out on top and hire 1,000 new faculty. There’s no easy time in that regard,” Wetherell said when asked if he had remorse over leaving the university with so many problems.

“I wish we weren’t here. I wish we didn’t lose $82 million and I wish there were 650 people that were back on the payroll at Florida State doing whatever it is they do. I couldn’t control that. I tried. I did the best I could do with it, probably burned up more political capital than I should have in many people’s minds.”

Wetherell said he was willing to stay until a replacement is chosen.

When he took over as president in 2003, he and his wife, Virginia, said they would donate their 1,000-acre farm near Tallahassee – valued at more than $7 million – to the university after they die.

A soft-spoken Southerner with a folksy demeanor that belies a sharp wit, Wetherell often addresses even casual acquaintances as “buddy,” men and women alike. He’s easily accessible to the media and is often seen on campus.

Wetherell’s candor has landed him in hot water. At a March news conference, he slipped in an obscenity directed at Samford University, Bowden’s alma mater. He quickly apologized.

Wetherell earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate in education administration from FSU and is a stalwart Seminoles fan.

Once a wide receiver and kick returner for the Seminoles, he has seen the football team slip in the rankings the past five years after winning national championships in 1993 and 1999.

He’s contesting NCAA sanctions over a 2007 cheating scandal that involved 22 football players, as well as athletes from other sports, and a lawsuit filed by media outlets seeking records related to the sanctions. The NCAA ordered that those records be kept secret.

He has battled the legislature, which has slashed $82 million from his budget over the past two years.

And he’s giving pink slips to nearly 200 employees, including 25 tenured faculty members.

Wetherell spent more than a decade in the Florida House and left after serving as speaker from 1990-92. His Capitol connections were a huge asset during his tenure.

Wetherell, who was treated for prostate cancer shortly after he took over as president, said he had considered retiring for about a year but did not want to leave until the three-year budget plan, approved by the trustees Wednesday, was finalized. He said he wants to teach, travel, spend time at his Montana ranch and “just be a real person, not in blogs and editorials every day.”

“Sure, you’d rather go out on a different note. But I think we went out as positive as we could,” he said.

This year’s graduates, he said, represent his greatest accomplishment at FSU: 30 percent were the first in their families to receive a college degree, as was Wetherell.

Gov. Charlie Crist, also a FSU alumnus, said he was disappointed by Wetherell’s resignation.

“I love T.K.,” Crist said.

Under the current economic climate, the political clout Wetherell often wielded may not have been as effective in raising money, said Jim Smith, chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees.

Smith wants the university to hire someone from outside Florida with “very, very, very good academic credentials” who will “eagerly anticipate getting up every day and wanting to figure out how they can raise $1 billion for Florida State.”

Fund-raising will be a major part of the next president’s job, Smith said.

“I just don’t see the willingness of the legislature to continue to put money in the system,” he said.

Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in on a variety of topics this morning after signing several law enforcement-related bills at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles this morning.

Sheltered from the blazing heat by tents, slews of department employees dressed in bright red shirts turned out to hear Crist speak and pose for pictures with the governor, who is also running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

Among the bills Crist signed today was one that will expand the state’s DNA database. Law enforcement officials, now limited to taking DNA samples from those convicted of crimes, will now be able to take DNA from anyone who is arrested.

But Crist defended the bill (SB 2276) which civil liberties advocates argue is too far-reaching and have threatened to challenge in court.

“I think it’ll be alright or I wouldn’t have signed the bill. I think that we need to protect first and make sure that our people are safe. I think that this legislation will help us to do that even better,” he said.

Read what else Crist told reporters at a gaggle after the bill-signing after the jump. (more…)

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed legislation setting the outlines for a proposed gambling deal with the Seminoles that could reap the state billions of dollars for education.

Lawmakers gave Crist until Aug. 31 to finish negotiations and sign a pact with the tribe — a step that still remains to be completed. The legislature must approve the contract once one is inked.

Under the 15-year agreement that lawmakers have outlined, the Seminoles could continue to have Las Vegas-style slot machines and blackjack, chemin de fer and baccarat at their two Broward County casinos and one in Hillsborough County.

The tribe would be limited to slots only at its remaining Florida locales, including Immokalee, which it had planned on expanding.

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The Senate sponsor of a bill expressed dismay that Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed it yesterday and called into question the self-described “People’s Governor’s” motives.

Sen. Steve Oelrich said he was asked to file the bill that would have raised community college transportation fees by the students themselves.

The bill (SB 739) would have allowed community colleges to hike transportation fees by up to $6 per credit hour. Students requested the fees so they could have public transportation access on campus “just like university students do,” Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, said in a press release.

Because of the dismal economy, community college enrollments are increasing and access to public transportation and on-campus parking is limited, he said.

The bill passed in the House with a 108-4 vote and in the Senate by 37-1.

“Governor Crist’s veto of this bill confounds me,” Oelrich’s release states.

Oelrich took a jab at Crist, who’s dubbed himself “The People’s Governor” and frequently mentions “the people” in speeches.

“The students came to me with this bill. They have been working on it for several years; it was theirs,” Oelrich wrote. “Since the bill came from the People, I thought the Governor would appreciate that…I sincerely hope the veto was not the product of political expediency or retribution.”

Crist signed into law a bill allowing universities to hike tuition up to 15 percent, which all state universities are considering. He also signed into law nearly $1 billion in motor vehicle fee increases and another $1 billion in a buck-a-pack cigarette tax.

Seminoles could have blackjack and other banked card games in Broward and Hillsborough counties but only slot machines at their remaining three facilities and leaves the door open for full-fledged slots in Palm Beach County.

House and Senate gambling negotiators struck a deal late this evening as Gov. Charlie Crist and some tribal members looked on, finishing in time for lawmakers to take a full vote on the gambling package before the Senate is scheduled to end on Friday.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Crist said. “This is a victory for the children of Florida and for education.”

Under the final deal, lawmakers could give permission to voters in any county to approve full-fledged slot machines at pari-mutuels that have held live racing for at least two years, like the Palm Beach Kennel Club. But that would require legislation authorizing the referendum.

In exchange for blackjack at four of their seven casinos, the Seminoles would pay at least $150 million per year plus 12 percent of their earnings up to $2.5 billion. The state share could be as high as 25 percent of the tribe’s net win over $4.5 billion.

“We think it’s important to have these resources to help us get through the next year and couple years,” said Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander, who also led the gambling talks.

House chief negotiator Bill Galvano had said earlier that allowing blackjack in Broward alone would “push the House to the brink” and conceded that the final deal allowing blackjack there and in Tampa Bay “was still a heavy lift.”

Lawmakers will revisit the types of gambling allowed in the state in five years.

Earlier in the day, an agreement seemed unlikely when Galvano accused the Senate of moving backwards with a bid this morning that included a broader proposal for Indian card games than previously proposed.

“Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your offer but I will say that it appears the Senate, with all due respect and notwithstanding your brief explanation, is moving backwards. Backwards from where we want to go in an expansion standpoint. Backwards from where the House is heading. And I’ll look at your offer and we will let you know if it’s necessary to meet further,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, said.