Marathon Debate Not Long Enough for SP Times

While the House of Representatives was in the middle of a roughly 9-hour debate on teacher performance pay, the St. Petersburg Times was jumping the gun with an editorial that called the deliberations, which lasted from 5 p.m. Thursday to 2:26 a.m. Friday, a "rush job."

In an editorial titled "An arrogant attempt to reform schools" and released Thursday at 10:48 p.m, before the debate ended, the Times stated:

The last insult came Thursday when House Republican leaders despite a week of protests by teachers from Pensacola to Fort Myers rammed the bill (SB 6) through their chamber, suppressing efforts even from members of their own party to make even minor changes to the plan.

This was a rush job. The most radical overhaul of teacher employment rules in more than a generation was introduced early last month by the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine. In the House, the first of just two committee stops was only two weeks ago.

The House Majority Office quickly offered a response at 11 p.m. Thursday:

The real arrogance is from the Times Editorial Board in declaring the outcome long before it even occurs. It is obvious that the Times Board, which is clearly not even watching the debate in the House this evening, is more concerned with spreading its partisan bias than considering the issue of education reform objectively.

As we enter the 8^th hour of debate this evening, with an additional 3 to 4 hours expected before the final votes are cast, it is apparent to anyone watching the House debate tonight that what is occurring is anything but a 'rush job.'

The only rush job is from the editors of the St. Petersburg Times who are more interested in going home for the night while members of the Florida House work into their 16^th hour of debate over the past two days on this important legislation.

The House actually gave minutes to some representatives to voice their opinions on the bill, which was one of the reasons the debate lasted so long.

Maybe the Times shouldn't have rushed.