The state's chief financial officer handles money matters in Florida, but as the campaign for the position starts to heat up, it appears that teacher performance pay will be an issue in the coming election, too.
Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, the favorite to win the Republican CFO nomination, was a strong supporter of the teacher performance pay plan that passed the Senate earlier in the session and the House early Friday morning.
Sources close to teachers unions said Monday teachers don't hold Atwater as responsible as Sen. John Thrasher, a Jacksonville Republican, and the measures chief sponsor, for its passage. But they said Atwater did all he could to pass the bill in the Senate, including limiting the number of committees the bill went through.
While noting that nothing has been finalized, the sources said they expect the unions to come out strongly for Loranne Ausley, a former state representative from Tallahassee who is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.
Ausley has made her opposition to teacher performance pay one of the cornerstones of her campaign.
This goes to the very core of who we are as a state, she said Monday.
Too many times, politicians in Tallahassee decide that they are in charge and not the voters whether it is failing to comply with the will of the voters, or robbing our schools of the resources they need to succeed, while blaming hardworking teachers, said Ausley last week. House Bill 7189, identical to Senate Bill 6, is just another example.
Ausley expanded her comments Monday. Referring to the performance pay measures and changes made in the retirement funds of public school teachers, Ausely said, This is an all-out assault on the teaching profession in our state.
When asked if this issue fell within the boundaries of the state CFO office, Ausley said it did because education ranks as one of the states chief investments.
Somewhat complicating things for Atwater is his chief Republican primary opponent, who voted against the performance pay bill. Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand, is running against Atwater in the Republican primary for the CFO nod. Last week, Patterson joined 10 other Republicans in opposing the performance pay bill when the House passed the measure.
I have an education background, Patterson said Monday, noting that he received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in education. His wife and daughter work in the classroom, and Patterson has worked as a teacher.
Calling himself a less-government kind of guy, Patterson said the teacher performance pay measure would greatly expand the size and scope of the Department of Education.
Atwaters campaign team is expecting teacher performance pay to be a campaign issue.
Im sure it will be an issue, but its only one of a broad array of issues, said Atwater campaign adviser Rick Wilson. Noting that many parents supported the issue, Wilson said, Its not an issue that only cuts one way.
Fundraising figures for the first quarter for the state CFO race reveal that Atwater maintains a huge advantage over his rivals.
During the first quarter, Atwater raised more than $446,000 in cash and pulled in $126,000 through in-kind donations. Ausley raised $190,000 in cash for the quarter and posted in-kind donations of $70,000. Patterson pulled in $3,750 but he said he had not done any serious fundraising and would not until the end of the legislative session.
Contact Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (904) 521-3722.
