SB6 will be back!
To the editor:
First, my thanks to Gov. Crist for having the courage and wisdom to see SB6/HB7189 for what it truly was: a punitive measure meant to ram through Jeb Bush’s education agenda. Whatever his motives, Gov. Crist made a difficult, but correct decision.
SB6 supporters have already drawn the line in the sand. Sen. Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) summed it up clearly enough, “It won’t be Gov. Crist who signs this bill next year, it will be Gov. McCollum,” proclaimed Gaetz. I am pretty sure there still must be an election before McCollum’s coronation, doesn’t there?
Those who believe SB6 is the wrong way for Public Education to go can and must do the one thing that is certain to stop it. We must elect Alex Sink as our next governor. Gov. Sink will seek collaborative, effective reform only in the areas where it is necessary.
We also must make changes to our legislature, not based on party, but rather on candidate’s views on public education! We have proven that the voice of the education constituency is loud and strong. Yet, we have failed in the past to use that voice collectively at the ballot box. Those that have SB6 and its offspring as their priority count on us to be silent in November. I, for one, do not plan on allowing that to happen in 2010.
I will encourage all teachers, education professionals, concerned parents and community members to stand together and vote for pro-public education candidates.
Mark J. Castellano
President, Teachers Association of Lee County