Jeb Bush refuses to lose
Al’s Loupe
By Alvaro F. Fernandez
alvaro@progresoweekly.com
Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s veto of Senate Bill (SB) 6 last week was not the end of the education revolution many state republican leaders had hoped for with their proposal tying teacher pay to student performance. In actuality, Crist’s action may have created a tsunami of possibilities going forward from here. And although the scenario may seem interesting, a fact any political junkie would have to agree is so, it does steer us to more dangerous and unknown waters in the future.
The system as we know it has been vulnerable (or at least on a definite path to change) since the Jeb Bush Administration set us on the road to privatization. Interestingly, what SB 6 demonstrated vividly is that although Bush is no longer governor, he is still the most influential politician in this republican-led state. A fact, by the way, not lost on lame duck Crist, who is running a very distant second on the republican side to young upstart and Tea Party favorite former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, in the race for the open U.S. senate seat.
The Crist veto was not only a slap-back at Bush (which Crist must have quietly enjoyed — immensely), but it also, most likely, signaled that Crist will run as an independent in the fall against, probably Rubio for the Republicans and Miami Congressman Kendrick Meek for the Democrats. And if the elections were held today, polls show Crist beats both Rubio and Meek.
But this thing gets trickier and stickier. Anyone who has followed Bush’s trajectory in Florida knows the man refuses to lose. Proof of that can be seen in this year’s state legislative session. Realizing that Crist would be the lame duck he has become, Bush jumped on the opportunity to push forward unfinished (from his days as governor) initiatives that makes you realize he has been the “shadow captain… guiding the ship of state,” as Jim Ash recently reported in Tallahassee.com. For starters, Bush was the driving force behind SB 6. But an even closer look at this year’s session, now in its last two weeks, reveals that the former governor’s conservative agenda dominates: corporate tax breaks, a move to water down a class-size mandate he lost against Kendrick Meek in 2002 and which he promised to remedy at some point, corporate vouchers, property insurance reforms and other issues close and dear to his heart.
Like I said, Bush refuses to lose. And in contrast to his brother the former president, Jeb is a renowned workaholic. He also seems to be a pretty savvy strategist. It is why all of us who today celebrate the defeat of SB 6 must prepare for an onslaught of attacks on education (as we know it) in the near future.
Consider this, Mike Haridopolos, a conservative republican and big Bush fan is expected to be Senate president next year. On the House side, Dean Cannon, another conservative Bush fan, is scheduled to rule as Speaker. Add the possibility of a conservative, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, re-taking the governor’s mansion in November, and next year’s version of SB 6 will not even be considered for veto.
Follow the money
The Jacksonville newspaper Florida Times-Union reported that “Two out-of-state companies that offer education testing paid a lobbying firm where Sen. John Thrasher was a partner between $60,000 and $190,000 over a two-year period…” Interestingly, Thrasher, a St. Augustine republican, sponsored SB 6. In fairness to Thrasher, he left the lobbying firm, Southern Strategy, in 2009. He denies any conflict of interest or wrongdoing.
As proposed by SB 6, student performance would have been measured by tests. The exams have yet to be produced. Experts in the field have determined that creation of those tests, a complex and diverse undertaking, would ultimately cost taxpayers billions of dollars. In other words, someone was bound to make money on this proposal — which many foresee destroying public education.
During his years in the governor’s mansion, Bush championed tax cuts that chiefly benefited business and the wealthy. He also launched the nation’s first statewide private-school voucher program — later found illegal by the Florida Supreme Court.
So to some, Jeb Bush may appear as a rich man’s philanthropist. I, on the other hand, very much doubt that our former governor has lost out on the billions (and trillions) that politics produces — too often these days, for the few. And with new billions on the horizon… well, I’ll let you put two and two together.
