Welcome to

Teachers, students, and parents have been staking out the capitol all day trying to get a face-to-face meeting with the governor to ask him to nix Senate Bill Six. Crist has until Friday, but could act sooner. As Whitney Ray tells us, he’s hinting at a veto.

The Senate Bill Six circus continued Wednesday… At a news conference with the governor, the sponsor of the legislation rushed out the door as we tried to ask a question.

Soon after, a parent stood up to question the speed at which Senate Bill Six soared through the legislature.

“How long did it take for SB 6 to pass,” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I think it was weeks though,“ said Crist.

Minutes later Crist hinted at a veto.

“You said that the tenure aspects were part of your concerns, why is that,” asked a WFSU reporter.

“Well, I’ll explain it in much greater detail soon,” said Crist.

The governor’s office has been packed all day with teachers, parents and even bus drivers asking for a veto.

Annie Pearl Curtis has been driving a school bus for 20 years. She worries that a provision in six requiring schools to hold back five percent of their budgets to develop tests will come out of her paycheck.

“Let me talk to him, aren’t we paying him?” asked Curtis.

The bus drivers didn’t get a meeting; two hours later teachers and student from Miami tried their luck. They brought hundreds of letters from teachers.

“It takes away experience. Advance degrees mean nothing,” said Eugenio Perez, a 9th grade teacher from Miami.

Crist has taken to calling some teachers on their cell phones to get their views on the bill. He says he’s willing to listen to everyone, but time is running out to make a decision.

Many of the teachers roaming the halls of the capitol today are registered Republicans. They wanted to remind Crist that they plan to vote in the US Senate primary in August.