New Poll of Teachers Shows Widespread Support for Charlie Crist

Today, the Florida Democratic Party released the following polling memo highlighting just how strongly Florida’s classroom teachers reject Rick Scott and his disastrous record on education.  

“The results of this poll confirm what many Floridians already know: Rick Scott has failed Florida’s education system,” said Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Scott Arceneaux. “Our classroom teachers have been on the front lines for four years under this governor, and they’ve seen firsthand how devastating his $1.3 billion dollar cut to public schools has been for Florida’s students. Scott’s policies of increased standardized testing, larger high school class sizes, and less time for teachers to actually teach in the classroom have unified Florida’s educators in opposition to this failed governor.”  

Here are some of the key takeaways from this new poll:

• 81% of Florida’s teachers disapprove of the job Rick Scott has done on education, including 62% of Republicans and 85% of Independents.
• Asked to grade Rick Scott’s record of strengthening schools, 69% of teachers give him a D or an F, including 47% of Republicans and 72% of Independents.
• 64% of Florida teachers see Charlie Crist’s record on education positively, including more than half of Republicans and 57% of Independents.
• When asked how they plan to vote, 64% of Florida’s teachers plan on voting for Charlie Crist, while only 17% plan on voting for Scott.
• Perhaps most troubling for Scott, 57% of Republican and 91% of Independent teachers are either undecided or plan on voting for another candidate. 

Read the memo here.