Thurman to Thrasher: Stop Bullying Florida's Teachers And Don't Force Counties To Raise Property Taxes

Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman today slammed Sen. John Thrasher, Republican Party Chairman, for his legislative attempts to bully Florida's teachers, gut local control of schools and force counties to raise property taxes. Thurman, who first got involved in government after her students encouraged her to run for public office while teaching math at Dunnellon Middle School, said:

"As a former middle school teacher, I know firsthand that Tallahassee politicians bullying teachers and threatening education professionals will do nothing to improve Florida's public schools or increase opportunity for Florida's children.

"Rather than looking for real reforms to improve our state's public schools by empowering those teachers in the classrooms and education professionals on the front lines to do what is best for Florida's children, Sen. Thrasher and the other Republican politicians in Tallahassee have chosen a power grab through unfunded mandates.

"And if bullying teachers wasn't bad enough, Sen. Thrasher's bill could raise property taxes on Florida's small businesses and middle class families, who are already hurting in these hard economic times from Republican politicians raising taxes and fees by $2 billion last year.

"For years, Republicans have crafted 'devious schemes' as Jeb Bush once called it to undermine Florida's public schools. Thrasher's legislation is just another one of these schemes by Republican politicians, which is why I am saying today: enough is enough!

"Sen. Thrasher, stop working to drive good teachers out of the classroom. Don't gut local control. No more unfunded mandates. And don't force counties to raise property taxes during these tough economic times."