Update: Reactions to Governor Crist’s decision are pretty strong, including the Eduwonk giving Crist the ironic “it’s all about the kids” award and Andy Smarick labeling the move “the most disappointing education policy decision by a major Republican officeholder in recent memory.”

Just a short post today: Bad education reform news from the state of Florida (I know, it’s hard to believe). Governor Charlie Crist has vetoed Senate Bill 6 — which would have made it easier to dismiss ineffective teachers, while tying teacher compensation more closely to demonstrated gains in student learning.

Was the bill perfect? As Rick Hess–one of the sharpest education reformers out there–points out, certainly not. But it was a “game-changer”:

…[G]iven the fierce battle that the FEA and its brethren have waged against even more nuanced efforts to rethink tenure and pay, the choice is not between this ham-handed bill and a more elegant cousin but between SB6 and the status quo. Given that choice, there’s no contest–give me SB6.

If you have 3 or 4 minutes to spare, listen to education reform godfathers Paul Peterson and Checker Finn try to unravel the politics behind Crist’s decision to veto the bill.

There… See? I can blog about Florida even when I’m not heaping the state with praise.