Crist been given a political gift with this teacher bill

Gov. Charlie Crist was handed an early Christmas present when the Florida House gave him a teacher bill to sign or veto. What seemed like a liability is now a gift.

Crist soon will veto or sign the bill that does away with teacher tenure and extra wages for specialized training, years of service or advanced degrees. Much of whether a teacher will keep his or her job will depend on how the students do. We've argued that's not a fair way to judge teachers, since every student is different and there's no way for a teacher to have control over whether a child's parents helps with homework or even gets them to school.

As recently as a week ago Crist had said he would sign it. He's not saying that anymore. That's because he's being flooded with calls, e-mails and letters begging him to veto the bill. But it's more than that. Polls show that Floridians overwhelmingly do not like this bill.

Crist has been trailing Marco Rubio for the U.S. Senate seat left open after Mel Martinez stepped down. But Rubio is being coy about whether he supports the teacher bill, and we believe if Crist vetoes it, and then runs for the Senate as an Independent, he will beat Rubio in the general election for senator.

Crist will have an uphill battle beating Rubio in the Republican primary. They have to be as conservative as possible to win that. But Florida isn't as conservative as Rubio, and with a veto, we believe Democrats and Independents will elect Crist senator over Rubio.

The only thing we know for sure, though, is that's it's too early to know for sure what will happen. Political races turn on a dime, but right now there's an opportunity for Crist. Besides, it's the right thing to do. We think Crist will step up and do the right thing regardless of how it affects his political ambitions. Wow, fancy that. A politician following his conscience instead of doing something politically expedient? What a concept!

We just hope Crist vetoes the bill.