(2 of 2)
Faced with the clear threat of a state wide walkout in October, Kirk agreed to call a special session of the legislature. That session began Jan. 29 and ended two weeks ago, after passing a bill providing for about $250 million in new taxes (on beer, liquor, cigarettes and other sales). State officials argued that the new appropriations would provide teachers with an average increase of $1,340 per year. Despite this generous offer, the F.E.A. insisted that the funds would not provide any real improvement in classroom conditions; too much of the new tax money, the association says, was earmarked for noneducational expenses. The argument is probably academic, since Kirk has threatened to veto the bill because it calls for the new taxes without any provision for approval by voters. As expected, the teachers walked out.
Breaking Backs. The teachers insist that they are technically not striking, which they are forbidden to do by Florida law. Instead they have resigned—a maneuver that happens to violate the terms of their contract. At midweek, Kirk abandoned a politicking junket in the West, flew home to try to resolve the crisis. His first effort—a pleading back-to-work speech addressed to teachers assembled in Miami's Marine Stadium—ended in failure. Irked by the crowd's hostility, Kirk urged them to "get together with one good rousing boo" for the Governor—and drew only an icy silence. F.E.A. members were angered by his statement to out-of-state reporters that he was "going to break the back of the teachers" and that "it is un-American to turn education processes over to a union."
The situation was complicated by issues that had little to do with students, classrooms, or educational quality. Kirk, Florida's first Republican Governor of this century and an aspirant to the G.O.P. vice-presidential nomination, is engaged in a political struggle with the Democratic-controlled legislature. The N.E.A. is locked in combat with the American Federation of Teachers for the loyalty of the nation's restive teachers. Its fight is well-organized and well-financed. Association officers traveled by hydrofoil to a meeting in Miami's Marine Stadium; a Lear Jet was chartered for two days for more than $2,000.
The N.E.A. 's new president, Braulio Alonso, who is principal of Tampa's King High School, obviously finds Florida a choice battlefield on which his organization can display its militancy.