The big question: will wingnuts who benefit from stimulus money still hate Obama?

Florida governor and now U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist (R-Coppertone) took a lot of heat from the more conservative side of his party when he bucked the trend of GOP governors in neighboring states (like Louisiana's Bobby Jindal and Mississippi's Haley Barbour) and welcomed with open arms the federal stimulus money offered to Florida through President Obama's economic recovery program. What this has done in part, though, is save a number of jobs in various areas of state government, including K-12 education.

So, naturally, I'm interested to see whether the wingnuts who (as I know from personal experience and observation) make up a significant majority of teachers in, say, Santa Rosa County, might change their minds a bit about the Evils of Obama. My prediction: nope, not a chance.

Seriously, though, what's a wingnut teacher to do? I mean, imagine that you're a typical teacher* in America's Taint™. You voted for (and quite possibly campaigned on your own time for) McCain and you hate Obama because he's a socialist (and, in some cases, because of his race). You would have gone to the tea parties if you could have gotten the day off work. You've established an entire career based on earning government money (from the taxpayers) but you nevertheless think taxation is evil and everything ought to be privatized.

But you were going to be laid off thanks to severe budget cuts in your county ... until the $1.8 billion of stinulus money to Florida for education came through. Suddenly millions of dollars were directed to your county, and your job is going to be saved ... thanks to the Obama administration! (Recall that the Bush crime syndicate's proposed stimulus would have directed the vast majority of funding to Wall Street and other corporations to prop up the failed theory of "supply-side" or "trickle-down" economics ... so, under Bush, no job for you.) More than 50 such jobs are being restored in Santa Rosa County alone**.

"By and large, this is great news because we are saving some jobs and adding some jobs," said Ed Gray, board chairman. "But it can easily be misinterpreted as we are creating positions we should not be or saving jobs we should not be. What we have before us is what the law requires."

Board members have approved cutting 260 teacher and 103 educational support positions. They will receive a revised staffing plan at the May 21 meeting.

The district has yet to receive its stimulus money but it is expected this month, said Doug Dillon, assistant superintendent for finance.

Stimulus funding is only for two years, and there are strict guidelines on how it can be used, said Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick.

"We are not being given millions of dollars to do with as we want to," he said.

Santa Rosa has about 500 annual contract teachers — those with three years or less experience — waiting to learn if they will be rehired.

"The decisions will be made by principals based on the needs of their schools," said Lewis Lynn, assistant superintendent for human resources.

Well, I've got to hand it to Ed Gray, board chairman: at least he's being more or less ideologically consistent by saying, basically, "yeah, we're taking federal money, but only because we have to, not because we want to." But, then again, we're not talking about Mr. Gray's job here; if he wants to continue to be wingnutty, he can do so without hypocrisy in this instance.

But what about you, Mr./Ms. Laid Off Wingnut Teacher? Are you going to embrace the Obama stimulus and denounce the archaic, destructive economic policies of the Bush crime syndicate that got us into this mess in the first place? Like I said above: I think I already know the answer to that question.

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* Not all teachers are like this. But most are. Trust me.

** This isn't anywhere near enough for all the cut jobs to be saved. But it's better than nothing ...