With a month to go before the November election, the number of commercials being aired surrounding the governor's race is on the rise, and because of that, the number of claims for the fact-checkers to investigate are also on the rise.
Case in point: a recent commercial put out by the Republican Party of Florida makes the claim that education spending under Gov. Rick Scott (R) was at a record level. The Spanish-language commercial said this:
Under Rick Scott, there has been a "historic $20 billion in funds for education."
Our partners at PolitiFact saw the commercial and decided to take a look at the claim. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that the RPOF's claim rates HALF TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says there's enough ambiguity in the claim that keeps the meter right down the middle.
"Here's the thing: the ad just says 'education' and doesn't clarify which education they are referring to," said Gillin. "We think they're talking about K-12 education spending, because that $20 billion was the number that was budgeted last year. What's not being said in this commercial is that out of that $20 billion, $1.5 billion of that is federal aid. Scott also wanted to cut $1.3 billion out of the education budget, as well."
Gillin says that the other figure that wasn't included in the commercial was in regards to per-pupil spending. "That per-pupil spending is still down from what it was in the past," said Gillin. "If you're talking about education spending on a per-pupil basis, then the recordholder is not Rick Scott but his opponent, Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist."
Because of the lack of context in the claim and ambiguity with the source of the numbers, PolitiFact rates this claim HALF TRUE.
SOURCES: Rick Scott education funding all-time high?
- PolitiFact ruling
- Republican Party of Florida, "Liderazgo" TV ad, Oct. 1, 2014
- Florida Department of Education, "Florida State Board of Education 2015-16 proposed education budget request," Sept. 29, 2014
- Florida Department of Education, "Public School Funding, 2002-03 through Governor's Recommendation 2013-14," accessed July 17, 2014
- Florida Department of Education, "Florida Education Finance Program Total Funding by Source (K-12)," accessed July 17, 2014
- Gov. Rick Scott press release, "Per student spending will be highest in Florida history next year," Aug. 21, 2014
- Tampa Bay Times, "Florida Gov. Rick Scott Signs State Budget, Vetoes Just $69 Million In Spending," June 2, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida, "Rick Scott’s student spending is ‘about $200 less’ than during the recession, Charlie Crist says," July 18, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida, "Rick Scott says his K-12 education budget proposal is highest in Florida's history," Jan. 29, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida, "Charlie Crist says 'Rick Scott tried to slash school funding by $3.3 billion'," March 27, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida, "Gov. Scott claims he ‘cut taxes 40 times for Florida families,’" May 21, 2014
- PolitiFact Florida’s Scott-O-Meter, "Reform Medicaid with a federal waiver," Last update Sept. 3, 2014
- Miami Herald, "Gov. Rick Scott signs $77 billion state budget," June 2, 2014
- Orlando Sentinel, "Dueling education records define gubernatorial campaigns," June 20, 2014
- Tampa Bay Times, "Education records at odds in race between Rick Scott, Charlie Crist," July 4, 2014
- Interview, Susan Hepworth, spokesman for Republican Party of Florida, Oct. 1, 2014
- Interview, Greg Blair, spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign, Oct. 1, 2014
- Interview, Joe Follick and Cheryl Etters, spokespersons Florida Department of Education, Oct. 1, 2014