Riding aboard a yellow school bus, Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist made a stop in Tampa at Al Lopez Park Thursday evening.
He was about an hour a half later than planned because the school bus was hit in a fender bender. No one was hurt. Crist said he was determined to get here. The stop was part of his "Restore the Cuts" bus tour.
"The point is to stress how important it is to have someone in the governor's office and frankly the lieutenant governor's office that understands the importance of education, how it affects our economy, how it affects our future, how it impacts Florida going forward," said Crist.
Crist criticized Governor Rick Scott for cutting education funding during Scott's first year in office. Although the money has been restored, it led to thousands of teacher layoffs.
Teacher Aron Zions said the classrooms still aren't the same.
"Our budgets are cut," Zions said. "There are less supplies for us."
Zions teaches at Pierce Middle School. After spending the day prepping for his students to return, Zions came to the park to rally for Crist. Zions is a Republican. And he said it doesn't matter that Crist recently became a Democrat.
"He actually stops and listens to what we have to say as teachers," Zions said about Crist. "He talks to the people who do the work and then he makes an informed decision."
Not everyone feels that way. During the campaign stop, Governor Scott's supporters came by to slam Crist.
"Now things are better and he wants to come back and do the same thing in education as he did as governor which is provide inconsistent leadership and do nothing for education," said Florida State Senator John Legg.