Gov. Rick Scott was in Tampa Wednesday to talk about education, particularly his push to expand funding for STEM programs - or science, technology, engineering and math.
Surrounded by the hum of machinery and the smell of smoldering solder, Gov. Scott touted his plan to expand funding for STEM education and to expand his four-year, $10,000 community college degree program.
But still on the minds of many was the firing of former head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The former head of FDLE, Gerald Bailey, has maintained he was forced out by the governor, but Gov. Scott continues to say Bailey resigned his post as the state's top lawman.
"He did the right thing by stepping down. Rick Swearingen is going to do a good job. What I've done in the last, as I've done is this job, is what I did in the private sector. You keep finding new people, find new energy, new ideas. I'm going to continue to do that," said Scott.
Earlier this week, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater became the first of the governor's cabinet to say he supports renewing the search for a replacement for Bailey other than the governor's choice of Swearingen.
