Crist, however, has sharpened his barbs and in a disingenuous way. Crist is now accusing Scott of cutting the education budget and slashing teacher jobs in the state of Florida, but the liberal "fact" checking website Politifact says Crist isn't entirely on the level here:
It is an overstatement to suggest that "thousands" of teachers lost their jobs because of the 2011 state budget cuts. Statewide data shows the number of teachers dropped by about 1,405, but that includes departures for any reason, not just layoffs.
The percentage of class sizes out of compliance with the mandate increased by about 1 percentage point between Crist's last budget and Scott's first budget. However, there are multiple district and state factors that influence class size and the compliance rules have repeatedly changed in recent years.
It's a disingenuous ad from a politician who has a shaky hold on trustworthiness with voters. Politifact rated Crist's claim "mostly false."
The race has been tight, and though Crist may have been leading for awhile, Townhall's Polltracker has shown Scott clawing back recently - and now he's got a small lead:
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