Florida, under then-Gov. Jeb Bush (R), became a pioneer of two modern efforts to change public education — the “choice” movement that seeks to find alternatives to traditional public schools, and the push to hold schools and teachers and students “accountable” with student standardized test scores.

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Every year in the Florida legislature, fierce debates erupt over whether — and how much — public money should be used to pay for private and religious school education at schools not held to the same rules that apply to public schools. Florida spends more money on these voucher, or “scholarship,” programs than any other state; it has three programs covering 140,000 students.

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DeSantis has been endorsed by President Trump, and he is so pro-Trump that he has a campaign ad in which he is shown teaching his young daughter to “build a wall” with toy bricks and to read by saying “make America great again.” It is, apparently, intended to be comical.

Though DeSantis and Gillum have both proposed that the state spend more money on education, they have dramatically different platforms.

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DeSantis, not surprisingly, backs the kinds of initiatives supported by Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos. That includes an expansion of voucher and voucher-like programs that allow public money to be used for private and religious school tuition. Among his other proposals:

Requiring 80 percent of all funding for public schools be used “in the classroom,” though he doesn’t explain what that means.

Eliminating “bureaucratic waste and administrative inefficiency” and using the savings for more alternatives to traditional public schools and efforts to recruit and train teachers.

Dropping the state’s current content standards, which are a version of the controversial Common Core State Standards.

About 5 percent of registered voters in Florida are Jewish, though they represent a bigger and possibly decisive percentage in some districts. They overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, but that doesn’t stop Republican candidates from trying to win them over.

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DeSantis has been vocal in his support of Israel, and has even accused Gillum of being “anti-Israel,” which Gillum denies (and which, interestingly, DeSantis’s running mate, Jeanette Nuñez, accused Trump of being in 2016, according to the Miami Herald.)

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Gillum has different education priorities. He says, without being specific, that he does not want to spend more money than the state already does on alternatives to traditional schools. That includes not only the voucher programs but also charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately operated. The lightly regulated charter sector in Florida has been troubled by scandals and school closings.

Gillum said he wants to raise $1 billion in new education funding from an increase in the corporate income tax from 5.5 percent to 7.75 percent, and from taxes that could come from legalizing recreational marijuana. He would spend the money on initiatives such as:

Raising teachers salaries, with a starting salary of $50,000. ( According to the Florida Department of Education, the average teacher salary for the 2017-2018 school year was $48,168.)

Expanding vocational and technical training for students who aren’t going to college.

Expanding early childhood education.