Indiana's ousted education chief says he's applied for the Sunshine State's top schools job.
Tony Bennett lost his bid for reelection last month.
Bennett says he first met Jeb Bush after winning election as the Indiana's Superintendent of Public Instruction four years ago.
Since then, Bennett has taken education policies Bush first in Florida tried and brought them to Indiana. Those ideas are often called "The Florida Model."
They include creating an A through F grading system for state schools and retaining third graders who read below grade level.
Now Bennett says he's applied to become Florida's education commissioner.
Last spring he told StateImpact Florida he's familiar with Florida education issues..
"But I think Indiana was really the first state to really adopt the Florida model. I would say to you that there are probably very few, if any, states that are as closely aligned to the Florida model as Indiana."
About 50 people have applied for the Florida job. Gerard Robinson resigned as commissioner in July.
The State Board of Education plans to interview applicants later this month and choose his successor.