Where was Tallahassee on schools before the Douglas massacre?

It takes a massacre to make Tallahassee care — for a moment — about public schools.

Two weeks after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature are competing to get the schools roughly $500 million for police officers, counselors and added security. The governor even proposed giving up some tax cuts. In this conversion, however, Scott and Republican legislative leaders hardly are like Saul of Tarsus. The politics, not their sentiment, has changed.

Scott is deciding whether to challenge U.S. Bill Nelson. Before Stoneman Douglas, he would have run as a Trump knockoff. Now Scott, who has an A-plus rating from the National Rifle Association and wouldn’t face a primary, must respond strongly enough to placate gun control advocates but not so strongly to annoy the NRA.

Thus Scott’s emphasis on school safety. He opposes arming teachers, but he also opposes a ban on assault weapons. He would raise the minimum age for firearms sales to 21 and make Florida close to a “red flag” state, with rules that make it easier to take weapons from potentially dangerous people.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, must decide whether to run for governor. He would face a primary. GOP primary voters love Trump. So the House is moving legislation to arm teachers. The Appropriations Committee passed it Tuesday along party lines.

Educators would love to have more counselors. Though they don’t want to carry weapons, teachers also would welcome security upgrades. A deeper look, though, shows why educators should be skeptical. Scott will leave Tallahassee after this year. So will Corcoran. Neither would have to worry about whether school security money kept coming. Most promises from the Legislature have a short shelf life, and the sell-by date on this one would be especially soon.

During all three recessions starting from the early 1990s, the Legislature has cut money to education. We’re talking academics — the basics. It’s beyond fanciful to think that $500 million or whatever amount for security would keep coming in tough budget years.

School districts then would have to cut cops and counselors or teachers. Legislators would tut-tut about having to make hard choices. Absent another tragedy, the memory of Stoneman Douglas would fade in Tallahassee.

More important, Scott and Corcoran have been no friends of traditional public schools. They’ve been enemies.

Last year, Corcoran combined roughly 60 pieces of education-related legislation into one bill of nearly 300 pages. Many items could not have passed on their own. Corcoran linked the package to the education budget, making it a must-pass bill.

Legislators passed HB 7069 after only token debate. Many hadn’t read it. The bill actually cut overall per-pupil spending and shifted hundreds of millions of dollars from traditional public schools — which educate almost 3 million students — to charter schools — which educate about 300,000. Scott signed it, ignoring opposition from teachers, school superintendents and school boards.

Corcoran is at it again. The House is grinding many education bills into another rank sausage. HB 7055 would shift more money from traditional public schools.

Previously, the Legislature had shifted money to private schools that don’t have the same accountability standards as public schools. Tallahassee also gave teachers bonuses — as opposed to raises — based on personal SAT scores from decades ago.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Times checked the numbers on safety and mental health resources. Florida has one school psychologist for every 1,983 students. The recommended ratio is one for every 500 to 700 students. Scott wants a police officer in all 4,000 schools. There are roughly 1,500 now.

Palm Beach County is about to spend $30 million on increased security, but that money won’t come from the Legislature. It will come from the one-cent sales tax increase voters passed in 2016 for school infrastructure. In 2004, voters approved a similar sales-tax surcharge to build schools. The Legislature has shorted districts for years on capital project money and has capped the tax that district can levy for such expenses.

Democrats began cutting the percentage of state money for education after the Lottery started in 1988. Republicans, however, have stepped up the attacks on schools and teachers since the election of Gov. Bush 20 years ago. Their post-Douglas affection is a sign of desperation, not commitment.

Email Randy Schultz: randy@bocamag.com