Nevertheless, the DCCTA won a contract. But FEA's reluctance to support the local association led Tornillo and other leaders to lobby the state association to become more militant. State underfunding of education Florida, like many American states, strictly regulates the way in which local school districts may fund education. Property taxes are the largest source of income, and may be levied by each local school district under a formula controlled by the state legislature. However, the state of Florida also provides funds for a variety of educational programs under formulas established by in state law. These programmatic funds are often funded by the state's sales taxes and so-called sin taxes. In 1967, Florida's schools were suffering from a large influx of students. The post-World War II baby boom, U.S. migration, and emigration into the state had caused school enrollment to rise by more than 50 percent, yet little school building or hiring of new personnel had taken place. The underfunding of Florida public schools was acknowledged by most elected leaders, but there seemed little public demand for increased school funding. Strike Legislative inaction 1966 was an election year. Republican Claude R. Kirk, Jr. ran for governor and won, becoming the first Republican governor since 1877. Kirk had campaigned heavily on a promise to improve funding for education, but he also made a pledge not to raise taxes. During the 1967 legislature session, the FEA lobbied the state legislature hard for more funding for public schools. State legislative action had often been the only way for NEA locals to win better pay and working conditions prior to the enactment of the professional negotiations policy, so FEA was no newcomer to politics. FEA asked for a minimum teacher salary of $5,000 a year and a more equitable means of funding schools than property taxes. The Democratic-controlled state legislature approved a higher sales tax to provide for more school funding. But Kirk vetoed the budget, and Republican legislators upheld the veto. Fall 1967 spot-strikes Many Florida teachers were angered by the Gov. Kirk's veto. An August 1967 rally at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando drew 30,000 teachers, who demanded state action. FEA leaders began talking of holding a statewide strike. Spot strikes occurred throughout the state after the August rally. Even though public employee strikes are illegal in Florida, teachers in Pinellas and Broward counties struck in September. Schools in many districts closed,