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Senate Passes Bill To Link Teacher Salaries To Student Peformance
March 25, 2010
A controversial bill that would link teachers’ salaries to student performance has passed the Florida Senate.
The legislation would base salary increases on student performance and put all teachers on annual contract. New teachers in the state would remain on probation for five years.
It would align the state’s standards to its Race to the Top application, for a piece of the $4.35 billion competitive grant the U.S. Department of Education is offering to states. Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, offered a late filed amendment that would allow school boards to consider advanced degrees as one part of a teacher’s ability to receive a pay raise. Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who initially did not want to include recognition of advanced degrees, supported the measure.
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton argued on behalf of the bill. “Why do we tolerate incompetent people taking the most precious thing we’ve got, the most valuable thing we’ve got, and allow them in the classroom?” he asked. Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, an opponent of the measure, said the bill was taking a “sledge hammer to the teaching profession.”
After lengthy debate, the Senate passed the bill 21-17. Four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats in opposition to the measure.
The bill would force the Department of Education to implement some method to gauge whether students made learning gains over the school year.
“This legislation, I believe, over the years will allow our students to receive the best education,” Thrasher said. While the bill would require the
Jennifer Barnhill, a teacher at Pace Secondary School in Tallahassee, told a Senate committee last week that she feared the measure would jeopardize the salaries of teachers like her — whose classrooms include children with special needs. She said she has students who have Asperger syndrome, two who are rival gang members and three who are fathers. One student, she said, is now parenting his younger brother, because their father is in jail.
“He has no parent. He is the parent and I am his parent. No test can ever measure that,” she said.
Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith, a proponent of the so-called merit pay plan, said that “America is going in this direction” on merit pay for teachers.
“For the first time we’re actually talking about connecting issues of student achievement to evaluation,” he said.
Smith acknowledged that the department still really didn’t know how all teachers would be evaluated. He said staff has been consulting with leading researchers on the issue, but there is no template because Florida would be the first state to initiate this type of system.
Before the bill could become law, it must be passed by the Florida House.
Comments
37 Responses to “Senate Passes Bill To Link Teacher Salaries To Student Peformance”
I’m a current law student and former high school teacher. I just read HB 7189 and would like to share some lesser known (but very dangerous) aspects of the bill.
Little Known Aspects of HB 7189
-Won’t be able to attract teachers from other states because they will have the starting pay of a brand new teacher. Teachers from other states will be labeled “beginning teacher” and will get the same starting pay grade as brand new teachers. Imagine telling a 20 year veteran teacher from New York that her starting salary is $32,000! This will only exacerbate the problem of finding good teachers. Additionally, teachers from other states won’t want to move here because of the other general provisions of this bill.
-Restricts the teachers who can teach reading math, science and other critical shortage areas. Must be certified in the area, and cannot even teach out of field temporarily while getting certification in an area. While this *might* be a good idea in math or science, it will make it even more difficult to have enough reading teachers. For example, a principal can no longer assign a English teacher to teach reading , even temporarily, while getting a teacher is getting the additional reading certification.
-Teacher cannot be rehired if students don’t make gains in only 2 of 5 years! If, for some reason a teacher’s student don’t do well enough on a standardized test, the teacher cannot be rehired, no matter how good of a teacher he/she may be. We will lose some good teachers over this. This will make good teachers much less likely to teach high risk students.
-Makes it harder to get rid of bad teachers in first three years. The bill grants tenure protection to all new teachers, meaning that all new teachers may only be removed for “just cause” – which is really hard to do (gross incompetence, felonies, etc.)
-Reduced incentives for administrators. ALL administrators and non-instructional teachers will have 50% of their pay determined by others, the AVERAGE gains of the entire school! This also goes against the entire concept of incentives. What incentive does a non-instructional teacher have to do better, when his pay is affected by how well *OTHER* students do in *OTHER* classrooms do on average!
-Bill contradicts itself on National Board Certification. In one area of the bill it requires that school cannot consider National Board Certification in teacher pay, but then also leaves intact the Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program, which gives teachers a 10% bonus for completing National Board Certification. This bill is poorly drafted and poorly thought out.
-Schools are forbidden from financially recognizing a teacher of the year! We’ve heard a lot about how teachers cannot be recognized for years of service, National Board Certification or graduate degrees. Additionally, school boards are expressly forbidden from providing incentive pay to state or local teachers of the year! Talk about perverse incentives!
-Teacher retention must be based on standardized testing. If school boards have to cut back on teachers, (as many have had to do because of budget cuts) the board must base their decisions primarily on standardized tests scores. Of course, seniority is out the window, but note something even more pernicious–the school board has to ignore its own need for teachers in certain subject areas in the face of standardized test scores. For example, what if a school board has to let go of 10% of its teachers. Let’s say that students in math, ESOL or reading on average make less gains per year. Well, then the school board would be forced to let go all the teachers in that critical need subject area who are performing less on standardized tests, while other subject areas have a relevant surplus of teachers. This is just plain bad policy.
REGARDING:
“After observing some of what passes for “college” students these days, I feel somewhat sorry for the teachers that had these kids at the primary and secondary level. ”
If it’s any consolation, I have read stories written by Isaac Asimov in the 1940s and he made it clear all professors at all colleges were convinced the high schools were passing woefully inadequate people onto them.
David thinking the end of civilization is still in sight but doesn’t seem all that much closer than it must have in the forties
After observing some of what passes for “college” students these days, I feel somewhat sorry for the teachers that had these kids at the primary and secondary level. Learning is a skill ad ability that must be acquired by the Student in those early years, and it takes the work of parents, teachers, and the local community electing a good school board.
Now that state legislators and the Department of Education (what a joke on America) are getting involved…well – when Big Government gets involved, the Citizen (and Society) loses – and in this case, the family will lose, and the child that doesn’t pick up on some personal responsibility? He or she will suffer a lifetime of ignorance.
The following was so well said by a Florida teacher that I felt it deserved to be posted on this site:
I have been a Florida teacher for 14 years and I have absolutely no problem with accountability. Give me a class full of Level 1 math students who attend school on a regular basis, come to class both willing and prepared to learn, complete the work they are assigned and display appropriate behavior. I GUARANTEE that they will make major academic gains. But I WILL NOT be responsible for students who never come to school, get 3 hours of sleep each night because they are on MySpace/Facebook until 3am, refuse to complete any of their assignments and make it their mission each day to disrupt my class. I do not have the luxury of choosing the students who attend my class. I am the parent of 2 children who do very well in school. My son is in 5th grade and has never made less than an A. Do I give credit to his teachers for this? ABSOLUTELY!!! Do I give credit to my son for this? ABSOLUTELY!!! Do I give credit to myself for this? ABSOLUTELY!!! Education is a partnership between teachers, parents and students. Teachers are only 1/3 of the formula for success but this bill is singling us out as the ONLY factor in a students success or failure. Teachers cannot and should not be financially punished for something totally beyond their control.
I am a kindergarten teacher in one of Escambia County’s inner school! Today my room was trashed three times by a 6 year old. Flipping over desk and tables, throwing books and scissors anything he could get his hands on. It took some one 15 minutes to come help me!! and then it took myself and the other 16 children another 15 to clean up and settle back down! Finally he was removed for 10 minutes and returned to me!!! This occurs daily!! I am regular ed NOT special ed!! How can a teacher educate the rest of the students when this is occuring in the room!!!!! We need help not another stupid bill!!
REGARDING:
“Most everyone in the real world is gauged by the results in their work. Why not teachers? What are they so afraid of? I get it.”
They are afraid politicians will make it impossible for them to do their job of educating the children.
They are afraid of living in a world of uneducated people from the one to prepares their food to the one who prepares their medicine to the one who builds or fixes their car.
They are afraid they will be fired for not producing silk purses from pig’s ears.
They are already being called failures for not stopping children from dropping out of school because their parents were too drunk to notice.
They are already being called failures for not producing literate adults from children who don’t bother to go to class half the time and don’t listen the other half.
While all jobs are important, I can’t think of any more noble than that of a teacher. They build the future. Without them most children would never get a decent job or be able to do a decent job. Without them, many would never learn to brush their teeth or wash. In fact without some sort of teacher, children seldom learn anything.
I imagine the reason you single out public school teachers is because the worst people were taught by them. I imagine you imagine the millions of decent people would have naturally happened and the sorry ones are the result of subversive teachers.
Personally, I like the idea of individual tests. Not How did the class as a whole do? but How did this one do compared to expectations? What did he bring to the class and what did he take out of it. It is as foolish to blame a teacher when a child with an IQ of 79 doesn’t learn rocket science as it is to think that all rocket scientists must have had only the best teachers. Right now a school is considered a failure if the bottom quartile didn’t reach certain goals even though the school and certainly the individual teacher had no control over most of the factors involved.
You are afraid they want to make left wing Democrats out of previously pure pupils. I’m sure some of their attitudes off subject come through every now and then but most of them just want to produce decent citizens despite the opposition of those who consider them the enemy.
If you treat teachers like your enemy, eventually there won’t be enough willing to try, THEN you WILL see some failures.
David for silk purses
This is a great step towards busting the politically driven teachers’ unions and ending the massive left wing indoctrinization of students. Most everyone in the real world is guaged by the results in their work. Why not teachers? What are they so afraid of? I get it.
It’s not my job to run the train
The whistle I can’t blow
I’m not allowed to say how fast
The train’s allowed to go
I’m not allowed to let off steam
Or even ring the bell
But let the blessed thing jump the track
And see who catches…I forget how it ends
Teaching holds some similar situations.
You don’t pick and choose your students but you are expected to be successful with whoever is laid at your doorstep. Some are simply more capable than others but that is seldom taken into account.
Despite sending children off to school at age 4 for some reason which seems reasonable to the powers that be, you aren’t really involved in the raising/rearing of the children. Somebody else has already set them down whatever path they will tend to take.
You don’t pick your textbooks, those are picked for you. I’m not sure there is anything wrong with this, just saying it is one less thing over which you have control.
You don’t pick your hours. You WILL teach at a certain time unless there is some more important matter like a pep rally the children need to attend. Some subjects need more time for different students, some need less. If you take too long, they get bored and get distracted. If you take too little, they get frustrated and get distracted. And since they are individuals, you are bound to be too fast or too slow for most of them some of the time.
Impressive they are ever considered successful teachers at all.
Not surprising they are blamed when the blessed thing jumps the track.
David for perfect parents
Former Administrator, I knew there was dirty dealing with textbook/test publishers somewhere at the bottom of this mess. There it is. You won’t see or hear of this any media, folks!
Former Administrator-Thank you for sharing your perspective and for your candor.
Of course the ultimate goal of these politicians is to eliminate publicaly funded education, and they will try to make you believe that your financial contribution to education will be reduced if the system is turned over to private for profit businesses. It’s all about feeding fear of the tax boogieman.
Today it was as if the wind was taken out of many of our sails. We have no problem with having to prove ourselves, because we can show our capability. The majority of us have worked extremely hard to get where we are and take pride in our efforts. We constantly attend workshops/trainings, and attend classes in our “spare” time, paid for our of our pockets. We are told that we must renew our certifications every five years. With the passing of this bill, we are being basically told that our efforts don’t matter and we are expected to fail. There are odds and circumstances that it are virtually impossible to overcome but we try our best, and that is all that anyone can ask from us. As with any other career, employees are judged on performance in education. The difference is, we are being told that other people’s performance, will determine what our futures hold. I think anyone would agree that we don’t do this for the money. We chose this career path for ourselves, just as many of you have made a choice, and I don’t regret it.
While I do agree that unions may have a much bigger part than they should in teacher’s lives, this legislation was much more about trumping them than the improvement of the education system. These politicians have no idea what goes on in a classroom and neither do the critics in the general public who expect us to work miracles. I would welcome them to come and “try” what I do for a week, then make your laws and judgements.
I want to thank all of you who have voiced your support for teachers. Your support means everything. We will survive this latest assault on our chosen profession.
It’s all about money, but maybe not the kind people are thinking of. Use this system to fire a teacher with a few to several years of service and replace him or her with a new one making about 70% of what the experienced teacher was making. Then in a few years repeat the process, that way you never have to pay a teacher a decent salary. If only people would learn to vote their own senator or representative out of office, don’t wait for term limits.
I have received my entire public education in the stae of Florida. I went on to become a classroom teacher and coach at the high school level and then went into administration in 2 districts in the sate of Florida. As a high school prinincipal I won many state and national awards for leading schools with diverse student populations and low socio-economic status students. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on “merit pay.” What is going on in this state is criminal. I am so tired of politicians always blaming society’s problems on the classroom teacher. Are there bad teachers- Yes Are there bad administrators- Yes. When are we going to start to address the real problems in attaining educational excellence_ Responsible parents who get their kids to school on time and makes sure every homework assignment is done. The only reason that there are ineffective teachers in any district or school should be laid at the feet of the school administration and the district office. The rules exist today to remove any ineffective teacher. The only reason it is not done is school based administrators that are too lazy to follow simple procedures. Oh yes, I forgot a school administrator is supposed to have a great knowledge of instructional excellence. Hate to tell you as that most of them have never had a history of academic achievement at the school level or as teachers. Now lets look at the real culprit. It is these Superintendents that stayed home while the state legislature bad mouthed teachers. You want have some fun- check your Superintendent’s resume to see how many schools from low socio-economic areas they have turned around when they were a school based administrator. I knew that Florida made a big mistake when they hired Eric Smith to be the chief educational officer in this state. He is a past executive of College Board which sells more standardized test and courses to this state than anyone. His only school based experience was a Principal at a very affluent high school in Orange County. Ok taxpayers you will get what you want – great test scores but minimally educated sons and daughters. The state legislature just mandated that every school in this state’s curriculum will be teach the test because that is how I can make money and save my job. You get what you vote for Mr and Mrs Florida
A previous comment took the words right out of my mouth; you can lead a horse to water but it doesn’t mean that they will drink. Another commented on the fact that you are going to base a teacher’s salary on a bunch of teenager’s test scores when perhaps they (the teenagers) do not even want to be at school in the first place. I am a teacher in Santa Rosa County, and have been for 7 years. I have been named Rookie of the Year and Teacher of the Year at the school where I teach. For the past seven years I have given it all that I have. I am only paid for 7.5 hours a day, work numerous hours that I do not get paid for, never leave at quitting time, bring papers and work home, work on the weekends, and any spare time that I have I am planning and organizing. When I am in the classroom with my elementary students, I give it my all, teaching and instructing. I can promise you that even though I give it everything I have, there are students that just can’t get it. So, even though I am going above and beyond in the classroom, working in a county that has taken my step pay away and refused a raise, my pay is going to be based on whether or not my student’s make gains. Are you kidding me????????
If teachers are going to be subjected to this then so should principals, supervisors and supertindents, and school board members!!
i look for a lot of teachers to retire if they are able to after this, and i also see less and less teachers in the future of Fl
AL, ridiculous is putting it mildly. Don’t you wish law makers were held accountable under some of the bills they pass on us common people. But like always they make themselves exempt.
eab – nope…. I don’t care what party supported it. This is a ridiculous bill, and if it passes I will remember who voted “yes” when election time rolls around.
I’m glad I didn’t have to explain it to you, little bill. I don’t think I would have had the time to spare. You must have read it a few more times. The comments one reads on here are typical of the knee jerk Republican response to “whatever” issue. Blame it on Obama,even on state matters and in a state where Republicans dominate the political scene. Like I said,watch as people start to note their mistake and realize this is a measure supported by the Republican Florida Senate. Now, suddenly, they will change their minds and sing it’s praises.
This is called the law of intended consequences. You have good intentions, but you ultimately shoot yourself in the foot. For example, who in their right mind is going to go into teaching if you have to be on probation for five years? Even law enforcement officers have a probation period less than that and they’re in an extremely dangerous job. Also, if bad tenured teachers are allowed to keep their jobs and only have to take a pay-cut based on student scores, then what’s the point of this bill? Of course bad teachers don’t care if their pay is cut; it’s not about how much money they make next year. Rather, it’s about keeping their jobs to ensure they’ll get a hefty retirement. The bottom line is the FL public school system is going to have a huge turnover rate; bad teachers are still going to be teaching; teachers will have a bigger incentive to teach to a test; and FL’s children will still be the ultimate losers from this bill.
Personally, I believe if you want to fix public schools, you do it by using common sense and the free-market. That is, you get rid of unions, tenure, and make teaching a privileged position by selecting only the most highly qualified and motivated people (and pay them accordingly). At the same time, you also ensure that testing is not the only mechanism you base someone’s performance upon like politicians want to do now. If you don’t believe me, look at most charter schools. They get rid of the B.S. (it’s the parents/No Child Left Behind/lack of funding/poor pay/no job prospects after graduation, etc.) and turn children, regardless of background, parenting, income, disability, etc. and make them into stellar students.
In the 25 years I have been teaching, I have experienced classrooms from New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. I have been selected as Teacher of the Year three times, committee chair for School Improvement Teams and unique classroom programs that allowed creativity. I have taught in rural as well as urban settings. Due to the relocation of my husband’s jobs, I have not often been allowed the reward of tenure. Yet, it would frighten me to know that my salary would depend on many factors beyond my control. I have tested in classrooms that had heavey equipment operating on the other side of my classroom wall, had magots falling out of the ceiling, bat “remains” sharing such a foul smell that our eyes burned and other factors in several schools. I say all this to verify that I am a good teacher that is no longer allowed to teach what I know high school students need to succeed, whether in the college realm or that of a career. I am required to teach FCAT skills upon which I will be evaluated, serve on committees to satisfy state mandates, learn strategies that have no relevance, plus act as a mom to many. All these efforts are placed upon teachers by those who have no realization of the classroom environment. I do believe that education reform is needed but should not be issued from the state. It should be handled by those who know it best – the members of the school and community. Due to all the political fuility, this old – but highly qualified – teacher is going home. I no longer desire to serve in a situation that does not reconigize or value my hard work.
Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton argued on behalf of the bill. “Why do we tolerate incompetent people taking the most precious thing we’ve got, the most valuable thing we’ve got, and allow them in the classroom?” he asked.
….. because we tolerate incompetent people in our state and federal Senate / House? because we allow stupid people to breed?
There are some bad teacher’s…. and there are some phenomenal teacher’s – all teaching students who are taught not to care because sooner or later someone else will take the fall for your slacking.
The Florida senate is controlled republicans, my mistake. But when voting time comes remember who voted for what.
The government had actually started the transition to “pay for performance” until the Obama administration supported by the unions had it reversed. Now the non-performers can coast and be rewarded while the people who worked hard under the pay for performance system will have their pay frozen. I hope there are enough people left who understand hard work to rebuild this country when the collapse happens!
eab, I guess you will have to explain that one. The Senate is still controlled by the democratic party, I guess they forgot to vote. If they don’t vote then they must not be doing their job. If they don’t do the job they were voted into office for, what good are they, but they still collect that pay check …..don’t they.
“Four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with Democrats in opposition to the measure.”
ENOUGH SAID!!
Read the article. This legislation is not from the Obama administration. It’s from the Republican dominated Florida Senate. I guess now you will change your mind and support it.
Once again: Arrogant lawmakers who have no clue what it is like to be in a classroom.
Whats next from the Obama administration, Will they cut police officers pay because we sill have crime, cut doctors for not healing sickness. How about we cut presidenst pay for not keeping his promises.
Still wondering when our troops are coming home?
Nice to have your job and pay regulated by incompetent politicians. They want to judge others but should look in the mirror. Most will sell their souls for a dollar, I don’t know any teachers who would!
I have always thought this method of basing pay raises on longevity instead of performance was ridiculous. The government is probably one of the only employers who still give blanket pay raises across the board to employees without any regard to performance. Now we need to treat all government workers, from the President to the guy who empties trash cans in the same manner. The minute you tell 90% of employees that they have job security and will receive pay raises regardless of how they perform, productivity spirals downward. There will always those who will give a 100% no matter what, but in my experience they are few and far between unfortunately.
Would it not be nice to know that your salary is tied to a classroom of deliquents?
I’m not a teacher and never will be. It sure seems scary to have my ability to provide for my family tied to the performance of a bunch of teenagers, many of whom don’t want to be there and could care less how well they do on a test. I think this will force the best teachers to go elsewhere for a job.
I am a special education teacher who loves what I do. iI am a second year teacher and have worked extremely hard to get here. if they don’t figure out how to come to some sort of balance regarding the different areas of education, they are going to lose a lot of good teachers also. I know many teachers who shouldn’t be in the classroom for various reasons. This bill allows them to keep their job security because of an existing professional contract even though their salaries will be based on student performance. This bill essentially gives no incentive for anyone to prepare for a career in education. New teachers straight out of college often have no experience at all. It takes several years to find your unique teaching style, which is built by exploration and mentoring from experienced teachers. These porliticians pass bills and have no idea who it affects or how it affects them. There are no considerations for circumstances such as inclusion, or other situations that affect student performance. I feel that they should ask teachers their opinions since we are in the classroom daily and see so much. They have passed this using a one size fits all approach. If they would start with administration and produce strict guidelines that require them to look honestly at a teacher’s performance, there would be fewer ineffective teachers in our education system. Administration should be a tremendous part of this overhaul. The unions have had a huge part in what has happened. Greed and politics have played in this. I know that is strange coming from a teacher but it is true. I am one educator who is sick of politicians telling me what is best for me. I am the only one who truly knows what I need.
Thanks for reporting this. WEAR and PNJ skipped over it. As well as the SRSB meeting that killed raises for teachers. They knew this was coming and they are getting ready to drop staff deemed as “ineffective” because their pay is too high. Yes, I’d much rather have a teacher in my kids’ class who is new to teaching, working for a test score instead of public service and trying out pace the teacher next door in income. That’s just the kind of people we need in our public schools. NOT.
I think that if the teachers were allowed to teach the correct way and not the FCAT way; they might be able to do this type of program, but until the FCAT is gone the teachers hands are tied. I admire teachers. As a bus driver, I know how difficult it is to handle children today. You can tell which students whose parents are involved with and care about the childs education. We need to get to OLD FASHIONED VALUES AND DISCIPLINE. SPARE THE ROD SPOIL THE CHILD!
Accountability can be good, but this type of accountability can have long lasting negative residuals. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. The same applies to students, you can teach or instruct them, but that does not mean they will learn. I fear that this proposed method might harm some of the good teachers that just happen to have students who are unwilling or just don’t care about learning. The solution to the problem might be worse than the problem is. There are a lot of good teachers out there, and while there are many good ones there are a few that should not be teaching but that does not mean we should punish the teachers who work hard an otherwise do a good job.
thank you teachers for what you do! some of you still care about the students!