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Thousands Call For Governor To Veto Teacher Merit Pay Bill
April 13, 2010
More than 10,000 phone calls. More than 15,000 E-mails and letters. They mostly tell Gov. Charlie Crist the same thing – veto SB 6.
Since Republican lawmakers first proposed legislation in early March that would link teacher pay to student performance on standardized exams, teachers have gone on the offensive — writing, calling, showing up at legislative meetings, all telling lawmakers that a test can’t measure their effectiveness in the classroom.
It has generated more public reaction than any other single piece of legislation over the past few years.
“I haven’t even seen anything close to this. This is the biggest education overhaul I’ve seen in my 35 years here,” said Wayne Blanton, executive director for the Florida School Boards Association.
Gov. Charlie Crist seemed to be a proponent of the measure as recently as last Monday, sending out a press release saying he looked forward to seeing the legislation on his desk. But then a few days later as public pressure against the bill mounted, he changed his tune, telling reporters he had some concerns about the bill and that he was “listening to the people of Florida – my boss.”
Between March 1 and April 9, the governor’s office received 10,247 calls against the bill and 71 in support of it, a spokesman said Monday. He has also received 15, 454 E-mails and letters in opposition to the proposal and 66 in support. That doesn’t include 9,000 additional E-mails the staff hasn’t yet read.
Despite the outpouring of veto requests, some of Crist’s associates maintain he will sign the bill by the April 16 deadline.
Education Commissioner Eric Smith, who was appointed by Crist and whose staff helped draft the legislation, said last Friday that he expected the governor to “do the right thing” and Republican Party Chair John Thrasher, who sponsored the Senate bill, said he isn’t worried that the public outcry will influence Crist. Thrasher said Crist had previously promised to sign the bill, but he added that he has not spoken to the governor since it passed the House early Friday morning. Critics say the state’s teachers’ union is generating a false grass roots uprising.
“I’m not worried at all,” Thrasher told the News Service Monday. “I still rely on what he told me and you know any interest group in the state can generate lots of E-mails and lots of phone calls. That’s possible to do. If we start basing public policy on whoever can generate the most phone calls and who can generate the most E-mails, that’s pretty poor public policy in my opinion.”
The political implications of how it could affect Crist and his Senate campaign are also a part of the equation. If he vetoes the bill, he would alienate many Republican lawmakers who made the legislation a priority, as well as the wing of the GOP that remains closely aligned with former Gov. Jeb Bush, whose education foundation is a major backer of the measure.
But Crist has bucked the party in favor of public opinion before. He extended voting hours in the 2008 election due to massive turnout, though it did not benefit GOP presidential candidate John McCain. He has been strongly opposed to higher property insurance rates despite lawmaker pressure to let the market dictate those rates, and has been wildly pro consumer on utility issues when it didn’t always match his party’s general outlook.
Several Miami-Dade school teachers declared a “sickout” Monday in protest of the teacher merit pay bill. And at a weekend campaign stop at The Villages, Crist was approached by several people who urged him to veto the legislation, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
The legislation, SB 6, would base teacher pay raises on a performance appraisal determined by local school districts. But 50 percent of that appraisal would be based on student learning gains on standardized exams. The Department of Education, if the bill is signed, would develop metrics to measure learning gains.
Representatives of the school boards and superintendents say they’re not opposed to paying teachers based on results, and finding a way to root out inadequate educators. But portions of the bill remain problematic, and stakeholders have expressed concerns that it could create divisiveness among the teachers, administrators and school boards.
The legislation also takes 5 percent of a district’s overall funding and requires that it be used specifically for a teacher performance fund rather than other district needs, taking away local control, Blanton said
The three biggest education groups in the debate – the teachers’ union, the superintendents and the school boards – all say they have no idea which way the governor will go.
“Most of the time I have my own gut feeling,” said Bill Montford, executive director of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. “But this time I have no idea. I’m sure it’s a tough call for the governor. It’s an ever tougher call to guess what he’s going to do.”
Comments
14 Responses to “Thousands Call For Governor To Veto Teacher Merit Pay Bill”
Wow I guess this means that children will still be left behind! If anyone has had to deal with an ese child they could tell you that at some point in an IEP meeting the teachers and whoever else is not on the childs side lies and says O YES THEY ARE DOING GOOD .
If this passes it should be for all employees.This means that if there are too many murders in Escambia county for a given year, then the Sheriff doesn’t get paid. Pot holes didn’t get fixed,Legislators lose thrir job.
They want education to perform like a business. I was in manufacturing for 30 years and if you had a worker who was not interesting in performing, you got rid of him.Companies also pick who they want to hire. Give teachers this option and they can compete with the rest of the world.
All you commentors who want teachers to compete with the rest of the world, please compare your wages and working conditions with your Korean, or Chinese counterparts in whatever line of work you are in,assuming that you work.
I’m a teacher and as long as I do my job, this bill will not affect me negatively. It sounds kind of bad to be upset because your students have to make a learning gain. Shouldn’t they? This may force teachers to find additional ways to get the message across, for everyone learns differently. Sometimes we get comfortable with “the way things are”, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing.
Nice to see the teachers, their union, and the folks they have brainwashed on here blaming everyone but the teachers for the failures of our education system. It is clear, also, that the vast majority of you have simply not read this bill. Here are few points you may want to consider if you have an open mind.
1. The time kids spend in school has a dramatic and major effect on whether they succeed and can become good parents for the rest of their lives.
2. Tenured teachers do indeed keep their tenure under this bill. But after a 5 year period if they have not acheived learning gains, their state certification will be revoked and they will have to apply to be reinstated. I.E. they will be fired.
3. There are no pay cuts in this bill. None.
4. Any teacher that leaves because of this bill is by definition NOT a “good” teacher. Just like the slugs in Miami that staged the sick out, they care not about educating children.
That should get you started.
ok folks think about it, public schools HAVE to take ALL kids, smart, dumb, handicapped, trouble makers, you name it. the kids from good homes that have parents who care are going to get an education, the rest will drop out or quit. i’m not saying there aren’t bad teachers; but there are bad mechanics, doctors, lawyers, governors, senators, preachers, you name it. are we singling them out?never been a teacher, would you like to try to teach say 30 teenagers per class all day long for 9 months. don’t think so. get off their backs, lack of discipline at home, or should i say poor parenting is the problem. get off the teachers back.
This is for all who are complaining about tenure. Guess what, the teachers who are not doing their job will still be under tenure and can’t be fired. So, tell me how this fixes the problem? They may never get a raise, but they will still have a job!!
To all the teachers out there, QUIT WHINING!!!!! You are an employee of the state. The state is your BOSS. When someone is your boss, you do what he/she says. or you lose your job. Think about it, if you worked for the bank and they changed the way they do things, what would you do?
Those who say there will be a mass exodus of teachers from Florida, I say go ahead, do what you gotta do, we’ll deal with it, just PUH-LEASE, QUIT WHINING.
I am “Old Cherokee” and I approve this message.
If this bill passes we are going to have a mass exodus of good teachers to other states. In every class there are children who cannot make the grade. This is NOT always the teachers fault. Family life, belittling of someone, hearing, speech, and just plain not caring by the student can sometime be the cause. Let’s get behind our teachers and help them instead of bashing them. Parents, grandparents, friends and anyone who just wants to help can find a school that needs volunteers. Be part of the solution instead of the problem.
actually I am not a teacher and I am completely against this policy. If these bozos can’t run their own jobs, how are they going to run someone else’s?
I agree with limiting the unions – that way poor performing teacher’s can be booted by their administration without a bunch of hooey…. but refusing tenure, not recognizing additional education and denying the effect of lazy ne’er do well parents is ridiculous.
Let’s be honest about this. It isn’t the “people of Florida” who are against this. It is the teachers and their unions. Period. The unions have been able to mobilize in a short time frame 10s of thousands of folks, most who like posters on this article, don’t even know what is in it. Well, I for one hope Crist does the right thing and signs this bill into law without delay. The teachers’ unions and academia in general have unarguably failed our citizens. Especially our children. If they are so dead set agianst it, that speaks for itself. But read SB6 before letting the teachers and their union influence your opinion. This bill does not cut anyone’s pay, it only requires students learning gains be used as a litmus test for 50% of future pay increases. A tiny bit of accountability never made someone do their job worse, it only has an opportunity to expose someone who is not getting their job done.
I could go on-and-on about this bill, seeing as I have family members that are teachers and am an active Florida resident. One thing the governor must remember is that the CITIZENS OF FLORIDA elected him, not the other public officials. He is right to say that he is “listening to the people of Florida – my boss” because we as a nation are who officials need to listen to. Good job citizens of Florida for getting the word to Tallahassee! It’s amazing what we can do if we all stand together!
If we start basing public policy on whoever can generate the most phone calls and who can generate the most E-mails, that’s pretty poor public policy in my opinion.”
I agree whole-heartedly!
Several Miami-Dade school teachers declared a “sickout” Monday in protest of the teacher merit pay bill.
Perfect example of why we need this Bill passed into law. Those teachers who participated in this protest are the types who don’t care about the success of the children in their classroom and are only concerned about a paycheck. Those type teachers are the reason why we have fallen so far behind other countries in terms of educating our children. There was a time when teachers taught for the love of teaching children. Although I am sure that there are many who still feel that way, too many others are just in the profession for a paycheck with summer vacations.
I truly believe that good educators always find ways to motivate students to learn, and those individuals will be rewarded under this program. Those teachers who merely deliver the material and leave it up to the students to grasp will be slowly weeded out.
This is long over due!!!! Tenure, has almost destroyed the teaching profession. Just like the unions and bad management brought down GM.
John Thrasher is wrong. This is not a false, grass roots uprising. It is real and shame on Thrasher and other lawmakers for belittling our opinions. He is right though, the phone calls and e-mails are coming from a special interest group. the group he is referring to consists of teachers, parents, students, and countless others who see the harm that this type of reform can do. Eric Smith commented that he feels Governor Crist will do the right thing. I hope he is right, because public opinion has been great in this fight. If the governor doesn’t veto this bill, he will have contradicted his statement, “Shame on any public servant who doesn’t listen to the public.” But it wouldn’t be the first time a politician did what was best for his career instead of the people who once believed in them.