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Florida OKs Teacher Merit Pay Bill; Scott To Sign
March 17, 2011
The Florida Legislature passed the biggest change to the state’s education system in more than 10 years, sending to Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday a bill tying teacher salaries to test scores and ending multi-year contracts.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on a 80-39 straight party-line vote, with Republicans in favor, after more than three hours of debate. Scott said afterward that he will sign it, the first bill that will be approved by the new governor.
The bill (SB 736) was a top priority for Republicans, who hold overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate, and moved quickly through the process, but not as quickly as a similar bill that passed last year in the face of heavy opposition from many of the state’s teachers, but was vetoed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist.
“This bill is going to improve our system to the benefit of our students,” Scott told reporters after the vote. “We will make sure the best teachers stick around, that we retain them, we train them, and we’ll find the money to make sure they are paid fairly.”
Republicans in the House of Representatives spent much of their time in debate Wednesday responding to criticism from Democrats. Supporters of the bill said it should be welcomed by teachers because it rewards good work.
“Ineffective teachers need to be on guard, effective teachers have nothing to worry about,” said Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville.
This year’s attempt at establishing a teacher merit pay system removed some of the parts of last year’s bill that opponents liked least, such as yanking an educator’s teaching certificate if they receive too many low evaluations. It also exempts special education teachers from having their pay tied to test scores.
“We have listened and we have learned and we have made this a better product,” said Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.
The bill was still opposed by the state’s teachers union, though, and by many rank and file teachers.
Under this year’s measure, current teachers are also exempted from the new salary requirements and elimination of tenure. New teachers hired after July 2011 are put under one-year contracts and after July 2014, new teachers will be paid under the new merit pay system.
For new teachers, school districts would be required to set up an evaluation system that uses test scores for 50 percent of a teacher’s ranking and a “value-added” formula for the rest.
While Republicans portrayed teachers and school districts as being on board with the bill, the statewide teachers’ union, the Florida Education Association, says it harms teachers and should be vetoed.
“This bill reduces a school district’s flexibility and authority over teacher evaluations, pay schedules and working conditions,” said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association. “It’s not good for students, it’s not good for teachers and it’s not grounded in sound research.”
Democrats said the bill doesn’t include any funding for merit pay increases.
During a time when school districts are facing big budget cuts, Democrats said it is unlikely districts could afford to implement the plan.
“They talk about giving better pay to teachers, but there is no money in the bill,” said House Minority Leader Ron Saunders, D-Key West. “Show me the money. Where is it?”
The bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, said districts are not forced to actually pay for merit increases, just to establish a new pay plan and give raises when the money is available.
Money from the $700 million federal Race to the Top grant will be used to develop new tests.
Some critics of teacher merit pay suggested it is a thinly disguised attack on unions. Many teachers belong to their local unions, which collectively bargain on their behalf on salary, benefits and contract terms.
By establishing a set formula for teacher pay raises, Democrats said a union’s ability to collectively bargain on salaries is diminished. Historically, labor unions have been closely aligned with Democrats and reliable contributors to their campaigns.
“It’s nothing more than an attack on public school teachers. It attacks them maybe because they are the easy target or belong to unions,” said Rep. Rick Kriseman, D- St. Petersburg.
Democrats also said they felt shut out of negotiations on the bill. “Every idea we brought forward since this bill was drafted has been rejected,” said Rep. Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach.
Both Republicans and Democrats claim to have the support of teachers.
“This is a pro-teacher bill,” Rep. Rich Corcoran, R-New Port Richey. “More teachers have said to us they want to be measured; they want to be recognized for excellence.”
One teacher disputes that. Peggy Brookins, a math teacher at Forest High School in Marion County, said she has traveled to the Capitol to oppose the bill. “We are going to test these kids to death,” Brookins said. She was troubled that the formula for how a teacher would be paid was not spelled out.
Brookins said after 33 years of teaching, she makes $52,000 a year.
“I don’t know that there is a teacher in this state who wouldn’t want a better system,” Brookins said. “It’s great to measure student performance, but it has to be done over time.”
The last time the Florida Legislature passed education reforms on this scale was the passage of school vouchers in 1999 under former Gov. Jeb Bush. Those reforms established several programs that allowed students to receive scholarships to attend private schools.
One program, the Opportunity Scholarship, which was supported with taxpayer dollars, was shut down after the Florida Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional.
Republicans ended the day Wednesday with a hint for what is to come:
“The community college presidents have suggested we look at tenure at the community college level too, so that may or may not make it here,” said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park. “You can’t do everything in one session, but it’s an idea that has merit and it may come up.”
RELATED STORY: Role Of Private Testing Companies Questioned In Teacher Merit Pay Plan
by Lilly Rockwell
The News Service Florida
Comments
24 Responses to “Florida OKs Teacher Merit Pay Bill; Scott To Sign”
Wow, I have to respond to “Bully” that I never thought of education as a privilege.
That sounds scary to me. Kind of Dark Ages.
Next someone will be saying that freedom is a privilege. A bunch of people already think voting should be a privilege.
Some think the uneducated shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Now you are saying education is a privilege. Sounds like you are in the same group. You probably are against felons voting too. They ALWAYS vote against the drug war. At least that is the fear, right?
how bout this idea? just say no to standardized testing and all the funding and spending they incur. does scott have the courage to say no to washington on that one? that’s right, how bout have the guts to stand behind our kiddos and not a bunch of corporate suits. he disgusts me.
Something needs to be done to route out the lazy teachers that hide behind the protection of tenure. It is agreeable that tenure should be removed but the solution in this bill only swaps one problem for another. These same lazy teachers who hide behind tenure will only be tempted to ‘cheat’ the tests by teaching the tests and some will go so far to actually give answers to test questions in order to protect their jobs. It also places undo pressure in schools in areas with low socio-economic status where there is typically no parental guidance for many of the students, which is a necessary ingredient for quality education.
The solution starts at the top. School staff leadership are just as incapable in many respects and go to all efforts to protect the ineffective teachers in order to protect themselves. Small rural schools are especially rampant with nepotism(Blood is thicker than water) and another layer of protection hinders good education.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve the problem and I suspect the public school will continually get worse in general and the effective teachers will get continue to get caught up in it.
If a parent is looking for a good eduction today, borrow the money if you have to and get a private education or better yet, homeschool them.
Education is a privilege, not a right. This was believed before the Civil War, but the north won, the indoctrination began and started with the children and public education.
This will cause good teachers to leave the schools that need them most. Why would a teacher stay in a school with a poor student performance and lose their job? It is not always the teachers fault that a student does badly.It could be home influence..if parents don’t care the kid won’t care and the teacher pays the price for that. It is a great idea to weed out bad teachers but this isn’t the way. Plus Scott wants to cut community mental health that means schools will no longer have licensed menatl health therapists to help kids in need and I know first hand…there are a lot of kids who need the mental health therapy.Kids will junkie parents or alcoholics..Sometimes the school therapist is the only one who listens to them and cares. Scott is cutting budgets in the wrong places and children are going to be the ones who suffer for it. I am ashamed to say I voted for Scott but never again.
As a thought experiment let’s apply this Merit Pay idea to other professions.
Firefighters get annual contracts and their pay depends on how many homes they save.
Police get annual contracts and pay depends on crime rates going down and cases being closed.
Politicians get annual contracts and get paid when jobs and pay increase.
Bank CEO pay depends on how many people keep their homes and do not go through foreclosure.
Judges pay depends on whether offenders repeat their crimes and land back in court or are successful in society.
Large corporations like Walmart have their pay adjusted based on the amount of money the government has to spend on welfare for their employees and how positive an impact Walmart or other companies have on their communities.
Of course the corporations would have to have their pay adjusted by taxation on profits.
Just a thought experiment…
Well, well, the people who voted for Scott seem to be the ones who are suffering the most! From what I see he has done nothing but undo what has worked in Fl for years. People THINK, before you cast your vote next time!!!!!!!!
What great news! My wife and I struggle with our 10 year old and have met with her teacher several times, what a great woman and excellent teacher, yet our child still has poor test grades. So y’all want to dock the teacher’s pay for a child not performing well. I guess everyone that supports this graduated with A-B honor roll, as well as their kids. All this is going to do is pull/retard the good teachers from the poorer-performing schools! This must be part of that great “republican change” Scott was going to ensure, even tho Republicans have been running Florida for the last , what, 12 years! Funny thing is, I know several, several people who thought Crist (R) was great, til he swtiched his party Crist (I), hilarious! Anyways, there are other ways to evaluate teacher performance than basing their pay on student test grades. Oh well, only thing I can say is “I voted for Sink!”
To ! on March 17, 2011:
TRY TEACHING IN A PUBLIC CLASSROOM FOR A WHILE!!
While you were writing the email to tell us to try working in the private sector (I assume you do), I was in a classroom with many good students and too many who have no drive, ambition, respect for themselves or for their teachers, trying to maintain control and actually teach curriculum and encourage them to have a better attitude. Didn’t have time to check the news at 10:30 a.m. Bet I would make more money in the “private sector” for the many hats I wear. Like my job and can’t stand to hear from those who think they know what it’s really like! Just would be nice to be appreciated now and then.
(on March ) Whats your point? There are probably 2 or 3 special education teachers at each school at most .Thats a great deal for those teachers who are exempted. There are also students that are low level in certain subjects,just on the border line of special education. Some that just go to special areas just for reading and some that just dont care because their parents don’t care when it comes to test time . Should our teachers pay for that? This will penalize all teachers no matter how well they perform. Some more than others but all will have issues really beyond their control.
“Ineffective teachers need to be on guard, effective teachers have nothing to worry about,”
I love it!
Thank you Gov. Rick Scott for having the courage that ex-Gov Sorry Charlie Christ lacked. I like your style. You sir a a TRUE REPUBLICAN. Keep up the good work.
Fiscal responsibility in government is AWESOME!!!!
“It also exempts special education teachers from having their pay tied to test scores.”
ITS TOUGH ENOUGH TO GET AND KEEP GOOD TEACHERS. MOST FOLKS WITH A FOUR YEAR DEGREE CAN MAKE BETTER MONEY ELSEWHERE WITH AN EASIER JOB THAN TRYING TO INSTILL A LITTLE DRIVE AND AMBITION IN THESE KIDS. TEACHERS HAVE LITTLE CONTROL OVER WHETHER OR NOT ALL THESE FINE PARENTS WILL EVEN MAKE THEIR KIDS GO TO SCHOOL LET ALONE MONITOR THEIR PROGRESS. THEY ALSO HAVE STUDENTS GROUPED AS HIGH LEVEL READERS IN ONE ROOM AND LOW LEVEL READERS IN A SEPERATE ROOM. I GUESS YOUR SAYING THE TEACHER THAT GETS TO TEACH THE LOW LEVEL(ESE & ADHD KIDS THAT MAY OR NOT TAKE THEIR MEDS) SHOULD JUST MAKE LESS MONEY FOR ACTUALLY DOING THE HARDER WORK. ANYBODY WHO HAS TAKEN A RESPONSIBLE ROLE IN THEIR CHILD’S EDUCATION WILL TELL YOU THAT IT TAKES A PARENT/GAURDIAN AND A COMITTED TEACHER TO EDUCATE A CHILD. LETS MAKE IT SO THAT IF A CHILD DOES NOT PERFORM ON A TEST THEN THE PARENTS ALSO TAKE A CUT IN PAY AT THEIR JOB OR BETTER YET, THE PARENTS HAVE TO COME TO CLASS TWO DAYS A WEEK. YOU’LL SEE RESULTS THEN I BET.
ITS TOUGH ENOUGH TO GET AND KEEP GOOD TEACHERS. MOST FOLKS WITH A FOUR YEAR DEGREE CAN MAKE BETTER MONEY ELSEWHERE WITH AN EASIER JOB THAN TRYING TO INSTILL A LITTLE DRIVE AND AMBITION IN THESE KIDS. TEACHERS HAVE LITTLE CONTROL OVER WHETHER OR NOT ALL THESE FINE PARENTS WILL EVEN MAKE THEIR KIDS GO TO SCHOOL LET ALONE MONITOR THEIR PROGRESS. THEY ALSO HAVE STUDENTS GROUPED AS HIGH LEVEL READERS IN ONE ROOM AND LOW LEVEL READERS IN A SEPERATE ROOM. I GUESS YOUR SAYING THE TEACHER THAT GETS TO TEACH THE LOW LEVEL(ESE & ADHD KIDS THAT MAY OR NOT TAKE THEIR MEDS) SHOULD JUST MAKE LESS MONEY FOR ACTUALLY DOING THE HARDER WORK. ANYBODY WHO HAS TAKEN A RESPONSIBLE ROLE IN THEIR CHILD’S EDUCATION WILL TELL YOU THAT IT TAKES A PARENT/GAURDIAN AND A COMITTED TEACHER TO EDUCATE A CHILD. LETS MAKE IT SO THAT IF A CHILD DOES NOT PERFORM ON A TEST THEN THE PARENTS ALSO TAKE A CUT IN PAY AT THEIR JOB OR BETTER YET, THE PARENTS HAVE TO COME TO CLASS TWO DAYS A WEEK. YOU’LL SEE RESULTS THEN I BET.
Justa? you nailed it.
WHHHATTTT???? This is STUPID!!!!! They need to leave it alone!!!!! Teacher barely make a living now, and now this, it will be worsen! SCOTT NEEDS TO GO!
So…….The State is going to tie Teachers pay to students test scores. What a joke. Teachers pay is going to be based upon the whims of students who half the time don’t care what they do in school. Did anyone consider that not every child has the support from home that others may have or even a home as for as that goes. Some don’t even have a meal when they get home or no one is home when they get there and may not even show up ect….. this could go on and on. Maybe the State government officials need to tie their pay to how many jobs are created or whether or not the budget is balanced. I sure we as citizens of this State can find something to base their pay on. I know, we can vote them out. Then there is no pay…….wow what an idea..
“Harassing teachers because they belong to unions id illegal. Scott in not immune to prosecution. Take action now. Impeach him.”
Nobody is being harassed here and I personally believe this Bill is fair. It’s quite simple – show maximum performance and reap the maximum benefits!
Try working in the private sector for a while!
This will work for some teachers, but it will make good teachers really debate on remaining at the “tough” schools. I know teachers who do what is required and go beyond that and the scores do not show great gains.
I think in the long run, there are going to be more changes that will be detrimental to the schools that serve the lower socioeconomic group of people.
Go Governor Go!
So glad (for our children) that this is being done!
I didn’t see anything in this story that said the bill was harassing union members specifically. If there is something in the bill, then surely it will be struck down on legal challenges. I also believe the story stated that raises would be based on a percentage of the testing scores; it implies that the other percentages would be based on a ‘value added’ formula-whatever that is.
Oil companies don’t set the price of oil; the stock market does. Oil companies don’t set the price of fuels, the stock market and brokers do. It is traded like many other things. If I recall, the last time gas prices went sky-high, the Dems blamed President Bush.
I have been on the merit system every since I quit the union and I have been very sucessful, the system will work as long as you do what is required of you.
I have been in education for twenty-eight years. I have never feared being fired; not because of tenure, but because of my work ethic. I have seen too many teachers that simply change after tenure. I truly don’t think our good teachers have a thing to worry about. I do have concerns about tying test scores to pay. Will a growth model be used, or simply a certain cut score?
Good job Florida, oh by the way I saw this on Fox news this morning. It is unrealated to this story but I caught a lot of slack for blaming oil companies for gas prices. Here is the headline I copied and pasted from foxnews.”Dem lawmakers fault oil companies for high prices, accusing them of not utilizing government leases”. I guess as a republican I’m not alone on this thought….
Harassing teachers because they belong to unions id illegal. Scott in not immune to prosecution. Take action now. Impeach him.