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Local Teachers, Union File Federal Lawsuit Against Performance Pay Law
April 17, 2013
Seven teachers –four from Escambia County — and their local unions filed suit Tuesday to block the state’s landmark performance pay law, continuing a three-year-long battle over how educators should be compensated.
The federal lawsuit, which is also backed by the National Education Association and the Florida Education Association, says that some teachers’ rights are being violated because they are being assessed based on students that sometimes aren’t even in their classroom — a byproduct, critics say, of the law’s requirement that test scores account for a part of educators’ pay even if there are no state exams in that grade or subject area.
The four Escambia County teachers teach at Ransom Middle School, Tate High School, Pensacola High School and West Florida High School. The Escambia Education Association is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.2
“These participating teachers have (had evaluations) based on the test scores of students they do not teach or in subjects they do not teach,” said Andy Ford, president of the FEA.
The union has been fighting the performance-pay law since the first version was introduced in 2010. In addition to tying teacher’s compensation more closely to student achievement, the measure did away with employment protections commonly referred to as tenure.
The union convinced then-Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the bill after the 2010 legislative session.
Since Republicans pushed it through the Legislature again the following year and Gov. Rick Scott signed it, the FEA has also tried to overturn the law in state court by arguing that it violates teachers’ collective-bargaining rights.
Those involved in the lawsuit said they were as interested in getting lawmakers to rethink the law as they are in persuading the courts to strike it down.
“We’re hopeful that this lawsuit will be a catalyst for legislative action,” said Ron Meyer, a lawyer for the FEA.
Both the House and the Senate have worked on legislation this year that would require educators be judged only on the achievement of students they teach, though some critics said they’re skeptical that the new legislation goes far enough. The House Bill (HB 7141) is ready for the floor, while the Senate version (SB 980) has two committee stops left.
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Education Commissioner Tony Bennett referenced those bills.
“There is currently another piece of legislation (HB 7141/SB 980) under consideration in the Legislature that would make improvements to the Student Success Act, including ensuring that teachers are evaluated only on the students and subjects they teach,” Bennett said. “The legislation would also provide that teachers could not be eligible for a performance pay system until an appropriate assessment for their students and subjects is in place.”
Comments
16 Responses to “Local Teachers, Union File Federal Lawsuit Against Performance Pay Law”
I do believe teachers should be held accountable but only for the ones they teach i know for a fact when i was in school you have some teachers that would go above and beyond to help a student that is struggling on the other hand you had some who could of cared less . Now here it is 20 something years later i see the same thing . I also know at one time here locally we have had teachers teaching that couldn’t even earn their degree to teach but yet they are teaching. And as far as people complaining about they pay i agree some teachers deserve so much more but i don’t think they went into teaching believing they would be millionaires. So job well done for some of you and for the ones that dont care this parent wishes yoy would find another job
I know it’s not the teachers fault if a child does not learn and it is wrong when a teacher looses pay because a child can not score right on a test I have been to enough IEP meeting to know its not all the teachers fault cause the higher ups are trying to save money look I’m pretty sure that this school district gets extra money for disabled children the need to use it to better the outcome for everyone. As far as parents go unless some of you people have ever had to deal with watching your child fail be put down because they can not do something and clearly they can not. Then be told its their behavior well when a child is 16 in the 8th grade on a 3rd grade level being mainstreamed everyone know they won’t pass the FCAT but still the parents can’t get help even after the psych that the school district sends them to says its due to the child delays who’s at fault yes the parent still. I’m just saying thanks to the people who make these parent feel worthless and shamed for not having a smart child.
This is a lot to read/there are a lot of comments on here. First, let’s take a factual approach and say – “teachers make every other profession possible.” That’s a fact. Each successful person had a teacher somewhere in time. All of the smart commentators on this site each had a teacher and they should be given credit where it is due.
I know many teachers, and having talked to many I have discovered that the most prominent issue for a child not learning is due to their behavior. That’s not the teacher’s fault. Also, there are cases where the child has some mental issues that may be genetic. That’s not the fault of the teacher either. So, if we consider this alone, NO TEACHER can be the blame for a child who is not disciplined, or due to no fault of the child because of genetics or some other unfortunate case. Furthermore, if a child is BAD and DISRESPECTFULY, that’s a direct reflection of the PARENT (s). Right? Do we cut the parents pay because their children aren’t taught manners and respect at home? Sure we do, it’s the same thing the school system wants to do to teachers. ?? Gee-whiz –
Therefore, I do not agree “totally” with measuring teachers on the success of a child’s progress – especially if there is a gap where most of the other children are learning on pace. Should the little league coach get blamed and his/her pay cut for a child that can’t run as fast as the other kids? What if they can’t catch? What if they haven’t made a free-throw in the game? Kids learn differently. Some faster, some slower. If the same thing is being taught in the class and the majority gets it, I cannot say that the instructor is flawed or should be penalized financially.
Accountant:
Why would a teacher need to thank you? Isn’t that our job as responsible parents when we choose to have children, to raise them to in the best possible way; to be productive, responsile, respecting citizens of this country? Yes, your child is probably a “dream” child for a teacher to have, but I still think it helps to thank the teacher because they put up with more crap in their daily dealings than you probably do in your accounting position. Just my dos cervesos. MB
Which particular teachers probably won’t be released. They are representing teachers from middle and high schools who are being evaluated based on students they do not “service” (to quote the lawmakers).
At the high school level that could include all 11th & 12th teachers and elective teachers who have the school average 10th grade FCAT score used in their evaluation–that means many of them are being evaluated on the scores of students they will not teach for 1-2 years (if they EVER teach them).
When will we find out what teachers are involved in this? It does seem that the “regular” teachers have a problem with the ESE children I also have been told this excuse.
MB – I agree with some of what you are saying…its a little exaggerated….if not teachers would not be able to work 40 hours a week at a second job during the summer which quite a few of them do. Yes lots of us stay late and come in on weekends to catch up. I have several teachers in my family but hey its great. They take my kids to the beach, the zoo, the skating rink and bake cookies with them during Christmas. Believe me my kids wish I was a teacher. I fully understand they work more than 40 hours a week same as a lot of people and the pay is low same as a lot of people. My children make good grades and behave so maybe the teacher would like to thank me.
Accountant: Your definition of teacher time off is inaccurate. Yes they do get time off during summer and Christmas breaks, but it is not truely time off like you think. During the summer they are going to mandated seminars routinely; they are redecorating/cleaning their classroom (usually out of theri own pocket) for the upcoming school year. They attend school and county held workshops to prep for the upcoming year and new curriculum. During Christmas they are catching up on grading papers, completeing lesson plans for the next nine weeks. Their time off is very little, just like their pay. Next time you see a teacher, thank them; they work more hours and harder than most doctors for a scale of peanuts. MB
@Preda I think Brent is on the right track with the classroom size issue. In a conversation with a local middle school teacher she explained a situation to me that was very frustrating for her as a long time educator. She explained that ESE children were being mainstreamed. A consequence of mainstreaming ESE children was putting an added stress and overloading the teachers. She stated that by having the ESE children in her classroom brought an ESE teacher with them. By doing this the school is able to increase the class size because there are now 2 educators in 1 room. There is still only 1 teacher responsible for running the class and everything associated even though there are 2 teachers present. The ESE teacher is present only to see what is being taught so that during the study period they can help if needed. This is a cheap way to get around classroom size guidelines. All of this said I do believe teachers should have some accountability for the job they perform but only for those they teach. We all have jobs and someone we are accountable to, what is lacking here is an accurate way to measure.
$32,000 is starting pay for 9 months of work for an inexperienced person.
let them prove their worth like everyone else. do not hide behind the unions and make demands that the people who pay you cannot afford. if you do not like it try flipping burgers and saying would you like fries with that, which by the way is an honest job.
Brent- Agree with everything but the second part of the first sentence because it simply is not true. Many 4 year degrees do not pay more than $32K a year starting off. For example, there are plenty of accountants who earned a 4 year degree, have been working for 10 years and make less than $40K a year in Pensacola. They dont have summers off and two weeks at Christmas to recharge. If they are lucky they get 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick per year. How many weeks off does a teacher get per year. Not argueing that teaching is a hard job, but a lot of jobs are difficult.
Amen, Brent! Parents need to be held responsible for their child’s behavior/grades.
Teachers can only do so much. Teachers can’t discipline children….they’ll get sued and probably fired! Teachers can’t go home with children and make them study and complete their homework! However, parents can and should. As far as children failing even though IEPs are in place…in the job I have, I look at IEPs all the time. Guess who, more often than not, doesn’t attend the IEP meetings set up to discuss the child’s treatment? The parents. Like I said, teachers can only do so much. They try, but even as hard as they try, they cannot replace the parents.
Directed to Preda X:
Teaching is a very difficult job, and it is the lowest paid job you can possibly do for the amount of college required to get a job. 4 years of college for around $32,000 a year. Not all that fair to begin with, then you throw in the monkey wrench of making their jobs even more fragile by holding them accountable for students’ sucess or lack thereof. For example, if a group of kids has had behavior issues and/or struggles in a certain subject area from grades K-7, what right does that give the government to blame the 8th grade teacher when these kids show the same problems in their class? And furthermore, the lack of funding to hire more teachers is, in my opinion (as a certified teacher), the chief cause of failure in the classroom. Have you ever tried to effectively keep a classroom of 25+ students in check, AND teach the subject matter effectively, AND make sure that NOT ONE of them is falling behind, without losing control of the rest of the class while you have one-on-one time with them? More teachers and smaller class sizes would be the most effective solution to fix what is broken in the educational system, but what is more important than anything is what is done at home. The parents need to hold their children accountable for their behavior/grades, and stop blaming every single thing on the teachers. There are SOME teachers out there that dont put forth the effort, but most teachers are really trying. Give them the credit they are due, that is all.
Preda, One has nothing to do with the other. The School Board places teachers, I agree the teachers are not the best at protecting a child’s right to education and social well being. It has nothing to do with the State determining how one gets paid.
Taking and making a standard that you cannot change improve or make better in any manner just decreases motivation, energy and the desire to teach. Hold the freaking School Board accountable and you will se better motivated teachers.
Before anyone jumps on and starts complaining about teacher accountability, let me say this….I have no problem being held accountable for teaching MY SUBJECT to MY STUDENTS. I do have a problem with being held accountable for EVERY student in one particular grade in subjects I don’t teach.
What they want to do to teachers would be like holding cardiac doctors accountable for the outcomes of every OB/GYN in their hospital–even if they’ve never met them and know nothing about them….
Sure while they are looking into this they should look into why do they have ese children with IEPs failing? Maybe if some of these teachers would do their jobs there would not be this problem. Our school system has so many small town flaws something needs to be done. I do not feel sorry for any of these teachers they do not care enough to stand up for children’s protected rights why should anyone stand for theirs. It’s sad we live in such a town that lawyers will go and help teachers fight for a cause that is trying to help children who are being failed by a broke system. But nobody will fight for a child’s right to learn.