Teachers Take Aim At State Education Policies

January 15, 2016

About 2,000 teachers and other public-school employees rallied Thursday at the Capitol, calling on lawmakers to place more emphasis on classroom learning and less focus on standardized tests.

Educators from across the state, including Escambia County, held a several-block march to the Capitol courtyard, where they said Florida has too many high-stakes tests and teachers are not paid enough. Also, they pointed to a perception that traditional public schools are not treated fairly compared to charter schools.

“Our children are being cheated out of a high-quality education by policymakers and their education reforms that are designed to meet the needs of adults rather than students,” said Joanne McCall, president of the Florida Education Association teachers union. Vicki Rodriguez, president of the St. Lucie Classroom Teachers Association, said about 50 of her colleagues left St. Lucie County at 3 p.m. Thursday to attend the rally.

Rodriguez said teachers are not respected by many lawmakers.

“The pay is poor,” Rodriguez said. “Morale is terrible. That affects kids. So we need to get our profession in this state to be able to do the job that we were actually trained to do, which is teach kids … not give tests.”

The rally came on the third day of the annual legislative session. Lawmakers are considering numerous education issues, including proposals dealing with standardized testing and charter schools.

by The News Service of Florida

Comments

3 Responses to “Teachers Take Aim At State Education Policies”

  1. Jane on January 16th, 2016 3:50 am

    Time to return to the the basics in education. There are too many young people who can’t do math, can’t spell, can’t read….and it is not the teacher’s fault. It is the education system. I have a friend who works for NASA and has a PHD in math/physics….he has trouble with the stupid “common core math”. Don’t re-invent the wheel….make the wheel work with the wagon! (Or car, truck, tractor, robot, whatever!). Teach these kids to think and read/write or they and the economy are doomed to failure.

  2. Bonnie Exner on January 15th, 2016 5:30 pm

    As a retired Escambia County,I can speak to the quality of education the students are now receiving. When I started teaching iN 1971,I had nonreaders to college level readers in a 7th grade English class…this still happens today but more emphasis is now given to low achievers in the elementary le (as it should) to help them catch up.What has changed exponentially is the amount of unfunded mandates our state legislature has added to the curricula of primary and secondary schools.I can personally speak to teaching core values (whose?),evils of the holocaust, cause and effect of all wars and conflicts US has beeninvolved in, as well as personal hygiene, budgeting, and checking for HEADLICE…and so much more besides reading,writing and arithmetic. DON’T MISS UNDERSTAND.
    ALL THESE (except the headline check)ARE ADMIRABLE TOPICS TO TEACH,BUT YOU CAN ONLY GET SO MUCH INSTRUCTION IN IN A 50 MIN.CLASS FRAME. Testing was done on a regular basis to see how much the student has retained..NOT TO TAKE AN ENTIRE MONTH OUT OF A CALENDAR YEAR. TO SUM IT UP ALWAYS REMEMBER THE PARENT(S)ARE THE FIRST AND PRIMARY LIFE TEACHER A CHILD WILL HAVE!!

  3. john on January 15th, 2016 6:49 am

    “High quality education” that is laughable!! As for test, they are an engine for accountability for teachers and determine weather the students are “Actually Learning Anything”, but let’s face it, a social progressive public education
    is doomed to fail and world history has proven that.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News