..by requiring the teachers to donate perhaps 5% of their salary to their retirement...one of the few good things about Florida teaching. That would in effect be a salary cut since most teachers have seen little or no raises for several years now.
A continuing contract is one that is given to good teachers after 3 years on annual contract. It is a form of job security in a job that if done correctly might anger parents who don't want to hear about problems with their kids. It is in effect another way of saying tenure.
Our side has apparently fallen for the "tenure must go" theme, but most certainly no one in leadership is defending it. It is a result of union bargaining, it is something teachers think about when considering coming to a state.
The Miami Herald points out that lawmakers are moving ahead in spite of complaints from teachers.
Despite pleas from teachers, Republican legislators pushed bills to reform how the state pays and evaluates educators.The new model would tie at least 50 percent of teachers’ salaries and contracts to student performance, replacing a structure that values seniority and uses a last-in, first-out layoff policy.
..."Megan Allen, the 2010 state teacher of the year from Tampa’s Cleveland Elementary, said she fears the bill will lead to “a mass exodus” of teachers from high-needs schools who fear lower performance ratings. A stipend won’t be enough to keep them there. Allen, who is supporting her husband as he goes to school, choked up when describing her anxiety about pay being linked to standardized tests each year. It’s unfair to her students, she said, most of whom are on free and reduced lunch and have different life experiences than students of higher privilege.
True, why teach at a school with serious problems if you are going to be paid accordingly?
Did you see the new talking point? "Last in, first out layoff policy"? Many companies do that, and it has gone on for years. But now it is the way they are attacking job security for teachers, making sure that tenure does not matter in lay offs.
So many aspects go into how a student scores, but this merit pay would only put the responsibility on the teachers. Put some responsibility on the parents and students and consider the circumstances in which they live. The rigid zero tolerance policies have not worked well, they are not humane.
This bill would break tenure rights for teachers, a first step in hiring only cheaper teachers and easily getting rid of those who have reached higher ranks on the pay scale.
Breaking tenure and forcing merit pay is in effect breaking down the union contracts.
Senate Bill 736 is approved by Florida Senate Budget CommitteeThe Florida Senate Budget Committee approved Senate Bill 736 on February 23 by a vote of 15-5.
A number of teachers attended the hearing but few received the opportunity to voice their opinions because of time limits. A number of teachers have promised to demonstrate against the legislation. Many of the teachers were from Miami.
Senate Bill 736 would eliminate tenure for teachers hired after 2014. It would tie 50 percent of a teacher's pay to the performance of that teacher's students on standardized tests.
This is in effect the very bill that was vetoed by Governor Crist last year. This year Governor Scott is waiting to sign it with glee.
What is so infuriating to me is that Jeb Bush's education foundation is pushing this bill very hard. His foundation is often named in articles as being in favor of it....but the reporters fail to mention his name.
In fact Naples News talks several times about that foundation recommending the bill highly, but the reporter never mentions Jeb's name.
Florida teacher pay dropping to 47th in U.S.; union raps Senate Bill 736NAPLES — Florida’s public school teachers are on their way to being among the worst-paid in the nation. That is one finding of a report recently released by the National Education Association, the national teachers’ labor union. The report found that, for the 2009-10 school year, average teacher salaries in Florida were 37th among the 50 states and District of Columbia.
Florida’s average teacher salary last year was $46,708. The national average was $55,202. Estimates for this school year show Florida teachers’ salaries falling to No. 47, according to the report.
The Foundation for Florida's Future is Jeb's group.
The Foundation for Florida’s Future has come out in support of Senate Bill 736, saying it will improve the lives of teachers. The nonprofit describes itself as a public policy organization “dedicated to keeping the promise of quality education by advocating reforms that raise standards, increase accountability, provide incentives for success and offering choices.”
Jaryn Emhof, press secretary for the organization, wrote in an e-mail that “teachers are the unsung heroes of the classroom, but Florida’s current system does not recognize teachers for their work in the classroom.
..."“SB 736 changes this by putting Florida on a path to attract and retain excellent teachers. It creates a system that will identify and reward excellent teachers,” Emhof wrote.
Left out of their scenario is experience in working with children. This is a shortcut to paying teachers less. They talk about good teachers getting more, but just imagine how long that would continue. It's a shortcut to turning teaching from a respected profession into a job which saves money by paying less.
All the Naples News had to do was go to the website for that foundation and look at the About page. There is Jeb's picture, and in black and white the goals for this group.
Message from the chairmanFlorida has made great strides to improve the quality of education. A decade ago, the Sunshine State ranked at the bottom nationally. Nearly one-third of third graders couldn’t read on grade level and close to half of fourth graders were functionally illiterate. Too many students were dropping out of school, while those who stayed weren’t gaining the knowledge to succeed after graduation.
So much has changed since then. Today, Florida’s elementary and middle school students are reading above the national average. Math proficiency is on the rise. More students are taking and passing rigorous courses that prepare them for college. The graduation rate has jumped by double digits and fewer students are dropping out.
Our success was built on a foundation of core principles. Starting with the A+ Plan in 1999 and continuing today, our reforms combine high expectations, standardized measurement, a clear and achievable system of accountability, rewards and consequences for performance, effective teaching in the classroom and more choices to customize education to each student.
Glowing words. Yet if Florida schools are so great, why is the new governor trying to dismantle them by giving vouchers to parents of $5500 for each child....so they can send them to private schools. Makes no sense, does it?
SO...if the schools here are so much better then the reward of the teachers is to move down 10 slots on the salary rank, lose job security. And they will lose up to 5% of their pay because they will have to contribute that much toward their retirement...which up until now has been a big attraction for drawing teachers.
That's the reward for working so hard.
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