Teachers fighting back in Florida

[Hannah Bell]

Teachers, parents and even students in the Sunshine State...are no longer sitting quietly, hoping that common sense will magically prevail with state legislators seemingly intent on passing legislation affectionately called a “hammer” on the teaching profession by its sponsor.

They are taking to the streets, literally and digitally to transmit their horror over legislation that would...tie teacher pay to student test scores...Protests are planned around the state this week, including one Thursday afternoon that will bring people onto U.S. Highway 1 from Jacksonville in the northern part of the state to Miami in the south.

They also plan to bring their protest to Washington D.C. soon, to let their representatives in Congress and federal officials know that they don’t want what they consider an assault on their livelihood and on public education...

Thousands of people have signed petitions being sent to Florida’s governor, Charlie Crist, demanding that he veto the bill if it passes the legislature. He's indicated that he supports the legislation but is coming under more pressure than he probably expected...This approach could easily spread beyond the borders of Florida...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/education-secretary-duncan/teachers-fight-back.html

[maryf]

1. K&R immediately!!

Thanks so much for your advocacy!!! :yourock: We need to expand this to all states, all educators, all who care about education!!!

[monmouth]

2. Palm Beach County teachers voted a "no confidence" in the super here...n/t

[maryf]

4. I'll share this bit with my local...nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. k/r

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Check out this part of the article:

Teachers and their supporters in Palm Beach County are communicating about the bill on Facebook at a page called Testing is Not Teaching, and in response, someone apparently connected to Republican legislators launched a counter page deceptively called “Support Florida’s Teachers.”

The folks running that page write in support of the legislation, and then delete posts from people who oppose it. Now that’s right in the spirit of the openness of the web, isn’t it?

The Senate bill was sponsored by state Sen. John Thrasher, the new head of Florida’s Republican Party. He calls the bill “the hammer,” which he says is necessary to force the Florida teachers union to end its opposition to merit pay for teachers.

I will say this for Thrasher: He doesn’t make any pretense about the heavy hand he believes should be used with Florida teachers.

[Riley18]

6. Thank you. Free public education is under attack in Florida and I think it

will spread to the rest of the country if they are successful.

[Catshrink]

7. Of course they're framing this as teachers being opposed to accountability

which as teachers we know that isn't the case. But all means, I want to be evaluated and know how I can improve on what I do -- that's the kind of mature reflection any professional welcomes, whether doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc. But I don't want to be evaluated by a one-size-fits-all test that doesn't consider special populations of students and other influences on the education process.

If this passes, and the trend continues, we will become a nation of bubblers, not thinkers.

[HockeyMom]

8. Adding insult to injury

What about Art, Music, Foreign Language, PE teachers? Are any of these subjects on FCATS? What about Severity ESE students who will never take an FCAT, or probably any other test, in their lives? The salaries of all these teachers will be based on the results of something they don't even teach?

What about Title 1 schools? The FEDERAL government funds Title 1 schools. ESE students come under the umbrella of Title 1 also. If a Title 1 school doesn't make the grade on the FCATS, and salaries are cut by this bill, will the state of Florida give Title 1 money back to the Federal government?

This is the Florida Sun. This is your BRAIN (legislators) under the Florida Sun. We all know the hidden agenda of this. The Repukes, and Jebbie (on the sidelines), would like nothing better than to destroy public education in the US. Privatization, privatization, privatization.

[blindpig]

9. k&r

De-privatize America.

[maryf]

10. bump, nt

[DailyGrind51]

11. Teacher pay should be tied to the SES of their respective states.

[Hannah Bell]

12. i think ceo pay should be.