No more tenure for teachers hired in Florida after July 1st this year. Lose collective bargaining.

[madfloridian]

They will also lose 5% of their salary. It will send Florida teachers to 47th in teacher pay rank.

This bill will be signed by Governor Rick Scott today. I can imagine cheering from those who believe that the continuing contract offered good teachers here after 3 years led to lazy and sorry teaching.

The 5% cut is because teachers will be required to pay 5% of their retirement. The state moved to making the full contribution in 1974 after they nearly went broke paying teachers who moved out of state what they were due. But now all public employees will be going back to paying a share. High risk employees like police and firefighters will have to work 5 years longer.

Teachers will have 50% of their pay based on how students score on tests. For sure that will discourage teachers from going to low-performance schools.

Florida Governor Rick Scott is set to sign the bill that would make state’s public school teachers lose their job security

The bill will create a statewide teacher evaluation and merit pay system in 2014. New teachers hired after July 1 will have no tenure. At the same time teachers loses their right to collective bargaining and due process.

The legislation is the first one that was sent to the Republican governor after he took office in January. A similar bill by his predecessor was vetoed last year when the Florida teachers showed their opposition to it.

This is one of the steps that Florida is taking to hold the teachers accountable for the students’ success and failure. A grading system will also be installed in the state that would reward top schools and hold the failing schools liable. These changes were initiated by former Governor Jeb Bush.

When President Obama stood with Jeb Bush in Florida recently and complimented him for his work in education, this is what he was endorsing.

It really has to be something Rick Scott and his teabaggers can brag about...Florida teachers at the bottom of the salary rank.

Florida teachers heading to the bottom of the pay scale.

Florida teachers are on their way to becoming among the worst-paid in the nation.

For the 2009-10 school year, average teacher salaries in Florida fell to No. 37 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and estimates for 2010-11 show them falling to No. 47, according to a national report released this week.

Florida's average teacher salary last year was $46,708. The national average was $55,202.

The unfavorable ranking comes as state lawmakers prepare to make sweeping changes to how teachers are hired, fired, paid and evaluated. They may also require teachers to chip in up to 5 percent of their pay towards their pensions.

I can just see all the new young capable teachers heading here to our state, holding their breath with excitement. :shrug:

Update: I finally verified that tenure ends July 1 this year...not 2014.

Local reaction to merit pay bill mixed

The Florida House and Senate passed on party-line votes the Republican-sponsored legislation setting up a merit pay plan for teachers, and ending tenure for new hires.

This is the first bill sent to Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who has made the bill a priority and that he will sign it. It’s similar to a bill former governor Charlie Crist vetoed last year, after statewide protests by teachers and their supporters.

The legislation will establish a statewide teacher evaluation and merit pay system by 2014 and get rid of tenure for teachers hired after July 1 this year. Fifty percent of a teacher's evaluation will depend on how much progress their students have made on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test or other exams over a three-year period.

[L. Coyote]

New teachers will move to states with the best opportunities, or the best test score districts.

This will likely fail a judicial test. and major provisions will be struck down as discriminatory.

[madfloridian]

3. I think the teachers' union is going to sue.

[Starry Messenger]

1. k&r

[remember2000forever]

2. Also, No More Experienced North East Teachers Coming Down

To Live In A Better Climate.

As a substitute teacher here in Florida for 11 years my faculty was the absolute greatest! It's so very sad and unfair.

[madfloridian]

4. Exactly, why should they come to a state with new punitive stuff for teachers?

[RebelOne]

5. My daughter is a teacher at a charter school

in South Florida. I wonder how this would affect her. She already lost some money because the school system cut one of her classes.

[madfloridian]

6. I don't know.

Charter schools get public taxpayer money, but some work outside the system and are not regulated by the state.

I don't know the answer.

[HockeyMom]

7. Art or PE teacher would not have wanted me in their class

if their salary was based on my "performance tests". I was a B+ student in all other subjects, except these two. Although I could name and identify all the Great Masters, I couldn't draw to save my life. Bad, bad Art teachers. Cut their salaries because MOST kids aren't budding Picasso's? Ditto for Music.

PE? Well, although I could do 50 push up and run around a track, forget me and sports. I am vertically challenged. I used to walk under the volleyball net and the balls went way over my head. I had the same problems with basketball. Is this a PE coach's fault? Bad, bad, PE teacher. Imagine the problems many an overweight kid would have? Should PE teachers be penalized for being "bad" teachers because of this too?

I will not even get into the special needs kids who I work with. How many times Maria responded to her name, got a fork to her mouth, or went on the potty??????

If it all weren't so sad, it would be LAUGHABLE. However, as with ALL REPUBLICANS, Mr. Scott thinks one size fits ALL, and everyone is, and MUST BE, just like THEM.

Children aren't products, and schools cannot, and SHOULD NOT, be run as a for profit business.

[madfloridian]

8. Yes, it's tragic really.

It's going to be devastating to special needs kids, just crushing.

The whole thing is like some weird scenario that doesn't make sense.

[madfloridian]

9. Since they started calling it LIFO...they won.

Because Last in First Out just sounds so unfair.

I must admit the reformers have managed the talking points quite well.

[Rage for Order]

10. There's no state income tax in Florida

That effectively raises teachers' average pay by at least $2,000-$3,000, assuming a state income tax rate of 5%-6% in most other states

[Iris]

49. What's your point?

[madfloridian]

11. Reminded of Ravitch's recent comment about benefits envy toward teachers.

"Quoteworthy

"As for pension and health-care envy, it is a sad thing when working Americans complain that someone else has benefits, instead of agreeing that everyone should have coverage for their health and old age. It reminds me of an old Soviet joke where a peasant says, "My neighbor has a cow and I have none, I want his cow to die." We should not join in this race to the bottom."

-Diane Ravitch

http://nyceducator.com/

[Snoutport]

12. The first ten years of teaching is scratching for pennies as you pay off your loans.

And now Florida teachers probably won't even benefit from that sacrifice with small raises from tenure.

:0(

[madfloridian]

14. That's true.

They lost no time getting this bill through. Since teachers became such an enemy the last two years, it wasn't hard.

[RagAss]

13. What's this idiot going to do next? Close the schools?

[NICO9000]

17. Don't give him any other ideas!

I'm sure if the repigs could really abolish schools, they'd be all over that like the proverbial white-on-rice.

[theaocp]

15. Is the 50% coming out of their salary?

Or from their merit pay potential? I can't imagine getting your salary cut because of student performance on standardized tests, but this is what Floridians voted for. What can I say, when I live in Michigan? We're going to find out our district's proposals for next year on Thursday. Should be an interesting meeting. I'm riddled with anxiety.

[madfloridian]

18. 50% of the merit pay apparently. 5% out for retirement.

They will rate a teacher 50% on what her kids score. Very unfair as teachers can not control other factors.

[ecstatic]

16. Elections matter. Everyone needs to vote straight D next year

no ifs ands or buts.

[Bozita]

19. At some point, the biggest weapon in the arsenal should be brought into the light

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4777554

A long, long time ago, a respected mentor told me:
The meek shall inherit the Earth.
Six feet of it.

IMHO, he was right.

[erodriguez]

20. Maybe it is time to boycott testing.

It was done in the UK.

Activists claim the Sats ruin children’s education as schools are put under pressure to “teach to the test” to boost results. It is also claimed that failure to hit targets puts head teachers’ jobs under threat.

Up to 600,000 children in England’s 17,000 state primary schools were due to sit a reading test on Monday and separate writing and spelling exams on Tuesday. Pupils will take a series of maths tests on Wednesday and Thursday.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7700763/Pupils-to-miss-Sats-in-mass-exam-boycott.html

[DirkGently]

21. The onslaught against teachers is sickening.

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. Is there any way to reverse the damage with the next govenor?

[Generic Other]

23. this is devastating for the teaching profession

Seems like your state will have a difficult time hiring and retaining good teacher s as they have no job security. Just glorified childcare workers.

[madfloridian]

29. It is truly devastating.

[radhika]

24. I'm just thinkin' if Jerry Brown hadn't won California..

These stories and worse would be emanating from my state. EBAY Meg Whitman was proudly gunning for public employees and their pensions. There are still lots of votes and procedural challenges left here, but at least the voters of my struggling state did not hand it over to the Reptilians. At least not this time.

[Riley18]

25. State Senator Evelynn Lynn wrote in the local paper that

now teachers will get the chance to "shine". I am more angry at being patronized than I am at being ripped off by these greedy morons. I already shined as a competent, intelligent teacher with a master's degree and National Board Certification. I have far more "shine" than her or her cronies ever will. Now, I will have to apply most of my thoughts to getting by with less and less money. I just wish I could take a pass on the whole pension thing and use the money now because I have so many relatives that need my financial support in this crisis. One thing I know for sure is that I will never vote again for anyone unless they have proven they work for me. People like Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanford, and Dennis K. I already vow to work for anyone who runs against Lynn.

[madfloridian]

26. Yes, they are patronizing us...and insulting us.

Someone in leadership needs to stand up and say enough is enough...stop insulting teachers.

[mia]

27. Pondering Legal Implications of Value-Added Teacher Evaluation

I'm a very good Florida teacher and believe that there is is a new opportunity for Labor and Employment lawyers. I won't be surprised to see these attorneys advertising much like the medical malpractice attorneys do.

http://schoolfinance101.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/pondering-legal-implications-of-value-added-teacher-evaluation/

The way I see it, this new crop of state statutes and regulations which include arbitrary use of questionable data, applied in a questionably appropriate way will most likely lead to a flood of litigation like none that has ever been witnessed.

Why would that be? How can a teacher possibly sue the school district for being fired because he/she was a bad teacher? Simply writing into state statute or department regulations that one’s “property interest” to tenure and continued employment must be primarily tied to student test scores does not by any stretch of the legal imagination guarantee that dismissal based on student test scores will stand up to legal challenges – good and legitimate legal challenges.

There are (at least) two very likely legal challenges that will occur once we start to experience our first rounds of teacher dismissal based on student assessment data....

[madfloridian]

28. I hope you are right. There will need to be some lawsuits.

I just read a horror story about a NYC teacher who is highly respected getting marked down by the Value added stuff. Lots of that going on.

I am so so glad I am retired.

Best to you, I feel the pain for those of you still teaching.

[roxiejules]

40. Consumer Ratings of All Private Sector (CRAPS)

We need a national rating system tying PRIVATE sector salaries to customer evaluations so we can weed out the ineffective.

A mandatory accounting of employee abilities as perceived by the consumer.

I'm tired of wasting my time and paying auto mechanics, contractors, stockbrokers, loan officers, realtors, attorneys, accountants, sales representatives that don't measure up. It is exhausting roving from business to business looking for a professional who is competent.

We need a national standardized rating system (maybe Gates can do that, too) published online and updated each quarter. Make it a pass or fail rating and out the door if you fail. Time is money in our country and productivity would increase if we didn't have so many people in the workforce who are not excellent rated.

There are way too many freeloaders in the corporate world who only have jobs because of internal politics. They need to GO!






:sarcasm:

[Iwillnevergiveup]

30. Just listening to Malloy's rant on Rick Scott

NY Times did a puff piece on him - by Damian Kaye.
$1.7 billion in fines for defrauding MediCare. Doesn't say in the article that he was forced to resign. Spent $73 million to get elected - STOLEN MONEY???

Any inclination to recall him?

[KathieG]

31. Yep...it sucks, and it's not only teachers who are being screwed...

All state employees will be paying the 5% into retirement. I'm not sure if it's the same for all public employees, but for law enforcement it was negotiated years ago that they would sacrifice regular pay increases in order to have the better retirement plan. The DOC has not had a pay increase for 8 years, now their retirement is going to shit.

My husband is a Sergeant in the Florida Department Of Corrections, he has been a state employee for 11 years and makes 34,000 a year. According to Rick Scott and his tea bag groupies, my husband is a freeloader and makes too much money. They have bills on the table proposing that police, fire and corrections lose their special risk retirement and they want to raise the retirement age by 5 years for employees in these categories as well. Florida public employees are getting the shaft and it sucks. :(

[madfloridian]

32. Raising retirement age for special risk is really bad.

I was really surprised at that in the bill. It's shameful.

[RBInMaine]

33. Great. Who in the hell will want to teach in Florida now?? They just destroyed the profession.

[Jefferson23]

34. I hope they fight back..this is so wrong..words fail. n/t

[Dappleganger]

37. The only way to fight back is to get republicans out of office.

The decks are heavily stacked in their favor for now and for awhile, and have been for more than a decade. No checks and balances here.

[madfloridian]

38. Trouble is...

many of the education "reformers" are Democrats now. And getting rid of tenure and installing merit pay are Arne's goals as well.

[Dappleganger]

39. Quite true.

Not many real liberals who are willing to stand up against the corporate machine down here.

[paparush]

35. Sickening

[Jefferson23]

43. That's it in a nutshell...great post. n/t

[Bozita]

46. Would you be willing to share that "shared sacrifice" toon?

I'll offer one in exchange:

A photo from the Capitol in Madison:

[paparush]

52. Absolutely!

Have at it.

[Zorra]

36. Republicans seem to hate children for some reason.

Maybe because they share the same planet and therefore take up space and resources that republicans believe rightfully belongs to them.

Seriously, republicans are just awful people. What kind of dark consciousness would someone have to have in order to align themselves with such a malicious group?

What made them get that way?

[ctwayne]

41. So Where are the Protests?

Teachers in states like Wisconsin and Michigan are fighting back. The teachers in Florida seem very silent. In any event, there is a very easy way to game the new system. Kids in affluent districts will get good test scores and their teachers will be paid more. Kids in poor districts and those with special needs will get lower scores, and their teachers will be paid less. From a financial point of view, it will only make sense to teach in wealthy districts.

[madfloridian]

42. There have been protests. I posted about some of them.

My posts dropped after I kicked them a few times.

[Jefferson23]

45. Save our Schools March & National Call to Action, July 28-31, Washington, D.C. & nationwide.

Please join people from all across America as they gather to participate in the Save Our Schools March on Saturday, July 30 in Washington DC.

The Save Our Schools March is being held in response to recent destructive “reform” efforts which have undermined our public educational system, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation.

Something must be done- and it must be done now!

The Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action is calling on Americans everywhere to demand

Equitable funding for all public school communities
End to high stakes testing for student, teacher, and school evaluation
Curriculum developed for and by local school communities
Teacher and community leadership in forming public education policies
The March will begin with a rally at the Ellipse, where we will be inspired, educated, and motivated by a broad array of speakers and entertainers. We will then march to the Department of Education, where the Declaration of Demands will be read. After the reading, the March will continue to circle back to the Ellipse for the final remarks and closing ceremony.

Please join in this opportunity to inspire meaningful change and be part of history!

http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org/event_info/the-march/

[Aerows]

44. We can't afford to pay teachers

and educate children! We have wars to fund, and defense contractors are FAR more necessary than children or the people teaching them

[madfloridian]

48. Indeed...wars to fund.

That is about the truth.

[madfloridian]

47. Columnist tells of how confusing the bill is.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/fl-teacher-pay-mayocol-b032011-20110319,0,2944288.column

"The Republicans in Tallahassee talk a good game of smaller government, less bureaucracy and decentralized control, but the top-down particulars of this bill are enough to make your head spin.

An excerpt from the bill: "For instructional personnel who are not classroom teachers, the student learning growth portion of the evaluation must include growth data on statewide assessments for students assigned to the instructional personnel over the course of at least 3 years, or may include a combination of student learning growth data and other measurable student outcomes that are specific to the assigned position, provided that the student learning growth data accounts for not less than 30 percent of the evaluation."

First one to decipher that gobbledygook gets a scholarship to Gainesville!

If this sounds tremendously vague and complicated, it is.

For teachers who switch schools or subjects, it's going to take an army of district data-crunchers and computer specialists to track down three years' worth of students and come up with the relevant "learning growth" statistics."

[Matt Shapiro]

50. What is adequate or exceptional "learning growth?"

As someone who taught for 33 years in an inner city middle school, with a decent background in mathematics, statistics, and even the so-called "science" of psychometrics, I have never seen a reasonable definition of "learning growth" as measured by standardized tests.

It is quite possible that a child who has been functioning at the low end of the testing spectrum for many years should be considered phenomenally successful if s/he shows 1/10th the "growth" of a child in the middle of that spectrum. I have never seen a definitive study on the subject.

In addition, although they are widely used and accepted, no one has ever shown me evidence of the validity of these tests in measuring achievement in life.

Then again, I've been retired for 10 years now. Maybe some new questionable studies have been done in the interim.

Anyone with experience in teaching knows that it is an art, not a science. That's not an easy thing for someone with a scientific bent to admit, but it's just the case.

Measuring a students' progress with these tests and basing their future possibilities on the scores is extremely unfair to them. Judging a teacher's effectiveness using student results on these same completely unproven tests is ludicrous.

One other thought. Why is no one in this thread (other than madflo) outraged by the loss of collective bargaining rights? It is the very worst aspect of this horrible new law.

[madfloridian]

51. You are right about the lack of outrage over collective bargain being lost.

I guess people are just so full of anger and outrage that teachers and their problems seem not to matter.

[MoonRiver]

53. So happy I only have a little more than 2 months until retirement!

I think these bills will backfire. The best of potential teachers in undergraduate programs will not want to put up with this crap and op to go into other fields.

[madfloridian]

54. Glad I am already retired.

It's like they want to sure not to leave a single thing to draw good teachers here.