Teachers, parents and even students are taking to the streets and online to object to legislation that would end teacher job security, increase student testing and tie teacher pay to student test scores. It also prohibits school districts from taking into account experience, professional credentials or advanced degrees in teacher evaluation and pay. Several rallies were held around Lee County yesterday.
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. It's known as Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 7189, the legislation would require:
*School systems to evaluate and pay teachers primarily on the basis of student test scores.
*School systems to ignore a teacher’s experience, advanced degrees or professional credentials in any evaluation or pay.
*School systems to put newly hired teachers on probation for five years and then give them annual contracts for the rest of their careers.
*The creation of more standardized tests for students, to cover subjects not already assessed.
The Senate has passed its version of the bill; the House may take it up Thursday.
Teachers and their supporters 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 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.
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