Florida schoolteachers full of anxiety as Rick Scott era begins

by Mitch Perry

Tuesday at noon Rick Scott will officially become the next governor of the great state of Florida. Unlike any other elected official we can think of in recent times, the chief official comes into office with his ratings down from his performance at the polls last November. Public Policy Institute revealed in late December that Scott’s ratings were in the low 30s.

And some schoolteachers in the state, concerned about comments Scott has made about public education in Florida, say they intend to wear red on Tuesday as a symbolic protest against those plans. They’re not digging Scott’s proposals to revisit provisions on teacher merit pay that were included in last year’s controversial SB 6, or his interest in expanding school voucher programs to all, and changing how public schools are funded.

Regarding vouchers, Team Scott is proposing a voucher-like program called “educational savings accounts,” which would offer every public school student in the state a private school tuition subsidy. Currently, Florida’s voucher program has been used only for low-income and disabled kids.

Hillsborough County’s head school union chief, Jean Clements, condemned such an idea, telling the Tampa Tribune:

“Even the conservative leaders in the House and Senate, who have been big proponents of vouchers for a long time, have the ability, the experience and the insight to see what a flawed concept that would be,” she said. “It leaves public schools still having to provide all of the services required by law … but they would be operating on a ghost budget from year to year. How would they provide those services? It would create great instability from year to year.”

Many of these same educators are the same ones who rallied last year to lobby now former Governor Charlie Crist against signing SB 6, the education reform bill. Facebook groups, such as Florida Teachers Against Pay-For-Performance Salary/Pay Scales, are prominently collecting opposition to proposals by Scott’s education transition team.

Earlier Monday, Kim Black, president of the Pinellas County Teachers Association, issued a directive to her members, encouraging them to wear red:

Our passion and advocacy for public education calls us to action this week. As Governor-Elect Scott takes office tomorrow, there is a statewide social movement for all those who support public education to wear red. Parents, teachers and community members are urged to wear red on Tuesday, sending a message to our future Governor on his Inauguration Day, that a strong, high quality public education is key for improving our economic situation and for providing the foundation of a true democracy.

Social media sites nationwide are supporting the movement to wear red tomorrow as elected officials across the nation are sworn in. With the systematic plan to dismantle public schools in Florida, it will take all of us, standing up for all students, to guarantee the Constitutional right to a free and appropriate public education for generations to come.

Won’t you join me in wearing red on Tuesday in support of public education?

There has also been criticism over the makeup of Scott’s transition team on education, led by former Washington D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The only member with public K-12 experience on that board is Hillsborough County Superintendent MaryEllen Elia.

From the Daily Loaf: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/