From the Florida Times Union
by Ron Littlepage
The Florida senators were huddled in a back room.
By all means, they didn't want to violate even the intent of the state's Sunshine Law so they weren't discussing any legislative business. No, they were just talking about "ideas."
"Look," one of them said, "this thing is eating up a huge chunk of the state budget, and we're not getting a return on our investment.
"The results are horrible," he continued. "We have to come up with a merit pay plan that rewards those who do their jobs well and encourages the poor performers to move on to something else."
"That's right," another senator chimed in. "We are spending $20 billion on Medicaid this year, and the poor are still getting sick and they are still dying.
"We can't just keep throwing more money at these doctors. We can't just keep paying them all the same regardless of outcome. By golly, I agree that we have to have a merit pay system."
Another senator said excitedly, "Yeah, the doctors who cure their patients should be getting rewarded for that. The others should look for other work. I mean, no one promised them a lifetime job."
"Wait a minute," another senator, who is also a doctor, said.
"My Medicaid patients come to me after having lived an unhealthy lifestyle for years.
"They don't eat right. They don't exercise. Their parents never taught them about living healthy. By the time I get them, I'm lucky if I can keep them alive.
"On the other hand," he said, "one of my colleagues has Medicaid patients who are new to being poor. They had been his patients before they lost their jobs and had their homes foreclosed in this recession.
"They had been living healthy lifestyles for years. They understand what their responsibilities are. If they do get ill, he has a better chance of getting them well."
"That doesn't matter," another senator interrupted. "There should be one test for doctors no matter who their patients are. If the patients are cured, the doctor gets paid well. If not, too bad."
Another senator cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, guys, but aren't we forgetting something here?
"We are all Republicans, and you have to admit that doctors have been more than generous when it comes to putting campaign dollars in our pockets. Should we be doing something that would make them mad?"
A collective gasp echoed through the back room.
"You're right," the senators said in unison. "What were we thinking?"
"I still like the idea of merit pay," the senator who started the conversation said.
"I know. Let's stick it to the teachers instead. They are a bunch of Democrats anyway, and we don't get any of their money.
"I say that the teachers whose students perform well on one big test like the FCAT get raises and all the others get squat. They shouldn't be teaching anyway."
"But," one of the senators said, "what if a teacher's students live in poverty? What if they come to school unprepared to learn and with bad habits? What if their parents aren't involved and they have never been taught discipline? Should that teacher be judged against teachers whose students have had every advantage?"
"Of course," said the senator-doctor. "One standard and one test for all."
The senators then broke out the bourbon and cigars.
ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4284
http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400601/ron-littlepage/2011-03-13/florida-senators-come-merit-pay-plan
when will they build more golf courses on the west side. The courses there aren't very good and are too expensive. The state needs to step in and build some good courses on the state parks.
ReplyDeleteIn the last decade, teachers have been asked to follow the increasing demands of federal and state laws and guidelines without the income, job security and benefits that federal and states employees receive. Today, it is difficult for teachers to find time to do effective lesson planning with all the added paperwork. This added paperwork comes from “No Child Left Behind”, the state of Florida and county school boards. These added demands can be placed on teachers, because school systems rely heavily on state and federal funds. Next, we will be asking physicians who accept Medicare and Medicaid to be evaluated and paid according to their failures.
ReplyDeleteAs politicians and county school boards are talking about evaluating and paying teachers according to their student’s assessment scores I start wondering who will teach our students with learning disabilities. What underpaid teacher could afford to jeopardize their job to take on the challenges of learning disabled students? Teachers are always told that special considerations are made for these teachers, but it is difficult to find evidence of this consideration.
If we take benefits away from teachers, who already earn less statistically than other college educated professionals won’t we encourage the best teachers to leave education? In Jacksonville, Duval County Public Schools is the second largest employer after the navy. If Rick Scott or anyone else thinks this won’t damage an already dismal economy think again. How many businesses will be damaged and how many tax dollars will be lost? How many students will not have the benefit of good teachers in Florida? Teachers will go elsewhere to teach or go into other fields of employment. I can tell you that I am going to try to spend as little money in Florida as possible. Why should I spend any more money than I have to in a state that thinks so little of me! The economy is already in a recession and making those working for the second largest employer in Jacksonville fear for their jobs certainly will not help.
Maybe we should start paying everyone in every profession according to their failures, not their successes or get down on our knees and start praying that all students become awesome test takers. Let’s not pay doctors who have patients die or attorneys who lose a case, but lets’ make sure that we stop paying politicians first based on some people’s opinion of their performance. If the state can dictate how we are to be treated as employees, then give teachers "state and federal benefits". I personally want Rick Scott's and Steve Wise's income, health insurance and job security.
I would like to encourage the politicians and citizens of Florida to go teach in an urban school. You will find it more challenging then you ever imagined. If we all are not concerned about politicians passing laws that so heavily impact our students and teachers we should be. I can remember when Republicans were concerned with upholding the rights of people living in a democracy. Sadly, our rights to vote on such serious matters as Senate Bill 736 have been ignored. Do we still live in a democracy? Next, I guess we will be passing laws regarding how all employers evaluate and pay their employees.
Sincerely,
Concerned