A Dark Day for Florida's Schools

From the Ledger.com

by Merissa Green

LAKELAND | School Board Chairwoman Kay Fields wasn't surprised the Florida Senate gave approval Thursday to a bill that will tie teachers' pay to students' performance.

She said she wishes she were.

"I think it is a dark day for public education," she said Thursday after the vote.

Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, who sponsored the bill, is a former educator and chairs the Senate's education prekindergarten-through-12th grade committee. Wise acknowledged on the Senate floor Thursday that he knows the bill isn't perfect but it will be a work in progress. The way it is written now provides "a skeleton" and the "meat" will come later, he said.

Tom Lentz, an English teacher at Ridge Community High School in Haines City, said many of his students are hungry, tired and come from broken homes -- all factors that affect their abilities on testing despite having good teachers.

"My main concern is it's going to push teachers out of school, especially on the east side of the county, where the socioeconomic status is lower," he said.

Jeremy Ezanchesky, a math teacher at Southwest Middle School in Lakeland, said he feels insulted by the state's senators.

"I'm going to hit their targets, but where is my bonus going to come from," Ezanchesky said. "I don't see how they're going to give me more money when I haven't received a raise in three years and my health care is being cut."

Department of Education Commissioner Eric Smith said the current system of evaluation is not useful.

"It relies primarily, if not solely, on subjective observation, and fails to connect our teachers to the work of their students," Smith said in a news release. "This legislation allows us to address that deficiency and gives us the capability to finally recognize and reward our most effective teachers for the incredible job they are doing."

Fields' opinion was shared by the majority of Polk County educators.

Susan Cameron, a social studies teacher at Denison Middle School in Winter Haven, said the bill is going to make the School District's budget situation worse.

"Who's going to want to teach in Florida with this kind of bill," Cameron said. "Our youngest and brightest teachers won't stay and our kids are going to suffer for it."

But there was praise for Paula Dockery of Lakeland, one of only two Republican senators who voted against the bill.

Marianne Capoziello, Polk Education Association president, said she was angered by Thursday's vote, but Dockery did "an exceptional job" pointing out flaws of the bill. The teachers' union will continue to protest the issue as the state House considers similar legislation.

"Hopefully, the members of the House will listen to what is right instead of what is politically motivated," she said.

Dockery could not be reached for comment.

Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, voted in favor of the bill.

Key features are a merit-pay plan based heavily on student test scores that would become effective in 2014 and a ban on tenure for teachers hired after July 1, 2011.

The bill now goes before the House for consideration.

Former Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed last year's bill, but Gov. Rick Scott has said he will sign it when it reaches his desk.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20110310/NEWS/103105051/1410?p=2&tc=pg