Tell me there isn't a war on public teachers by Tallahassee or better yet tell the 920 effective teachers who are currently out of a job while teachers at private schools that take vouchers don't have to be certified or have degrees, and several of the schools even have hired felons.
The crown jewel of Tallahassee's education agenda this year was to decertify teachers unions because they can't stand the profession and his on the heels where they have ratcheted up the difficulty and cost of teacher exams in the state.
From WFTS- Tampa
Mixon is just one of, at least, 920 Florida teachers who, we've learned, are being terminated this summer because they can't pass a portion of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam also known as the FTCE licensing exam. The battery of tests which include a variety of subject area exams and general knowledge tests are a must-pass for anyone who wants to teach in Florida.
The crown jewel of Tallahassee's education agenda this year was to decertify teachers unions because they can't stand the profession and his on the heels where they have ratcheted up the difficulty and cost of teacher exams in the state.
From WFTS- Tampa
Mixon is just one of, at least, 920 Florida teachers who, we've learned, are being terminated this summer because they can't pass a portion of the Florida Teacher Certification Exam also known as the FTCE licensing exam. The battery of tests which include a variety of subject area exams and general knowledge tests are a must-pass for anyone who wants to teach in Florida.
The state revised the FTCE in 2015. Our series, "Florida teachers: failing and frustrated" began nearly two years ago. We learned examinees were failing the tests at unprecedented levels. We discovered failure rates on some parts of the exam increased by nearly 30% since the revisions. Despite a spokesperson from the FL Department of Education telling us early on that they expected the increase in failure rates but that scores would, “increase over time,” the latest scores we obtained show there hasn’t been much improvement.
The summer 2018 terminations aren't easy for school districts already struggling to fill vacant teacher slots in time for the first day of school next month.
In response to the terminations, a spokesperson with the Florida Department of Education explained while hiring decisions are determined by each local district, the state is "committed to educational excellence." According to FDOE spokesperson Cheryl Etters, "The purpose of the Florida educator certification is to support the academic achievement of our students by assuring that our educators are professionally qualified for highly effective instruction."
Committed to academic excellence %$#@$ I just spit out my milk.
Tallahassee hates teachers because they generally support democratic candidates and spoiler alert they do so because those candidates generally support public education.
Nobody is against certification tests, I mean except for republicans who support voucher schools, but we have gone way to far, they aren't trying to help or improve public ed, no they are trying to punish it.
We need a change in Tallahassee.
In addition to increasing the failure rates to decrease the teacher population, Duval is rumored to be changing middle school days to seven period days, consisting of six core classes a day. This change also decreases the number of teachers needed as it cuts out electives, remedial classes, and increases core teachers' work load. The contract specifically states that prior to implementation of any change requiring teachers to teach six classes a day, the union would be notified and a negotiation (for the increase in teaching time and decrease in planning time each day) would occur. Before the end of the school year, DTU was aware that the principals' 2018-2019 budgets were based on this seven period day, but they had not been contacted by anyone other than teachers, so they weren't doing anything! Teachers were surplused based on the new budgets. When we switched from teaching five core classes a day to three 90 minute classes a day, DTU negotiated a 90 minute planning period a day rather than an increase in wages for the extra 30+ students. Now, they are getting the extra students, cutting our planning, not increasing our pay, and reducing the number of teachers. How many middle School teachers are going to continue teaching under these conditions? Less time, more students, more accountability, and no support. Duval isn't helping teachers.
ReplyDeleteMy colleague and I were literally just talking about FTCE yesterday. She has been in the profession for over 20 years and when we heard the news about all those teachers failing the exams, she legit thought it was the colleges' fault for not properly preparing them for the tests. I do believe that is a factor, but not the big reason. I've been in the profession for nearly five years, still a newbie. Back when I took the exams, there was little literature out there to prepare you for those tests except inaccurate study guides FTCE provided. I took the practice tests on those study tests and failed those practice tests. I researched older study guides from older editions and practiced those and failed those as well. I bought actual study guides and they didn't do me too much good either because there were outdated. So, I took a risk and took the tests as I was getting my degree, coughed up 580 dollars and passed all three first try, but the exams were nothing like the study guides at all. I wasnt expecting exact phrasing, but it was nothing like what I expected. I was mindboggled. I had heard the horror stories about my classmates failing this and that subtest, coughing up 200+ each time. I honestly thought I was going to fail. Pearson gets to line their pockets every time a teacher fails, which helps the government screw over the public school system by firing good teachers on temp certificates that actually tried to pass one simple subtest. Pearson wouldnt make much money if everyone passed the first time around. TFA wouldn't make much money if school districts didn't have teacher shortages. The government wouldn't worship charter schools and private schools as the solution to the failing education system. It's all about scratching each other's backs while screwing teachers and children over. I know the score.
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