480 in the collection
A turnabout on teacher merit pay
Reacting to complaints, state lawmakers are acting quickly to revamp a performance pay system for teachers.
By Gary Fineout
TALLAHASSEE --
In a surprising reversal, the Republican-controlled Legislature is moving quickly to scrap a controversial merit pay system for teachers that lawmakers put in place less than a year ago.
Republican legislators are not abandoning the idea of awarding bonuses to teachers. But the turnabout represents a rejection of ideas first pushed by the administration of former Gov. Jeb Bush -- and even includes some minor tweaks to Bush's ''A+ Plan'' that was adopted eight years ago.
Teachers across the state have responded angrily to the merit pay program that was approved by lawmakers last spring, saying it doesn't reward enough teachers and is based largely on student test results. Some school boards, such as Broward County's, have refused to carry it out, which could cost them millions of dollars from the state.
''You can't find five teachers in Florida who can tell you how it works,'' said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican and former school superintendent.
Lawmakers set aside more than $147.5 million in last year's state budget for the merit pay program, known as Special Teachers Are Rewarded, or STAR, and ordered districts to give rewards of at least 5 percent to 25 percent of teachers. The bonuses were to be based primarily on student results on exams such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The plans must be reviewed and approved by the state Board of Education.
Gaetz calls the merit pay program ''badly flawed.'' He is pushing a bill that would replace the STAR program with a new merit pay plan that gives substantial leeway to school districts on who is eligible. It keeps intact bonuses of at least 5 percent but says the rewards should be offered to 20 percent to 80 percent of the teachers in a district.
The Senate Education Pre-K-12 committee unanimously voted for the bill Wednesday, and Senate leaders want it passed this month. That's because districts whose merit pay plans have not been approved by the state would forfeit their share of the $147 million on April 1.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on 21st Century Competitiveness approved its own merit pay bill along partisan lines. Unlike the Senate measure, the legislation would not repeal the current program, but it would change the way it would work next school year, including basing the bonuses on student performance as well as the recommendations of principals. That's a priority of Gov. Charlie Crist, who also wants to double the amount of money for merit pay to $300 million.
The House bill also tinkers with the school recognition program that was part of the A+ Plan pushed by Bush. School reward money would have to go to bonuses for teachers and staff members. Bush's initial plan left the decision on how to spend the money to each school.
Democrats on the House committee complained that lawmakers should spend money to increase the salaries of all teachers before they single some teachers out for bonuses. But House Speaker Marco Rubio said it's time to reward good teachers.
''What we will refuse to accept is that teaching is the only profession in America where you can't tell those who do a great job from those who do an average job,'' Rubio said.
Broward School Board members remain hopeful that legislators will pass something in time for them to keep $15 million initially set aside for the school district.
''We took a gamble that hopefully they would tweak it for this session and we wouldn't be penalized,'' said Broward School Board member Stephanie Kraft. ``It certainly looks like they're going in that direction. It looks like our gamble is going to pay off.''
— Gary Fineout
Miami Herald
2007-03-08
INDEX OF NEWS ITEMS
Pages: 24
[1] 2 3 4 Next >> Last >>
