Teachers assail performance pay plan

Two articles about teachers in Florida going ballistic over the new law to give a 5% bonus to the top 25% of teachers.  They actually raise some good points -- it's not easy to develop a fair system for evaluating teachers -- but let's be clear about the real objection they have: they don't want teachers to be evaluated at all, even if there were no bonuses paid to top teachers.  Sadly, teacher unions have degenerated to such an extent that one of their main activities is protecting lousy teachers -- and one inevitable outcome of a system that identifies the top 25% of teachers is that it will also reveal the bottom 25%.

 

This is nonsense -- teacher quality is by far the single most important factor:

"I am ashamed that in the state of Florida we continue to hold the position that the problem with education is the quality of our teachers," said Randolph, who was elected Nov. 7.

This is nonsense as well -- teachers are always asking (correctly) to be treated like professionals, and part of that is being paid like professionals:

Randolph said he favors higher pay for all teachers, a position echoed by many of those who spoke at the hearing. Bonuses are for executives, he said. Teachers need a basic living wage.

What a dopey analogy:

George Segna, field services director for the Broward Teachers Union, said all teachers -- not just one in four -- deserve to be rewarded with higher pay.

''What kind of car runs on one really excellent tire?'' he asked.

A better question is: "Can anyone name ANY successful organization that doesn't have a system in place to evaluate its employees and recognize and reward its top performers?"

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Critics give failing grade to merit pay for teachers

Basing the proposed bonuses on student test scores is unfair, they tell the state.

Dave Weber
Sentinel Staff Writer

January 3, 2007

Critics of a new merit-pay plan for Florida teachers complained Tuesday that it is poorly designed, unfair and will force teachers to compete for rewards instead of working together.

Several Central Florida teachers who spoke at a public hearing in Orlando said basing bonuses on student test scores is a ridiculous approach for many educators.

"I hope my kids color as good as they can color," said Ralph Belcher, art teacher at Pine Castle Elementary in Orange County. "I hope they stay within the lines."

If not, Belcher told Florida Department of Education officials conducting the hearing, he'll be among the three-quarters of Florida teachers who aren't worthy of a bonus.

The Department of Education was in town Tuesday gathering comments on the merit-pay plan.

Under the Special Teachers Are Rewarded program approved by the Legislature last spring, a quarter of Florida's 178,000 public-school teachers would get one-time 5 percent bonuses based on how their students do on the FCAT and other tests. Statewide, $147.5 million is to be handed out this school year.

But the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test measures only reading, math, science and writing skills at certain grades.

Officials are scurrying to come up with measures of progress for other courses and grades not covered by FCAT, raising criticism because the school year is half over and no standards have been set.

The Florida Education Association, which is challenging the plan in court, argued during an administrative hearing in October that the state had not followed proper procedures in devising the plan, including holding public hearings.

Another hearing, the fifth in a series around the state, is scheduled today in Boca Raton. Pam Stewart, deputy chancellor of schools, said she was unsure whether or when the hearings might bring changes in rules for the merit-pay plan.

Teachers across the state are up in arms over the pay-for-performance plan, which they say has been forced on them.

"Teachers don't want this," said Chris Spiliotis, a teacher in Seminole County.

The Department of Education reported Tuesday that all 67 Florida school districts submitted a STAR plan to meet the Dec. 31 deadline.

Some -- including Seminole, Volusia and Polk -- submitted plans that had not been agreed to by local teacher unions, although the law requires it.

While the state set loose guidelines, individual school districts must determine which teachers get the money. The state says the selection must be based largely on student test scores, but districts must decide what tests to use in addition to the FCAT, and what weight to give to overall teacher evaluations by principals that also figure in.

State Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, criticized the Department of Education for holding a noontime hearing on a workday when teachers in Orange and Seminole, already back from Christmas break, could not attend.

Only about 50 people attended the hearing at the Orange County School Board office.

"I am ashamed that in the state of Florida we continue to hold the position that the problem with education is the quality of our teachers," said Randolph, who was elected Nov. 7.

Randolph said he favors higher pay for all teachers, a position echoed by many of those who spoke at the hearing. Bonuses are for executives, he said. Teachers need a basic living wage.

Orange County School Board member Kat Gordon, who is a teacher in Osceola County, said, "We should look for a reward system that recognizes all."

She works with students who have behavioral problems, and progress can't be measured by an academic test, she said.

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Teachers assail performance pay plan
Teachers and union officials from counties throughout the region knocked a state-funded performance pay plan at a workshop Wednesday.
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
hsampson@MiamiHerald.com

BOCA RATON - Opponents of a plan that rewards teachers based on improvements in student test scores lined up to express their ire at a workshop Wednesday afternoon.

The angry speeches, from 20 teachers, union leaders and a Broward School Board member, lasted for more than an hour.

Even though school districts in all of Florida's 67 counties have submitted proposals for the Special Teachers Are Rewarded plan, it was clear that many remain opposed to a program they called divisive, rushed and unfair.

WHO LIKES IT?

''I'm not sure who, besides [the Florida Department of Education], is in favor of it,'' said Steven Feldman, a representative of the Broward Teachers Union. ``No one is.''

Wednesday's meeting, at Florida Atlantic University, was officially a DOE workshop on rules governing teacher evaluations. But the 40 or so people who showed up were focused on STAR, which would give 5 percent bonuses to the 25 percent of teachers with the highest ratings in two areas: an evaluation from their superiors, and improvements in student test scores, notably the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The state is requiring all districts to have some sort of performance pay plan in place this school year. STAR is the only one that comes with money from the state, a total of $147.5 million that the Legislature appropriated last year.

FEW CHOSEN

Pam Stewart, the state education department's K-12 Deputy Chancellor for Educator Quality, said that in the past few teachers had been declared outstanding by their districts.

She said the process has been so burdensome that most teachers did not even try to be recognized.

With STAR, she said, ``there is no additional work on the part of teachers. They are in a classroom doing what they are supposed to do.''

Broward stands to receive about $15 million under the program.

The district is now renegotiating with the union after both sides were unable to come to an agreement on the plan.

George Segna, field services director for the Broward Teachers Union, said all teachers -- not just one in four -- deserve to be rewarded with higher pay.

ONLY ONE TIRE

''What kind of car runs on one really excellent tire?'' he asked.

Swami Lalitananda, who teachers emotionally handicapped children at Watkins Elementary in Pembroke Park, said those who teach children with special needs are unlikely to see the bonuses.

She is worried that teachers would be pitted against each other in competition for the money, and that they would be less willing to share helpful information with each other.

But Stewart said she did not think that would happen.

''I believe the teachers would still choose to share with one another,'' she said.

Clara Cook, secretary-treasurer with the Florida Education Association, which has challenged STAR in court, said teacher sentiment about STAR was the same at two other workshops she attended.

''I just hope they listen,'' she said. ``Someone has to listen to these teachers.''