New Florida guv’s education reform plan hits all the targets

Here's EAG with the ed reform proposals being pushed by new Gov. Rick Scott in FL:

 

     TALAHASSEE, Fla. - It's amazing the difference one election can make.

     About six months ago, Florida residents who care about quality education were crushed when former Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed an overdue tenure reform bill.

    The bill's sponsors in the legislature hoped to increase professionalism and accountability in K-12 teaching by taking away some of the absurd protections that keep bad teachers in the classroom.

     Crist, a Republican, might have been expected to sign the bill. But he stabbed his party and his state in the back by killing the measure. And just to add insult to injury, he accepted the endorsement of the state teachers union in his independent bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

     Luckily Floridians elected a new governor in November who obviously means business when it comes to improving schools and increasing parental choice.

     Gov. Rick Scott, who took office last week, comes armed with an in-depth and aggressive education reform plan authored by his Education Transition Team.

     The plan is thorough and bold, to say the least. While governors in many states have nipped around the edges of school reform in recent years, approving some measures and rejecting others, Scott's plan hits all of the major targets.

     Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, since Scott announced in early December that his Education Transition team would include former D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Her fingerprints on this plan are not difficult to pick out.

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New Florida guv's education reform plan hits all the targets

Scott ready to deal some heavy blows to teachers union and its allies

By Steve Gunn

EAG Communications