Frederick M. Hess's Blog
Florida's Game-Changing Senate Bill 6
by Frederick M. Hess • Apr 13, 2010 at 8:53 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
This is seriously big stuff. Game-changing stuff. The bill ("Senate Bill 6," as it's known in Florida) passed the Florida Senate on March 24 on a 21-17 vote and the state house on April 9 by a 64-55 vote (this was at 2:26am, after a nine-hour session). The Miami-Herald reported that Crist watched the debate until 1:00am and "said he hasn't decided yet if he's going to veto the bill." Teachers unions are furious. No surprise there. "Teachers are incredibly frustrated," Robert Dow, president of the Palm Beach County Classrooms Teachers Association, said. "Education is falling apart. If this Senate Bill 6 is signed into law, I think it will be the death knell of education." Florida Education Association president Andy Ford said, "SB6 punishes the teachers who delivered [stunning] educational gains. It lashes out at the teachers who made Florida schools a 'model for the
