Senators Hear Teacher Worries Over Education Reform
Tenure tinkering, teacher evaluations on educators’ minds
Sen. Stephen WiseHide
The education reform legislation that would have tied teacher pay to performance was vigorously opposed by teachers unions, leading former Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the bill. Legislators still want to pass a law requiring greater accountability of teachers, but would like a more inclusive process to address teachers’ concerns. Only two of the five senators on the committee, however, attended the workshop.
Of particular concern to teachers is the potential of a merit pay system based solely or heavily on student test scores at the end of the year. Some have suggested testing children at the beginning of the year as well, in order to determine how much they have learned over the course of the school year, because many students enter a new year with skills far below their grade level.