In Florida, Push to Link Teacher Pay to Student Performance

[The Northerner]

MIAMI — The Florida Legislature, convening its 60-day session on Tuesday, quickly set its sights on measures that would link the pay of new teachers to student performance and allow school boards to fire teachers more easily for mediocre results.

The final bill is expected to clear the Legislature next week. Unlike last year, when similar legislation was vetoed by the former governor, who considered it too extreme, this slightly softened version is expected to win Gov. Rick Scott’s approval easily.

The far-reaching bills in the House and Senate would shake up a system of pay and tenure in Florida that has existed for decades and would position Florida as a leader among those states taking on teachers’ unions. Supporters say it will make it easier to reward and promote the state’s best teachers, not by their longevity, but by their work in the classroom. This, they say, will ensure that the lowest-performing schools can lure more effective teachers.

Representative Erik Fresen, a Republican from Miami who is sponsoring the House bill, said the measure would do away with a system that did not benefit the best teachers or help struggling students and replace it with one that would actually assess how well a teacher performed.

“If you look across the board, one thing that is consistent is that teacher effectiveness is the most influential variable in a student’s learning,” Mr. Fresen said. “Teaching is disconnected from any other profession in the world. Every profession that I know has some effectiveness input in terms of a salary increase and whether you get promoted or get paid less or paid more.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/education/09florida.html?_r=1&ref=politics

[Drale]

1. Elected Officials pay should be tied to performance

and if they are not elected again after their first term or in states that allow it recalled they should have to pay back 3 times their salaries.

[fittosurvive]

3. They are. It is based on how much bacon the steal from the future and

bring back home.

[fittosurvive]

2. Performance based rewards...

Ingenious concept.

[csziggy]

4. Rep. Fresen has it wrong

He said, “If you look across the board, one thing that is consistent is that teacher effectiveness is the most influential variable in a student’s learning.”

I have always thought that parental involvement is more effective in getting children to learn.

[Tippy]

5. Didn"t they try this before? at least it was talked abouut durring

GW's days in the WH......