Response to Governor
Crist's veto
|
I appreciate
Governor Crist
vetoing Senate Bill
6. The bill as it
was presented needed
some reworking, and
in its current form
would have added an
additional $42
million in unfunded
mandates to the
district, and based
on our current
programs of merit
pay, it would not
encourage the best
teachers to take on
the toughest
assignments. |
Changes needed
Senate Bill 6, if passed by the Florida House of Representatives and signed by the governor, will add at least $42 million in unfunded mandates.
This will happen in fiscal year 2011-12 when Duval County public schools will also lose $43 million in federal stimulus money with no legislative plan for replacement.
In order to pay for this new requirement, districts will have to turn current salary scales upside-down, severely reducing salaries for experienced teachers.
The bill prohibits any compensation be given for experience or for advanced degrees.
As Duval and other districts increase our Advanced Placement and similar college-level courses, many more teachers will need advanced degrees and should be compensated for their advanced knowledge, gained on their own time and at their own expense.
Senate Bill 6 requires districts to develop hundreds of tests to establish learning gains of students to be used as the predominant factor in teacher and principal evaluations and compensation.
As one of only two large districts in Florida that has developed these tests, and used them for performance pay, we know the time and cost needed to make them fair and reliable for such major decisions.
Districts that have successfully moved to more performance-based systems have involved all of the key stakeholders and have required additional funds to make the transition.
While we agree with the purpose of the bill to strengthen our ability to discharge ineffective teachers and to use learning gains as a significant portion of teacher and principal compensation, more input is needed to reduce the negative unintended consequences before this bill is implemented.
