News

$23 Billion for Teachers Unions, the Industry 'Too Big to (Sunshine State News, 5/28/10)
If you liked Washington's Wall Street bailout and stimulus programs, you'll love the EduJobs legislation percolating in Congress. The $23 billion Keep Our Educators Working Act would "prevent layoffs of teachers and other education personnel and, perhaps, give us a leg up on the funding cliff coming next budget year," said Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association. Read More

Unions Backing David Pleat's Challenge to Marti Coley (Sunshine State news, 5/27/10)
The Florida Education Association announced it is backing Democratic candidate David Pleat's bid to knock off Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna. Read More

Today the Florida Education Association issued a duel endorsement of Democrat Kendrick Meek and Independent Charlie Crist for the U.S. Senate Race (Examiner.com, 5/22/10)
Crist who is winding up his term as Florida Governor is seeking the U.S. Senate Seat. He won a great deal of support from the Florida teachers by vetoing Senate Bill Six which would have eliminated tenure for teachers hired after July 1 and tied teacher pay to student scores and standarized tests. Crist left the Republican Party. It was unlikely he would have received the Republican nomination as Macro Rubio is considered a stronger candidate among Republicans. Read More

Crist Gets Nod from Teachers' Union (Wall Street Journal, 5/22/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist's strategy to appeal to groups that typically support Democrats in the U.S. Senate race may be working. Read More

Palm Beach County to examine year-round schools (Sun Sentinel, 4/30/10)
Parents could get option to apply for a program in 2011 to prevent learning loss over summer months It could be the end of the long summer vacation for some Palm Beach County students. Officials say it may be time to try a year-round schedule for one elementary school next year. Read More

School Board OKs slashing teacher jobs (Keys.net, 5/1/10)
Significant cuts in the teacher workforce got the green light Tuesday from the Monroe County School Board. Read More

School district doesn't work with its teachers (Sun Sentinel, 5/1/10)
Running school systems using the "my way or the highway" approach does not work. Thankfully, school districts with some of the most vexing problems are starting to see that collaboration is trumping conflict. In places like New York City; Philadelphia; St. Paul, Minn.; and Douglas County, Colo., school leadership is partnering with its local teachers union to implement genuine school reforms. Read More

Schools say lawmakers boasts over state budget won't save cuts (Miami Herald, 5/2/10)
South Florida school districts say the state education budget praised by lawmakers will still result in cuts to schools. Read More

Attitude change needed towards education (Sun Sentinel, 5/3/10)
It's not like there is a silver bullet solution to the cuts facing teachers and school staffs. If only there were. What it's going to take, however, is a change in attitude, from the Legislature to the school district and all the way on down to the taxpayer. There has to be an attitude that education — and good teachers — are a priority. Every year. Read More

Education legislation runs deeper than SB 6 (St. Petersburg Time, 5/3/10)
For nearly a quarter of the Florida legislative session, education took center stage. Angry teachers protested a Republican plan to radically revamp their contracts, evaluations and pay scales so loudly that they persuaded Gov. Charlie Crist to reject the measure. But Senate Bill 6 was far from the sole piece of education legislation. Read More

State Senator John Thrasher on Senate Bill 6: "One Day it Will be in the Law" (First Coast News, 4/15/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist announced he will not sign the teacher merit pay bill into law. Senator John Thrasher, the driving force behind the bill, said he's disappointed but the idea is not dead. Read More

Gov. Charlie Crist vetoes Florida teacher pay bill; what happens next? (The Miami Herald, 4/16/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday killed the bill that prompted sickouts, sit-ins, street protests and a flood of opposition throughout the state as Republican lawmakers vowed to try again next year -- if not sooner. Read More

Gov. Crist Vetoes Teacher Tenure Bill (WPTV, 4/15/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist has vetoed a bill making it easier to fire Florida teachers and link their pay to student test scores. Read More

Governor Crist on Merit Pay Bill: 'I Don't Know' (WOKV.com, 4/15/10)
Governor Charlie Crist has had an education package linking teacher pay raises to student tests scores on his desk for nearly a week, but the chief executive says he's still not sure if he'll veto Senate Bill 6. Read More

Teachers Wear Black In Senate Bill Protest (Central Florida News 13, 4/15/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist could decide Thursday whether to sign or veto a controversial education bill that would create a merit-based pay system for teachers. Read More

Jeb Bush leads move to marginalize teachers union (Tampa Bay Online, 4/13/10)
The battle over the teacher tenure bill is the latest in a long-running war between the Florida teachers union and conservative Republicans. Led by former Gov. Jeb Bush, the conservative side of the GOP has long sought to marginalize teachers' unions in Florida, which merged in 2000 to form the Florida Education Association. Read More

House passes teacher tenure bill; will Crist sign it? (St. Petersburg Times, 4/9/10)
Protests reached a fever pitch Thursday as the Florida House of Representatives approved a controversial bill tying teacher pay to student performance. While opponents across the state turned their eyes to Gov. Charlie Crist — and their last hope for a veto — school district leaders braced for the bill's long-term impact on testing, budgets and contract negotiations. Read More

Performance Pay Plan on its Way to the Governor (Sunshine State News, 4/9/10)
After a marathon debate that dragged into the early hours of Friday -- and increased speculation that Gov. Charlie Crist plans to veto the measure -- the House joined the Senate in passing a bill that creates a performance pay standard for Florida’s teachers. Read More

Crist says he is unsure what to do with education bill (Tampa Bay Online, 4/9/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist is now at the center of the political firestorm over a contentious education bill that the Florida House voted Thursday to send him for approval. Whether Crist will sign SB 6, the so-called teacher tenure bill, is anything but certain. Read More

Crist Still Unsure on Education Veto (WUSF, 4/9/10)
The Florida Legislature has passed a sweeping education reform bill -- but will Governor Charlie Crist sign it? That's the question on the minds of a lot of educators, parents and members of his own party. Read More

House passes landmark teacher merit-pay bill (Orlando Sentinel, 4/9/10)
The Florida House passed a landmark teacher merit-pay bill early this morning that aims to put the state at the forefront of a controversial national push to tie teacher compensation to student performance. Read More

Florida House Signs off on Teacher Merit Pay, But Governor Remains Undecided (WOKV, 4/9/10)
Eight hours of debate in the Florida House chambers ended in a 2:30 a.m. vote paving the way for major changes in the way teachers are paid. Hailed by Conservative politicians and academics as a national model, Senate Bill 6 links teacher pay raises to student test scores. Read More

Crist: New Concerns on Merit Pay Bill (St. Augustine, 4/8/10)
Gov. Charlie Crist Wednesday flirted with a possible veto of a controversial teacher merit pay bill, a major priority of Republican lawmakers as well as former Gov. Jeb Bush. Read More

Legislature poised to pass education overhaul today (Tampa Bay Online, 4/8/10)
A group of far-reaching education reforms appears headed for final passage in the Legislature today -- leaving the final say up to Gov. Charlie Crist, whose support for the most controversial part of the package may be wavering. Read More

A roadblock for proposal on teacher pay (Herald Tribune, 4/8/10)
Bush spoke Wednesday about the heated opposition the teacher bill has drawn in an interview on the "Morning in America" radio program hosted by Bill Bennett, education secretary to President Ronald Reagan. Teacher performance would be measured on student learning, which is apparently a radical idea," Bush said. "It's not radical at all. I think it's commonsensical." Read More

Merit proposal draws fire (Pensacola News Journal, 4/8/10)
About 150 teachers from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties lined each end of the Pensacola Bay bridge Wednesday afternoon holding signs telling lawmakers to "make schools a priority." Teachers are protesting a bill that links student learning gains to pay raises and certifications for them and administrators starting in 2014. Read More

Teachers Make Last-Minute Push Against Testing-Based Pay (WPBF ABC25, 4/8/10)
Palm Beach County teachers made a last-minute push Wednesday against a proposal by state lawmakers that would tie their salaries to student test scores. Dozens of teachers, students and supporters rallied against the legislation outside Spanish River Community High School. Read More

Future teachers say education bill against them (WFTX Fox4, 4/8/10)
The first day of second grade, Florida Gulf Coast student April Cox figured out something big about where her life should go. "I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be up front making lives change, and things like that, so I knew that was what I wanted to do. I mean I've worked with kids since I was 16-years-old. I love it." Read More

What Floridans need to know about the teacher pay bill (The Florida Times-Union, 4/7/10)
As the fight over a controversial teacher contract bill has moved through the Legislature, both sides have struggled to define the bill as simply as possible. Read More

Crist hints he'll veto teacher merit bill (Orlando Sentinel, 4/7/10)
In a dramatic shift, Gov. Charlie Crist signaled Wednesday he might veto a bill tying teacher pay to student test scores, even as Florida legislators prepared for a final vote on the politically polarizing measure Thursday. Read More

Tallahassee needs a bit of schooling (The Tampa Tribune, 4/7/10)
Watching the Florida Legislature recently has been a little like going to the state fair and standing at the shooting booth. The only difference is that instead of a line of ducks going by and getting plunked, it is a row of teachers, one after another, getting pinged by politicians who think they can micromanage a system by targeting the people who make it work. Read More

Teachers opposed to House Bill 7189 (aroundosceola.com, 4/7/10)
Many educators across the state are on edge after the Florida Senate passed Senate Bill 6 on March 24 and the House is set to consider the controversial legislation this week. The House Education Policy Council Monday voted 12-5 for the bill. Read More

Educators speaking out against education bill (WWSB ABC7, 4/7/10)
A controversial education bill has Suncoast teachers worried about their jobs. The Florida House of Representatives is currently voting on a bill that will make it easier to fire new teachers if their students test poorly. Read More

Teachers protest against tenure bill in Boca Raton (The Palm Beach Post, 4/7/10)
Teachers and parents clad in red Wednesday alongside the campus of Spanish River High School protested a state bill tying teachers' pay to student performance. The red was symbolic of stopping the teacher tenure bill from passing the House floor and being signed into law. Read More

Teachers Across S. Fla. Protest Education Bill (WPLG Miami, 4/7/10)
Groups of teachers gathered across South Florida Wednesday to protest a controversial education reform bill being considered in Tallahassee. The bill, which passed the state Senate as Senate Bill 6, is now on the House floor as Bill 7189. Read More

Teachers converge in Tallahassee as House council debates merit pay (News-Press.com, 4/5/10)
Hundreds of concerned teachers converged on the Florida Capitol today to protest an education package that would tie future pay raises to student achievement and make it easier for school districts to fire teachers who don't produce results in the classroom. Read More

Emotions high over Fla. teacher pay, tenure bill (Miami Herald, 4/3/10)
From street corners to cyberspace, a battle of words and images is raging over legislation that would link Florida teacher pay to student test scores and erode job security for new hires. Read More

Crowd protests against Senate Bill 6 (Historic City News, 4/2/10)
Waiving signs that read "SB-6 takes away local control" and "Stop SB6 bad for kids and teachers" and "Protect Florida schools from bad politics" and "Call the Florida Chamber of Commerce tell them to oppose Senate 6″, local news reporters from Historic City News were on the scene where a crowd of about thirty five protesters packed the side of the road on US-1 at SR-312 during the 5:00 rush hour Thursday. Read More

Florida needs SB 6 to win Race to the Top, education commissioner says (Tampa Bay.com , 4/1/10)
The problem with Florida's Race to the Top application was not too little teacher support, Florida education commissioner Eric J. Smith says. Read More

Pay plan angers teachers (St. Augustine Record, 3/28/10)
Disagreement thrives over legislation that would tie pay raises to student learning gainsBills promoting merit pay for teachers are galloping through the Florida Legislature, but the plan is controversial with state and local educators. Read More