I would like to start this morning with a big thank you to everyone who tipped, recommended, and commented on yesterday's diary. Hatdog provided us with today's title, since Fox News completely ignored the will of the people and refused to ask Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio the one question that dominated the comment section on their website for the debate.
They don't have any talking points, because they are simply wrong on this issue, so they chose to try to silence us.
We WILL be heard. Florida Sentate Bill 6 will determine our next U.S. Senator, and it will guide the education debate in the country.
Today I will list some actions you can take to help us in our struggle to defeat this union-busting corporate-based attack on educators in Florida, and showcase some of yesterday's comments.
1.) Republican orthodoxy since 1980 (at least) is that public-sector employees are parasites, and should all be fired. That includes teachers.
2.) There are A LOT of public-sector employees. Enough here in Florida to sway any statewide election.
3.) An unfortunately high percentage of public-sector employees in Florida (including teachers) vote Republican, over and over and over.
Which makes it really friggin' hard to win elections, no matter how often we "take over" debates on Faux News.
-ThirstyGator
That is the situation. For once in Florida we have an issue that can break the Republican grip on intelligence and mobilize public-sector employees. We can use it in the US Senate race to elect Kendrick Meek if Charlie Crist signs the bill. We can use it to clean out our State Congress, which is now working on abolishing all collective bargaining in the state. How can we use this groundswell of anger from the teachers? I ask for your suggestions, while providing an action link to my local teacher's union that will help us defeat the bill that seeks to do major damage to our profession.
We are already being touted as "the first state to attempt this", so if you fear for the loss of real education in your state, write letters to the editor of your local paper and call or email your elected officials. Including President Obama.
The sponsors of SB-6/HB-7189 say it will rid our schools of incompetent teachers, the ones who under perform. But that's not what it does.
It unfairly targets every teacher in Florida.
· A teacher’s certification would expire’ if the teacher fails to achieve ‘effective performance’ based only on student’s test scores. The bill contains no definition of ‘effective performance’.
· More than 50% of a teacher’s salary would be determined by student test scores. Teachers would have no idea what their salaries would be from year to year, making them completely unable to make long term financial decisions for their family, such as buying a home.
Teachers who currently own homes may not be able to afford them under this irresponsible system.
· Newly hired teachers would remain on probation for 5 years and then on an annual contract for the remainder of their career,
leaving them with absolutely no job security.
· Experience would no longer be a component of the salary schedule.
· Advanced degrees and professional credentials would not be a component of a teacher’s salary.
· Teacher lay-offs would be determined by students’ performance on tests.
· Teacher evaluations would be developed and controlled by the Florida DOE, not by the local school district that now negotiates
these working conditions with their teacher unions.
· This bill mandates more testing for students AND teachers, which takes away more of our children’s precious instructional time.
· Thousands of new tests would need to be created from the district’s operating budget. The new tests will cost millions of dollars during this time when school funding in Florida is slashed.
· Teachers could be moved from school to school without warning to fill gaps created by arbitrary terminations.
· National Board Certified Teachers will no longer receive supplemental pay. The Dale Hickman Act would be repealed.
· This bill is a disincentive for teachers to work in low performing schools or with our most fragile children.
· Teacher salary schedules would be set by the Florida DOE.
· This bill contains absolutely nothing that is research based to have shown increased performance in our students. It contains no additional funding for increased instructional time, or funding to decrease class size. On the contrary it is full of red-herrings and pseudoscience that will harm student achievement.
· By making teachers itinerant, the current senate bill will devastate professional teaching in Florida and harm our children’s chance to get a high quality public education.
Our students are reading above the national average. Math proficiency is on the rise. The graduation rate has jumped double digits and fewer
students are dropping out. As teachers, we ask you and the other members of the House of Representatives to support us in our struggle
to help our students.
SB6/HB-7189 are a slap in the face to all of the outstanding teachers across Florida who have dedicated their lives to the teaching
profession and have produced learning gains that are the envy of the nation. A vote against SB6 and HB 7189 is a vote to support Florida's
teachers.
Vote NO on House Bill 7189!
Thanks to Limelight for that summary. Can you imagine any teacher or parent supporting that? We need to spread the word. Send link to this diary or yesterday's diary to Rachel Maddow at maddowblog@msnbc.com and email links to everyone you know. We need to raise awareness of this in the entire country, because if they succeed in Florida it will be a blueprint for the destruction of educator's rights across the nation.
There are some great Facebook pages with plenty of action links. Join them and get involved:
STOP SENATE BILL 6
Save Florida Public Schools!
Make Our Schools a Priority.
Florida Teachers Against Pay-for-Performance Pay Scales.
Stop Senator John Thrasher and SB6.
Testing is not Teaching.
The fact is that educational inequality traps many young people into half-realized lives. Teachers who try to change that, to make a difference in resource-starved areas, serving students who have had poor educational opportunities all their lives, should be recognized as the heroes they are.
-political junquie
At this point, Florida's teachers are being treated like villains. We are being blamed for all the problems we face every day with low income students who have language difficulties and glaring lack of parental involvement. They want to base half our salary on a standardized test that will pad the pockets of corporate cronies, and they actually want to make it illegal for local school boards to reward advanced degrees and years of service. It is an outrage.
I know of NO young person seriously considering a teaching career; they accurately recognize it as an unrespected, unsupported "profession" that is a target for all of society's problems.
-anastasia
That is the sad truth, and before we can turn it around we need to save our jobs. Please post links and ideas for action in the comments. I have scrapped all my other plans for Spring Break so we can make sure Florida Senate Bill 6 fails.
Time for some action.