Democracy hurts. We have spent the last three weeks in an intense struggle against a closed-minded Republican State Congress that is funded by Jeb Bush and bent on destruction. They railroaded a bill straight to the Governor's desk against a huge wave of opposition from parents, students, and teachers. An entire state of children and teachers went to school today crushed.
If Charlie Crist signs Senate Bill 6, I will lose my teaching certificate after 27 years of exemplary service, unless my students reach an unknown level on an unknown test.
Yesterday the Governor got 6,161 phone calls against this bill, and 53 phone calls for it.
The Republican Legislature ignored the will of the people.
Lest we feel defeated, the Obama administration opened the lines of communication directly to the White House.
To support our continuing struggle, Alex Sink started a new petition and helped us define this injustice.
Stark contrast.
Will it be enough to turn Florida blue in November? That remains to be seen. We don't have the luxury of looking that far ahead right now. We have 7 days to convince the Governor to veto the bill.
Here is the statement by Alex Sink:
It's time for members of the Florida House to finally listen to the parents, students, and teachers they represent and oppose this bill that would hurt our schools and students.
It's clear that the people of Florida don't want Tallahassee politicians dictating a rigid, one-size-fits-all policy to our local school districts. Florida is a diverse state and every classroom is different. As a mother whose two children graduated from Florida's public schools, I strongly believe in preserving local control of local schools.
Politicians in Tallahassee have not thought about the consequences of this unfunded mandate at a time when local school districts are already struggling. And the last thing Florida's homeowners can afford is an increase in their property taxes because of this ill-conceived bill.
I support merit pay for teachers, but the way Tallahassee is doing this has no merit. Any merit pay plan should be developed with our school superintendants, local school boards, teachers, parents and community business leaders. And like any good businessperson, I think it's important to bring all the interested parties to the table and make sure you have it right.
We could not have said it better ourselves. We welcome merit pay, but we demand to be a part of its planning. We demand respect. We have gotten advanced degrees and National Board Certification, only to have a corrupt group of fatcat politicians thumb their noses at us and deny the value of continuing education and excellence in the classroom.
We need your help. Please sign Alex Sink's petition. Please call Governor Charlie Crist and ask him nicely to Veto Senate Bill 6. His phone number is (850) 488-4441. You can also email him at charlie.crist@myflorida.com. It is our last hope.
Just in case you don't understand how grave this danger is, let me quote from Huffington Post:
Suppose doctors were given a negative rating whenever one of their patients died? Few doctors would be willing to treat critically ill patients, and those with life-threatening ailments would have a hard time getting care. A bill now pending in the Florida legislature similarly would encourage teachers to avoid the students who are hardest to educate by making teachers singularly responsible for test scores.
Florida has been trying to test its way to better teaching and learning, but that strategy hasn't worked. Senate Bill 6 continues down that mistaken path by using test scores as the predominant measure of a teacher's effectiveness and holding them virtually solely responsible for student performance.
SB 6 falls far short of achieving a crucially important goal--to attract and retain the best teachers and encourage them to take on the toughest assignments. The legislation is the embodiment of the current fad to demonize teachers. Its premise is simply to throw the classroom keys to the teacher and say, "Just do it, and if you don't, you're fired."
Demonizing teachers. Tell me where that leads America into the future.
Oblivion.
Just when I was about to give up hope this morning, I got some really good news. The Obama administration has agreed to talk about teacher issues, with the teachers themselves. This is thanks to Anthony Cody, a teacher and writer for Teacher Magazine.
Secretary Duncan wants to talk with us. Five months after I posted my Open Letter to President Obama, four months after we sent over 100 letters to Obama and Duncan, we are being invited to speak by phone with Arne himself. We are ready. More than 1600 teachers have joined our Teachers' Letters to Obama Facebook group, and we have been actively discussing the key issues in education policy. One of our founding members, Kansas City teacher Marsha Ratzel, set up a meeting with her Department of Education representative, and shared our letters with him. He was impressed, and pushed them up the line in the Department. Result? The Secretary wants to speak with us! Thank you Marsha!
Over the next few days we will discuss what we want to say to Secretary Duncan and who should represent us. I invite you to join us. Post what YOU would like to say. Vote for others so we can determine who should represent us. This is our chance to be heard.
The teachers of Florida have been heard loud and clear by the Republican Legislature, but they are not listening. We got the cover of the Miami Herald today. We were on every local news broadcast. We will be ringing the ears of Charlie Crist until he makes his decision, and then we get to talk to the White House.
Wish us luck, and thanks for your support.