Florida Scraps Test-Based Teacher Bonuses

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

A TURNABOUT ON TEACHER MERIT PAY
Miami Herald -- March 8, 2007
by Gary Fineout

In a surprising reversal, the Republican-controlled Legislature is 
moving quickly to scrap a controversial merit pay system for teachers 
that lawmakers put in place less than a year ago.

Republican legislators are not abandoning the idea of awarding bonuses 
to teachers. But the turnabout represents a rejection of ideas first 
pushed by the administration of former Gov. Jeb Bush -- and even 
includes some minor tweaks to Bush's ''A+ Plan'' that was adopted eight 
years ago.

Teachers across the state have responded angrily to the merit pay 
program that was approved by lawmakers last spring, saying it doesn't 
reward enough teachers and is based largely on student test results. 
Some school boards, such as Broward County's, have refused to carry it 
out, which could cost them millions of dollars from the state.

''You can't find five teachers in Florida who can tell you how it 
works,'' said Sen. Don Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican and former 
school superintendent.

Lawmakers set aside more than $147.5 million in last year's state budget 
for the merit pay program, known as Special Teachers Are Rewarded, or 
STAR, and ordered districts to give rewards of at least 5 percent to 25 
percent of teachers. The bonuses were to be based primarily on student 
results on exams such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. The 
plans must be reviewed and approved by the state Board of Education.

Gaetz calls the merit pay program ''badly flawed.'' He is pushing a bill 
that would replace the STAR program with a new merit pay plan that gives 
substantial leeway to school districts on who is eligible. It keeps 
intact bonuses of at least 5 percent but says the rewards should be 
offered to 20 percent to 80 percent of the teachers in a district.

The Senate Education Pre-K-12 committee unanimously voted for the bill 
Wednesday, and Senate leaders want it passed this month. That's because 
districts whose merit pay plans have not been approved by the state 
would forfeit their share of the $147 million on April 1.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on 21st Century Competitiveness approved 
its own merit pay bill along partisan lines. Unlike the Senate measure, 
the legislation would not repeal the current program, but it would 
change the way it would work next school year, including basing the 
bonuses on student performance as well as the recommendations of 
principals. That's a priority of Gov. Charlie Crist, who also wants to 
double the amount of money for merit pay to $300 million.

The House bill also tinkers with the school recognition program that was 
part of the A+ Plan pushed by Bush. School reward money would have to go 
to bonuses for teachers and staff members. Bush's initial plan left the 
decision on how to spend the money to each school.

Democrats on the House committee complained that lawmakers should spend 
money to increase the salaries of all teachers before they single some 
teachers out for bonuses. But House Speaker Marco Rubio said it's time 
to reward good teachers.

''What we will refuse to accept is that teaching is the only profession 
in America where you can't tell those who do a great job from those who 
do an average job,'' Rubio said.

Broward School Board members remain hopeful that legislators will pass 
something in time for them to keep $15 million initially set aside for 
the school district.

''We took a gamble that hopefully they would tweak it for this session 
and we wouldn't be penalized,'' said Broward School Board member 
Stephanie Kraft. ``It certainly looks like they're going in that 
direction. It looks like our gamble is going to pay off.''

   http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/34808.html