Teachers Speak Out Against Merit Pay Bill in State Capital

A group of seven teachers spoke out against Senate Bill 736 in front of the state Capitol building in Tallahassee Tuesday. The bill would tie teacher performance and student learning gains to teacher pay.

The teachers said they recognize the move toward education reform but fear a hasty approach that doesn't take into account factors in deciding salaries and pay like advanced degrees and socioeconomic status of students. SB 736 doesn't allow for increased pay for advanced degrees unrelated to the subject being taught, and doesn't take socioeconomic status of students into account in its measurement of teacher performance.

"We are not afraid of performance pay, we just want to make sure it's done right," said Megan Allen, a teacher at Cleveland Elementary School in Hillsborough County who was named the 2010 Florida Teacher of the Year.

Allen said that the Hillsborough County pilot program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that focuses on effective teachers was more carefully thought out than SB 736, of which many of its provisions are based on the pilot program.

"That's been in the works for many, many years. I feel with SB 736 we're throwing all the balls up in the air and not knowing where they're going to land," Allen said.

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