A group of educators, teacher advocates and lawmakers recently chosen by the governor to ensure Florida wins $700 million in federal money for education is recommending that the state implement a revised form of teacher performance pay.
And, says a member of the group, the decision was unanimous.
I think that sends a powerful message to the governor that this is a good plan, said the group's chairman, Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of the Miami-Dade County School District
Gov. Charlie Crists Race to the Top Working Group has tweaked the approach that lost Florida a chunk of $4.35 billion in federal funds in the first round of the national Race to the Top competition and sent it to the governor. Florida came in fourth and lost out on the money. The state has until June to file another application.
While a public version of the recently appointed groups new recommendations, called a Memorandum of Understanding, had not yet been made public, Carvalho outlined the suggestions that came out of a 12-hour conference Wednesday.
In the first round, the state suggests implementing a performance-pay system that bases half of a teachers pay on student test scores.
The new plan tempers those scores with considerations of a students home environment, poverty level and other factors, Carvalho said. It also broadens the tests that are used as assessments and includes greater involvement from teacher's unions. It would also provide incentives to draw teachers to poverty-stricken areas.
In 2012, the first year the system would be implemented, 35 percent of a teachers pay would be defined in comparison to how their students test scores compared to national and state test scores and 15 percent would be compared with local test scores. In the second year, 40 percent of the pay would come from test comparisons to state and federal scores and 10 percent from comparisons to local scores.
Crist had the opportunity to show how bold Florida was in education when SB 6, a measure authorizing teacher performance pay, came to his desk. He decided to veto it, prompting praise from teachers' unions and driving a rift between him and members of the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Florida lost out on Race to the Top money in the competitions first round because of a lack of teacher involvement. So Crist appointed a new working group that comprises Florida Education Association President Andy Ford, Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson, Miami Republican Sen. Rudy Garcia and Republican Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, representatives of school districts and parents and others.
Reach Alex Tiegen at atiegen@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (561) 329-5389.
