The chairman of the Senates education committee is setting the stage for a lengthy debate over teacher pay by inviting former D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee to testify before his committee next week.
State Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, who filed legislation late Monday that would partially base teacher salary bumps on test scores and allow school boards to put new hires on one-year contracts, has invited Rhee to appear before the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee to talk about her experience in trying to change teacher tenure and pay in the Washington public schools in an effort to boost student test scores.
Im interested in hearing from her, Wise said, noting that unlike him, Rhee is a Democrat. Its kind of interesting because kids -- I dont think the kids are Republican or Democrat. Theyre just kids.
Rhee gained fame, admirers and plenty of enemies in her attempt to shake up the D.C. public schools under former Mayor Adrian Fenty, who lost his re-election bid this fall. She fired long-serving public school teachers who she thought were not performing well and pushed a plan that gave high-performing teachers more money if they agreed to give up tenure.
Rhee has become a national figure in the effort to make teachers more accountable for the performance of students, and her work was profiled in the pro charter school documentary Waiting for Superman, which Florida lawmakers viewed in December at a private showing in Tallahassee.
She is also serving as an informal adviser to new Gov. Rick Scott, who is a backer of teacher performance pay.
Wise has been stockpiling data and public testimony for several months as he tries to craft legislation setting out a new method of teacher pay. A bill creating merit pay passed by the Legislature last year led scores of teachers around the state to rally against it. The bill was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist.
The new bill (SB 736) would grandfather in current teacher pay plans, but set up new, merit-based ones for teachers hired after July 1, 2014. It would require districts to set up evaluation systems that rate teachers as "highly effective," "effective," "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory." Half of those evaluations would be based on test scores. The legislation allows the state commissioner of education to develop a formula, to be approved by the State Board of Education, that would measure student growth on standardized exams. The formula can consider factors such as student attendance, disciplinary records, student disabilities and English language proficiency. The formula may not set different expectations for student growth based on gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.
Under the bill, teachers would only see raises if they are deemed highly effective or effective.
Teachers last year protested the bill in part out of fear it would unfairly evaluate teachers who taught special education or other students whose success may not best be measured in traditional standardized exams, such as students whose first language wasnt English.
Wise says he is still working on the question of how to deal with such students, calling the bill a work in progress.
Wise said he hopes to hear Rhee speak in general about her experience and about what she believes Florida can do as it moves forward on education reform. Attempts to reach Rhee through her new education foundation, StudentsFirst, were unsuccessful on Tuesday.
Wise said he hopes to put the bill to a vote before the entire Florida Senate by the second or third week of March. However, he also said he is waiting for feedback from school superintendents, the school boards and most importantly, he said, the teachers union, which led the charge against the measure last spring.
A spokesman said teachers' union officials are still reviewing the bill and trying to piece together what it does and doesnt do. Union representatives have said over the past few weeks, however, that they have felt more included in the bill-drafting process this year, compared to last spring.
We did feel more involved, said Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pudlow. Of course, there are many more miles to travel until sine die at the end of the legislative session.
Rhee is slated as the first speaker in the Senate PreK-12 Committee on Wednesday, the same day the panel is expected to start discussing Wises proposal. An identical agenda has been produced for the committees Thursday meeting if discussions spill over past the time allotted. Rhee is also expected to speak at a House education subcommittee during her visit to Tallahassee.
