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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (276095)	2/22/2006 3:30:35 PM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1577945

re: Why are they criticizing bonuses? Isn't that a good thing? You would think so, wouldn't you? Here, the world" revolves around FCAT, the pressure on student, teachers and admin is supposed to be tremendous. Here is an article on the bonus, you tell me if it makes sense. School boards, teachers union criticize FCAT bonus plan The plan would give raises to teachers whose students improve the most on the mandated exam. BY BILL KACZOR TALLAHASSEE -- Education officials unveiled a new merit pay plan Friday that would give 5 percent bonuses to teachers whose students show the biggest gains on state test results. But it's one pay raise that teachers don't want. The "Effectiveness Compensation" plan was met with a hail of criticism from school boards and the state's teachers union, which say it would be unfair and difficult to administer. The Florida Education Association quickly filed an administrative challenge arguing that state law does not permit such a plan and denouncing it as an arbitrary, vague and incomplete way to determine which teachers are the best. "It's silly and demeaning to rate teachers using only the poorly defined 'learning gains' on the FCAT," said FEA President Andy Ford. The plan -- billed as the nation's first statewide merit pay plan for teachers based on student performance -- still needs approval from the state Board of Education. "It's a different way of doing business," said Education Commissioner John Winn. "If we are to attract and keep the best and brightest teachers, then we must reward excellence in what matters most -- student learning." The Board of Education is scheduled to take up the proposal at its Feb. 21 meeting in Miami. The Florida School Boards Association will urge that approval be delayed so state officials can try to work out problems with teachers, local officials and others, said Wayne Blanton, the association's executive director. "Logistically, this thing's a nightmare," Blanton said. He said he told Winn it would also be a public relations disaster to run approximately 180,000 teachers through a state ranking system, noting 23 districts currently would not have a single teacher qualify for the statewide part of the pay plan. It would give 5 percent bonuses to the top 10 percent of elementary, middle school and high school teachers across Florida as determined by gains their students have made on reading and math scores in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Methods of judging those who teach subjects not tested by the FCAT have not yet been developed. Another part of the plan would require all teachers to have a portion of their salaries based on students' learning gains, with details to be negotiated through collective bargaining between the union and individual school districts. The "E-Comp" plan is designed to enforce a 2002 merit pay Continued Page 2) . . . it pay law that many school districts have ignored, Winn said. He said the Legislature would be asked to appropriate $53 million for the state and local bonuses. School districts that refuse to comply with the local part stand to lose that money and the state lottery revenues. In some districts, teachers can apply for bonuses under existing programs, but the statewide plan would automatically give the 5 percent bump to all who qualify. Blanton questioned how the state could do that because wages must be negotiated through collective bargaining at the district level. "This is surely going to be considered wages," he said. Winn unveiled the plan during a conference call that included several supporters such as Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, who called it the "most exciting educational policy of the last decade." << Previous \| 1 \| 2