Controversial teacher bill vetoed: “Significantly Flawed”
Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the Teachers’ Merit Pay Bill, better known as Senate Bill 6 (SB 6), putting an end to the controversy that caused sit-ins, street protests and sickouts.
The bill would have made teacher's pay primarily based on their students' standardized test scores. It would have kept new hirers from getting tenures. It would have ultimately raised property taxes for all school districts in order to financially support those new laws.
Crist said that the bill was “significantly flawed.” He also told the St. Petersburg Times that the bill “has deeply and negatively affected the moral of our teachers, our parents and out students. They are not confident in our system because they do not believe their voices were heard.”
Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the Teachers’ Merit Pay Bill, better known as Senate Bill 6 (SB 6), putting an end to the controversy that caused sit-ins, street protests and sickouts.
The bill would have made teacher's pay primarily based on their students' standardized test scores. It would have kept new hirers from getting tenures. It would have ultimately raised property taxes for all school districts in order to financially support those new laws.
Crist said that the bill was “significantly flawed.” He also told the St. Petersburg Times that the bill “has deeply and negatively affected the moral of our teachers, our parents and out students. They are not confident in our system because they do not believe their voices were heard.”
His decision came as a surprise to the Republican Party. He initially supported the bill, but over the past couple of weeks his decision altered. Many also believe his mind changed due to “mounting protests.”
The governor’s office received over 120,000 messages regarding the bill. Several of the letters were not read, but out of the ones that were, 65,000 were against the bill while 3,000 supported it.
“We must start over,” Crist said in the St. Pete Times article.
However, Republican Sen. John Thrasher stated he didn’t think the bill would be brought up again this spring. Other supporters, like Rep. John Legg, said he still intends to find ways to toughen existing laws that require using students’ performance to evaluate teachers and require schools to have an “evaluation mechanisms” for every course.
“Crist is, above all else, a populist politician, and he recognized that it was both in the state’s best interest and his own to veto it. As such, his senate campaign lives on,” Chris Fulton, english teacher at Tarpon Springs High School said.
SB 6 was created to evaluate teachers on students’ learning gains. If the teacher showed that their class scored well on the FCAT, then they would receive a positive evaluation followed by a pay raise.
However, if the scores of their students were low, the teacher would receive a bad evaluation followed by other issues: no pay raises, a possible pay decrease, loss of tenure, possible layoff, and all teachers would have to reapply to be rehired.
“The one thing that it was missing is under what circumstance are we going to measure. Because they didn’t think of anything, the only measurement we have right now that has any value is the FCAT,” Billy Butcher, a teacher at Dixie Hollins High School said. “We had a big change last year, the FCAT used to be 100 percent of the criteria for a good school or a bad school. You could be graded on A to F. If we get an F, we’ve got the state down here wondering why. If we get an F three years in a row, the entire teaching staff is spread to the winds, to other schools, reassigned.”
“The one thing that it was missing is under what circumstance are we going to measure. Because they didn’t think of anything, the only measurement we have right now that has any value is the FCAT,” Billy Butcher, a teacher at Dixie Hollins High School said. “We had a big change last year, the FCAT used to be 100 percent of the criteria for a good school or a bad school. You could be graded on A to F. If we get an F, we’ve got the state down here wondering why. If we get an F three years in a row, the entire teaching staff is spread to the winds, to other schools, reassigned.”
The bill would have also eliminated teachers’ tenure. Tenure is a security for most teachers. After their first 90 days of teaching at a new school, they get a tenure that ensures a job for the next year. After a year of teaching, they receive a contract for the next three years. This tenure provides stability and job guarantee. SB 6 would have gotten rid of this opportunity for new teachers entirely.
When the bill was first passed, it got by with a tight Senate vote of 21-17. The bill then passed through the House with a 64-55 vote.
When the bill was first passed, it got by with a tight Senate vote of 21-17. The bill then passed through the House with a 64-55 vote.
In the St. Pete Times article, Gov. Crist vetos teacher tenure bill, they said, “the bill would have made Florida a leader in education reform nationwide, with a more sweeping pay-for-performance plan that any state has enacted. But even supporters of merit pay said the measure was doomed because the process lacked collaboration and transparency.”
Crist believed the bill was “sped through without meaningful input.” Teachers agreed. Kim Black, president of the Pinellas Teachers Union said in the Times article, “We just cheered and cried!”
The Republican Party of Florida thought Crist was going to pass the bill. He acknowledged several times that he was in support of SB6 throughout this past session. However, Crist never promised that he would actually sign it.
On April 15, 2010 it was vetoed.
Recently, Crist announced he would run as an Independent. Go to our web page to find out how the Republican Party feels about this change in party affiliation, and if teachers still support him.
Story by Tiffany and Jennifer
