YOUR voice

To the Editor,

I am a 21-year-old college student in my final year of school. I went to high school at East Lake, which has been graded as a B or higher based on FCAT scores.

I believe that teachers should be paid based on their performance; however, the FCAT is a ridiculous basis for this. There are so many teens that would care LESS about the FCAT. When I first moved here from New Hampshire I was a little ahead of the game in school. We didn't have some stupid standardized test that determined a child's fate in school. We didn't pay a teacher based on his or her child's performance on that stupid test either. There were paid mid 40 thousands and higher, and were noticeably more dedicated and better teachers than in Florida schools.

I think that teachers should be paid a lump sum and if their students do better or show improvement, they should be given a bonus. They should not be reprimanded for having students less skilled than others. Teachers need to have an incentive to teach students not only the knowledge they need to move forward, but they need to teach children ethics and morals from a young age.

They should be convincing students to graduate and to get good grades, not only on the FCAT but also in their classes!

Story by Katie