Quality Teachers for All Sunshine State Students
Teachers earn tenure – a lifetime guarantee of employment – after just three years of satisfactory evaluations.
Goal
Research confirms effective teaching is the most important factor in determining a student’s success in school. Rewarding the best teachers, and removing the ineffective ones, will create a dynamic workforce that can better meet the needs of the changing economy.
Solutions
Modernize contracting and compensation policies for the 21st century economy.
- Require higher salaries for educators who teach high-need subjects or teach in high-need schools.
- End tenure for all newly hired teachers. Replaces life-time guarantee of employment with annual performance-based contracts.
- Require student performance to be the primary factor in evaluations, contract renewals, re-certification and compensation (at least 50-percent).
- Add student learning to the factors for state renewal of approved colleges of education.
Bill Status
Legislation is currently making its way through the Florida Legislature. The status of the House and Senate bills is noted below:
- HB 7189, Sponsored by Representative John Legg
- Passed House PreK-12 Policy Committee, 9-6.
- SB 6, Sponsored by Senator John Thrasher
- Passed Senate PreK-12 Policy Committee, 6-2
- Passed Senate Ways & Means Committee, 16-7
- Passed Full Senate, 21-7
- Vetoed by Governor Charlie Crist, 4-20-2010
Get the facts about Senate Bill 6
The world economy today is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Competition has gone global. As a result, Florida’s students will compete with students from China and India, as well as New York and California, for the high wage jobs of the future.
In this new global marketplace, knowledge is the most coveted commodity. Emerging industries – and the high-wage jobs they provide – require greater expertise in math, science, technology and engineering.
The success of today’s students will shape the future of our country and define its role in the world. To grow our economy and protect our quality of life, Florida must prepare its students to succeed in this dynamic and demanding environment.
Senate Bill 6 will improve the quality of education in Florida so every child has the knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st economy. The bill requires higher salaries for teachers whose students make annual progress, who teach in high-poverty schools, who teacher high demand subjects or areas with shortages, such as math or science, or teachers of students with disabilities. Salaries will continue to be negotiated by local unions and school boards as part of their collective bargaining agreement.
It ends tenure for teachers who are hired after June 30,2010, but does not end tenure for teachers who have it today.
The Facts:
What Others Are Saying about SB6 and Teacher Quality:
Position Papers