BTW, here is what Gov Bush's foundation says in a recent press release about the E Comp Plan (merit pay) for Florida teachers:
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TEACHER PERFORMANCE PAY
“Teachers are our most valuable asset and their dedication and commitment should be recognized and rewarded” – Governor Jeb Bush
What’s all this buzz about teacher performance pay?
It’s called E-Comp and it is a new proposal to recognize and reward good teachers.
Did you know that all Florida teachers are paid the same based on their education background and years of experience? Regardless of subject, type of school, hours they put in or how well their students are learning, they are paid the same. That hardly seems fair. And where is the incentive to do better?
Can you imagine being a baseball player with a batting average of 500 and receiving the same pay as a teammate with a batting average of 175? Or working in real estate sales and being paid the same whether you sell twenty homes or only one? Or how about being a nurse and receiving the same pay whether you work the morning or midnight shift? Or a student who received A’s on all his math exams, but was given the same report card grade as a classmate who never studies or does homework and barely passed the exams?
Florida teachers should be rewarded for their hard work and going the extra mile like so many do, silently, day after day.
Florida law already requires teachers be awarded bonuses based on their performance but some districts limit the bonuses only to certain types of teachers while others put the burden on the teacher to apply for their well deserved bonus. They require teachers to file applications and complicated portfolios of their work to be considered. E-Comp puts the burden on the state and district to identify teachers that have excelled and reward them.
In 2005, 36% of the districts did not provide any bonuses for teachers. Some of those same districts, however, rewarded their administrators. That’s not fair and teachers should be treated and rewarded more fairly and equally across the state.
How does it work?
Eligible teachers will be identified by the performance gains of their students. The top percentage of teachers in each district will receive a bonus of at least 5% of their base salary.
Every year, beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, a minimum of 10% of teachers will be rewarded. In the years following, all teachers who have ever been in the top 10% and remain in the top 25% will continue to receive a bonus. For example, if a teacher was in the top 10% for the first two years of the program but in the third year of the program the teacher was not in the top 10%, he or she will still receive a bonus as long as he or she remains in the top 25%.
Who is eligible?
All teachers (those who teach FCAT and non-FCAT tested subjects) will have an equal opportunity to receive a bonus regardless of their school, subject or student level they teach. Eligibility is not solely based on any one test but rather an overall appraisal. School districts will have flexibility in setting the standards of the appraisal.
In other words, a teacher in an inner city school with struggling students performing below grade level will be equally eligible as a teacher in a new suburban school with top performing students. The goal for them both is to make sure their students make progress – to increase learning gains, regardless of their student’s performance level at the start of the school year.
Fact vs. Fiction
Members of the Teachers Union have said that “under this new rule, students will suffer and teachers will be penalized.”
FACT: Nothing could be further from the truth. E-Comp is designed to reward teachers who are going above and beyond. Students only stand to gain from teachers who are more motivated to help them excel.
The Teachers Union has also said it will require students to take more standardized tests and hurt teachers who work with students who have difficulty learning.
FACT: Again, this is simply not true. No additional testing will be required to administer E-Comp. And teachers who are spending more time with students who have difficulty learning will be rewarded for their efforts. Those students will be rewarded as well – by learning and because their teacher didn’t give up on them. Teachers who spend time with students who struggle give those students the confidence they need that someone believes they have the ability to learn.
Isn’t it funny that the Teacher’s Union is trying to suppress a program designed to help the very people they represent?
CALL TO ACTION!!!!!
Are you a teacher or do you know one? Forward this email to them or write back yourself. Teachers – it’s time your voice was heard. Please tell us what you think. Send an email to info@foundationforfloridasfuture.org.
For more information on E-Comp go to
www.floridaecomp.com.
If you agree with the policies that have been implemented, if you have witnessed the lives that have been touched, and if you, too, agree that education must continue to be at the top of our state’s priorities, I urge you to join the Foundation for Florida’s Future. Please click on the link below and sign-up to receive regular updates on education news around Florida and the Foundation’s activities.
foundationforfloridasfuture.org
Mandy Fletcher
Foundation for Florida's Future
www.foundationforfloridasfutre.org