Saturday, March 12, 2011

How Much will Teacher Merit Pay Cost

For months Sandra in Brevard has been asking that question here and on Grumpy Educators.  Florida Senator Paula Dockery has been asking the same question,   Senator Steve Wise and others who are trying convince Floridians that the bill's passage is urgent,and they along with President Obama and Jeb Bush have the only answer,  have flatly refused to discuss real cost or the laws impact on taxpayers in the future.

Just before the vote, Dockery asked Wise publicly on the floor of the Senate what SB 736 would cost in Florida.  Now would someone tell me WTF he actually said about costs?



Video by Tom Whatley, originally posted on facebook

This week, Education Reform including Merit Pay will be taken up by the Florida House..  Please send this video to your Representative and ask if they have a better explanation.  You can find their email address here Representatives of the Florida House, just click the name and you'll be able to connect to their email.

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10 comments:

  1. from imoonly

    No way to stop this train now. RTTT is the only way to get some extra $$ at this point. I can tell you I work right in the center of hiring, appointing and transferring teachers and there are big changes in the works already.

    It's petty much already here; either way it sure can't cost more than class size amendment, which is also going to chance

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree.. the legislature saw 700,000,000 dollars and could care less about the strings attached.. Kind of an indication the money will be used for other than RTTT programs, that still leves to local districts holding the bag for costs RTTT will impose on them.

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  3. And when it's all said and done, the taxpayer gets fleeced and the children fail.

    Is there anyone out there who cares at least a little?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Puma, hope you don't mind, last night I refereced your blog in a debate about teachers unions on a newspaper forum.

    "Who cares at least a little?" Sandra in Brevard who contributes education blogs here regularly has been reseaching te various schemes for a couple years now. She and I set up a site to make her material easily accessable, she cares about what's going and some information there I think you'll find useful

    http://grumpys-news.blogspot.com/

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  5. Read from the first blog to understand the entire picture. The fact that the information is not publicized widely or in a manner everyday folk could see has been and remains my motivation. The current bill is not driven entirely by RT3. It is now a double boondoggle.

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  6. It was almost painful to watch Sen. Wise attempt to answer how end of course exams and merit-pay will be paid for. Most of his response is gobbledygook, but I was able to extract that apparently the funding will be built into the FEFP.

    Translation: More and more of already slashed funding and the anticipated cuts in funding our schools under the new budget, will be used to finance these plans.

    I'm inclined not to resist these wrong-headed plans and watch them crash and burn, if not for the deleterious effects they will have on our children.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Chris, there's an idea being floated that might speed up the crash and burn process.. IMO It's a (legal)last resort type measure, It could stop the process before it damages the taxpayers, kids or teachers.

    For now, ask yoour Rep in the House if he has a better explaination of cost then wise.

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  8. Chris, Let me see if I understand you. Scott will cut the education budget even more deeply and then use those cuts to fund this bill?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Grumpy - EXCELLENT IDEA! It's a simple question that deserves a simple answer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sandra, that was one of the few coherent things Wise seemed to say...

    Simple question, 30 pages of taking points is waht I got out of Workman Last Year.. This year I'm sending him this blog and telling him if he can do better than Wise.

    If not, it's time to look closely at that alternate approach we've been talking about

    ReplyDelete

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