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.

I

Senator Paula Dockery takes on Senator Wise

And Wise loses....

Paula Dockery asked Wise a few simple questions about the cost of his Education Bill SB 736 on the Senate Floor yesterday before the vote.  Wise rambled, babbled, evaded, dodged,  made a jackass out of himself and never came close to answering Dockery's questions.  Wise's bill calls for teacher evaluation.  By the time he was done with his non explanation of costs I was convinced he was more in need of an evaluation than the teachers, and for a diffeent reason..

As far as I know only one video exists of the exchange.   That video produced by Tom Whatley, a retired detective.  I experienced some technical difficulties trying to post it on Grumpy, I'm not sure at the moment if they can be resolved.  The video is currently on the facebook wall of an organization called  Testing Is Not Teaching.  I'm not sure how well this will work, but for the time being try going to

http://www.facebook.com/testingisnotteaching?sk=photos#!/testingisnotteaching?sk=wall

Make sure you're looking at their wall, scroll down untill you get to the post by Tom Whatley with a video. 

Sit back and watch Wise make a complete fool out of himself avoiding Dockery's questions.

It is now necessary to scroll to the bottom of the page and click Older Posts to find the video

SB736: Senate Budget Sub-Committee votes 8-1 in favor

The Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education Pre-K12 Appropriations voted 8-1 in favor of SB736. The lone "No" vote was caste by Senator Paula Dockery, who took a stand against SB6 last year because she believed Florida could not afford it. I am assuming she believes the same this year.

Committee member Senator Evelyn Lynn, however, suggested that the bill needs improving, but "suggested that the kinks could be worked out over time, saying that this legislation is the 'next major logical step in education reform,' building upon the state's A-Plus system." Next logical step? Senator Lynn also noted that money would be required.

“I do believe we’ll need the dollars. I don’t want the dollars to be taken away from one group of teachers to pay another group.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, "most of the bill’s provisions don’t kick in until 2014, so supporters said there will be time to work out the finances — and the details of a bill that aims to use tests (some not yet developed) to help determine teacher quality and pay."

Others on the committee "cautioned that the bill needs more work before they're will to back it on the floor. " More revisions? Like what?

Questions remain over how to pay for raises, for instance, and how the bill jibes with other endeavors, such as Race to the Top."

Sounds like a rerun. Pass a flawed bill in committee, send it out to the floor in whatever shape it is, and promise to fix it later. Avoid the entire issue of the price tag.

Thank you Paula Dockery!

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_education_edblog/?p=16940

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/gradebook/