Posted on 04/12/2010 4:19:37 PM PDT by Libloather
Protesters call for veto of teacher pay bill
Reported by: Sean Balewski
Last Update: 3:01 pm
PALM BEACH COUNTY -- Florida teachers are angry over Senate Bill 6, the pending legislation that calls for performance pay and an end to tenure, and there is no question that it is stirring up a lot of emotion from teachers in Palm Beach County.
"Teacher's are incredibly frustrated as well as a number of parents," says Robert Dow, the President of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association. "Education is falling apart. If this Senate Bill 6 is signed into law, I think it will be the death knell of education."
As the bill now waits for Governor Charlie Crist to act, some teachers on Monday might not -- across the state there has been talk that some teachers may call-in sick to voice their frustration. But Dow says that this plan may backfire.
"In Palm Beach county, we very early put out information from the Florida Education Association, telling teachers that a job action such as a strike or a sick-out is illegal," Dow warns. "They can lose their job, they can lose their pension."
Now of course, schools won't know if teachers will call out sick until Monday morning, but administrators around Palm Beach County will be ready, just in case.
"Administrators will cover classrooms, specialists will cover classrooms," Dow reassures. "Things will get covered if there is a shortage of teachers tomorrow."
Kristen, a Palm Beach county elementary school teacher, is very much against Senate Bill 6, and she agrees that teacher's voices need to be heard on this issue...but not showing up to teach?
(Excerpt) Read more at wptv.com ...
I totally agree with you.
These feral babies show up at my school all the time. I can’t do a damn thing for them. What a waste of tax dollars. Revolution baby!
A lot of us have taken steps...I homeschool my “spawn”, for instance.
And so do a lot my friends and neighbors. Aren’t you torqued when you pay taxes to “educate” others in the failing public schools?
Most counties or city school systems delegate at least 60% of their tax revenue to schools. OMG! They aren’t collecting like they used to...due to the economy. Now is the time baby...someone needs to take the helm and end it. Sell off the schools to the private sector. Make it profitable for those involved. You won’t get workers who sit back and collect a check. Performanc will rule the day.
I am most assuredly ‘torqued’! Just wanted to let you know that you’re not the only one that thinks the whole government system should be scrapped; of course, that’s going to lead to at least a whole generation of functionally illiterate, uneducated kids growing up with no place to spend their days...
Doesn't sound like such a bad idea to me. Mabye if some of the teachers were paid according to their performance, we wouldn't have so many tenured ones in our system here who do nothing, are too old to have patience with the kids & are just hanging on because of their tenure.
We have some really bad teachers here, who even the principal agrees should not be around kids and she says there is nothing they can do to remove tehm, as they are tenured!!!
Can't imagine what the highschools are like!!!!
You can get a real good idea what the kids are like in the schools in your area, just take a peak at their facebook sites & all they talk about is getting weed & alcohol & sex!
I’m sorry, but anyone in favor of this legislation is not thinking this through. Full disclosure: My girlfriend is a teacher at a middle school. She is a great teacher but how do you teach an empty desk? How you teach kids who absolutely do not care, who have parents who absolutely do not care? How you teach kids who barely come to school in between beating each other into a 2-month coma and setting each other on fire. (Yes, both happened at her school in just the past few months)
In pretty much any profession, I agree that the your end result should dictate how you get paid, but teaching is one profession where this is not the case.. too much is out of their control, no matter how good they are.
What teacher would want to take time to work with kids who are struggling when it could cost them their livelyhood? Who would want even become a teacher the way they keep getting slapped around.
I have a better idea.. if you want the kids to do good in school.. why not tie WELFARE PAYMENTS to how good the kids are doing in school. Your kids are failing school you get less government cheese.... I bet that would do the trick!
To: AlanD
I am a laid off teacher... because I was the newest teacher. My students’ FCAT gains were the highest of any secondary math teacher in my county. There are teachers in my county whose students’ FCAT gains went negative and they still have jobs but I don’t. The low performing teachers have continuing contract, union protected jobs.
I did not have the top kids either... I taught remedial math. My students’ FCAT gains were three times the amount required by no child left behind.
I had a few kids that didn’t want to learn but most of them did. There was one student that just wanted to sleep in class so I asked the “experienced” teachers how they motivated him and they said that they just let him sleep. I called the boy’s dad and had his support for the rest of the year.
If this bill goes through, your children will have better teachers... the good ones will stay and the bad ones will be gone or at least paid less than the good ones.
I think it could be good if welfare payments were tied to student’s grades but I worry about lousy parents that would beat their children for bad grades.
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