Florida school bill vetoed

A Florida legislative bill that would have based more than half of teacher pay on student test scores and placed educators’ certification at risk if they failed to show “effective performance” was vetoed by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist after he spoke with hundreds of teachers and parents across the state and received more than 100,000 letters and e-mails opposing the bill.

Without the veto, newly hired teachers would also have remained on probation for five years, then worked under annual contracts for the remainder of their careers. And students’ performance on test scores would have determined which teachers lost employment during layoffs. Unions representing the state’s teachers said the bill would make it harder for Florida to hire good teachers and violated collective-bargaining rights.

The bill “was formulated without an ounce of input from anyone within the public school community,” said Florida Education Association President Andy Ford.

“Teachers, administrators and parents weren’t consulted, and their views of this radical legislation were dismissed repeatedly by many legislators,” Ford said. “But Gov. Crist listened.”

That listening has consequences for the politically ambitious Crist, who is behind in the polls in his primary race for the Republican senatorial nomination. Many Republicans said the veto removed any chance that Crist had, but it also gave new life to rumors Crist would drop his primary bid and run as an independent.

The next hurdle for Florida teachers: a retirement bill requiring teachers to contribute toward their retirement, while basing the retirement benefits on overall income, instead of on the highest five years of their income, as is the current practice.

Tampa Tribune, April 16
AFT LeaderNet, April 15
The Wall Street Journal, April 16