"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Monday, April 05, 2010

Florida: Crazy as Texas?

The above ad is paid for by Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education. SB6 and HB7189, the Senate and House bills in Florida that would eliminate any form of tenure (one year contracts for all teachers) and "evaluate" teachers almost exclusively with test scores (including hiring and firing). Currently, the Florida legislature is holding a hearing about the bill (streamed lived here), and a rep from the US Chamber of Commerce is babbling on and on about the test-test-test-punish-punish-punish strategy of NCLB and RttT. Citing support from the "progressive" Center for American Progress ("progressive" in name only, of course) and the "Leaders and Laggards" report, the Chamber rep is expressing firm support for RttT and SB6/HB7189.

Jennie Smith at the Examiner provides some great coverage of teachers and other educators trying to convince politicians to pull their heads out of the sand (or other places) and do what's best for kids AND teachers: don't pass SB6/HB7189.

You can follow NoTallahasseeTakeover and No SB 6 for some great Twitter updates, including photos of teachers and parents protesting the shoddy education "reform".

Quality teachers like Jamee Cagle Miller will be fleeing Florida in droves if this bill becomes law.

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