We can only hope that Senator Wise is a man of his word. He says that his committee will devise a "thoughtful" bill. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Senator Wise will be holding a meeting this Friday, January 28, so that the "public can give testimony on the controversial topic." I don't know about any of Grumpyelder's readers, but I cannot travel to Tallahassee to give any testimony. These are the things I would like Senator Wise to be "thoughtful" about as he crafts the new bill:
It must be both fiscally possible and responsible given the budget deficit.
It should place no additional fiscal burdens on school districts nor on property owners.
It must recognize that there are differences in students. For example, exceptional ed teachers cannot be measured based on the performance of their students based on one test only. Merit pay has to be fair.
It must reasonable and allow the use of multiple measures to indicate student achievement. Tennessee has been doing just that for some time and recognized as a good practice.
It must recognize the long-standing concerns by parents and community members that schools have become testing mills, too much attention on tests and not enough on instruction. The bill should not increase the teaching to tests.
Anything else? What else should Senator Wise and the committee seriously consider???
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/os-florida-merit-pay-superintendents-20110126,0,6284635.story
To view reader comments on this article, see
http://grumpyelder-todayimgrumpyabout.blogspot.com/2011/01/merit-pay-bill-senator-wise-promises-it.html
No comments:
Post a Comment