Florida-style edukashun

[NoHall]

I forgot about band camp when I wrote it.

:bicycle: :boxing:

 

[Bob]

Not a good sign: School asks for pencils -- OrlandoSentinel.com Leslie Postal | Sentinel Staff Writer
January 31, 2009

At least two Orange County schools have recently requested donations of pencils.

The things that cost $1.47 for a pack of 10 at your local Target?

Jean Hovey, president-elect of the Florida PTA and a longtime Seminole County PTA member, said her grandson attends Winter Springs Elementary, and the school recently sent home a plea for copy paper. She said such supply requests are a clear indication the state's budget troubles are real and deep.

 

[30ashopper]

Not a good sign: School asks for pencils -- OrlandoSentinel.com Leslie Postal | Sentinel Staff Writer
January 31, 2009

At least two Orange County schools have recently requested donations of pencils.

The things that cost $1.47 for a pack of 10 at your local Target?

Jean Hovey, president-elect of the Florida PTA and a longtime Seminole County PTA member, said her grandson attends Winter Springs Elementary, and the school recently sent home a plea for copy paper. She said such supply requests are a clear indication the state's budget troubles are real and deep.

Hmm, pencils, or a new airport in Panama City? Apparently the state chose to go with a new airport.

 

[Bob Wells]

Santiago and 30a,
You are exactly right, there are ways to do it but neither of you have said how. You have not said whether labor would be included in the decision or those educators would have to rely on the generousity of those in charge. The way pay significantly increases for most is that there is a shortage of said employees. When Florida schools were having trouble attracting teachers, pay increased. When Science and Math Teachers were in demand pay increased. Really had nothing to to with Unions. In the Walton County School, I think the finance director said 80-90% of the money is spent on employees. My opinion is the teachers who work in this school system are not over paid and deserve pay raises.

The key word I think you have to remember is NEGOTIATIONS. Two parties agreeing, giving and taking. Unions have so much power, better look at the numbers.

 

[Chickpea]

Apologies for asking what I am sure will be construed as a dumb question and there is way too much that I do not know or understand about how public schools are structured in this country, but someone please explain why would anyone oppose merit pay for teachers?

I taught part time for over 3 years in a special charter school. I was really struck by the disparity in teacher skills and by the apathy of too many. If I had had the power, I would have fired many. The love of teaching was gone and replaced by a sad resignation.

Teaching and educating is hard, frustrating at times but obviously can be hugely rewarding. Those teachers who make this a priority and fiercely struggle to impart knowledge to their students should be rewarded and those who have abdicated their love of teaching should be gently steered away.

 

[traderx]

Apologies for asking what I am sure will be construed as a dumb question and there is way too much that I do not know or understand about how public schools are structured in this country, but someone please explain why would anyone oppose merit pay for teachers?

I taught part time for over 3 years in a special charter school. I was really struck by the disparity in teacher skills and by the apathy of too many. If I had had the power, I would have fired many. The love of teaching was gone and replaced by a sad resignation.

Teaching and educating is hard, frustrating at times but obviously can be hugely rewarding. Those teachers who make this a priority and fiercely struggle to impart knowledge to their students should be rewarded and those who have abdicated their love of teaching should be gently steered away.

The NEA opposes merit pay. Not a surprise since egalitarianism is a well-worn union principle.

From the NEA website:

MYTH: If schools were allowed to grant merit pay, good teachers would be well compensated .




FACT: The fundamental problem is low teacher pay, period. Merit pay schemes are a weak answer to the national teacher compensation crisis.

• Merit pay systems force teachers to compete, rather than cooperate. They create a disincentive for teachers to share information and teaching techniques. This is especially true because there is always a limited pool of money for merit pay. Thus, the number-one way teachers learn their craft --learning from their colleagues -- is effectively shut down. If you think we have turnover problems in teaching now, wait until new teachers have no one to turn to.
• The single salary schedule is the fairest, best understood, and most widely used approach to teacher compensation -- in large part because it rewards the things that make a difference in teacher quality: knowledge and experience.
• Plus, a salary schedule is a reliable predictor of future pay increases. Pay for performance plans are costly to taxpayers and difficult to administer. In contrast, single salary schedules have known costs and are easy to administer. School boards can more easily budget costs and need less time and money to evaluate employees and respond to grievances and arbitrations resulting from the evaluation system. Worse yet, there is often a lack of dedicated, ongoing funding for merit pay systems.
• Merit pay begs the question of fairness and objectivity in teacher assessments and the kind of teacher performance that gets "captured" -- is it a full picture, or just a snapshot in time? Is teacher performance based on multiple measures of student achievement or simply standardized test scores? Are there teachers who are ineligible to participate in a merit plan because their field of expertise (art, music, etc.) is not subject to standardized tests?
• By November 2006, 50 Texas schools rejected state grants to establish merit pay programs for teachers, tied to higher student test scores. Many schools reported that teachers opposed the idea or that administrators were reluctant to decide who should get a bonus and who shouldn't. Teachers at schools opposed to merit pay said it was not worth the extra money to break up the team spirit among teachers and spend time filling out paperwork for the program. In Bellaire, Texas, fifth grade science teacher Tammy Woods voiced her paperwork concern to the Dallas Morning News. "Most of us felt our time would be better spent working with the kids than working on the incentive-pay plan," she said. "We also felt there would be hard feelings no matter what happened because not everyone who worked to accomplish our goals would be rewarded."

NEA - Myths and Facts about Educator Pay

 

[30ashopper]

Santiago and 30a,
You are exactly right, there are ways to do it but neither of you have said how. You have not said whether labor would be included in the decision or those educators would have to rely on the generousity of those in charge. The way pay significantly increases for most is that there is a shortage of said employees. When Florida schools were having trouble attracting teachers, pay increased. When Science and Math Teachers were in demand pay increased. Really had nothing to to with Unions. In the Walton County School, I think the finance director said 80-90% of the money is spent on employees. My opinion is the teachers who work in this school system are not over paid and deserve pay raises.

The key word I think you have to remember is NEGOTIATIONS. Two parties agreeing, giving and taking. Unions have so much power, better look at the numbers.

I'm not sure, but I think it would make for a fascinating research project. I would concentrate on Walton County and do a top down study of the whole situation. I believe what we spend per student is rather good, something like 16K a year. 85% of that is salary pay for employees of the system. I probably wouldn't involve the unions or any other organization in the research to insure non-partisan, unrestricted results.

 

[dgsevier]

I'm not sure, but I think it would make for a fascinating research project. I would concentrate on Walton County and do a top down study of the whole situation. I believe what we spend per student is rather good, something like 16K a year. 85% of that is salary pay for employees of the system. I probably wouldn't involve the unions or any other organization in the research to insure non-partisan, unrestricted results.

Already been done ad nauseum. Here's the link to the definitive work on teacher's unions. Very catchy title...

 

[traderx]

Of course, the NEA calls them educators, not teachers. Wonder what the difference is?

 

[30ashopper]

Already been done ad nauseum. Here's the link to the definitive work on teacher's unions. Very catchy title...

This new model of teacher unions is organized around issues of quality teaching and professional development, as well as economic fairness. The authors propose strategies for expanding the influence of unions by involving them in the setting of educational standards, evaluating teacher performance, and promoting career security.

That doesn't sound very non-partisan.