Crist: Disappointed, but not deterred over education grant
by Michael C. Bender | March 29th, 2010UPDATE: Sen. John Thrasher, the St. Augustine Republican pushing the merit pay plan, says the state can fund his proposal without the federal grant money: “It would have been nice, but the bill is not predicated on whether we got Race to the Top,” he said. “This policy is based on what we think is the right thing to do for the state of Florida.”
Florida came up short in the first round of awards from a $4 billion in federal education fund, but Gov. Charlie Crist said he was encouraged after a conversation today with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
“We’re disappointed, but not deterred,” Crist said. “It’s on to round two.”
Florida Board of Education Chairman T. Williard Fair told the St. Petersburg Times that missing out on the cash was “the biggest shock of my professional career.”
State lawmakers were also anticipating the money. The Senate approved a plan last week to base teacher raises on student performance. The $900 million proposal was to supposed to be paid for with money from the federal “Race to the Top” fund.
But Crist said he was encouraged by Florida’s #4 ranking out of 41 states. “It bodes very well for the second round. We’re pressing forward and we’re not giving up,” he said.
Crist brought an entourage of state education officials to Washington D. C. two weeks ago for an intense interview with federal education officials over the state’s application for $1 billion out of the $4.35 billion available in the fund. The total awards for Delaware and Tennessee announced today were a combined $600 million.
Tags: Arne Duncan, Charlie Crist, merit pay, Race to the Top
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March 29th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Im sure Thrasher will find ways to push the Bush agenda
March 29th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
It’s the Obama administration who has RE-WRITTEN NCLB and wants merit pay for teachers.
Will someone PLEASE interview a democrat and get their take on Obama’s Race To The Top?
How about asking those running for political office in Florida.
What does Ted Deutch say about Race To The Top? Oh, no one is ASKING Ted? Now, why is that?
March 29th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
[...] Sen. John Thrasher, who also serves as the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, joined in th… although Gov. Charlie Crist said he remained hopeful that the state could ultimately win some of the $4 billion in federal funds. [...]
March 30th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Teacher and their unions at fault? How silly, but typical, to point the finger at us while avoiding the true issues. In taking an adverserial stance toward teachers these know-it-all politicians blew it. The states that won worked with their unions and teachers. They did not lambast them, undermine them and outright try to sabotage their profession. Better to learn from their mistakes and not follow in the footsteps of Michigan which passed a lot of unfunded laws in their grab for the money. Guess what? They lost out and are stuck holding the bag. The politicians of Florida failed by pushing SB6 and SB4. Why would any organization, including the Gates Foundation, give money to any entity that presents itself as fundamentally unsound?
March 30th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Senator Thrasher is as out of touch with the youth of today as the administrators at the district who haven’t been in a classroom in years.
This is a consumer society; students are consumers and constituents. In discussions about SB6 and SB4 they too recognize the faulty thinking behind both bills. Educate our youth about these bills and they will never pass. We need buy in from the youth of today, not finger pointing at teachers.
April 4th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Kids are not cookie cutter commodities. Think of kids as patients. Think of teachers as the doctors. When people go to the doctor with symptoms of an illness, the doctor must first take a medical and physical history. Height, weight, age, other health concerns, medications currently being used, meds that might be adverse to the individual patient, are all factors when the doctor prescribes a particular course of action. The treatment for one patient will vary dramatically from the treatment for another patient, based on these and many other factors. That is because Medicine is as much an art as it is a science. So, is the art of teaching. There is NO, “one size fits all” when it comes to teaching and evaluating children and their teachers. Each educator has their own unique style, just as each child has their own unique method of learning. Teaching is an ART.
April 4th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I am glad that FL did not win RTTT!! Other states included teachers, unions, and parents in their plans. Florida did not! Plain and simple. This SB6 is ruining FL education right in front of our eyes. If this bill is all about teachers, we should have an input in it!! Why not dock politicians pay when they do not do a good job? What about doctors pay when they don’t cure someone? This is exactly the same thing. Teachers are teaching our future and now teachers are going to be getting out of FL. Who will want to come and teach here now? Universities are appalled at this bill as well because it hurts their education programs. Florida is dismantling public education and that is what they want to do! It is a sad thing to be a part of!
April 4th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Of course the state can fund the bill without the money from RTTT. They plan on taking it FROM THE SCHOOLS! They are taking 5% from every school district in the state over the next three years to the tune of %950 MILLION!!!!! The schools are underfunded and struggling to make ends meet. (We have to scrounge for toilet paper for God’s sake!) Now they are going to take $950 MILLION dollars to fund a plan no one in the state wants. Follow the money! Someone is out there with their hands out waiting for the windfall. Test makers? In the past politicians could pull this smoke and mirrors parlor trick on us, but the teachers are watching this time and we are not falling for it. We are watching Senator Thrasher, AKA The Education Basher.
April 4th, 2010 at 11:12 am
You can read the report from RTTT as to why Florida didn’t get the grant…go to:
http://www.edsource.org/iss_fedlaws_stimulus.html#a
Basically, there were a number of problems with the Florida application. These included: small projected growth targets vs the large amount of the grant $ requested did not adequately match the return on results. “The growth expectation for white students was minimal and disproportionate by comparison.” OR
“The need for broad stakeholder involvement to ensure effectiveness on the plan components.” OR
“The application does not address how the state will move forward assertively to generate union buy in.” “In order for Florida to ensure effective implementation of all plan criteria- teachers along with their associations are deemed essential especially in carrying out the RTTT vision for Great Teachers Great Leaders.” “The application does not effectively address how specific use of the various stakeholders will be made throughout plan implementation.”
The application should address in a more thorough manner sustainability after the RTTT grant is over.
More often than not, the reviewers write: “The application does not adequately address….”
So I have to wonder where Thrasher gets off blaming the teachers in Florida when the teachers were not involved at all in writing RTTT and the RTTT reviewers say that the state “didn’t adequately address….” Read it for yourself. Seriously, they can push this bill down our throats…that is what they are doing…but they won’t be able to do that for long…Teachers are educated and we vote!
April 4th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
other replies hit the nail on the head:
–thrasher is a liar. he intends to fund his misguided and mean-spirited measure on the backs of already cash-strapped and hurting districts, schools, parents and students (yes, many of them work, too!)
–mccollum is a hater. he ought to take note: the states who DID get RT3 money included teachers, they didn’t blame teachers.
note to the florida GOP: enjoy the limelight while you can. because you’ve just awakened a sleeping giant. your nastiness and these two bills (sb6 and hb1789) may be the turning point in turning florida from republican to democrat.
i, for one, intend to support, with what little time and money i have, any candidate who supports teachers.
April 5th, 2010 at 12:16 am
I had read that Florida didn’t get the grant partially due to the lack fo teacher buy-in, and I am surprised that the governor and Sen. Thrasher expected any buy-in on this merit pay plan. As it is written it offers no clear path to improving education. It spells out a path of impossible goals. While it might seem easy to assess every child’s learning gains each year, and crediting those gains to a specific teacher, this is not at all simple- or it would already be being done!!! My adminstrators already have FCAT test information on my class, but they know that these evaluations are not proof of JUST my instruction, but include ESE, Gifted, Speech, special area teachers as well as parent tutoring, previous grade level teaching, student motivation, student attendance, health , etc. There is not even a pretest to compare the “final” FCAT test to. If enacted, this legislation would require VERY expensive test development for EVERY grade level, and EVERY course- K to 12, and testing for EVERY student- two times a year (which has NEVER been done). Then scoring. Then the data has to be aggregated and disseminated. Next each teacher has to be notified of their results- but wait- who decides exactly how much learning is “adequate progress” for that class or subject- and what exactly is on the test for third grade art, fourth grade PE, kindergarten music? Anyone now see the problem with this plan?