Teacher pay bill colors scenes from the Capitol elevator, House GOP office
by Michael C. Bender | April 8th, 2010A couple of scenes to consider as the House prepares to vote on major education changes this afternoon:
Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, catches an elevator Wednesday morning on the way into his Capitol office and, as chance would have it, he’s joined by Gov. Charlie Crist’s right-hand-man, chief of staff Shane Strum.
The two share some small talk, joke it feels like the last week of session it’s so busy . Then Strum offers a reminder to Atwater that, “We’re comfortable with Senate Bill 6.”
“I didn’t probe for it, so I was surprised he raised it,” Atwater said later. “I just, ‘Thank you.’ And got off the elevator. I haven’t heard anything different.”
A few hours later, Crist told reporters that he had concerns about the bill after “listening to the people.”
Different scene, next day, same merit-pay issue.
House Majority Leader Adam Hasner asked his staff director to check the political blogs this afternoon. Moments later, his director fires a baseball into a couch and Hasner races out of the office.
The House Republicans were frustrated that Sen. John Thrasher told reporters about the possibility of a “reconciliation” bill to address Crist’s concerns. Under that maneuver, Crist would sign the bill into law with the promise lawmakers would quickly pass another bill to fix any problems.
The problem for Hasner is that Republicans still need to pass the bill on the floor today. While a few Republicans are expected to peel off, lots more are feeling the pressure of this bill. A sign of that pressure was Monday when a handful of Republicans and Democrats attended the marathon committee hearing on the bill, even though they weren’t part of the panel.
And while Republicans can afford to lose more than a few members — they have a 75-46 majority in the chamber — the last thing they need is members thinking they don’t need to support this controversial bill because a better bill is on the way…
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April 8th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Oh there are many ways to fix it!
1. remove tenure or make changes to get rid of bad teachers.
2. retire after 25 years , then reduce pension amount paid , by whatever SS they must sign up for at 67
April 8th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
“Rewarding good teachers with good pay is good policy. But disguising an unfunded $900 million power grab of local public schools as public education reform is not.” Republican Senator Paula Dockery. Republican candidate for governor.
Makes sense…She also reminds us that a blame the teacher approach is not sound. Recognize that individuals have a personal responsibility for their decisions and behaviors.