Teachers union criticizes grant's merit pay component

Florida's effort to secure up to $700 million in federal funds with a plan including merit pay has met some harsh criticism from state teachers union officials.

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) is working toward a Jan. 19 deadline on a Race to the Top grant proposal that would require participating districts to change the way they evaluate, pay and promote teachers and principals.

The state's plan was designed in accordance with federal guidelines, which focuses on teachers, administrators and student growth.

In a memorandum to district superintendents, Florida Education Commissioner Eric Smith wrote "we have been given a chance to break from the status quo and provide every student with a high quality, cutting-edge education system that they not only deserve, but need to prepare them to compete in today's global economy."

In an open letter to Smith, Florida Education Association (state teachers union) President Andy Ford called the state's Memorandum of Understanding (proposal) for the Race to the Top grant "fatally flawed."

"The proposal does not focus on struggling schools," he wrote. "The proposal doesn't provide the local community with an opportunity to pilot innovative programs. In fact, any sense of collaboration is absent in your proposal. Your approach is prescriptive, top-down and unreasonable."

Ford said the Florida Education Association has decided to discourage local unions from signing the current Memorandum of Understanding for the grant application.

At the Dec. 15 School Board of Highlands County meeting, Superintendent of Schools Wally Cox said he planned on sending a letter of "intent" to the state in support of its proposal.

The school board has deferred voting for or against the proposal until January.

In a Dec. 18 press release Education Commissioner Smith stated that 63 (including Highlands) of Florida's school district's have agreed to join the FDOE in the first stage of applying for federal Race to the Top funding.

Highlands County School Board Attorney John McClure said state wide there have been changes suggested to the Memorandum of Understanding and the state union has recommended substantial changes.

At the Dec. 15 school board meeting, FEA area director Michel Bernier pointed out a number of his concerns with the proposal.

"Not only is it pay for performance, but it is greater than 50 percent based on student achievement, which teachers have always objected to because we don't have those kids 24-hours a day," he said. "After our six or seven or eight hours are done with them somebody else gets to influence them.

"I think there are some significant problems; the time line being as big as any of the others."

Also, this puts more reliance on grant money, Bernier noted.

"It's almost gotten to the point where we hate the stimulus now because everything we do is based on 'how are we going to replace stimulus dollars when they stop' and now we put a another layer of grant money on top of that and how are we going to replace that."

With millions of dollars at stake, some are calling for those involved to work out their differences.

In a press release, Paul Dosal, executive director of ENLACE Florida, said "we need all parties sitting at the table in an open and honest discussion about how to develop the best proposal to serve Florida's students, particularly those in struggling schools."

The proposal is still being developed and Florida's education leaders are working under a tight timeline to complete it, he said. It does little good to criticize a proposal as "fatally flawed" or to say that "we're wasting time."

There are many legitimate concerns about the amount of funding that is available and the many reforms that are being asked of schools and teachers, Dosal said. However, the appropriate way to address these concerns is through constructive engagement with the Florida Department of Education.

ENLACE Florida is a statewide network promoting college-readiness, access and success for underrepresented students.