Teacher pay for performance recently became law in the State of Florida . This topic has been on the Florida legislative agenda since the late 1990s. Pay for performance, of course, is not a new idea but one borrowed from business models. It reached education a while ago and has taken many forms. The best example in the United States I'm currently aware of is the Denver Public Schools implementation of pay for performance, approved in 1999 by both the school board and teacher union and slowly implemented over the next decade. The system is still in use today.
Different types of pay for performance plans have developed for public schools. It can be as simple as tying test scores to pay scales or as complex as setting forth various objectives teachers must accomplish in order to increase their yearly salary with each action worth a specific dollar amount.
From the current Florida press coverage, a dichotomy seems to have developed. Teacher Unions cast pay for performance plans as trecherous to public education whereas legislators and business leaders see it as the necessary reform to improve the failing status quo. In the end, who's right?
To become a more informed participant in the debate, I plan to delve deep into the topic through current legislation, committee hearings and research articles that focus on what's been done, what's been adopted through Florida Senate Bill 736 (now Florida law), and how education stakeholders have reacted to the change. This blog will chronicle my findings, thoughts and reactions through linked articles, summaries, rants and raves with text and other forms of media over the course of the summer.
Feel free to comment and connect me to relevant information. Happy blogging...
No comments:
Post a Comment