Aronberg Blasts Teacher Tenure Bill.

Tallahassee Florida

Florida State Senator Dave Aronberg is a Democrat in a sea of Republicans. His district stretches from Palm Beach County to Lee where the political landscape is over 60% Republican. Aronberg is currently a candidate for Attorney General for the State of Florida. However, his current pet peeve is the Education Bill sitting on Governor Crist's desk calling for teacher tenure to be abolished and teacher pay based on how well kids perform in school. Here's my interview with Aronberg about the issue.

I viewed your floor speech. What was in the amendment you were trying to add to SB6?
My amendment struck all language in SB 6 and instead created a task force to study our current education system. This task force would have included a wide variety of stakeholders, not just the Florida Legislature, to come up with comprehensive and meaningful solutions to enhance Florida's public education system.

Are you also opposed to teachers being paid based on performance of their students?
No, student performance is important for teachers, but it should not be the sole or primary factor when determining teacher pay. There are external issues that may affect a student's performance and judging a teacher on a single annual exam is not an accurate measure of a student's learning gains.

Merit pay seems to be working in Hillsborough County. Why would it not work state wide?
Merit pay can work as long as counties are given the discretion to pick the plan that best fits them without undue influence by the state.

How is this bill an unfunded mandate? What will need to come from County Governments if the bill passes?
This bill requires that in 2011, five percent of every school district's total budget must be earmarked for this program. In the same year, federal stimulus money will expire as we continue to face deepening budget cuts. The state is charged with developing these exams without any dedicated funding in the budget for them. Unfortunately, the state did not qualify for Race to the Top, which could have provided additional funding. Counties are already facing fiscal crises - meeting the shortfall in school district budgets will place further burdens on counties and ultimately, the backs of taxpayers.

You mentioned a few charter schools going away if this bill becomes law. What did you mean by that, how does that happen?
I said that charter districts would be abolished under Senate Bill 6. The bill would remove local control and vest power in the state bureaucracy.

If this is not the correct approach to improving education for all kids, what's the (your) alternative?
My alternative was to form a task force to look at options where all parties agree. We must have a mutual agreement between teachers, parents and educational stakeholders before we consider changing measures of performance and learning gains statewide.


See Aronberg's Floor Speech on the bill here.