Stop this train called House Bill 7189!
The time is RIGHT NOW.
Today! Start this morning. Make as many calls and send as many emails as you can.
Speaker Cretul is watching. Tabulating. He's going to walk into the 12:30P committee meeting with a report on the number of contacts we've made.
Word is that some Republican House members are reconsidering how they will vote.
Make the call.
Legislators are quietly moving away from this bill ... it could affect them in November.
We are here.
We are parents.
We do not accept this legislature's bold attempt to destroy the teaching profession in Florida.
We support Fair and Equitable Teacher Evaluations. Great Teachers should be the gold-standard of Florida Public Schools. No question.
It's the draconian ideology behind House Bill 7189 that's not working for us. It's the political war with teachers and students as collateral damage. Jeb Bush and the teachers union. This is nothing more than a costly grudge match fueled by political revenge and driven by profits. Follow the money. Who stands to gain? Companies who sell Virtual School Catalogs and write End of Course Tests.
WE ARE WORTH MORE THAN THAT. WE WILL NOT ALLOW OUR KIDS TO BE CAUGHT IN THIS DANGEROUS SCHOOL-YARD CROSSFIRE.
Today, House Bill 7189 is being debated by the House Pre-K Policy Committee.
Today, this committee will vote to shove this bill's destructive fist down the throats of every one of us in Florida.
Today is the day that the teaching profession in Florida takes the fall for a state legislature that has failed to deliver on its paramount duty to the people of Florida as stated in Article IX, section 1 of the Florida Constitution.
Today is the day that our state seeks to replace a caring and inspirational relationship between student, teacher and parent with one full of fear.
Legislators repeatedly state in form letters sent back to us that we are "poor parents who are led by the teachers unions." Not true. Never was true. The disregard that they feel for us, the people who voted for them, is crystal clear. We get it. They think we're too unsophisticated to understand this problem and arrive at any savvy conclusion. Wrong.
Imagine the focused surgical precision of a threatened Grizzly defending her young. Legislators: take your high-stakes bickering and punitive bills outside. Your bullets are hitting our kids AND our teachers.
Here's the lowdown on House Bill 7189:
HB 7189 COSTS US MONEY:
- $900 Million taken off the top of Florida's Education Budget for "Teacher Quality Award Program."
- This is a 5% loss of funding to each district
- In Orange County that means $60M that cannot be spent in the classroom.
Loss of local control:
- School boards and parents lose all say in education policies regarding teacher evaluations.
Eliminates due process:
- places all new teachers on annual contracts which may be non-renewed for any reason without recourse.
Hurts teachers and kids - FCAT and End of Course Testing morphs into the highest of high-stakes testing:
- Florida - becomes the only state in the nation to base 50% of teacher evaluations on standardized tests.
- Will cost taxpayers millions: each district must develop, purchase or hire staff to create new end of year tests. One county estimated they would have to write over 400 tests in their district alone.
- Strips a teacher of his/her TEACHING CERTIFICATE rendering the person unemployable in their profession if their students don't show gains in 4 of the 5 preceding years. (Students individual learning struggles are not taken in to account in this bill).
- Jeopardizes services to lowest performing students: Who will choose to teach them?
- Eliminates incentives for teachers to pursue advanced degrees. Prohibits recognition for years of service or advanced degrees in determining teachers' salaries. What does this say to our kids about the value of education?
- National Board Certification program is all but eliminated. This difficult and rigorous certification will no longer count under this bill.
Send your message to every member of the House K-12 Policy Committee, House Leadership, Senate Leadership and the Governor. Governor Crist, alone, has the power to VETO. It's his pen.
Write and call today. Sign your name and occupation. Let them know we come from every walk of life. Teach them about the power of civic concern. If you think your letters and calls don't count, think again.
Stay informed. Sign the Education Petition on our website. Fan us on Facebook. Follow education headlines on Twitter. Watch informational videos on YouTube.
This will not stand. Together, we can make a difference. We're parents. We're voters. We will remember in November.
- Governor Charlie Crist
charlie.crist@myflorida.gov
850-488-4441 - Speaker of the House, Rep Larry Cretul
larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov
850-488-1450
Representatives on the Education Policy Council:
- John Legg -Chair
850-488-5522
john.legg@myfloridahouse.gov - Eric Fresen - Vice Chair
850-488-4092
eric.fresen@myfloridahouse.gov - Dwight Bullard
850-488-5430
dwight.bullard@myfloridahouse.gov - Rachel Burgin
850-488-9910
rachel.burgin@myfloridahouse.gov - Marti Coley
850-488-2873
marti.coley@myfloridahouse.gov - Anitere Flores
850-488-2831
anitere.flores@myfloridahouse.gov - Eduardo Gonzalez
850-488-1683
eduardo.gonzalez@myfloridahouse.gov - Mia Jones
850-488-6893
mia.jones@myfloridahouse.gov - Martin Kiar
850-487-1588
marty.kiar@myfloridahouse.gov - Scott Plakon
850-488-2231
scott.plakon@myfloridahouse.gov - Kevin Rader
850-488-5588
kevin.rader@myfloridahouse.gov - Elaine Schwartz
850-488-0465
elaine.schwartz@myfloridahouse.gov - Kelli Stargel
850-488-2270
kelli.stargel@myfloridahouse.gov - Michael Weinstein- Voted NO in first committee
850-488-1304
michael.weinstein@myfloridahouse.gov