Polk educators fight bill that ties student performance, teacher pay

Polk County teachers are joining the ranks of thousands of other educators around Florida who oppose state House and Senate bills that would essentially overhaul the way teachers get paid, tying compensation to student testing.

Dozens of Polk educators lined Edgewood Drive outside state Rep. Kelly Stargel's office this morning to protest the proposed legislation. Armed with signs and wearing red shirts the group chanted, "Don't hurt teachers." Stargel was not at the office at the time of the protest.

Marianne Capoziello is the president of Polk's Education Association, which represents teachers in collective bargaining. She said the law basically devalues an educator's service and experience while putting all the emphasis on the success of a standardized test.

"This measure will tell teachers that their advance degrees don't matter, their years of experience don't matter, whether they choose to stay in the classroom doesn't matter, and a single test will determine whether they get pay or how they get paid," Capoziello said.

High school teacher Amanda McCallister said she worries Florida is already over-testing kids.

"This is a bill that emphasizes standardized testing much more heavily for our students when we hear from our parents that's a problem with our educational system. It's not a benefit," McCallister said.

Opponents of the bill are also concerned about the potential risks to teachers who dedicate their careers to teaching students in low performing schools - kids who don't typically perform well on tests regardless of teacher skill or ability.

High school teacher Thomas Lentz said the proposed system simply isn't fair to those educators.

"We're going to take your kids, give them this one test and then you know it's kind of gambling almost. Maybe I've got a good group of kids this year. Maybe next year I don't get a good group of kids, so my pay will fluctuate," Lentz said. "How am I supposed to have a mortgage? How am I supposed to live a life? How am I supposed to have a budget like that?"

Polk County teachers aren't alone in their opposition to the bills. State lawmakers have been inundated with as many as 100,000 e-mails protesting the legislation.

Sen. John Thrasher, the Senate bill's sponsor, has said he wants to ensure every student, including poor and minority children, have the "best and brightest teachers."

"The only way to do that, in my opinion, is to evaluate them on student (learning) gains," said Thrasher, R-St. Augustine.