Teh One Who Knocks
04-17-2013, 01:20 PM
By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel
Florida's teachers union Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit in Gainesville challenging how the state ties teacher evaluations to student test scores.
The lawsuit argues that Florida's sweeping merit-pay law unfairly resulted in many teachers' evaluations being based on the test scores of students or subjects they did not teach. That violates the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit claims.
Seven teachers in Alachua, Escambia and Hernando county school districts are the plaintiffs, along with their local teacher unions. The education commissioner, the State Board of Education and the Alachua, Escambia and Hernando school boards are the defendants.
"This lawsuit highlights the absurdity of the evaluation system that has come about as a result of SB 736," said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, in a statement.
Senate Bill 736 was the merit-pay legislation the Florida Legislature adopted in 2011, overhauling how teachers are evaluated, promoted and paid.
Kim Cook, one of the plaintiffs, teaches at W.W. Irby Elementary in Alachua, which has students in pre-K-to-second grade. Cook was her school's "Teacher of the Year" last year, the lawsuit noted.
The test-score portion of her evaluation was based on the work of fourth- and fifth-grade students at nearby Alachua Elementary. When they showed less than expected growth, her initial evaluation pegged her as "unsatisfactory."
Bethann Brooks, another plaintiff, is a health-science teacher at Central High School in Brooksville who works mostly with older students who want to be nursing assistants. Her evaluation was based partly on ninth- and 10th-graders' reading test scores. " I don't teach most of those students," she said a telephone call with reporters. "And those I do teach are enrolled in my health–science-related classes."
The union wants implementation of the law halted, teachers' evaluations from the 2011-12 school year set aside and then the evaluation system revamped. Its lawsuit is backed by the National Education Association, as well.
The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages. "This is not a suit about money," said Ron Meyer, the union's attorney. "This is a suit about doing what's right."
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett said in a statement he supports the law. But he also said he backs legislative efforts to make sure teachers are not subject to it until an "appropriate assessment for their students and subjects is in place."
The state union already has sued Florida over the merit-pay law in a circuit court, arguing the law violates the state constitution and infringes on teachers' rights to bargain collectively.
The new civil lawsuit claims violations of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stemming from how test-score data was used to judge teacher quality.
The law, which is being phased in, changed teacher evaluations to base half on student growth as measured by test-score data.
To do that, the state used a complicated "value added" formula to crunch students' reading and math scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
School districts are to use other tests and formulas to judge teachers who do not teach the so-called FCAT subjects or grades. But those are not available yet. So in the meantime, school-wide FCAT data was used to judge most teachers.
Florida's teachers union Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit in Gainesville challenging how the state ties teacher evaluations to student test scores.
The lawsuit argues that Florida's sweeping merit-pay law unfairly resulted in many teachers' evaluations being based on the test scores of students or subjects they did not teach. That violates the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit claims.
Seven teachers in Alachua, Escambia and Hernando county school districts are the plaintiffs, along with their local teacher unions. The education commissioner, the State Board of Education and the Alachua, Escambia and Hernando school boards are the defendants.
"This lawsuit highlights the absurdity of the evaluation system that has come about as a result of SB 736," said Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education Association, in a statement.
Senate Bill 736 was the merit-pay legislation the Florida Legislature adopted in 2011, overhauling how teachers are evaluated, promoted and paid.
Kim Cook, one of the plaintiffs, teaches at W.W. Irby Elementary in Alachua, which has students in pre-K-to-second grade. Cook was her school's "Teacher of the Year" last year, the lawsuit noted.
The test-score portion of her evaluation was based on the work of fourth- and fifth-grade students at nearby Alachua Elementary. When they showed less than expected growth, her initial evaluation pegged her as "unsatisfactory."
Bethann Brooks, another plaintiff, is a health-science teacher at Central High School in Brooksville who works mostly with older students who want to be nursing assistants. Her evaluation was based partly on ninth- and 10th-graders' reading test scores. " I don't teach most of those students," she said a telephone call with reporters. "And those I do teach are enrolled in my health–science-related classes."
The union wants implementation of the law halted, teachers' evaluations from the 2011-12 school year set aside and then the evaluation system revamped. Its lawsuit is backed by the National Education Association, as well.
The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages. "This is not a suit about money," said Ron Meyer, the union's attorney. "This is a suit about doing what's right."
Education Commissioner Tony Bennett said in a statement he supports the law. But he also said he backs legislative efforts to make sure teachers are not subject to it until an "appropriate assessment for their students and subjects is in place."
The state union already has sued Florida over the merit-pay law in a circuit court, arguing the law violates the state constitution and infringes on teachers' rights to bargain collectively.
The new civil lawsuit claims violations of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stemming from how test-score data was used to judge teacher quality.
The law, which is being phased in, changed teacher evaluations to base half on student growth as measured by test-score data.
To do that, the state used a complicated "value added" formula to crunch students' reading and math scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
School districts are to use other tests and formulas to judge teachers who do not teach the so-called FCAT subjects or grades. But those are not available yet. So in the meantime, school-wide FCAT data was used to judge most teachers.