http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-943051.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – In the run-up to assuming office in January, Florida Governor-Elect Rick Scott has been announcing members of his transition team, including one for education. As Lynn Hatter reports, the names on that list provide a clue about the direction the new administration will go when it takes office.
The list of names on Rick Scott's education transition team read like a who's who for education reform. At the top of the list is Michelle Rhee, the former Chancellor of the Washington D.C. school system. She's a controversial figure- notable for firing under-performing teachers and shutting down failing schools. This past year, she was featured in the documentary, "Waiting for Superman," which highlighted the failures of the nation's public school system.
"You wake up every morning and you know that 46,000 kids are counting on you, and you know that they're getting a really crappy education right now," said Rhee. "So you think they're getting a crappy education? Oh I don't think they are, I know they are. There's a complete and utter lack of accountability for the job we're supposed to be doing, which is producing results for our kids."
Rhee says Florida has a lot of things working for it. The state already has teacher merit pay, which pays teachers bonuses based on student performance, and strong school choice programs, like charter schools and private school vouchers. But she says the merit-pay system should be more aggressive. And that she, the members of the transition team, and the Governor-elect all support teacher policy reform. But just as Scott's team is notable for who is on it, there's also a glaring omission of teachers. Rhee says even though they may not have a physical presence on the team, their voices will be heard.
"A very significant part of what we want to do is get out and talk to teachers, to understand what their frustrations are, where they see good things happening and where they see the need for change," she said. "So I think teacher voices will definitely be at the table, even though there aren't any teachers sitting on the transition team, we will make sure we are out in the community talking to teachers and bringing those insights back into the work we do."
But many teachers don't see it that way. The Florida Education Association, the state's teacher's union, fought against the failed teacher merit pay proposal, Senate Bill 6. In doing so, it angered many Republican supporters. Now those Republicans have a super-majority in the Legislature and control the Governor's Office. Not surprisingly, the teacher's union didn't make it onto Scott's list. Mark Pudlow is the FEA's spokesman.
"We certainly hope that the new governor and his team will seek out the expertise and the knowledge and the points of view of Florida's 180,000 teachers and administrators who live and work and experience the kinds of reforms we've experienced the past ten years," Pudlow said. "We think that their input and expertise would be invaluable, but they don't seem to be in very many places in the governor's transition team."
Karen Aronowitz heads the Miami-based union, United Teachers of Dade.
"I would hope that the people you mention, including Michelle Rhee, would want success for our public schools," said Aronowitz. "If they want failure for public schools, then they can create such a negative atmosphere that they are destructive of public education. And I hope that is not the intent. So I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt."
The Governor-elect has also tapped Patricia Levesque for his education transition team. She heads the powerful Foundation for Florida's future, Jeb Bush's education lobbying group. She supported Senate Bill 6 and says the governor-elect wants to boost teacher quality, which, she says, means revising many of the employment and pay policies currently in place for teachers.
"It's not class size, it's not even funding levels. It's whose standing in front of the classroom," said Levesque. "So all across the country, states are starting to adopt policies to pay teachers more, to link student performance to evaluations, and to get rid of this employment for life: tenure."
Over the last few years, there's been an increasing push for alternative forms of education, like charter and virtual schools. The state also uses a voucher system to give parents in failing public schools a subsidy to move their kids to private ones. And all those groups have someone on Scott's team. But the majority of students still go to traditional public school and are taught by public school teachers. It's a concern for parent groups like the Florida Parent-Teacher Association, the largest education group in the state, which isn't on the transition team.
"Parents know what's good for their children," said Jean Hovey, president of the Florida PTO. "Most of us are in schools, working in the school and helping out in the classroom and he needs to make sure there are parents and teachers and administrators at the table when they start going over and implementing some of these new programs."
Hovey says parents need to become more involved.
"They need to keep their eyes and ears open and be ready to help us get the word to their legislator and our governor that we want what's best for Florida's children," said Hovey.
There are several alternatives to the traditional public school model working with the governor-elect to shape Florida's education system, and Scott says he wants to shake up the status quo. Still, 90 percent of the state's school-age children go to traditional public schools.