By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-895232.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – In the wee hours Friday morning, the Florida House voted to approve a controversial education bill under high political pressure from both sides. A full blown media war has been launched over several education reform proposals.
"Tallahassee Union Lobbyists have been paid a fortune to bash anyone in their way, now backing a shadow group against rewarding our best teachers."
In the run-up to the house's final vote on a teacher pay bill, the Florida Chamber was running ads like this one: "Then the union went into the classroom, exploiting and bullying our kids, thinking no one would ever know."
The Chamber supports Senate Bill 6, a measure that would tie a teacher's evaluation and pay to how well students perform academically. The bill is adamantly opposed by the teacher's union and Democrats. But the Republican-backed measure brought out political heavyweights like Senator John Thrasher of Jacksonville, who is sponsoring the bill, and former Governor Jeb Bush, who sent out robo-calls.
"Hi, this is Jeb Bush. I am calling to ask for your help. A massive misinformation campaign is being waged against a bill that would improve the quality of education in Florida."
In the meantime, the state teacher's union isn't backing down from its fight against the bill. Before the robo-calls and Chamber ads, the Florida Education Association launched its own media campaign, which is still up on YouTube. The ad features FEA President Andy Ford, who ties Senate Bill Six back to Florida's former governor.
"I can remember when I was sitting in Jeb Bush's office a decade ago, and he said that he wanted all bargaining done in this city There's nothing coincidental about the fact that the Department of Education is the second-tallest building in Tallahassee We have the power."
It is true that while Bush holds no elected office, he continues to advocate for school reform. His education advocacy group Foundation for Florida's Future is supportive of Senate Bill Six and a cadre of other bills, like one that would expand the Corporate Tax Scholarship Program, commonly referred to as School Vouchers. Patricia Levesque is Executive Director of the foundation. She says at least two proposals, Senate Bill 6 and the end-course exam bill, work together.
"The state wants to have an American Government end-course exam and a Language Arts end-course exam. The end-course exams would help us see a measure of how much did the Social Studies teacher teach the students in high school after that one year of American Government. It will be a great tool to be able to reward those teachers who do a great job."
Florida has not seen such big changes in education since Bush's A-plus plan, which brought school grades, the FCAT, charter schools and vouchers to Florida. But backers of the measures say this isn't Bush at work. They say the policy changes the Legislature is considering are coming out of a Democratic administration.
"If you had to attribute a catalyst, I would say it would be President Obama. When he ran for office and in his first state of education address, he made it clear that his number one priority was having a great teacher in the classroom."
Democrats say that's an excuse to pass laws that would take local control away from individual schools and give it to Tallahassee. The bills still have to go to the governor's desk for signing. When it comes to the teacher pay bill, the governor has indicated that his initial support of the measure has declined, spurring talk of a potential veto.