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The association for administrators, district superintendents, principals, assistant principals, supervisors and those who support the public schools of Florida. |
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MESSAGE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOROriginally published Friday, March 12, 2010.  If you felt your building shake on Wednesday this week, it's because of
the seismic shift in Florida education policy proposed by the 2010
legislature. On Wednesday, a Senate panel approved two bills that would overhaul Florida's public education system, creating a system of merit pay for teachers and increasing the amount of math and science a student needs to pass to graduate. One of the bills (SB 6) puts teachers on annual contracts and ties their pay to how well their students perform on standardized exams. Districts that don't use a merit pay system will lose large amounts of state funding. The bill is a pet proposal of the Jeb Bush-based Foundation for Florida's Future and was passed by the Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee Wednesday, on a party line vote of 6-2, with the committee's two Democrats opposed. Another bill (SB 4) would require high school students to take geometry, two years of algebra, biology, chemistry or physics and an additional "rigorous" science course to graduate. The class requirements would be phased in as would end-of-course examinations, which would eventually replace the state's current standardized exam, the FCAT. Already on the table are major proposals that would overhaul, or do away, with FRS completely for future employees. FASA and the Mixon team are actively working all these proposals on your behalf. Because this session is so serious, we have added additional resources to help us in the legislature. I'm proud to announce that we have been joined by Dr. Larry Wood, a brilliant man who knows both schools and the legislature. As K12 Chancellor, I worked with Larry at the DOE where he was Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he was Budget Director for the Florida Board of Education. In the legislature, Larry served in a key position as Senior Staff Director of Senate Appropriations. Larry was also Staff Director of the Florida Senate Finance and Tax Committee for two years. He has a Ph.D. in Public Administration, a CPM in Public Management and BS degree in Management. Larry is widely known and respected in Tallahassee and throughout our state. We are proud that he has agreed to serve you during this difficult time. To learn more about important issues and to meet Dr. Larry Wood, watch this week's FASA Video Update. Juhan Mixon and Larry Wood will quickly update you on where we stand today. You can see this week's video by clicking here. Have a great day! Jim Warford Send Jim a message by clicking here. Previous Messages from the Executive Director
March 12, 2010
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