20.16%	Yes
79.83%	No

Comment: As a teacher, I know first hand that we make up for budget shortfalls with our own money. Now under this plan, we will have a disincentive to work with the students who require the greatest help, because of financial correlation. Add to this the idea that the performance of an unpredictable child (or group of children) will help to determine teachers' salaries (which happens in no other professional line of work) and you have the formula for further bastardizing the crucial profession of teaching. Our legislators should try having their salary tied to the performance of their children. I don't think they would volunteer for it, but it's good enough for us, right? How many parents would even volunteer to have their salary tied to their child's test scores any given week? I understand the need to evaluate us, but this is a profession which requires certain reliable standards of decorum, and a predictable income structure. Flroda teachers make less than 75% of our peers in the union, but we do it anyway. Now this. This is ridiculous, and may in fact hurt Florida students more than it helps by forcing more teachers to leave Florida, and it's education unfriendly environment. from Navarre by Duscha

Comment: In most other professions, your pay is based on your OWN proformance, not that of the students. Why cant we test the teachers? If they arent teaching adequately, then the students arent going to learn adequately. Base the teachers pay on tests that the teachers take yearly. from Pensacola, FL by Megan

Comment: I do not think teachers pay should be linked to students performance because over half the students that are enrolled in school just dont care about doing their work or obeying school rules. They go to school because they have to not to get an education. Teachers should get their regular pay for teaching the half that care and for having to put up with the other half that could care less. from Pensacola Fl by Kayla

Comment: Why not? If a salesman doesn't perform, he's replaced. If a factory worker doesn't perform, he's replaced. If a repairman doesn't perform, he's replaced. Why should teachers be so special as to not be held to the same performance standards as any other job? from Cantonment, Fl. by Jeff

Comment: As an Escambia County Substitute I witness a large percentage of students that refuse to put forth effort despite all Teaching Techniques. I absolutely do not think teachers salaries should be linked to and at the mercy of students performance. I feel the school system would lose many excellent teachers with the concept. from Pensacola, FL by Channon

Comment: There are so many variables that make a great teacher, I don't think test scores alone tell the whole story. Teachers of lower performing, disabled or ESL students shouldn't be penalized because of the population they serve. from Gulf Breeze, FL by Heidi

Comment: There are many variables which affect a student's performance. Some come from homes where they receive a great deal of encouragement and support. They don't have to worry about where they will sleep at night or if they will have the next meal. Then there are those who get no support from their parents who don't care or who are too busy trying to survive. Some are intellectually gifted and lesrning comes very easily. Some are intellectually challenged and struggle to even pass. There is no way that this would ever be balanced out in each teacher's classroom. from Milton, FL by Marilyn

Comment: Some students just aren't hard wired to learn the same way other students can. from Niceville, FL by Lois

Comment: I feel all politicians should be paid for their performance. I would love to be able to vote on every friggin politician today on their performance. And the free cheese givaway president included. Politicians who can sit in a $20,000 chair literally at tax payers expense dont see anything wrong with the picture. from Pensacola,Fl by Flower

Comment: Teachers should not be expected to be held responsible for those students that refuse to put forth an effort learn no matter what options there are for them. from Pensacola, FL by Steve

Comment: No. This would cause teachers to put added pressure on the students. It may not be in the best interest of the students as far as learning. It is not the teachers that are causing low scores, they can only do so much. It is up to the students to learn. from Pensacola,FL by Michael

Comment: Absolutely not! A student's performance is more dependant upon his/her ability and desire to learn than upon a teacher's ability to convey information and make the student retain it. There are just too many variables to place all the blame upon a teacher for a student's poor performance. from Crestview by Doug

Comment: This is absurdity! Todays students & their fragile little egos/psyches are the problem!Parents who expect teachers to teach as well as babysit their spoiled offspring are a huge part of the problem.The end result will see teachers teaching the test to protect themselves from financial reprisals & the sub room temperature IQ students will be even dumber & less prepared to make a living.There is no shame in failure if there is a lesson learned by the student. from PACE by JIM

Comment: The teacher should not be penalized by paying them based on test scores. Any improvement in a test score should be recognized as a win for the child even if the score does not fit in the "states" score range. The school system is going to loose a great number of wonderful teachers because they will have to leave the profession to find jobs that will allow them to continue to support their families. Teachers should be rewarded for bringing the states ranking up over the past few years in spite of heavy budget cuts. SUPPORRT THE TEACHERS, DON'T PENALIZE THEM!!! from FWB,FL by Wanting to be a teacher

Comment: My childs future is linked to the teachers compettance yes there pay should be linked to performance like everyone else from pace fl by George

Comment: It is wrong to tie teacher pay to the student's performance on an end of year exam. There are more factors involved in test taking than what is taught in the classroom. You have to take into consideration home life, learning disabilities, medical problems and emotional state. There are too many variables to adequately measure the teacher's impact and hold him or her accountable. from Mary Esther by Cathy

Comment: It sounds good in theory, but a teacher can not be held respnsible for the lack of basic foundation not laid in the home. If there is a "failing" parent, unfortunately in most cases," the child will also fail and the teacher can not be held responsible for basic parenting skills missing in the home enviornment. from Loxley, AL by Bob

Comment: This doesn't make sense to me. How will PE teachers be paid by student performance? If they have chubby children will they be penalized? Will teachers of students with special needs lose half their pay? How will art and music teachers be judged? If schools have students who move to the area, will the teachers be responsible for their scores? I guess it's time for Florida voters to pull a Massachusetts come November. from Crestview, Florida by Nancy J

Comment: Most teachers are dedicted professionals who do not need the added pressure of worrying about their livelyhood. Believe it or not there are students who just do not care and do not try. Usually these students are in the lower level classes. Should a teacher's future be tied to students who could care less? from Milton, FL by John

Comment: I believe that the lawmakers should have their pay tied to their performance. I also think they should have to take a test each year to see if they have grown in their abilities and knowledge. If not, they should lose their jobs. from Cantonment,Florida by Geneva

Comment: No I do not think their jobs should be linked to children's performance because there are some children who do not take tests well, don't have parents who care enough to get involved, or lack the motivation to show up with a determined spirit and to have teachers held hostage to that is not fair to either of them. from Crestview/FL by Gwen

Comment: I don’t agree with the measure for several reasons. One reason I disagree is a child’s teacher is not entirely responsible for their education, the students and the parents should carry a large portion of that burden and many parents are uninvolved. This bill will kill teachers helping out teachers because they will be competing against each other. You will be taking away all other subjects from the classroom except for the ones being tested. Santa Rosa County Schools has already let it be known that they want to do away with Music and Art programs next year. Students get passed at times based on something called placed. Placed means you didn’t actually make it to the next grade, but you were put there because of age or previous retentions. Then us teachers on top of everything else we are teaching have to get them up to speed. So you are going to base how good of a teacher I am on how my students do on 1 test that they take in April. Am I even done teaching in April? No. Santa Rosa County School Board showed how much they devalued their teachers on Tuesday night by doing away with step pay and essentially cutting our pay next year, even though we are always top in the state on test scores. It truly saddens and hurts me that no one from local to state level appreciates the time or effort we put forth for the children. from Milton by Kim

Comment: NO ALOT OF KIDS TODAY DON'T CARE IT IS SAD!IT IS NOT THE TEACHERS FAULT from pensacola by k.t.

Comment: No way. The two idiots (Don Gaetz and Durrel Peaden) who shoved this bill through the senate should be ashamed of themselves(both have alter-egos)and in fact why shouldn't their pay be related to voters and how they perform --.Everyone needs to contact their reps in the Fla House(mine is looser Murzin)to make sure that they do away with this bill. How can you take a teacher at let's say Cordova Park Elementary and compare their progress with teachers assigned to schools in low poverty areas and that be fair. My idea is to let the voters decide. I'm sure that way this bill will never become law. By the way people in Santa Rosa who voted for Matt Gaetz need to take notice of what his dad is up to. We don't need another bigoted Gaetz in Tallahassee just because daddy's money apparently helped buy a lot of malarkey with his dollars. I didn't know superintendents in Okaloosa made the money Geatz now has(Is this another Ray Sansom case?) from pensacola fl by lou

Comment: Can any legislator explain exactly how teachers would be paid under this plan? What happens to the students that no one wants to teach--the kids with behavioral and academic issues? How will student performance gains be measured? Can any of these questions be answered? This is an ill-conceived piece of legislation. from Ft. Walton Bch., FL by Jean

Comment: Now it's the teachers fault if the students come to school on drugs or don't come to sehool at all. This is the most unfair proposal I've ever seen. This is the same as basing a policeman's pay on the level of crime in the city. This bill discourages new teachers and demoralizes the ones currently teaching. from Crestview FL by Dan

Comment: I disagree with this. There are too many parents that do not get involved with their child’s education. Their involvement is imperative in assisting the teacher with their Childs learning and testing ability. If more parents were involved in guiding their child, checking their homework and assignments to ensure they are being accomplished then assuredly the Childs grades would reflect their assistance. The teachers are already spending large amounts of their own money to accommodate the classroom. Do not allow this to happen to the education system. As a city, community, county and state, we should be supportive of the teachers and faculty members, not be the first to point fingers at the teachers because their little child doesn’t want to learn or causes classroom disruptions. Concentrate on changing the system to remove those ineffective teachers from the school system instead of keeping them ‘just because’. If you begin basing the pay on the students performance you will begin seeing a lot of ‘white washing’ just so someone can keep their job. Think about it and let’s help the teachers and come up with a better plan. Here’s a unique idea, lets get a panel of teachers, state wide, together and ask them what they think and let them suggest changes and policies. Keep the politicians and superintendents out of the decision factors. from Shalimar by Rich

Comment: Right wing republicans have had it in for public school teachers for years. I've been teaching for 23 years and this is the thanks I get--a base salary commensurate with that of a first year teacher? I can't control how little parents care about their students' education. I can't fire students from my classroom. I hope parents realize just how much more testing their children will have to endure because of this. It's a huge farce. from Niceville / FL by vikki

Comment: Teachers should not be penalized for students failure to perform. Penalize the student who is able to learn and refuses to learn. Fail them! from Milton, FL by W

Comment: AS a teacher in the state of Florida for 30 years, today was a very sad day to me for all the teachers in the state of Florida because it is totally unfair to pay teachers solely based on test performance of students they teach. The bill passed today in the Senate states that teacher advanced degrees and professional credentials would not factor into teacher pay, as well as, experience in the classroom won't mattter either. The bill also includes a demand for end-of-course assessments to be developed in all subjects not measured by state assessments. This really hits home for me in my current teaching position. How can I effectively give my students an end-of course assessment to determine the pay I will receive dependent upon the scores of my students when I teach all grades of students in grades 9-12 on different achievement levels, unlike other teachers who teach all honor students? According to this bill, teachers that teach honor students will receive more pay than a teacher like me who teaches students at all levels of achievement and they call this fair? I DON'T THINK So! from Milton, Florida by Sheila

Comment: Not enough thought has gone in to this bill. The State should be addressing required attendance and discipline. Until we require kids to behave and come to school, there is absolutely no way the teacher can be responsible for whether a student passes the course or not. In Okaloosa County we have probably one half of the student population with excessive absences and tardies. We have parents answering to DCF for reported neglegence, including non-attendance at school. These parents sign their children in 20 minutes before the end of school so their attendance is changed from absent to tardy. There is no way we can teach and students can learn unless they are in the classroom. We have a program for every learning need but if they do not come to school, we cannot be responsible for their instruction outcome. If this is the standard, then we should tie law enforcement pay (for example) to the number of arrests/ onnvictions, etc. Non attendance and inappropriate behavior should be reported to DCF to make parents responsible for their children and their interaction and approproate participation at school. This Bill is NOT THE ANSWER to student performance. from Fort Walton Beach, FL by Cissy

Comment: I definitely disagree with SB6, which ties teacher pay to student performance. I am a teacher and my school is in a low socio-economic area with a high influx of non-English speaking and multi-racial students. Approxi-mately 65% of our students are on free/reduced lunches. Regardless of how good the teacher is, you will not have the same success as you would in other schools without those factors. What about the teacher who has multiple grades of special ed students who test poorly? What about the teacher who teaches multiple grades in an EBD (behavior) setting whose students are still expected to meet the same academic standards as a general education or even a gifted and talented student? This bill has not been thought out properly. It is obvious that our state senators are not educators. There are guidelines to maintain quality teachers and get rid of the bad ones. We will lose highly qualified and experienced teachers, and the students will suffer in the end. from Niceville/Florida by Kenneth

Comment: As a teacher, I think that it should be one criteria but it should not be the exclusive criteria. There are many different variables that play into the equation of student academic performance being constant. There are variables that we teachers should not be held accountable for. We have no control over the students’ home environment, IQ, parental involvement, interest, expectations, or disabilities (if any). People seriously have no idea how hard we work and how much home “over-time” we put into our jobs. Do we get paid for it? No! We don’t care or complain because we love what we do. Come take my place for a week if you’ve never been in a classroom. It’s not just coloring and painting anymore. Then see if that will change your mind on how you view teachers. from Pace, Florida by Stephani

Comment: I agree with the teachers. It would give an unfair advanctage to teachers in schools that always perform well. from Gulf Breeze/FL by Don

Comment: Why stop there? Let's do this with all professions. We can mandate annual contracts, scrutinize them, penalize their seniority, cut their pay, save money, disrespect them, and use them as scapegoats. I've also heard that starting in July, teachers will no longer receive the small amount of additional pay they've been receiving for Masters and Doctorate degrees. We certainly wouldn't want our Educators to be overly educated. What else can we take from them? Their dignity? I know lots of teachers that put in a full day at work, have additional meetings after school, as well as extra projects and duties. They bring their work home, as they grade papers, do online research, and spend lots of their own money on their students, because many things just aren't in the school budget. Their platter is beyond full. They certainly work more than eight hours a day; often it's twelve, and sometimes more. This all sounds like an exceptional way to recruit new teachers for our progressive Florida classrooms. Well, at least it sounds politically correct.... See More Police officers could be evaluated by arrests, convictions, and crime rates. State Troopers should be held accountable for the number of accidents and fatalities on our highways; Fire Fighters for fire prevention; Physicians for disease prevention, as well as being held accountable for their patients not taking their prescribed medication. Politicians should most certainly have annual contracts. We can start with Governor, Senators, and Congressmen. Now that last example is possibly the only one that actually makes sense. from Pensacola, FL by Tony

Comment: DO YOU THINK YOUR PAY SHOULD BE LINKED TO LISTENERS RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU SAY? DO YOU THINK YOUR PAY SHOULD BE LINKED TO HOW LISTENERS RESPOND TO NEWS YOU MAKE THEM AWARE OF BUT THEY CHOOSE NOT TO FOLLOW. YOU TELL PEOPLE TO EVACUATE DURING HURRICANES BUT SHOULD YOU BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IF THEY IGNORE YOU. KIDS WHO DO NOT CARE IF THEY LEARN SURE DON'T CARE IF THEY MAKE A TEACHER EARN LESS MONEY from MILTON by BARBARA

Comment: Teachers dont take the tests for the kids, they can teach them what they need to learn, but it's up to the kids to apply that to the tests. from cantonment by larry

Comment: No because Teachers have no control over those students now. They don't perform because the are not taught at home to behave in class and pay attention so why should the teacher have to pay the price. from Pensacola Fl by Dianne

Comment: As a teacher, when I have a problem with a disruptive child I call the parents for help. Many times I'm told by the parent that they can't control the child either. My job and salary are dependent upon that child if this bill passes into law. from Crestview, FL by Joseph

Comment: I am a general ed kindergarten teacher. I understand the need for accountability (and we are already held accountable), but students don't come to us on a level playing field. As hard as we work, some will still struggle with low test scores. from Milton, FL by Molly

Comment: I think that all teachers should get incentives.You can't get anything in this world without an education. I decree higher pay for all teachers. from Shalimar, FL by Terrance

Comment: No, I do not think teachers' pay should be linked to students performance. I am concerned about the low performing students and who will want to teach them and put them in their classes. What other profession ties money to how well they do something? I can not control all the things going on in a child's home life. I can make it better at school but I can't take away what goes on at home or even make a parent help a child with homework! It is very sad day for students and teachers in Florida!! from Fort Walton Beach FL by Karen

Comment: I believe that students' performance should be a part of teachers' pay....it shouldn't solely be based on performance, but just a part of it. from Pensacola, FL by Jessica

Comment: No because they spend more time with their parents. Its their responsibilty more than teachers. if the child has no support at home, runs the roads as they wish, and has not respect for their parents, what makes everyone think a teacher can make them learn? from mary esther, fl by alan

Comment: NO!!! TEACHERS CANNOT CONTROL THE KINDS AND ABILITIES OF STUDENTS GIVEN TO THEM. WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE 1 FRENCH FRY IN THE BAG YOU CAN'T MAKE MORE!!!THIS BILL WOULD PUNISH LOW ECONOMIC STATUS SCHOOLS WHOSE STUDENTS ARE BELOW GRADE LEVELS AND MAKE EVERY TEACHER WANT TO THEM AT THE ELITIST SCHOOLS. from Pace by Sandra

Comment: Schools should be closed completely. With internet and all the other things available home schooling should be required. Organized government schooling is far too expensive and should be abolished. from Gulf Breeze by Gene

Comment: Linking teachers' pay to the performance of their students is akin to NEVER buying another car because you got a 'lemon' once. There is no justice in that concept; however I am in support of an annual or bi-annual subject knowledge exam of teachets. After all, we expect the same 'testing' of our states' law enforcement personnel. In fact law enforcement officers (unless they've changed the law) are required X amount of classroom time to keep their accreditation up to par (or simply put - keep their jobs). Our teachers deserve no less attention than our law enforcement personnel. from Mary Esther, FL. by Tom

Comment: This bill isn't about education. It's about money. It's about the state trying to find ways to fix their mistakes despite the cost to our children. It isn't about teacher salaries or student achievement, it's about the state's failure to meet their obligation as defined in the state constitution. It's time to make EDUCATION a priority instead of fighting over the scraps left over. If education is important to you, put your money where your mouth is and stop penalizing everyone else for the states' failure to uphold the state constitution.Quality in education is like quality everywhere else, "you get what you pay for". Make Our Schools A Priority. from Pensacola, FL by Debby

Comment: Absolutely not!! This was tried in the military for advanced promotions using annual performance evaluations. It was a flop! All it caused was intense infighting among individuals and a reluctance to share good methods and ideas. Trying to accurately evaluate the data (test scores) will turn out to be an administrative nightmare. from Cantonment by Bill

Comment: No, of course not. As an educator, I think this is a horrible idea. What about the teachers who are placed in ALL classes with the lower level students? I would hate for my salary/raises to be based on student performance. This definitely needs to be re-thought. from Cantonment, FL

Comment: Couldn't the teacher then grade all her students higher to get a higher pay status? There must be a better way. Someone of unique honest qualities should review all records, past and present. This is not brain surgery. from Pensacola, Fl by Franklin

Comment: How can teachers be expected to increase performance? We need to do away with archaic "grading systems". Every student should graduate regardless of grades or literacy. Failure has such a bad stigma. Goes for college, too! Better pay for ineffective teachers. Support the NEA !!! from East Hill by Mike

Comment: As much as the easy answer seems to be yes, and teachers should be held accountable-- the students will suffer. Good teachers who might be more suited for working with at-risk students will be more prone to accept jobs where students are more likely to succeed. Teachers can only do so much and as the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." I'm also willing to bet that teachers will be more focused on teaching students how to pass tests-- verses teaching them how to learn. from Pensacola by Tonya

Comment: This is absolutely unthinkable!! The system of testing the students is too flawed, not to mention contraversial, to link it to teachers performance . If the state wants to do this then they need to put observers in the classrooms for all day. and see what the teachers really deal with on a day to day basis. Grades simply do not tell all!!!!! But we know this would not happen because no one wants to take the time to do it right. Why are they picking on the teachers. Let us cut a poloiticians salary based on performance and let him wonder if hes has a job next year!!!!! from Pensacola by Rebecca

Comment: No, How would Gaetz and Crist like their pay dependend on how the voters feel about them.

Comment: If you hold teachers accountable for student progress, then when are you going to hold the parents accountable for their part in the student failure? It takes a community to raise a child and all parts must do their part. Do we pay doctors if according to the how well their patients follow their advice/teaching? Some accountablity needs to be on everyone's part, but the burden on teachers is as ridiculous as holding doctors pay according to how well patients follow their advice. from Pensacola Fl by Ann

Comment: Very simple. How are you going to link teacher's pay to perfomance when there are many schools who have a majority of students from low income homes who get no help at home. It's rediculous and absurd to basically reward schools in districts with a better home life when infact the teachers in the lower income districts are working harder than ever to try to help a student do his best. The people making these decisions are not educators. from Milton by Roger

Comment: Good teachers are probably already looking for better jobs in other states.

Comment: All this Bill is going to do, is put extra stress on the Teachers and the Students. And isn't there enough of that already? from Pace FL by James

Comment: Education is the only industry that cannot select its raw material. Teachers in schools with a large number of professional and well educated parents will have children who will make god grades. Teachers who have to teach in schools where there are a lot of families who are not interested in education will have a lot of children with the same mindset. It is not fair to penalize these hard working teachers for being in such a neighborhood. Don't you remember several years ago when Gov. Jeb Bush came to help teachers in a certain school notify parents to send their children to school? Remember the comment stated in the PNJ, "the single, pregnant mother with 5 younger children, said she would try to send her first-grader to school from Pensacola, Fl by Ruth

Comment: How do you tie pay to teacher's who teach ESE students. I have students who do not care if they pass or fail, and many of that comes from parents who do not care. by Teacher

Comment: pay for performance is getting to be the norm in the business community. What a better way to motivate employees than rewqard them for a job well done. The performance can be based on the employees base pay and a certian percentage awarded. This is working in the federal sector by weeding out the slackers and making them step up to the plate and give thier respective employer thier all. by Jeffrey

Comment: Instead of blaming teachers for underpreforming students, students need to be held responsilbe for thier own work and parents should be held accountable for thier students. Education starts at home. from Pensacola by Punkin

Comment: I think we should link the salaries of the politicians in Tallahassee to their performance in relation to how well they actually serve the people they represent. If that were the case most of them wouldn't get a salary at all. from Pace, Fl by Jackie

Comment: Teacher pay should NOT be linked to students' performance in no way, shape, or form, due to the different learning styles and capabilites of each individual student. It's falls back on how the individual student apply themselves to accomplish the task in the learning environment. I have seen some student have an awesome teacher, yet the student is just there because they have to be by law and just apply themselves to the basic to barely pass. And, this can lead to questions if the student has learning disabilities and capabilities. If that is present, how can the teachers pay be linked to that? from Milton, Fl by Scooter

Comment: More expensive testing will create more stress for students and teachers. Teachers already work hard for less pay than other professions that require the same amount of formal education. There are so many factors that impact student achievement that teachers cannot control. Some students are doing the best that they can with the intellect given, some are unable to concentrate due to worries and circumstances in their lives and some may just not choose to do the study required to do well. How can we penalize our teachers for societal ills or choices that students make? from Crestview/FL by Susan

Comment: I feel it is a terrible mistake to tie any teachers pay to student performance. All educator know children learn at different rates. Teachers can not MAKE a child retain valuable information needed to show learning gains. Teachers teach and nurture student learning. Excellent teachers have children in their classes which will be retained at no fault of the teacher! So is it fair to attach a teachers pay to that student?

Comment: Students who score in the 80 % and up should earn THEIR parents tax breaks! from Pensacola FL by Lynne

Comment: I am a twenty year veteran teacher. There are so many issues that involve student performance that are just not within my control. To suggest otherwise is unrealistic. At the end of thirty years of teaching if a teacher depends solely on his/her retirement, he or she will be just above the poverty level. Imagine cutting that in half! from Laurel Hill by Regena

Comment: ABSOLUTELY NOT !!! IF so you will never get a teacher to work in an inner city school ! And teachers will be forced to "cheat" ! from pensacola by Sandy

Comment: Where is common sense? How about holding parents and students accountable? As they say "you can lead a horse to water..." from Pensacola by Ready to quit

Comment: i think it is good thing for this to happen but i would love to add that the kids and their parents should be held accountable. from p'cola fl by h

Comment: Absolutely not! We do not need any more insentive for the teachers to teach kids only what is needed to pass the FCAT! from Pensacola, FL by Vicki

Comment: Kids are very smart these days. It would't take long to gang up on a teached they didn'like from Milton FL by John

Comment: Unfortanly, all parents do not put forth the effort to make sure that kids do homework and study in order to recieve good grades so teachers should not be paid on what parents will not do. I think the more challengeing the teacher/student relations are and the harder the teacher has to work to teach a student that really don't care to put in the effort should be paid more. from pensacola by jimmy

Comment: ABSOLUTELY NOT because so many learning gains are tied to home support. Attendance, punctuality, homework, reading to and with children, valuing education, getting enough food, sleep, and the list goes on and on. These factors are totally out of a teacher's control. I am outraged that legislators are promoting a bill that actually discounts experience and advanced degrees. What does that say about their view of higher education? I have been teaching for 27 years. I have a masters degree, am National Board Certified and was planning to begin a doctoral program this fall. Now I am literally AFRAID to make such a financial commitment. Will all teachers be started at my salary or will my pay be cut to a beginning teacher's salary? For the first time ever I am doubting my choice of careers. from Navarre, FL by Beverly

Comment: you can leed a horse to water but you can not make it drink. from pns by john

Comment: I believe that a teacher’s pay should be linked to students’ performance as long as the teacher goes home with the student to ensure that the student studies, does his homework, turns off the T.V., turns off the video games, and is at home on school nights. In other words, are we asking teachers to be held responsible for the job of parents? Although I think teachers should be held accountable for their ability to teach and connect with students, show me a student (anyone) who doesn’t want to learn and he won’t. Show me someone who wants to learn and he will. If the intent is to get rid of poor teachers, administrators know who they are. We shouldn’t use learning criteria which is beyond even the best teacher’s control, especially in schools where many kids are high risk and where student-parental interaction is minimal. from Cantonment, Fl by Michael

Comment: The federal government tried the pay for performance for civil service employees and it was a TOTAL & COMPLETE failure. It is now in the process of converting thousands of employees back to the original pay system. I know first hand since I am one of these employees. The pay for performance was filled with corruption and politics leading to unequal pay raises. If a teacher's pay is tied to performance, then so should the people making these stupid laws. Santa Rosa County teachers just got slapped in the face with a ruling of no more automatic step increases, now they are pushing for 50% of their pay to be tied to performance. There is a system already in place...it's called the annual appraisal that teachers get. No teacher's pay should be tied to the performance of students. What if they get a classroom full of dummies? Who is going to ensure the proper mixture of children in a classroom? If I were a teacher, I would find a way to ensure all of my students score well on tests, assignments, etc. If they pass this bill, they better make darn sure they have close oversight on every teacher. I know the majority of teachers have integrity and a strong work ethic, but if it is a matter of putting food on the table for their family, they'll have to do whatever is necessary to ensure their students score well. from Navarre by S

Comment: According to this bill, the entire faculty of the highest performing school can be placed in the lowest performing school thus becoming the highest performing school and visa versa. This bill states it is only the teachers, not the families or type of student population make the students get good or bad grades. If this was tried, it would prove the unfairness of this bill. Our practicum teachers have already said if this bill passes, they will leave Florida for positions in other states that do not have pay for performance. from Shaliamr, FL by Sue

Comment: i say no, because children have to buckle down and learn from kidergarden through college. anwhy should the teachers pay be cut,because children today don't want to learn,and heeverything to them handed on a silver plater. i say no the teachers hd to go to school to learn so the children of today need to learn and make something of themselves before it is to late.i say leave teaachers pay alon and don't cut it atr all, really need to give them a pay raise. from crestview florida by deborah

Comment: No, because their performance is going to have a lot to do with their home life and teachers have no control over that. from pen fl by sunshine

Comment: No... Why would a teacher want to teach lower performing students? One could be a wonderful teacher however the performance of lever 1 and 2 students would most likely indicate a poor performing teacher. Give me honors courses from now on. Seriously, that is like judging nurses on survival rate. The nursery nursed will have a 200% increase, one in two out, and oncology would be a low performing area. from Milton by Mark

Comment: Teachers will then just teach the test materials. from Pensacola, FL by Robert

Comment: All other job are base on performance. Why should teachers think they should not be held to the same rules that they hold others they deal with. It sounds like they want their cake and eat it too. We do not want teachers that goes to work and just get paid for showing up.If we would have did this when I was going to school maybe , just maybe I would have done better in life. from Jay,Fla by David

Comment: I am torn cause there are some good teachers out there and then there are others who don't care. The best teachers are poorly underpaid and the worst teachers are highly overpaid. I will never forget my two biggest influences at Bellview Middle and love them dearly . from Pensacola Fl by Tracy

Comment: We don't spent four years in college to have a child decide how much we should be paid. How about we pay our legislators based upon their performance? We go in there and we teach our students, but even the best of teachers cannot reach every student. from Pace,Florida by Amanda

Comment: I think that most teachers try very hard to educate our kids. The elephant in the room is that parents too often do not structure their kids to go to school and learn. The teachers then get the blame. Parents please take an interest in your kid's education. from Pensacola by Charles

Comment: No, Teachers should be competent, but not paid on student's performance. Parents should be held accountable for students performance. from Navarre by Adam