Well, if you have paid attention at all to the news of late you have seen teachers across the nation protest as reforms to their salary are being proposed in state legislatures. Even here in Florida, teachers are planning to rally in Tallahassee to protest many of the proposed changes. Please understand these planned reforms will not only affect teachers, they will affect your students.

 What reforms are being proposed?

1. Our governor is asking all state employees, including teachers, to pay 5% of their salary into retirement. This will in effect help the state government with money, but also take 5% of teacher’s salaries out of their already limited paycheck.
2. Our governor has proposed cutting property taxes and business income taxes across the state and then providing less funding. Florida would become somewhere in the lower 40’s in per pupil spending.
3. Our state legislature is creating a merit based pay system where teachers will be paid bonuses based on the performance of their students, your children. This will hopefully increase student academic performance, but will also definitely increase student homework and expectation of parental involvement.

What you will see is good, experienced teachers leave the profession to find work that pays them for their ability. Your students will be taught by new, energetic, and inexperienced teachers right out of college … who will have those same expectations placed upon them.

Mrs. Donovan