Governor proposes new teaching task force to strengthen education programs

Special to the Outlook

Governor Charlie Crist announced June 14 that he has organized a new task force to build broad stakeholder support for strategies to promote and sustain a high quality workforce. Florida’s Task Force on Excellent Teaching will include education stakeholders, including, but not limited to teachers and teacher associations, superintendents, school board members, school administrators, parents and the business community.

“A great teacher is one of the most important factors needed to assure a student’s success in the classroom, and every Florida student deserves a great teacher,” Governor Crist said. “While the majority of our hard working teachers do a tremendous job, we must continue to ensure every teacher in our state is equipped to do the best possible job to prepare our students for the future.”

The task force will make recommendations to the Governor by December 1, 2010, that will continue efforts of the diverse Race to the Top Working Group that recently developed the revised Memorandum of Understanding included in Florida’s Race to the Top Phase 2 application. With the support of 65 of Florida’s 67 school districts, three of the state’s four lab schools and the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, the state’s ongoing effort to win up to $700 million in federal education funding was bolstered by commitments from 54 local teacher unions.

If the funds are awarded to Florida, they will be used to implement locally developed, comprehensive education reform plans to accelerate student learning and improve the quality of education in Florida public schools. The Florida Task Force on Excellent Teaching will explore methods for enhancing student achievement and capability to compete in the global economy, as well as teacher compensation and performance.

The responsibilities of the task force include developing strategies related to the following:

•Teacher certification and performance evaluation

•Merit pay for quality teachers

•Measuring student learning gains, including students with disabilities

•Identifying and assisting low-performing teachers

•Teacher recruitment, retention and improvement, focusing on reviewing

•Teacher education programs

•Professional development and teacher support

•Teacher collaboration and sharing of effective practices

•Technologies proven to increase teacher effectiveness

•Beginning teacher working conditions

•Compensation and benefits, including rewards for effective teachers