In schools, we put the future of students in the hands of teachers.
Now that the legislature has passed what it called 'the student success act,' it has put the future of teachers into the hands of their students.
And it has a lot of teachers nervous.
Basically how well a teacher does will depend on how well their students perform.
They won't have tenure and will have to earn their jobs back every year.
Teachers worry that they'll be judged -- and maybe even fired -- based on things they have no control over.
"Senate bill 736 was recently passed and it will affect every student in the state."
Administrators and teachers from around the area met at USF Sarasota-Manatee's campus to make sense of the student success act.
"Teachers evaluations will be based 50% on a students growth... A large component will be the FCAT," says Dr. Marie Byrd-Blake, Asst. Professor, USF Sarasota-Manatee.
Teachers will no longer be able to gain tenure. After July 1st, new teachers will be on annual contract only.
"It's a little nerve wracking taking it all in."
Jill Kornick is a teacher in Pasco county. She says she's nervous about how teachers will react to the bill.
"I feel we will be competing against another to get the best scores...What if a teacher has a gifted kid and and one with less disabilities than another teacher?"
Palmetto Elementary Principal Eddie Hundley feels that teachers will have some adjusting to do but says it will have a positive affect not just for the students in the classroom but the teachers as well.
"If you worked for a fast food restaurant and you were on fries and only 40% of your fries were edible, you wouldn't be cooking fries, you'd have to get someone who could do it. Well in education, that hasn't been the case. Over the past couple of years the accountability piece has come in and now it's here if we're ready for it or not."
