by David Chapman
Staff Writer
The controversial and all-encompassing teacher accountability, tenure and merit-pay bill (SB 6) vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist in April could be broken down into individual issues and seen again this upcoming session.
That idea was one mentioned Tuesday by State Sen. Steve Wise during “The Power of Education and The Legislature” discussion at the Economic Roundtable of Jacksonville at Jacksonville University.
Panelists included Wise; Ed Pratt-Dannals, Duval County Public Schools superintendent; and Crystal Jones, Teach for America Jacksonville chapter executive director.
Wise and Pratt-Dannals both said they met Monday and talked about dividing SB 6 measures into individual bills.
Wise said breaking down the individual issues created a greater chance to garner support for each proposal.
He said that as an all-encompassing bill, there are too many critics of the different parts for it to succeed.
As it stands, Wise said he has two years to accomplish some educational reform goals. He will be term-limited.
Tuesday’s panel discussion was initially framed around the question of how legislators and local school system proponents could work together to solve educational problems.
Wise said he had no answer, but said many of his colleagues believe they have solutions, yet can’t agree on them.
Pratt-Dannals referred to SB 6 and said while there was a lot of good in the measure, he questioned how it would have benefited teachers and students.
While Pratt-Dannals said the Legislature is well-intended, items like unfunded mandates handed to the school system are problematic.
“We don’t always agree, but there’s respect there,” said Pratt-Dannals on the system’s relationship with Legislature.
Jones discussed how Teach for America, a privately funded national teaching program for recent college graduates to teach in impoverished areas, is closing the achievement gap in its areas.
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