An important message from Florida's AFL-CIO President Mike Williams.

If unions can be broken in the public sector, this will further tilt the political playing field on behalf of corporate interests and their Republican allies. This will also silence one of the few remaining vehicles that advocate on behalf of ordinary people in this country.

More from Diane Ravitch.

More from Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post.

Michelle Rhee is the darling of conservative education reformers who want to hold teachers "accountable".    Rhee gained all of her knowledge of education during her 3-year career as a classroom teacher.   Now, her record as the Chancellor of Washington D.C.'s public schools is under scrutiny because the testing company found that there were an unusually high number of incorrect answers erased and changed to the correct answer.

Venting on Facebook can cause some problems.

Former D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee's record is taking another hit.

The great gains in test scores are now under question.

Somehow the state legislature is going to pay for Gov. Scott's tax cuts.

The legislature wants teachers, police and firefighters to pick up the tab....by taking a 3 percent pay cut.

Citizens of Florida have voted over and over again to limit class sizes.

The Florida Legislature has cut funding for education so much in the past three years, including funding for class size, districts are looking for relief.

All public employee unions across the country are under attack.  Here in Florida the legislature is working on legislation that would decertify or kill unions that have less than 50 percent membership.

Rick Scott transferred his ownership in the health clinic chain Solantec to his wife.

Then he ordered state employees to be drug tested a LOT...which just happens to be a big part of Solantec's business.  But, that's OK because he won't make all the money.   His wife will.

Why does Gov. Rick Scott want to cut your salary?  To pay for a tax cut.

Is it worth it?

If you are unsure of how teacher performance will be determined, you are not alone.

Check out this article from the Los Angeles Times on their performance pay.

A bill in the Florida legislature that would increase the number of vouchers passed out of committee.

Check out the enthusiasm of teachers and our community.....(and forgive the 9/12 group who don't understand).

The Tampa Tribute explains why public schools have been hit hard in the legislature.  "Bush's battle with the union began in earnest when he ran for governor in 1994, espousing an agenda of conservative change, including vouchers. The two unions that eventually merged to form the FEA opposed him.

On Halloween just before the election, teachers dressed as Grim Reapers drove a stake through his education proposal, according to a newspaper report"

More than half of workers in the FRS System earn less than $40,000. The average annual benefit for retirees is $17,465. At least 297 executive branch workers earn salaries low enough to qualify for Medicaid.  

A bill changing the class size amendment rules is moving through the legislature.

News from around the state....

Five things about SB 736 that you may not be aware of....

Senate Bill 830, sponsored by the same senator who sponsored SB 6 last year, will HURT ALL UNIONS!    PLEASE make PHONE CALLS!

Check this out to see the bills that will affect public schools and public school employees.

If you want to know why SB 736 is a bad idea....please read this...

This is the analysis done by the Senate Budget Committee.   This may be more detailed than the average person wants to read.

FAQs on SB 736 which passed the house March 16th.

Duval County School Board member W.C. Gentry says that Duval County can't provide money for athletics if their school district takes a $97 million budget cut.

Actor Tony Shalhoub returns to his home state of Wisconsin to support public servants.

Brief clip of Ronald Reagan supporting Unions and Collective Bargaining.

Want to see the lifestyle of the rich teachers?  

The latest legislative update from Tallahassee.

President Obama's visit to a Miami High School with Jeb Bush shows no respect for the teachers of Florida.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof sets the record straight on teacher pay.

In 1970, in New York City, a newly minted teacher at a public school earned about $2,000 less in salary than a starting lawyer at a prominent law firm. These days the lawyer takes home, including bonus, $115,000 more than the teacher, the McKinsey study found.

Senator John Thrasher, the sponsor of last year's Senate Bill 6, lobbied for testing companies.    If SB 736 becomes law it opens the door for these companies to make millions more in Florida.

The Son of Senate Bill 6 has passed the Senate and is on its way to the house.

We need to contact Rep. Elizabeth Porter (850) 488-9835  and (386) 719-4600

Please CALL BOTH numbers!

Tell her to Vote "NO" on HB 7019!

Read more below.

Find YOUR state representative below.

Find your Florida Senator on the link below.

If Senate Bill 736 passes the house, (or should I say "When" it passes) school districts will have to create End of Course exams for every course taught.

Pasco County school testing officials have begun creating some end-of-course exams, with an average cost of $100,000 each. The district has about 1,300 discrete courses. Doing the math, district leaders have said their biggest concern with SB 736 is the cost.

The Senate passed SB 736 today.   SB 736 requires 50 percent of teacher evaluations to be from test scores and new teachers will NEVER have job security.

 Both Senator Steve Oelrich and Sen. Charlie Dean, who represent  Columbia County,  voted "Yes".    The Pension Bill SB 1130 passed out of a committee today.  The bill has been altered to a 2 percent employee contribution and new teachers will still be able to enter the FRS pension (since they will never earn more that $75,000).

FEA Frontline Report March 9

Today Senate Bill 736 was on the floor of the Senate.   This is my EXCLUSIVE report.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce is trying to win public opinion with propaganda.

The Anti-Teacher Bill Will Be on the Senate Floor Wed. March 9th.

CALL Our State Senators NOW!

Here's another Anti-Union bill that would throw out our contract.

Wisconsin is not the only state with an attack on unions.   Florida's legislature is making an all-out assault on FEA and other unions.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce claims that they are a grassroots organization.

They portray any teacher who stands up for their rights as a bully.

The latest news from around the state...

The latest from the legislature.

New Hampshire House Republicans are pushing for new laws that would prohibit many college students from voting in the state - and effectively keep some from voting at all.

Employees in Florida once made contributions to the Florida Retirement System until they realized that if employees contribute money then you have to give them money back.   In 1974, it cost the state $30 million.

Valerie Strauss' take of President Obama inviting Jeb Bush to visit a Miami High School.    This column also looks at the Anti-Teacher Senate Bill 736.

President Obama visited a Miami High School with the anti-teacher duo of Arne Duncan and Jeb Bush.

Incredible video of Michael Moore in Wisonsin.

It turns out that the state’s public school teachers are very popular with their fellow Badgers. With 77% of those polled holding a high opinion of their educators, it is not particularly surprising that only 32% among households with children in the public school system approve of the governor’s performance. Sixty-seven percent (67%) disapprove, including 54% who strongly disapprove.

 Trade deals close factories, outsource jobs and pit workers against each other, then wages decline and unemployment is really high, while all the money goes to a few at the top. Then calls to cut the wages and benefits of the rest.

Unions squashed, then pensions disappear, then calls to get rid of public-employee unions because they have pensions.

Channel 4's Hailey Winslow came to Lake City to cover CTA's Black Friday Rally.

TV 20's Steve Campion came to Lake City to cover CTA's Black Friday Rally.

Only on Fox News....Bill O'Reilly Show the 'Violence' in Wisconsin....with Palm Trees Blowing in the Background.

Diane Ravitch, a lone voice in the wilderness defending public schools and teachers, visits The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Unions are under attack everywhere.

The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss takes on Bill Gates..

The head of Florida's major business organization bluntly told legislators Thursday state employees should "have some skin in the game" with pension payments put into investment accounts — and consider themselves lucky to have jobs.

United Teachers of Dade President Karen Aronowitz responds to President Obama's visit to a Miami high school, with the man who hates the Florida Education Association more than anyone.

Despite what you hear, the state of Florida ranks #5 for Business Climate based on the tax structure.    Couldn't we ask corporations to do their fair share for education rather than tax teachers, whose salaries are ranked 47th in the country?

There are many reasons why Senate Bill 1130 is a bad idea.

States like West Virginia and Nebraska switched from traditional pensions to investment plans and later switched back.   

It is bad for the families of public servants who are struggling financially.   Teachers have traded salary for job security and benefits like their pension.

Now, politicians want to take it ALL from us.  Teacher salaries are ranked 47th.   Isn't that bad enough?

 This bill is going to be a job killer.   Taking 5 percent of the largest employer in a county after cutting jobs to balance the budget is not going to help any small business.   This bill also has no provision for law enforcement members or firefighters permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty.   A bill similar to this was defeated in California for that reason alone.

We Need to Educate Our Colleagues About the Legislative Session opening March 8th.    Read this to understand why we must act now.

Unions stick together on Anti-Union House Bill 1023....thanks to Union Brother and Orlando Firefighter Steve Clelland

A Charter-School Teacher was fired because she refused to remove a bumper sticker.

In recent years, the US Department of Education's Office of the Inspector General has been raising red flags about charter school fraud and embezzlement, a problem that is increasing. In March, the OIG wrote that it had opened more than 40 charter school criminal investigations that resulted in the convictions of 15 charter school officials, with 24 cases still pending. Most of the cases involved charter school operators and employees who falsely increased enrollment figures and used the extra money to bankroll lavish lifestyles. They often engaged in testing and grade-fixing antics to ensure the money kept rolling in. At the time the report was released, prosecutors had recovered more than $4 million stolen by charter school employees and operators since 2005.

Scott's proposal for next year includes billions of dollars in education cuts. The actual cut depends on what education budget figure you consult, but the cut would be between $3.3 billion and $4.8 billion, with per-student funding to decrease by 10 percent. Some of that loss is offset by having teachers contribute 5 percent to their retirement and by the inclusion of temporary federal education dollars. Still, per-student funding would shrink if Scott's budget is ultimately approved.

Gov. Scott's  proposed spending  is almost $66 billion -- $4.6 billion less next budget year compared to this year. Scott also wants to eliminate nearly 8,700 state positions, many of them filled by current state workers.  His education budget is estimated to cut BILLIONS of dollars of education funding but provides $1.4 Billion in property tax cuts.

We need to follow the lead of districts like Duval County who came together to stand up for their schools.

The Truth Behind Waiting for Superman?  Follow the money...

The latest on proposed legislation in the Florida legislation.

Read the latest news from Tallahassee.   Besides the horrible SB 736 and SB 830.

Now, HB1025 will decertify unions below 50 percent membership.

We need to add members to keep our contract.   Without a contract you have no salary schedule, no protection and NO RIGHTS!  

" Mr. Scott, a Republican, added that his state’s employees are compensated too well and that “it’s not fair to taxpayers” to continue the practice.

“It can’t be that if you work in government, you get paid better or you get better fringe benefits than if you work in the private sector,” he said"

This is the Feb. 23rd Legislative Update

EVERY aspect of your career is under attack by the Florida legislature.

We need to show that we care about our profession.

Read the article below and you will learn more.

The biggest myth non-members have about unions is that all the union does is help people who get in trouble.    YOUR union advocates for our schools, our teachers and our profession at the local, state and national level.

The latest legislative update from Tallahassee.

Scott Walker Fired 76 workers and privatized their positions.

He claimed it would save $400,000.   It didn't work out that way.

Florida's teacher salaries are ranked 37th and headed for 47th in the United States.

Florida's average teacher salary last year was $46,708.

The national average was $55,202.

The Koch Brothers have spent $100 Million over 30 years in politics....

There are a lot of myths in the world.  One of them is that public employees are overpaid.     This article debunks that myth.

Bill Gates compared paying teachers more money for their experience to paying someone who mows lawns more money for their experience.

Rather than listen to veteran teachers, the majority party is listening to someone who wasn't in a classroom long enough to get a Professional Services Contract.

This article reviews claims that Rhee made about her student's learning gains.

Feb.11th, 2011

This is an amazing story from Illinois about how  a challenging workout before reading and math classes has increased student learning.

The latest from the AFL-CIO..

Despite the fact that Florida's average teacher salary is $7,000 below the national average that's not good enough for the majority party in Tallahassee.    Now, they want public employees to take a 5 percent cut in pay to fund the Florida Retirement System.  There is no mention of state legislators or other elected officials being asked to make the same sacrifice.

The same legislators who want to cut your salary by 5 percent have given staffers 6 figure salaries.

Want to know the reality of charter schools?  Read this story from the Orlando Sentinel. 

Since Gates is a multibillionaire, he can't possibly understand what it means to work in an environment where you might be fired for disagreeing with your boss. Nor can he possibly understand that schools are collaborative cultures that need senior teachers who are ready and willing to help newcomers. He can't imagine that school is different from Microsoft or other big corporations.

Since Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest men in the world he gets special treatment when he launches endeavors outside the software world.    However, he isn't always right.    So, now that Gates and his wife Melinda are branching into education, let's see how he doing in some of his other activities.

BARROW COUNTY, Ga. -- A former Barrow County teacher is suing the North Georgia school district, alleging she was forced to step down after photos and an expletive were shown on her Facebook profile.

Representative Erik Fresen-R wants a teacher bill that makes teaching like a "profession".   He wants a house bill that deals with: Contracts, Evaluations and Salary Schedules.  If you have ever seen Rep. Fresen it appears that he spends more time on his hair than learning about our schools.

Michelle Rhee fired approximately 1,000 teacher in her 3 1/2 years as Chancellor of D.C. schools.    In a ruling issued Monday, an arbitrator ruled that 75 must be reinstated with back pay at a cost of approximately $7.5 million to the D.C. school district.

What did Candidate Rick Scott say about funding education and what is Governor Scott"s budget doing to education?