Education

Side Deals in Florida’s Race to Top Application

June 02, 2010 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

This story in the St. Petersburg Times is certainly NOT good news for the architects of Florida’s Race to the Top application.

Florida, a strong contender in round one of the federal sweepstakes, fell short of winning in part because of the minuscule support that its application garnered from teacher unions. This time around, the state seemed to work extra hard to cultivate union buy-in—softening some of its proposals, especially around merit pay, to get those endorsements—only to have it revealed that some local unions have struck “side deals” that may be an escape valve from actually implementing any substantive changes to teacher evaluation and pay.

According to the article, the state department of education disclosed in the round two application that three such side agreements exist between local unions and districts, but did not include the actual terms or wording of those deals.

So much for transparency.

A version of this news article first appeared in the State EdWatch blog.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Webinar
Reimagining Grading in K-12 Schools: A Conversation on the Value of Standards-Based Grading
Hear from K-12 educational leaders and explore standards-based grading benefits and implementation strategies and challenges
Content provided by Otus
Reading & Literacy Webinar How Background Knowledge Fits Into the ‘Science of Reading’ 
Join our webinar to learn research-backed strategies for enhancing reading comprehension and building cultural responsiveness in the classroom.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Innovative Strategies for Data & Assessments
Join our webinar to learn strategies for actionable instruction using assessment & analysis.
Content provided by Edulastic

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Quiz Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Trending Education News
How well do you know the trending news in education? Test your knowledge by taking our quiz.
Education Briefly Stated: March 15, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: March 8, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 22, 2023
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read