Cook vs. Bennett Legal Challenge | 736 Federal Legal Challenge Overview | Leader Resources | Hear from 2 of the 7 Plaintiffs
NEA Today: ‘Enough is Enough’: Florida Teachers Sue to Block Flawed Evaluation System
The lawsuit is brought by seven accomplished teachers in Alachua, Escambia and Hernando counties. They are bringing the suit against the Florida Commissioner of Education, the State Board of Education and the school boards of those three counties, that have implemented the evaluation system to comply with SB 736, passed during the 2011 session of the Florida Legislature.
“This lawsuit highlights the absurdity of the evaluation system that has come about as a result of SB 736,” said FEA President Andy Ford. “Teachers in Florida are being evaluated using a formula designed to measure learning gains in the FCAT math and reading tests. But most teachers, including the seven in this lawsuit, don’t teach those subjects in the grades the test is administered. One of the teachers bringing this suit is getting evaluated on the test scores of students who aren’t even in her school.”
“Seven accomplished educators in Florida are pushing back against one arbitrary, irrational and unfair evaluation system,” said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. ”But they are supported by hundreds of thousands of educators across the country who are fed up with flawed evaluation systems being pushed by politicians and corporate education reformers in school districts across the country. As unthinkable as it might seem for a teacher to be evaluated on the performance of students they do not teach or subjects they do not teach -- we know that it’s happening and not just in Florida. NEA is proud to stand with our Florida colleagues to say ‘NO’ to evaluation systems that don’t help improve student learning or the practice of teaching.”
The lawsuit was filed today in the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of Florida, Gainesville Division. The lawsuit contends that teachers’ evaluations based on the test scores of students they do not teach or based on subjects they do no teach violate the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
These evaluations have high stakes consequences. Teachers who are rated unsatisfactory (the lowest of the four performance ratings under the law) two consecutive years or two out of three years in a row are subject to termination or non-renewal. Transfers, promotions and layoffs are based on the assigned performance rating. And, as of July 1, 2014, salaries will be based on the assigned performance rating as well.
(Please call Mark Pudlow at 850.201.3223 or 850.508.9756 to arrange interviews with any of the plaintiffs.)
The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with more than 140,000 members. FEA represents pre K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, educational support professionals, students at our colleges and universities preparing to become teachers and retired education employees.
Hear 2 of the plaintiffs express their concerns
Related News Articles
Washington Post article: Lawsuit: Stop evaluating teachers on test scores of students they never taught (update)
New York Times: Florida: Teachers Sue Over Evaluation System
Associated Press: James Rosica Teachers unions sue Fla. over teacher evaluations
USA Today: Florida teachers sue over new rating system
Washington Post: Teachers in Florida sue state claiming job evaluation system is unfair
Yahoo! News: Evaluating Teachers on Kids They’ve Never Even Met? Yes, This Happens
Washington Post Blog: The Answer Sheet: Lawsuit: Stop evaluating teachers on test scores of students they never taught
AJC: Florida teachers file lawsuit today to stop evaluations that rely on test scores
Orlando Sentinel: Teachers union files federal lawsuit over evaluations tied to test scores
DailyKos: Teachers sue to block Florida teacher evaluation system
Washington Post: “A ‘value-added’ travesty for an award-winning teacher
WTXL – ABC Tallahassee: Teachers file federal lawsuit over "teacher merit pay"
Tallahassee Democrat: Teachers challenge evaluation system in federal court
Tampa Bay Times: FEA lawsuit challenging teacher evaluations unveiled
EduWONK: “Watch this lawsuit”
Tampa Bay Times: FEA lawsuit challenging teacher evaluations unveiled
Tallahassee Democrat: Update: Teachers challenge evaluation system in federal court
Tuesday Morning Reads: Florida Sun-Sentinel runs Orlando Sentinel article
Big Education A.P.E. reposts Valerie Strauss blog post:
SchoolsMatter blog: Evaluations Based on Test Scores Goes to Court in Florida
Jacksonville’s PolitiJax blog: Teacher unions file federal lawsuit challenging merit-pay law
Steve Sawchuk in TeacherBeat (EdWeek) Florida Unions Sue Over Test-Score-Based Evaluations
NPR StateImpact: Teachers Union Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Florida Teacher Evaluations
Miami Herald Teachers sue the state Board of Ed, challenge new educator evaluation protocol
Gainesville.com: Local teachers lead effort to sue district, state over evaluation methods
Pensacola – PNJ.com Escambia teachers union part of teacher evaluation lawsuit
http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/2086169 (Kim Cook and Dennis Van Roekel quoted)
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/04/16/florida-teachers-file-lawsuit-today-to-stop-evaluations-that-rely-on-test-scores/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog (Kim Cook quoted)
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130416/EDUCATION/130416016/Escambia-teachers-union-part-teacher-evaluation-lawsuit- (Kathy Breakall quoted)
http://www.thefloridacurrent.com/article.cfm?id=32464024 (Andy Ford and Ron Meyer quoted)
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20130417/NEWS01/304170021?source=nletter-top5 (Ron Meyer and Dennis Van Roekel quoted)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-teacher-evaluations-union-challenge-20130416,0,1393357.story (Andy Ford, Kim Cook, Bethann Brooks and Ron Meyer quoted)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/education/florida-teachers-sue-over-evaluation-system.html (Andy Ford quoted)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-in-florida-sue-state-claiming-job-evaluation-system-is-unfair/2013/04/16/32fbb400-a6c4-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story.html (Kim Cook, Dennis Van Roekel and Alice O’Brien quoted)
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130416/ARTICLES/130419672/1002/news01?Title=Local-teachers-lead-effort-to-sue-district-state-over-evaluation-methods (Karen McCann, Kim Cook and Janine Plavac quoted)
http://news.yahoo.com/evaluating-teachers-kids-ve-never-even-met-yes-225006768.html (Andy Ford and Dennis Van Roekel quoted)
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/teachers-unions-file-federal-suit-against-pay-law (Andy Ford and Ron Meyer quoted)