ISSUE 1 - Discrimination against teachers blocks access to bonus of up to $10,000

The state of Florida created the Best and Brightest Scholarship Program (F.S. 1012.731) to attract and retain high academic achievers in the teaching profession. They have set aside over 44 million dollars for the bonuses. This is a State funded program, with the District determining qualified recipients based on requirements defined by the statute. Criteria #3 below discriminates against teachers by country of high school education. This statute has excluded well deserving teachers who have earned ratings of Highly Effective but, for various reasons, do not have SAT scores.

How to Qualify

1) You must be a classroom teacher as defined by Florida Statute 1012.01(2)(a).

2) You must have received a Final Summative evaluation rating of Highly Effective.

3) You must have a qualifying ACT or SAT score based on the National Percentile Rank in effect when the assessment was taken.

ISSUE 2 - No compensation for advances degrees

The state of Florida introduced Bill 736 which states that "Beginning with instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011, a district school board may not use advanced degrees in setting the salary schedule unless the advanced degree is held in the individual’s areas of certification." Besides content area knowledge, a teacher needs multiple skills to be successful in the classroom. Many teachers have pursued studies in education-related disciplines such as Educational Technology and Educational Leadership that are not considered content-specific degrees. It is unfair for their Master's degrees not to be recognized as valuable enough for compensation.

Please sign this petition in support of the brightest teachers across Florida!

As teachers we must unite and say enough is enough!!! We work hard at educating ourselves and providing best practices to ensure students meet rigorous academic demands. We are already underpaid for the job we do. It is about time we are paid for advanced degrees and for high success rates at educating our students.