The Florida Legislature is expected to pass a bill next week that will link teachers' pay to performance. The bill will base half of teachers' evaluations on test scores and the other half on principals' evaluations. Supporters of the bill say that it will replace an ineffective system for teacher evaluation with one that will properly assess performance. Opponents say that there are no good ways to evaluate teachers, and that standards differ too much. They also worry about older teachers who make more being let go to cut costs. A similar bill was vetoed last year, but the new Governor is expected to sign this bill into law.
See "In Florida, Push to Link Teacher Pay to Student Performance", Lizette Alvarez, The New York Times, March 8, 2011