Pasco Teachers, Union Rally Against Legislative Proposals

In advance of the state legislative session starting Tuesday, more than 100 people gathered on Massachusetts Avenue to rally against proposals that could affect local teachers and schools.

Employees of the Pasco County school system were joined on Friday, March 4, by supporters from Pasco and elsewhere and announced their displeasure with signs and slogans.

United School Employees of Pasco, which represents more than 4,000 teachers and school support staff, had called the rally outside state Sen. Mike Fasano’s district office at 8217 Massachusetts Ave. at the encouragement of the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers’ union.

The Save Our Schools rally was one of three held at state representatives’ offices in Pasco, drawing hundreds. The rally was planned to draw attention to "the never-ending attacks on public education, our pensions and our profession,"  according to the union website.

"This is a rally to save the school system as we know it," said Jim Ciadella, the union's top negotiator. He said most of the rally members were from Pasco.  Some came from Hernando County and elsewhere, he said.

During the session, lawmakers will vote on Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $65.9 billion budget, which cuts $3.3 billion to $4.8 billion from the state school system in the next budget year.

Bill Miller, who teaches third grade at , thinks the Legislature doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a teacher and is considering decisions that threaten the union.

“They have some something against unions, and I really don’t know what,” said Miller, who held a sign reading “Hey Governor, Where’s The Jobs?”  “They have something against teachers, and I really don’t know why.”

Two bills drew the ralliers' ire. SB 736 ties the salaries of instructors or administrators to student performance. Hires made on or after July 1, 2014, will be required to undergo annual reviews, 50 percent of which will be based on how well students score on assessments over three years. Hires made on or after July 1, 2011, will be given one-year probation and then the annual contracts. Current teachers and administrators have the choice of receiving performance pay, but it is not required.

The bill is slated to be heard on the Senate floor as early as Wednesday.

Miller said people were calling the bill the “Son of Six,” a reference to SB 6. SB 6 tied teachers’ salaries to student performance. It passed the Legislature last year but was vetoed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist.

SB 1130, the other bill the rally focused around, requires employees enrolled in the Florida Retirement System pension plan, for state and local government workers, to contribute to plans. The bill is still going through committees.

Fasano, R-New Port Richey, spoke of the rally participants from inside his office.

“I commend them,” he said. They’re good people. This is part of the process."

However, he said he supported the teacher salary bill, just as he had supported SB 6.

“No one should be guaranteed a job when they’re being paid with tax dollars,” Fasano said.

He said, however, that he is in favor of making changes to the bill when it reaches the Senate floor in the first week of session.