Yesterday, I wrote that states could win RTT grants in round two without sacrificing their bold reforms in order to garner stakeholder support. Florida is a good example.
Florida came in fourth overall and two points away from third. Some observers would've given FL a grant on that basis alone (I was happy, though, that only two were picked). But the first point is that even with only 8 percent of its unions signing on, FL was in the running.
Now, it is indisputably true that the state was punished for a lack of stakeholder support. Though it can be difficult to perfectly parse this, I calculate that FL lost in the neighborhood of 19 to 22 points. This is meaningful: with only 13 additional points, FL would have leapfrogged TN for second place.
But the state could have picked up that many points and more in other sections. While FL did well on charters, STEM, and funding, it left points on the table in other sections like addressing failing schools and data use.
But the biggest area for improvement was in the teachers section, where it lost 29 points, more than all but four other finalists. It could recapture these points by addressing issues such as teacher preparation, evaluations, and the distribution of teacher quality.
At least one trusted external organization appears to confirm this. Prior to the announcement of winners, NCTQ noted the shortcomings in FL's teacher sections.
These facts are terribly relevant because FL has to make a choice on which direction to go over the next 60 days. A bill is currently making its way through the state legislature that would change several teacher policies. Unions and others are arguing that FL lost in the first round because it didn't gain enough stakeholder support. These groups are arguing that, since they oppose this bill, it should be killed?less stakeholder support would doom the state's chances.
But this bill and other activities related to teachers could gain FL considerably more points than it would cost them.
Florida should redouble its efforts to engage stakeholders and get as many as possible to support its plan. But not if such efforts weaken these important reforms. In this case, doing right by education reform will improve its RTT chances.
Florida: Don't. Back. Down.
?Andy Smarick