The evaluation of full-time teachers in the state of Florida is changing.
On Wednesday, the Florida Board of Governors voted to require tenured faculty members at public colleges to be reevaluated every five years.
Governors Nimna Gabadaj and Dina Michael opposed the change.
Andrew Gothard said the move will cost Florida teachers.
“Every day I hear from teachers who are fleeing the state, as well as from people across the country who are telling us, ‘We’re not going to apply for jobs. We don’t want to send our graduate students here. We hear from graduate programs where there are students who refuse to apply to Florida,” Gothard said.
Gothard is the president of the United Faculty of Florida teachers union.
Concerns about the changes began in November when the idea was introduced.
Now he fears that politics will play a role in his future work as a teacher.
“The problem with this new rule is that it puts almost all evaluation authority in the hands of the provost, who is unaccountable to faculty members and community members,” Gothard said.
University of South Florida senior Kayla Ware favors grades, but not necessarily deadlines.
“I think when you’re in the education industry, sometimes there’s a lot of teacher turnover. Five years is too soon, but if you’re a dedicated teacher, I think ten years would be good for the job,” Ware said.
Gothard said teachers are already highly valued.
“Faculty are some of the most valued employees in all of Florida. We are evaluated by our students for every course we teach. We are evaluated annually by our department chairs and our deans,” Gothard said.
ABC Action News has requested an interview with a member of the board of governors. However, we were told that no one was there.
