Florida's School Systems

National studies show that parental and community involvement alone cannot turn around a school system. That requires an effective corps of teachers, principals and other leaders.
A new pay-for-performance program for Florida's teachers, which tied raises and bonuses directly to pupils’ standardized-test scores, was introduced last year.
Teachers unions and some education experts say any effort to evaluate teachers exclusively on test-score improvements will not work, because schools are not factories and their output is not so easily measured. An exam, they say, cannot measure how much teachers have inspired students, or whether they have instilled in them a lifelong curiosity. Moreover, some critics say, the explicit profit motive could overshadow teacher-student relationships.
A study by the National Center for Family and Community Connections with Schools, a research group in Texas, noted that school systems with highly involved teachers and parents can expect higher test scores and better behavior. What do you say?