GAINESVILLE - It was a "first-of- its-kind" meeting in Alachua County Tuesday night, as teachers came face-to-face with state lawmakers to discuss problems with the state's new teacher evaluation method. 

 

The "education forum" was organized by the Alachua County Educator's Association, and was designed to let state lawmakers know about the issues surrounding Florida's new teacher evaluation method. Many teachers complain the method is unfair, as it requires at least 40% of a teacher's evaluation to be based on student test scores -- and in some cases, it includes students they don't even teach. 

 

Rep. Keith Perry, who voted for the new evaluation model last year, was one of the lawmakers in attendance Tuesday night. "Every time you start a new program like this and start doing something, there's going to be issues to be worked out," said Rep. Perry before Tuesday's meeting. "It's not a perfect system, but I think it's on the right track. And I think there's a lot of teachers who really want this system in place, and want to be measured. People actually want to keep score and know how they're doing," said Perry. 

 

Newly-elected state representative Clovis Watson joined Perry and longtime lawmaker Marlene O'Toole Tuesday night. The state legislature will reconvene early next month in Tallahassee. At that time, according to Rep. Perry, this issue will be revisited and a decision will be made on how to move forward.