Here We Go Again

Okay....here I am in Florida and I am supposed to be on vacation. I pick up the daily newspaper and listen to the daily news and the top news story over the past three days is teachers picketing the state capital because there is a bill getting ready to be passed that ties teachers salaries/bonuses to test scores. The state of Florida says higher test scores equals higher salaries. Hmmmmmmm.......are they really being serious??? Are you telling me that the only measure of a child's growth over a school year is being tied to a test score????? Is there not anything else we can look at??? Excuse me for sounding so down on this, but come on....we live in the 21st century. If I were measured by every test I ever took during my school days, I may never be in the position I am in today. Test scores are but ONE measure teachers/parents/administrators should look at when it comes to growth. Even the teacher of the year is so against this. Why is it that people who are not involved in the day-to-day grind of the daily classroom make decisions that influence teachers that force them to go in a direction they know is not right??? I'm on vacation right now, but my heart and my passion are on fire right now for what I know is right. Tying student test scores to teacher salaries is not right and it is not fair. If a teacher is not performing to standard, create an improvement plan that measures various ways a child's growth can be measured, and then, if no progress is shown, get rid of them. That is fair. But DO NOT measure a teacher's salary based on a child's performance on ONE test. Are the senators/legislatures in Florida really thinking this through??????