The Florida Education Association today lost an appeal in one of the cases it had filed challenging the legality of the teacher merit-pay law (SB 736) the Florida Legislature passed in 2011.
The controversial law overhauled how Florida’s public school teachers are evaluated and paid and required that student test scores be used in instructors’ reviews.
The teachers union challenged the law in court several months after Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law, arguing it violated collective bargaining rights found in Florida’s constitution, among other issues.
A circuit court judge dismissed the suit, however, siding with the state. The union then appealed.
Andy Ford, the union’s president, said he was disappointed in the ruling by the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.
