1. Whereas the Student Success Act prevents even the most successful teachers from ever obtaining job security; and

2.Whereas research shows that merit pay plans have repeatedly failed to work; and

3. Whereas annual contract teachers are unable to participate in professional development opportunities over the summer because they are not hired until after the school year has begun; and

4. Whereas annual contract teachers not hired until after school has begun are unable to prepare lessons and materials prior to the school year; and

5. Whereas annual contract teachers are being denied loans and mortgages by some banks because they are considered seasonal workers; and

6. Whereas annual contract teachers are increasingly being diagnosed with ongoing health issues due do the anxiety and stress caused by the instability of their employment circumstances; and

7. Whereas research supports collaboration as a means to improve schools, the Student Success Act encourages competition between teachers rather than collaboration between them; and

8. Whereas teachers are being evaluated on the test scores of students they do not teach; and 

9. Whereas thousands of end of the course exams are being created, not to test students, but to evaluate teachers; and

10. Whereas the Florida State Legislature has not funded merit pay; and

11. Whereas evaluating teachers on VAM scores is ineffective and unreliable; and

12. Whereas administrators are unable to explain to teachers how their VAM scores are derived; and 

13. Whereas the costs of high-stakes testing used to evaluate teachers drains funds; and 

14. Whereas, teachers have received little or no professional development about the Common Core Standards: 

Resolved that the Brevard Federation of Teachers calls for legislation that enables teachers to gain a professional services contract after three years of effective evaluations. 
Resolved that the Brevard Federation of Teachers calls for legislation to end teacher pay based on the Value Added Model.
Resolved that the Brevard Federation of Teachers calls for legislation to end merit pay as defined by SB736 and give districts the right to return to step increases.