The Florida teachers union lawsuit over the merit pay law was dismissed on Thursday citing that a circuit judge ruling that the 2011 did not violate teachers constitutional rights, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Friday. Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper sided with state officials and shut down the lawsuit filed by the Florida Education Association, news reports said.
The lawsuit, filed in September, 2011 , contended that the new law - which overhauled how Florida teachers are to be evaluated, paid and promoted - brought about changes that "collide" with the bargaining right.
"We're discouraged that the court ruled against FEA members," said Andy Ford, the union's president, in a statement.
"But there's nothing in the ruling that prevents us from going to court in the future when specific aspects of SB 736 impairs our members' collective bargaining rights. We believe that this has occurred already and will continue to occur throughout the state as this flawed law is implemented."
Ford added that the union may appeal Cooper's ruling. The union believes the law delegated too much authority on teacher evaluations and salaries to the Florida Department of Education.
But Joe Follick, a spokesman for the department, said the ruling was good news for Florida. "We're very pleased with the judge's decision. The winners here are teachers, parents and students who can work together in an atmosphere where the best educators in the country can thrive."
Advocates of the merit-pay law argue it will help identify and reward the state's best teachers and help improve student learning, the Central Florida paper reported.
The teachers union last month filed a separate legal challenge in federal court over how the merit-pay law ties teacher evaluations to student test score data. That lawsuit argued that the law unfairly resulted in many teachers' evaluations last year being based on the test scores of students or subjects they did not teach, violating the equal-protection and due-process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit claims.
State lawmakers have tried to fix that piece of the law with new legislation this year.
