FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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    STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
    JIM HORNE
    Commissioner of Education
    F. PHILIP HANDY,
    Chairman
    T. WILLARD FAIR,
    Vice Chairman
    Members
    SALLY BRADSHAW
    LINDA J. EADS, ED.D.
    CHARLES PATRICK GARCÍA
    JULIA L. JOHNSON
    WILLIAM L. PROCTOR, PH.D.
    Contact:
    Name: David Ashburn
    Phone: 850/245-0438
    E-mail:
    david.ashburn@fldoe.org
    July 7, 2003
    TO:
    School District Superintendents
    FROM:
    Jim Warford
    SUBJECT:
    BEST Florida Teaching Salary Career Ladder Program
    In order to achieve meaningful and lasting gains in students’ performance, we need to have high
    quality teachers in every classroom in Florida. Attracting and retaining high caliber talent in the
    teaching profession is critical to realizing this goal. The retention of high-performing teachers
    depends not only on better salaries, but also on rewards for outstanding performance,
    opportunities to grow in the teaching profession, and the availability of multiple career paths.
    Commissioner Jim Horne, with the support of the Governor, the Florida Legislature, and the
    State Board of Education, has championed Florida’s new Salary Career Ladder Program as an
    initiative to enhance the professionalism of teaching which will result in significant gains in
    students’ performance statewide.
    With the support of Commissioner Horne, the 2003 Florida Legislature, as part of Senate Bill
    30A, created the Better Educated Students and Teachers (BEST) Act, which requires all school
    districts to implement a salary career ladder for classroom teachers beginning with the 2004-
    2005 school year.
    JIM WARFORD
    K – 12 Chancellor
    325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0509 • www.fldoe.org
    As required in Section 1012.231, Florida Statutes, each school district’s career ladder
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    must have four levels: 1) Associate Teacher – classroom teachers not professionally
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    certified or low performing teachers; 2) Professional Teacher – classroom teachers who
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    are professionally certified; 3) Lead Teacher – classroom teachers who are responsible
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    for leading other teachers; and 4) Mentor Teacher – classroom teachers who serve as
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    regular mentors to teachers, serve as faculty-based professional development
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    coordinators, and provide direct instruction to low-performing students.
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    In an effort to create high quality career ladder models of best practice, the Legislature
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    also appropriated a total of $25 million in Aid to Local Governments from the Principal
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    State School Trust Fund for the establishment of the Pilot Career Ladder Program –
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    BEST. Districts prepared to implement the Salary Career Ladder Program, during the
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    2003-2004 school year, in accordance with the provisions of Section 1012.231, Florida
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    Statutes, will be targeted for participation in this program. Approval of these early
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    innovator school districts will be determined by the Commissioner of Education, and
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    funds will be awarded only to those school district that fully and most feasibly implement
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    the spirit and intent of the Florida BEST Teaching Program. Implementation of the
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    BEST Act will support the following State Board of Education’s Strategic Imperatives:
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    Imperative #1: Increasing the supply of highly qualified K-12 instructors will be
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    supported by;
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    1)
    exciting interest in teaching as a career in Florida, 2) putting more qualified teachers,
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    especially minority teachers, in Florida’s classrooms, 3) giving teachers strong
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    professional support, and 4) keeping good teachers in the profession.
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    Imperative #4: Improving the quality of school leadership at all levels will be supported
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    by; 1) attracting outstanding leaders from all sectors and 2) holding educational leaders
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    accountable for results.
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    Each district school superintendent is invited to make implementation of this new
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    initiative a high priority as we work together to ensure that our teachers are supported and
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    recognized for their success in realizing great gains in student performance.
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    The attachment, entitled Better Educated Students and Teachers (BEST) Florida
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    Teaching Salary Career Ladder Program, provides additional information about the
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    program. Additional guidance regarding requirements for approval of district salary
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    career ladder programs and implementation of the Pilot Career Ladder Program will be
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    forthcoming through correspondence and meetings.
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    JW/da
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    Attachment
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    Page 2

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