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Teachers Protest Proposed Education Bill

MIAMI (CBS4) – Thousands of teachers turned up at Tropical Park Saturday to eat BBQ and to protest Tallahassee lawmakers who they say are threatening the future of Florida's school children.

Karen Aronowitz, president of United Teacher of Dade, said the union is not happy with proposed changes in the public education system in education bill 736.

The bill, if passed would put teachers hired after 2014 under a new contract that would eliminate tenure and would tie a huge chunk of their pay to the scores made by their students on standardized tests.

But teachers such as Karla Mats said learning is not driven solely on the backs of teachers.

"The biggest setback for educators is parent involvement," Mats, special education teacher, said. "If we really had that extra support at home everything would be easier, home learning would be something that's a priority, everything we do in the classroom would be supported at home."

Gov. Rick Scott said he supports the proposals within the bill that will go before lawmakers next month.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )

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