MORE FROM THE BEACH AT DESTIN

[REMINDER: Click on the picture for a larger view.]



Note the pelican at the left.  Many times they fly just inches above the water.

More kids on the beach, but not in huge crowds.  Note small group in the water, and another group in the distance between the pilings.

2011 Thurs. March 10
Relaxing morning, lite lunch here, then we went for a ride to the north to the shore of the bay on that side. There was a small park there with a short boardwalk over a small wetland. The bay is very wide here. We rode through some neighborhoods looking at homes, and ended up at the Commons mall. [We may stop doing this kind of driving around if gas gets to $4 a gallon!] There we went to Starbucks [surprised?] to get coffee and a free treat. They are introducing cake-on-a-stick, so for a few days you can get one free. It’s a ball of cake with frosting on a stick, like a tootsie-pop. It was very sweet, but I don’t know how well they will sell. We sat and watched people go by - lots more college age kids, but there seems to be more people in general. Then we came back to the resort for awhile before we went to supper at Landry’s. I had a $25 birthday credit on their club card, so we had a great $15 supper! I had fried oysters with asparagus, and Linda had broiled shrimp with rice and broccoli. Home to watch the first singer get eliminated on American Idol.


FL WEATHER: High 64, low 41. Cool but sunny, windy.


FL NEWS: Teacher pay-tenure bill passed by Florida Senate
[I’m upset that the general public thinks tenure is designed to keep poor teachers from being fired. WRONG! Its purpose is to keep good teachers from being fired on the whim of their principal. I can see it coming - teachers fired because they were getting paid too much compared to a new teacher, or because they have a personality clash with their principal. SAD!]
A less rigid version of a bill that would begin merit pay for teachers and end tenure for new teachers is on a fast track to passage after it cleared the Florida Senate in a largely partisan vote on Thursday. Just two days into the legislative session, a bill similar to one vetoed last year by former Gov. Charlie Crist, is now headed for a floor vote in the House next week. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans and the legislation (SB 736) is strongly backed by new Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Its key features are a merit pay plan based heavily on how well each teacher's students improve on standardized tests starting in 2014 and a ban on tenure for teachers hired after July 1, 2011. "This bill ought to be a teacher's dream to be able to get paid for student success," said Sen. Stephen Wise, a Jacksonville Republican and retired educator sponsoring the bill. Democrats argued there was no evidence merit pay improves student performance and that the bill fails to pay for the salary enhancements or additional testing needed to make the salary plan work. "I'm afraid it will collapse under its own weight because of the funding," said Sen. Bill Montford, a Tallahassee Democrat and CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. Montford said that's why Florida's five prior merit pay plans failed. Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich of Weston said the legislation was an unworkable attempt to run schools like a business. "Teachers and students aren't just widgets coming off the assembly line," she said. "They're human beings who can't be and don't deserve to be reduced to a single number on a piece of paper."