SB 955 represents radical change to CA teacher policies
Everywhere I look these days, there is another legislative effort to change policies on teacher seniority and evaluation. New York's legislature is considering a bill that would gut seniority provisions in that state's education code, and I just saw another article on a big fight brewing in Colorado over teacher evaluation and tenure. (Arizona banned seniority entirely last year, but then again,that's Arizona for you). California's foray into this discussion comes in the form of SB 955, a bill introduced by Republican Bob Huff of southern California. The California Teachers Association and other labor groups adamantly oppose the bill, which is supported by Governor Schwarzenegger, the California Charter Schools Association and Education Trust-West. It narrowly passed out of the Senate Education Committee (5-4) last week.
At tomorrow night's meeting, SFUSD Commissioners will hear an analysis of SB 955, and consider which alternatives to this bill, if any, the district might support. As a practical matter, SB 955 is highly unlikely to pass in its current form in our overwhelmingly Democratic legislature -- as an "urgency" statute, it requires a 2/3 vote. Still, it's clear that there is political traction for California to weigh in on the national conversation happening on teacher seniority and evaluation, and I'm told that an alternative bill is likely to be introduced by a Democratic sponsor. If that happens, it will be important for the Board to have a position on what provisions should be included or
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rnorton/detail?entry_id=62149#ixzz0mIglJYjh