Colo. teacher bill ignites firestorm of support, opposition
POSTED: 04/25/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 04/25/2010 01:02:20 AM MDT
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High school English teacher Ben Jackson isn't afraid of a proposed state law that would tie his job status to how well his students do on tests. It's a teacher's job, Jackson said, to instill students with a "desire to succeed," to make them care about state exams — even ones that don't affect their grades. The legislation would ensure schools keep teachers "not because they grow older, but because they get better," Jackson said.
But to Jason Nurton, who teaches reading at a Fort Collins middle school, it is unfair to "judge a teacher's effectiveness on one test, on one day, when the student has absolutely no buy-in."
Nurton concedes Colorado should reform its teacher evaluation system, but not with Senate Bill 191