State is not backing away from teacher evaluation rule - baltimoresun.com

State is not backing away from teacher evaluation rule - baltimoresun.com

State is not backing away from teacher evaluation rule

Teachers have opposed having 50 percent of their evaluations tied to student achievement, but regulation is in Race to the Top application

Gov. Martin O'Malley has indicated that he will stand firm on the state's commitment to require student achievement to be 50 percent of principal and teacher evaluations despite significant opposition from teachers unions.

After meetings last week with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, an O'Malley spokesman said the state will have to fulfill the promise it made to the agency about the evaluations in order to receive $250 million in Race to the Top funding it won in a national grant competition last summer.

The Maryland State Board of Education had backed up the promise by proposing a regulation that would have made the 50 percent requirement a rule, but a legislative review panel voted it down in