Schools Matter: DC Mayor Says Oligarchs' VAM Has "a long way to go to be a fair evaluation of our teachers."

Schools Matter: DC Mayor Says Oligarchs' VAM Has "a long way to go to be a fair evaluation of our teachers."

DC Mayor Says Oligarchs' VAM Has "a long way to go to be a fair evaluation of our teachers."

by Jim Horn

From WaPo:

By Bill Turque

As a candidate, Mayor Vincent C. Gray treaded cautiously when it came to questions about theIMPACT teacher evaluation system, arguably former Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's signature initiative. The Washington Teachers' Union, a major financial supporter, has big issues with the system, which uses growth in student test scores as part of the basis for assessing some educators. Rhee supporters -- including the philanthropic community that is investing tens of millions of dollars in DC schools -- see it as the heart of her program because it holds teachers more accountable than ever for what their students learn. Low IMPACT scores led to the dismissalof 126 teachers last year.

But on Saturday, at a panel on school reform and poverty at Adas Israel synagogue, Gray offered