Analysis: Experience in Florida suggests caution with teacher evaluations not a bad idea
By Tom Chorneau
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Last week California lawmakers failed for a second consecutive year to find agreement on a new system for evaluating classroom educators – shooting down in the state Senate what the author called a modest proposal requiring districts to use multiple measurements in performing evaluations at least every three years for veteran personnel.
The legislation faced stiff opposition from the state’s powerful teachers unions, and while linking teacher pay with student performance remains a key goal of the Obama administration, there remained enough uncertainty around the proposal to cause its demise, again.
SB 441 by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, is scheduled for reconsideration this Wednesday but even the author does not appear optimistic he will find the one additional vote needed to move the bill along.
There may be good reason for critics to howl about this outcome – especially as evidence mounts that the current system is not workable.
But looking around at other states, particularly Florida, might suggest the best move is to wait for a better answer.
The sunshine state, which has basked in national attention for its progressive education agenda, was an early entry in